Imagine you’re walking across a river on a solid plank. The plank is two feet (61cm) wide. The distance across the river is 200 feet (61 m). What will happen if you walk on the plank looking over your left shoulder at the receding shoreline? I hope you can swim. To get safely across the river we focus ahead knowing where we will place each succeeding step. When we constantly look back in life, we can’t get ahead. If we focus on where we want to go, we initiate the parts of our brain that create our desired future, set goals, and problem solve to increase our chances of success. Yesterday is over. Today is what we have. Tomorrow is where we are going.
thoughts
Today’s Thought: You Have a Future
I was watching a movie last night. One of the characters was in prison awaiting parole and looking forward to getting back together with his girlfriend. A fellow inmate asked him, “What are you going to do when you get out?” He responded, “I hope we can live a normal life and we have a future.” I think those words apply to most of us especially the words “and we have a future.” We all need something to look forward to; something that stirs our anticipations of what awaits us. If we can catch a glimpse of what a hope-filled future has in store for us, we’ll have the determination and courage to knock our challenges down as we walk toward our future. I hope you have a hope filled future and nothing can prevent you from realizing it in the present moment.
Conquering Unwanted Thoughts: Strategies for a Peaceful Mind
What are you thinking about today? Do you have days where some event or person grabs hold of your mind and refuses to leave? I have. The best way I’ve learned to deal with unwanted thoughts that want to hang out with me is to ignore them. I tell the intrusive thoughts (literally) to enjoy the visit but I’m too busy to have a conversation with them. It seems the more we grapple with with our intrusive thoughts, the stronger or more intense the unwanted thoughts get. It’s a lot like having a conversation with someone you know who wants to argue. If you give in and start arguing, the whole thing escalates. It’s exactly what this person wants. I faced this situation a few weeks back when I met a friend at one of my shopping venues. The conversation started out smoothly then he tossed a political topic out. It was gentle enough but the answer I gave him was not the answer he wanted. He escalated it. I said, “I don’t want to have this discussion. I’m going to be on my way. Have a great day.” I left. I saw him two days later and we had another conversation without him delving into politics. I’ll admit I could have tried to change the topic; however, it’s not a smooth transition from politics to how do you make homemade salsa.
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.
Today’s Thought: Discover the Magician in You
I have a professional magician friend. He’s very good. He’ll ask me to come to his house so he can practice one of his new tricks on me. Every once in a while he’ll show me how he made the “magic” happen. It’s clever. He builds his own tricks and sells them to magicians across the globe. Most of us are not magicians, but there are things we do that others might consider in the realm of magic. My mom, for example, could make the best tasting pasta fazool (Italian bean soup). She’d never give up the recipe. How she did it is a mystery. I had a colleague who could tell a story about going out for breakfast and eating a bagel and cream cheese and turn this story into page turner. What’s your magic? Surely you have something others can’t do; yet, it comes natural to you.
Today’s Thought: It Amazes Me
Some things amaze me. Driving through the city is one of the things that amazes me. Each day when I’m driving, the overwhelming majority of people are driving safely. For the most part, there are no police around. How amazing is this? People stop at red lights. People let those in crosswalks cross the street. Yes, there are stories of road rage, and we all see people running a red light. Most of the time, we’re working together to safely get to where we want to go. It’s one of the things we take for granted, but it is a big deal. It illustrates that when we care for each other life becomes less stressful.
Today’s Inspiring Quote: How to Deal with Thoughts
Leave your front door and your back door open.
Allow your thoughts to come and go.
Just don’t serve them tea.
Today’s Inspiring Quote: We Become What We Think
If you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely. ~ Roald Dahl
Happy Thought ~ A Poem by Robert Louis Stevenson
Happy Thought
Robert Louis Stevenson
The world is so full of a number of things,
I’m sure we should all be as happy as kings.
