life

Thinking Out Loud ~ There’s a Better Way

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Today’s Thinking Out Loud reflection is on Aesop’s Fable, Mischievous Dog. Aesop’s Fables is available for free download here.

The Fable

“There was once a Dog who used to snap at people and bite them

without any provocation, and who was a great nuisance to every one

who came to his master’s house. So his master fastened a bell round

his neck to warn people of his presence. The Dog was very proud of

the bell, and strutted about tinkling it with immense satisfaction.

But an old dog came up to him and said, “The fewer airs you give

yourself the better, my friend. You don’t think, do you, that your

bell was given you as a reward of merit? On the contrary, it is a

badge of disgrace.”

 

Note: Have you met people who like to scream and bully people around? I have. These folks will confront anyone who disagrees with them or doesn’t bend to their desires. They have an insatiable need to be important, to always be right, and to maintain their illusion of power. Like the dog in the story, these folks would do much better with a good dose of humiliation. They mistake fear for adoration. It’s always better when we set our ego aside another and understand that we’re not always right; that other people have good ideas and constantly attacking others is not the best way to solve problems.

Poem for Today ~

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Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

To every thing there is a season,
and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate;
A time of war, and a time of peace.

Thinking Out Loud ~ Learning to Adjust and Adapt

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Today’s Thinking Out Loud reflection on Richard Bach’s, Jonathan Livingston Seagull.

Jonathon Livingston Seagull finds himself ostracized and banned from the flock. He doesn’t sulk, he decides to keep following his dream.

What he had once hoped for the flock, he now gained for himself alone; he learned to fly, and was not sorry for the price that he had paid. Jonathan Livingston seagull discovered that boredom and fear and anger are the reasons that a gulls’ life is so short, and with those gone from his thought, he lived a long fine life indeed.

Note: Paying more attention to other people than to ourselves and trying to control their lives instead of worrying about our own life creates a great angst both for the other person and for ourselves. Instead of criticizing those who are different from us why not encourage them? Why not look at our own lives and discern what it is that we are meant to do and be. I think what we are meant to do and be is something that is always evolving. What we were meant to be at one stage in our life will not be the same at another stage of our lives. Wise people understand this and adjust and adapt and continue to learn and grow. And those who don’t, like the gulls in the story, discover that their lives are filled with boredom and fear and anger.

Photo for Today ~ Your Adventure Awaits

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Feel Good Tip ~ Don’t Rent Space in Your Brain to Folks Who Shouldn’t Be There

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I enjoy reading fiction. I take my iPad to the gym to read the ebooks I check out of the library. Before I know it, I’ve completed an hour on the elliptical machine. I read mysteries and thrillers. When the book gets really exciting I’m moving my legs fast enough to wear out the machine (not really). In today’s read, one of the characters says, “Don’t rent space in your brain to a bleep (you can guess at the bleep word). I thought that makes a lot of sense. Don’t let the negative folks have any space in your mind.

Feel Good Tip ~ It’s Going to be a Great Day!

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“Every day is a good day to be alive, whether the sun’s shining or not.” Marty Robbins

NOTE: The one thing that we are capable of doing that no one can take away from us is the attitude we choose to take to our day. Why not begin each day by announcing to the world, “I’m going to have a great day.” Don’t waste a moment on a pity party. Don’t waste a moment feeling sorry for yourself. It’s going to be a great day, grab hold of it and don’t let go.

Photo for the Day ~ Let it Go!

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Thinking Out Loud ~ Do You Hear the Voice Calling You?

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Beginning today I am reading and reflecting on Richard Bach’s, Jonathan Livingston Seagull. Enjoy the passages I select and the reflections I make on the passage.

Seagulls, as you know never falter, never stall. To stall in the air is for them disgrace and it is dishonor. But Jonathan Livingston seagull, unashamed, stretching his wings again in their trembling hard curve — slowing, slowing, and stalling once more — was no ordinary bird. Most gulls don’t bother to learn more than the simple facts of flight — how to get from shore to food and back again. For gulls, it is not flying that matters, but eating. For this gull though, it was not eating that mattered, but flight. More than anything else Jonathan Livingston Seagull loved to fly.

Note: What is it that your heart is calling you to become? Have you heard the call? Or, are you so busy with a life others planned for you that can’t hear the call? The call is like an echo, it is always there bouncing around inside of you. Occasionally you’ll  catch a glimpse of it. It takes courage to stop and listen to the call and then to embrace it and follow it wherever it takes you. Find your quiet space and listen to your call.

Feel Good Tip ~ Embrace the Journey

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“You have to die a few times before you can really live.” Charles Bukowski

What a wonderful quote. No one likes to fail or suffer. We like to get it online and get delivered to our door. That may be the way business works in contemporary society. it’s not the way life works. Each time we walk through the fire in our lives, we gain lessons. Life is shaping us to become what we are destined to become. Our only part in this play is to learn the lessons life is teaching us and to love what we are becoming. When we do, the suffering ends and living begins.

Thinking Out Loud ~ It is a Great Mystery

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Saint-Exupéry writes that it has been six years since the Little Prince left. He reflects on the Little Prince’s visit. He writes:

Sometimes I say to myself, “Once in a while we are distracted and that’s enough! He forgot, one night, the glass globe, or even the sheep came out silently during the night . . . .  “ So the bells drown in tears!

Look at the sky. Ask yourself: “The sheep did or did not eat the flower?” And you will see how everything changes. And no grown up will ever understand that it is so important!

Note: We get so busy with the stuff of our life we forget to be distracted and discover the joys that surround us. The little Prince it’s always nearby, however, when we are too busy with all of our stuff we can’t see the little Prince and enjoy our conversations with him. Here’s hoping you find time in your life each day to be distracted and to discover the little Prince in your life.

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