One of the greatest gifts we have is the ability to think. We can think about problems and find solutions, We can think about what people say and decide if their being truthful or lying. We can think about lots of stuff. If our thinking is clear and informed by data, we can make better decisions than if we don’t think. Or, much worse, let someone else tell us what to think. Those who think for themselves and make decisions independent of outside influence are free.
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Today’s Thought: It’s Up to Us
I have a friend who is having a health related problem. My friend’s doctors have told him he has to modify his behavior if he wants to see any improvement. My friend doesn’t want to give up what he is doing. He prefers to continuing doing what he is doing, suffer and complain. We can want to help people but it always up to the person we want to help to want to be helped. His life is a good lesson. Real change has to come from within us. We have to want to change more than we want to stay in a self-defeating pattern.
Today’s Thought: What Gets You Up in the Morning?
Who and what are you working for? I’m competitive and I enjoyed being successful. Being successful was not my main life’s goal.. I was working to take of my family, my wife and five daughters. The girls came so fast I often referred to them as the Cape Kennedy countdown. LOL I wouldn’t trade a moment of their growing up. That’s what got me up each day. That’s what fueled my desire to be successful. I wanted to provide for them and I wanted to be an example for them. It was always about family for me. Although the girls are all on their own and Babe, my wife, passed on, for me, it’s still all about family. What is it that gets you up? Who and what are you working for?
Today’s Thought: It’s Why I Wear Earplugs
The voices they’re all around us. They tell us we can’t do it. They tell us we’re foolish. They demand we listen to them if we know what is good for us. That’s why I wear earplugs. I won’t listen to naysayers. I won’t listen to people who are doom and gloom. I look for sunrises and rainbows. So what if I fail. It won’t be the first time and it won’t be the last. I’ll keep on trying. I’ll wave to the voices as I pass on by. Let’s live with hope. Let’s live with optimism. Let’s live with a vigor and vitality that refuses to quit.
Today’s Thought: Do You Have the Juice?
Sometimes we want something so badly only to be disappointed. Disappointment doesn’t mean we lost or failed. It only means the one specific thing we wanted wasn’t available to us at this moment. It was some one else’s turn. A different way to think about it is to reflect on why we wanted it. What was it that excited us? If we still feel the juice for what we badly wanted, we can ask ourselves what we are willing to sacrifice to get what we wanted. If we’re not willing to make the needed sacrifice, we don’t have enough juice. It’s best to cast aside the disappointment and search for something that sets our hearts afire.
Today’s Thought: The WOW Factor: Harnessing Positive Energy from Sleep, Dreams, and Morning Rituals
WOW! I had a great night’s sleep. I slept through for 8 + hours. My dreams were entertaining, better than most TV shows. When I woke up, I asked Alexa how my favorite teams did overnight. They won!! My day was off to a great start. I sailed through my stretches, pushups, and other exercises, turned the coffee on and headed for a hot shower. So what, you might think. Think about it for a second. You change one item, perhaps my attitude changes. No attitude change today. I am filled with gratitude for the small things, my night’s sleep, a hot shower, my exercises, and a hot cup of coffee. I’ll say WOW again. i imagine you’ve had WOW experiences today. What were they? How did they affect the way you interacted with others or felt about yourself. Here’s wishing many WOW experiences to you.
Thinking Out Loud ~ The Power is There is We Want It
We Have the Power to Determine Our Life’s Direction
Starting today, I am reading the classic self help book, ‘As a Man Thinketh. by James Allen. Allen’s book is considered a classic in the self-help genre.
“As a Man Thinketh” is available online at gutenberg.org under the Harvard Classics.
Allen begins his book, “As a Man Thinketh, ““THE aphorism, “As a man thinketh in his heart so is he,” not only embraces the whole of a man’s being, but is so comprehensive as to reach out to every condition and circumstance of his life. A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts.” Pg. 10
Walking is available online and gutenberg.org under the Harvard Classics.
NOTE: Our thoughts have great power over us if we are sleepwalking through life. We may accept someone else’s thought as truth without questioning it. We may act on our first thought as if it is the only thought we have without realizing the possibility of an infinite number of thoughts. If we are awake, we have the power to discard a thought that brings us and other a negative benefit. And, we have the power to choose a thought that serves to bring benefit to us and others. Our thoughts lead us to action and our actions determine our life’s pathway.
Thinking Out Loud ~ Finding the Center
Joseph Campbell says in Reflections on the Art of Living, “I know when my life is not in the center. I get desirously involved with my relation to some achievement or system that is tangential to the real centering of my life. And I know when I am on track that is, when everything is in harmonious relationship to what I regard as the best I’ve got, and me. P. 72
Note: We know when our lives are spinning out of control. We’re stressed. We snap at folks we love. We’re not taking care of our physical and spiritual side. That’s why it’s important to set aside quiet time. A time to lower the body and mind’s speed limit. Once we bring our emotional speed limit down, we can center ourselves and regain a sense of peace.
Something to Think About ~ Give the Gift of Hope
Victor Frankl in Man’s Search for Meaning speaks of a man losing all hope, and when he had lost all hope, he died. Frankl says, “Those who know how close the connection is between the state of mind of a man, his courage, and hope, or lack of them, and the state of immunity in his body will understand that a sudden loss of hope and courage can have a deadly effect. . . . When speaking of his friend who died, Frankl said, “His faith in the future, and his will to live, had become paralyzed, and his body fell victim to illness. Woe to him who saw no more sense in his life, no aim, no purpose, and therefore no point in carrying on, he was so lost.” Pps 84-85
NOTE: One of the greatest gifts we can give each other is the gift of hope. Hope is the anchor to tomorrow. Hope gives us something to look forward to. It gives us something to wait with expectation of receiving. Hope is a gift of life. It is an emotional transfusion that reignites the life spark in a human being.
