"Everything that happens, happens for a reason."
Ever hear that saying? That's a good, solid, empowering belief because it puts a person back in control of the event. Stuff happens, you then get busy searching for its reason. Yes, a good, solid, empowering belief -- I just don't happen to believe it.
Sure, things happen, that's what things do. But I don't believe they happen for a reason. I don't believe life's events have hidden in them any inherent reason for their existence.
What happens, happens. You give it a reason.
That's where your power comes from. You decide how to make the most of whatever has gone on in your life not by saying "poor, poor pitiful me" or looking outward for a reason from some celestial teacher, but by giving events a reason that you can use to move forward. "What can I learn from this?" is the most empowering question to ask of life's events. Maybe you're not supposed to learn any lesson -- but you can learn one if you choose.
Lesson: Events don't happen to teach you something; they just happen. Learning is yours to seek out.
The all-leather, NFL-regulation football, inscribed -- 1963 Chicago Bears
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
THINKIN', THINKIN', BO BLINKIN'
The old saying, "We are what we think about most," fascinates me.
If I took that statement literally in a very short time I would become a double martini, shaken not stirred. But I don't imagine that's what the sages meant. I believe they meant when you think about something you program your subconscious mind, which directs your automatic bodily responses, to do what it takes to make your thoughts your reality.
But…
If you are what you think about most, wouldn't the converse also be true, "You are not what you don't think about?" And due to the limited mental capacities and interests of us humans we don't think about more things than we think about. So you leave a lot of what could potentially make a much better you unthought about. Think about that.
Lesson: Every time you think about something, you're not thinking about everything else that could be thought about.
If I took that statement literally in a very short time I would become a double martini, shaken not stirred. But I don't imagine that's what the sages meant. I believe they meant when you think about something you program your subconscious mind, which directs your automatic bodily responses, to do what it takes to make your thoughts your reality.
But…
If you are what you think about most, wouldn't the converse also be true, "You are not what you don't think about?" And due to the limited mental capacities and interests of us humans we don't think about more things than we think about. So you leave a lot of what could potentially make a much better you unthought about. Think about that.
Lesson: Every time you think about something, you're not thinking about everything else that could be thought about.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
FLY ME TO THE MOON
It's not the lions. We can handle the lions. It's those darn pesky Stomoxys calcitrans.
An article taken off the web introduced me to the dreaded "Bloodsucking flies of Tanzania" (a.k.a. Stomoxys calcitrans). It seems these flies were responsible for killing six lions and seriously injuring sixty-two others. According to a conservationist "The flies bite the lions then keep biting their wounds, inflicting a lot of pain and traumatizing them. The lions are dying of trauma."
It's not the big things. We can handle the big thing. It's those darn pesky flies.
Forgot to set the alarm (fly).
No time for coffee (fly).
Dog poop on the carpet (fly).
Heavy traffic (fly).
Unplanned meeting (fly).
Underwear riding up (fly)
Cell phone battery running down (fly)
Excessive overtime (fly)
Daughter dating the purple-haired guy (fly)
At the end of the day, when you've swatted your last fly (spouse has a headache), you drop into bed exhausted. You're so uptight you realize you're breathing like your dog on a hot July afternoon, your shoulders are up around your ears, and you haven't blinked since last Tuesday.
The best use of our time for reducing the pressures we're exposed to everyday is not to bag our lions, but to manage our flies.
Life is made up of flies, both the bloodsuckerflies and the butterflies. Get used to it. When life throws you into a swarm of Stromos, breath deeply, relax, and laugh. When encountering an abundance of butterflies, delight in the flying flower, smile like the kid you are, and know just how good you have it right now.
Lesson: Don't sweat the big stuff, it's the little stuff that will drop you
to your knees.
An article taken off the web introduced me to the dreaded "Bloodsucking flies of Tanzania" (a.k.a. Stomoxys calcitrans). It seems these flies were responsible for killing six lions and seriously injuring sixty-two others. According to a conservationist "The flies bite the lions then keep biting their wounds, inflicting a lot of pain and traumatizing them. The lions are dying of trauma."
It's not the big things. We can handle the big thing. It's those darn pesky flies.
Forgot to set the alarm (fly).
No time for coffee (fly).
Dog poop on the carpet (fly).
Heavy traffic (fly).
Unplanned meeting (fly).
Underwear riding up (fly)
Cell phone battery running down (fly)
Excessive overtime (fly)
Daughter dating the purple-haired guy (fly)
At the end of the day, when you've swatted your last fly (spouse has a headache), you drop into bed exhausted. You're so uptight you realize you're breathing like your dog on a hot July afternoon, your shoulders are up around your ears, and you haven't blinked since last Tuesday.
The best use of our time for reducing the pressures we're exposed to everyday is not to bag our lions, but to manage our flies.
Life is made up of flies, both the bloodsuckerflies and the butterflies. Get used to it. When life throws you into a swarm of Stromos, breath deeply, relax, and laugh. When encountering an abundance of butterflies, delight in the flying flower, smile like the kid you are, and know just how good you have it right now.
Lesson: Don't sweat the big stuff, it's the little stuff that will drop you
to your knees.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
ALIVE AND WELL, OR BORED AS HELL
Prioritize:
( ) Be alive and realize there's nothing you want to do.
( ) Be dying and know there is more you want to do.
( ) Be dying and realize there's nothing you want to do.
( ) Be alive and know there is more you want to do.
If you view life as I do, you choose as your number one priority being alive and knowing there is more you want to do and as number four dying with more to do. Those choices are easy to understand. But as your second priority did you chose being alive with nothing to do or did you choose to check out of a boring, uneventful, meaningless life?
Lesson: Living or dying are much the same if you don't have anything you want to do.
( ) Be alive and realize there's nothing you want to do.
( ) Be dying and know there is more you want to do.
( ) Be dying and realize there's nothing you want to do.
( ) Be alive and know there is more you want to do.
If you view life as I do, you choose as your number one priority being alive and knowing there is more you want to do and as number four dying with more to do. Those choices are easy to understand. But as your second priority did you chose being alive with nothing to do or did you choose to check out of a boring, uneventful, meaningless life?
Lesson: Living or dying are much the same if you don't have anything you want to do.
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