Stress can blindside us. We’re coasting along, bopping our head to our favorite tunes when, out of the blue, it happens. An event stresses us out. We forget about the music we were listening to. We forget about the good mood we were in. All we think about is the stressor event. It may not even be a big event. A co-worker passes by and makes a snide remark. Your mom calls and wants to know why you haven’t called. Or, it could be one of the biggys. It’s easy for a friend to say, “let it go” when you know you can’t. It easy to hear advice that tells you to deep breath and you know you don’t have time for that stuff. The way I see it, you’re being human. Being human means we have to buckle up and ride out the bumpy parts of the ride. I’ve learned I can’t avoid stressors. I’ve also learned I don’t have to go looking for them. I’ll let them find me.
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Today’s Thought: At Life’s Crossroads
“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” ― Viktor E. Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning
NOTE: I have a friend who has an addiction. My friend’s addiction is clear to those who love him. It is not clear at all to my friend. He claims he can handle his addiction. His addiction is now affecting him physically. He refuses to see the association between his addiction and his physical problems. He sets up a protective wall around himself that only those who act co-dependently can enter. He’s at a crossroads in his life. As Frankl points out, he is being challenged to change himself. Each of us will find ourselves in situations we cannot change. We can fight those situations and find ourselves increasingly frustrated or we can turn our attention inwards and ask, “How can I change what I am doing now so that I end the suffering I am imposing on myself and act in ways that will improve my life?”
Thinking Out Loud ~ Know the Why and Bear Almost Any How
Victor Frankl in Man’s Search for Meaning spoke of two prisoners who were considering committing suicide. In talking with the men, he helped them discover meaning in their lives. Tor one man, it was his child who waiting for him in a safe country. And for the other, it was the completion of a scientific book that he hadn’t finished . . . . Frankl said, “A man who becomes conscious all the responsibility he bears towards a human being, who affectionately waits for him, or to an unfinished work, will never be able to throw away his life. He knows the “why” of his existence and will be able to bear almost any “how.” Pps. 87-87
NOTE: It takes heaps of courage to stop living for one’s self and to live for others. Once that leap is made and life instantly changes. One becomes an instrument of love, healing, and inspiration. The leap of courage is one of stepping out of one’s silo and daring to engage the world.
Inspiring Quote for Today ~ The Power of Imagination
Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.
Positive Thought of the Day ~ Dream Big Dreams
“It is better to have dreamed a thousand dreams that never were than never to have dreamed at all.” ~ Alexander Pushkin
NOTE: Dream, Dream, and Dream some more. Keep dreaming. Make your dreams big, bold, bodacious dreams. Let your dreams pull you into tomorrow. If one dreams fails, take on another and another. One day you’ll be happy you did and you’ll soar higher and higher.
Inspiring quote of the Day ~ A Path to Happiness
“Happiness is when what you thin, what you say, ad why do are i harmony.
~ Mahatma Gandhi
Think About It ~ Make This the Year You Don’t Quit
How are your New Year’s resolutions going? Are you hanging tough with exercise, dieting, or whatever? Many resolutions are quickly forgotten. We find them difficult after a few days or weeks and slip. It won’t hurt to indulge once, right? My mom claimed it was alway alright to indulge on special occasions. I enjoyed the way she invented special occasions – LOL. The thing is, so you failed, big deal. You can begin again. There is no written rule that one cannot begin again after a failure. Make this the year you get up, shake it off and begin again. If your resolution was important enough to make. It is important enough to pursue. Don’t quit. Fight on, You can do it.
Think About It ~ The Fog Will Lift
Have you every driven or walked through fog so thick you could barely see ten feet (3 meters) in front of you? I have, many times. I grew up fairly close to the Atlantic Ocean where, at times, the fog was thick enough to slice it with a knife. Walking is fine, but driving can be scary. Life is like that when troubles surround us and there is no apparent end in sight. In the same manner as negotiating our way through a dense fog, it is time to slow down until the fog lifts. It will lift, it always does. Our troubles will go away, they always do. We have to have the tenacity to stay the course, move slower, be careful of our steps, and move confidently knowing our troubles will lift away and we will once again have smooth sailing.
Think About It ~ Listening Holds Great Benefits
It takes time to listen. In today’s fast-paced world we often set aside listening to pursue what has our immediate attention. Yet, when we listen to others, we hear their stories and discover how much their stories are similar to ours. We discover, in spite of differences of thought, we share a common set of values and aspirations. We discover we share common stores of joy, love, laughter, and sorrow. As we share our stories our respect for each other deepens.
Today’s Power Thought ~ How Are You Setting Your GPS
I’m happy I can use Apple maps or Google maps when I’m driving to an unfamiliar place. I plug in the address and my iPhone takes car of the rest. I get turn by turn directions to my destination. Life’s not quite as easy. We have to figure out our directions as we’re traveling on life’s road. There are twists and turns, washout roads and bridges and detours. At each juncture we have to make a decision to go ahead or turn. There is no surety in our decisions. What to do? For me, I pray, then confidently act believing everything will turn out.
