Good word

It’s time to lighten up. It’s time to let the air out of the angry balloon. It’s time to see the humor in humanity. It’s time to be grateful for life. It’s time to lighten up and let go of the crazies. When we lighten up we’ll find we’re becoming interested in things that make us feel good, happy, and in love.

When I was growing up and my dad gave me a chore I didn’t like, I said, “Why?” Well, I only said it once. I knew better after the way he said, “Because I said so.” As an adult, I like to ask why. “Because I said so,” no longer works for me. I want to know the reasons behind a request or an action. The more we challenge and find the why, the more we can gain understanding and help the person we’re asking to question his/her reasons or actions.

All great athletes visualize future performance as if they were actually performing it. They visualize to the last detail. We can use visualization to become peak performers in any area important to us. Is your relationship important to you? Visualize your relationship being exactly what you’d want it to be. Do you have an interview or a presentation coming up? Visualize your performance in the interview or your presentation. Trying to get in shape? Visualize yourself exercising and eating to make yourself in the best shape possible. If if works for the great athletes, it will work for you and me.

Reasonable people work together for solutions to common problems. They know there is always another way. They are not stymied by traditional ways of acting or doing. They work with others to discover what is beneficial to both parties. Reasonable people understand life can be messy at time. They understand that most issues are not black and white, but fall somewhere in-between. Three cheers for reasonable people.

Even the strongest among us need others. Think about it, we need farmers to grow the food we eat. We need high tech people to produce our digital products. The signification person in our life fulfills our need for love and to love. We need each other to drive safely on the highways. We need the most vulnerable among because they give us the opportunity to forget about ourselves and provide for their welfare. The list is endless. We need each other. It’s the only way life works.

The most stressed folks I meet are those who have trouble establishing personal boundaries. When we don’t have well-defined boundaries intruders pour through and grab hold of our attention and time. Before we know it, we don’t have time or energy left for ourselves. When we set well established boundaries, we allow space for others and the normal interruptions that occur. We, however, have time for ourselves and those we love. With well-defined boundaries we have more energy and emotional strength to cope with each day’s challenges.

Take a moment to listen to another. Take a moment to call your mom or dad or a child. Take a moment and say a prayer of gratitude. Take a moment and take a deep breath of clean air. Take a moment and take a selfie, you know you look good. There’s lots of good things we can do with a moment.

We’ve all had those days where the best we can do is roll with it. If we keep on rolling with it, who knows how it will turn out. We may surprise ourself and others at how it turned out. When my wife was alive she’d say to me, “Ray, you get yourself into so much trouble, yet it always works out. Somehow, you keep on rolling with it.” I think everything turned out right had a lot to do with her constant prayers for me. Keep on rolling and praying. You never know.