Thursday, August 21, 2008

Today

Today

At the end of today, if it has been preoccupied with thoughts of enjoyment that might be coming, we will find that we have lost something valuable that will be gone forever. Today!

In hoping to be happy about something in the future, instead of being happy right now, we are missing out. We often want more time, more money for that new purchase, a better job, better health. The list may be long.

This is such a waste because there are probably many things to feel really good about each day. Unfortunately we are encouraged to dwell on things that we have yet to acquire. If we were bombarded with daily reminders of how lucky we are and how much we have to be happy about, we would retire at night with wonderful days behind us.

"No matter what looms ahead, if you can eat today, enjoy the sunlight today, mix good cheer with friends today, then enjoy it and bless God for it. Do not look back on happiness or dream of it in the future. You are only sure of today; do not let yourself be cheated of it." - Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1878)

Our day should be free of other stresses and worries. An analysis of a bad event that has happened, or may happen, can be worthwhile in determining a course of action. Beyond that, to continue worrying about it is a completely useless waste of time and is harmful to our health. Worry does not help the future experience and could make it worse, and the past cannot be changed.

"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could, some blunders and absurdities have crept in. Forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day." - Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

So enjoy yourself today because it is not coming back.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Friendship

Friendship

Interacting amiably with family and friends is a super stress reducer. Instead of the mind working overtime on worries and problems, it is occupied with thoughts of other things and other people. There is less mental capacity left for anxieties and self-doubt.

"Friendship improves happiness and abates misery by the doubling of our joy and the dividing of our grief." - Marcus Cicero (BC)

Good friendship is healthy but it isn't easy for everyone. Getting people to like you is the starting point, and that should be fairly easy to do. People have a basic need to be liked themselves. Show interest, appreciation, and kindness. Smile. Praise given out sincerely is a great act of friendship. Be a good listener and try to see the good, not the bad qualities in people. These actions will usually be returned to you, sooner or later.

"The only way to have a friend is to be one. . . A friend is a person with whom I may be sincere. Before him I may think aloud."  - Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

As a friend, try to let an unfavorable incident or remark fly right over the top of your head. We all blurt out something stupid or do something regrettable at times, and it's so nice when the other acts as if it never happened. This is a dear friend.

"The rule of friendship means there should be mutual sympathy between them, each supplying what the other lacks and trying to benefit the other, always using friendly and sincere words." - Buddha (BC)

Friendship

    * Proverbs 18:24
    * Proverbs 27:5-6

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Thoughts

Thoughts

Life is thought, and when we cease to think, we are not living. How we think, is the kind of life we live. Since we are able to control our thoughts, we can determine the course of our life and the way we feel during our time here.

"We are what we think." - Buddha (BC)

It is very important to establish good thinking guidelines and follow them. Placing thoughts of peace and happiness in our minds will help to make our lives peaceful and happy. If we do not set our thoughts properly, we travel through life by way of places where we will wish we had not gone.

"It is the mind that maketh good or ill, that maketh wretch or happy, rich or poor." - Edmund Spenser (1552-1599)

Our daily life includes thoughts associated with responsibilities concerning work, other people, and handling problems. If possible, try not to think of too many different things during your day, and don't move or think too quickly. Start your morning with a plan to come through to bedtime relaxed, contented, and ready for a restful night's sleep.

"Your own mind is a sacred enclosure into which nothing harmful can enter except by your permission." - Arnold Bennett (1867-1932)

Reflect about things that can improve your feelings - learning, completing tasks and duties, pleasant and relaxing experiences, kind words. Think about your happiness, goals, life and its pleasures, your principles and your conduct. Think about enjoying the moment.

"Garner up pleasant thoughts in your mind, for pleasant thoughts make pleasant lives." - John Wilkins (1614-1672)

What are you thinking about?

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

ANGER

Anger

Most of us experience anger at one time or another. Others may get angry with us, justifiably or not. We may become angry at others, sometimes with very good reason, sometimes not. One thing is for sure, it is not a pleasant experience.

We cannot always reason with those that are bitter towards us and sometimes we may need to accept that it exists. To counteract this with retaliation is something that needs careful consideration.

"Consider how much more you often suffer from your anger and grief, than from those very things for which you are angry and grieved." - Marcus Antonius

Perhaps we are guilty of hostility more than we would like to be. Greater interaction with people should reduce these feelings. Less anger should result in more confidence and less stress.

Is a discussion possible and is it worthwhile? A few words and an exchange of viewpoints might result in one or both sides having a change in attitude. Try to see another point of view no matter how unreasonable it appears.

Consider how you are feeling. It is common, perhaps good advice, to let anger be expressed, to not hold it inside. My personal experience is that sometimes I have regretted this because I was wrong or over reacted. Sometimes the anger still lingered. Avoiding anger in the first place, through conciliation or acceptance, can result in feeling better all around.

Hatred is a prolonged anger towards a fellow human. There are various forms of hatred, motivated in different ways, and mostly without cause. Prejudice, jealousy, gossip, bullying are hard to deal with. This is where friends can be a great help in trying to understand these harmful actions. They can offer comfort and foresight. Be a friend.

"Whatever is begun in anger, ends in shame." - Ben Franklin (1706-1790)

Angry or bitter

    * Romans 12:14-21
    * Ephesians 4:26-27

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Attitude

Attitude

We all face situations in our lives that cannot be changed and that make us feel helpless and hopeless. Perhaps it is less serious than that, but we are stressed and worried. It might be an event that has happened, is happening, or will happen.

It should provide some immediate comfort to consider that these situations do not directly cause these awful feelings, but it is what we think of these situations. Changing our thoughts can have an enormous effect on how we are feeling. This has been stated by many great minds, over very many years.

"I had the blues because I had no shoes until upon the street, I met a man who had no feet." - Ancient Persian Saying

By reviewing some of the good things in our lives, past and present, we can feel good even in what appears to be a very disturbing situation. As long as there is nothing we can do to fix a problem, dwelling on the negative aspects of it will only make us feel worse and will do absolutely no good. Since it all depends on what is in our thoughts, we can control this. 

"The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven." - John Milton (1608-1674)

So start listing the things in your life that make or have made you happy. Stuff your mind with other things that make you smile or laugh. Keep it up so as not to let the negative creep back in.

Study babies. They fall and get up and try again and again, and then they walk. They are usually always ready to laugh, at the littlest things. They are constantly interested in new things to learn about, and normally sleep well. If they brood about a bad experience it's not for long.

"Things turn out best for the people who make the best out of the way things turn out." - Art Linkletter

Attitude

    * Philippians 4:8
    * 1 Peter 4:10