Think Positive 30

The whole universe is change and life itself is but what you deem it. – Marcus Aurelius

Life is all about change.  Change is all around us – and we must change or risk losing everything by remaining stagnant.  It’s kind of like a stream or a river, constantly moving.  Once that river stops flowing, it forms a pool.  That pool may be beautiful to look at and enjoy at first, but eventually scum forms on the top, and the water slowly seeps away, leaving you with nothing but a muddy patch.  Don’t live your life like that – always staying the same.  Jump into the current of change and make your life something amazing.

Move to Trash

Three things in human life are important. The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. The third is to be kind. – Henry James

It’s something most of us are taught from childhood.  “Treat others the way you want to be treated.”  How many of us REALLY do it, at least when it matters?  It’s pretty simple and pretty easy to treat someone with kindness when things are going well.  When things aren’t going so well, or people are discourteous to us, that’s sometimes a different story.  It’s not easy to be kind when someone cuts you off on the highway, or grabs the last gallon of milk off the shelf in the grocery store when you go to reach for it .  I think thought, that’s when we need to be the most kind.  I’m not saying that you want to be a doormat or anything.  You are a strong individual and you should remain so, but when people are rude to you, or disrespectful, try to treat them with kindness.  It might make them turn around and realize that there is a better way to act.

Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength. – Corrie Ten Boom, author and human rights activist

I was at the doctor the other day for my yearly check up, and one of the questions she asked me was if I was worrying about anything.  How do you answer a question like that?  I don’t know of anybody that isn’t worrying about SOMETHING, be it finances, health, family, their job or a myriad of other subjects.  I gave her a simple generic answer and said yes, the same things that everyone else was, and we moved on to other subjects.  I started to wonder why she asked, if she wasn’t going to give me any strategies to deal with my worries.  Then, I started thinking some more.  There are no strategies to deal with worry other than don’t worry.  Seriously, worry doesn’t do ANY good at all.  It doesn’t change things, it certainly doesn’t fix them.  The only thing worry succeeds in doing is making things worse.  It saps your energy, increases your stress level and makes things seem worse than they already are.

I wish I could say I had a simple way to rid yourself of worry.  If I did, I’d market it and be a gazillionaire, but I don’t.  The only thing I can suggest is try and just put it aside.  Focus on the good things that are around you.  You know there are some, we’ve talked about that often enough   Focus on the good, the positive and the happy and try and let the worries just drift by the wayside.  You’ll be happier in the long run

Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming. – JohnWooden

It was recently mid-term exam week for both my own kids, and at the school where I teach.  Exam week is rough, the schedule is changed, and the students are required to regurgitate everything they learned during the semester in a 2 hour period.  Some people do very well at this, and some people do not, but the one thing I keep telling the kids is that as long as you have done the best you possibly can, you have succeeded.  They don’t quite get that.  They see their exam score, and their final grade, and they deem themselves a success or a failure based upon the number they see on the paper.

A number on  a piece of paper doesn’t make you a success or a failure.  Neither does owning a certain type of car, or having a vast amount of money in your bank account.  Real success comes from within.  It’s the joy you find in knowing you did something to the best of your ability.  Take pride in what you’ve done, and don’t measure it against somebody else’s yardstick.  The true measure of success comes from within.