"Feeling good is important, or it's not.
Only you can choose which for you."
-- Albert K Strong
My Life Lessons
This is a series of revelations about my life that I am sharing with others for what it may be worth. These come from a lifetime of study and experience of others and myself, and I now translate them to words. These will be numbered; however, they are not in order of importance as all are equally important. It is just a way for me to keep track of them in this series. I hope you find value in them.
Life Lesson #6
Only I can make myself happy. No other person has the power to make me happy.
Earl Nightingale, one of my early mentors, said it very nicely: "Learn to enjoy every minute of your life. Be happy now. Don't wait for something outside of yourself to make you happy in the future. Think how really precious is the time you have to spend, whether it's at work or with your family. Every minute should be enjoyed and savored."
I was having lunch with a friend today, and somehow we got on the topic of goals. I said that now my one overall goal is joy. He didn't seem to think that was a goal, but as we discussed the idea it seemed to make more sense to the point that he began to agree with it.
I said that at the top of my to-do list every day now is, enjoy myself! And it has been on that list for time enough now that I think about enjoying myself all day long. It doesn't matter one iota what is going on in my life, or how others around me are feeling. I am the only one--yes, the ONLY ONE that can make me happy. I practice it all day long by doing simple things while I'm doing chores, or work tasks, or driving somewhere, etc.
As I was going to my lunch appointment today, I was behind a person turning left onto a major road. As soon as they negotiated the corner, they stopped briefly. I thought, "Wow! I've never ever seen that done before. That was strange and interesting. I wonder what caused them to make that move?" Then, I was laughing with joy and having a great time enjoying that amazing maneuver. I might be working on the computer and then desire a little break, and I will go watch the birds take a bath in the birdbath, or walk out into the back yard or maybe I'll just sit in my recliner for a bit and think enjoyable thoughts.
One of the things that came up today was the idea of stress and being under stress, as if that was something that someone else gave him or created for him to deal with. I hear that often from a lot of people. Stress is self-inflicted 100% of the time. It is purely how we are thinking about a situation or event. That emotion of stress, or often more likely, frustration is an excellent indicator of our thoughts. Our emotions don't tell us what to think. They tell us what we are thinking. Change the thought, change the emotion.
Often we think that if only the events would change I would feel better. Or, if only the right person was my mate, I would be happy or happier. It is never things outside of ourselves. They cannot create happiness or joy in us. Only we can do that for ourselves by what we are thinking, how we are thinking about someone else, or an event. We are 100% in charge.
Another thing that came up today was how to have joy show up. There is only one way: Choose it. Again, it cannot come from outside, only from the inside. We can choose joy, enthusiasm, love, appreciation, and such by thinking thoughts that cause those emotions. I find that the fastest, easiest and surest way to find joy, or be happy is to find things to appreciate. And here's the key: They are all around me and always have been every single moment and day of my life. I wasn't always paying attention. Now I give it most of my attention!
"You See, You're Giving Others Too Much Power As You Even Acknowledge How They Make You Feel. What You've Got To Decide Is How I'm Going To Feel." -- Abraham, Esther Hicks
Spread Some Joy Today--It operates the same way as spreading sadness, only infinitely better feeling!
No comments:
Post a Comment