Daily Inspiration 3-18-20

"I have learned silence from the talkative, 

toleration from the intolerant, 

and kindness from the unkind; 

yet strange, I am ungrateful to these teachers."

-- Kahlil Gibran 

New: Audio version

[Classic post from 11-5-15]

A while back I shared a quote by Albert K. Strong, that flows perfectly with Kahlil Gibran's quote above. It was this: "It's true, that out of diversity often will come conflict. Yet, it is just as true, that out of diversity will come harmony."

Consider this: Contrast and diversity are our best teachers. When stuff goes seemingly wrong, that is a great time to get EXCITED!

Here's another thing to consider: Maybe it's time to be grateful for the contrast and diversity, the trials and errors, the ups and downs, the ebb and flow going on in our lives. As Kahlil Gibran, in realizing that these contrasting situations and activities have taught him to appreciate something more in harmony with himself, he cannot help but have gratitude for their appearance in his life. He realizes that he has not been grateful and yet now that he realizes the value contained in them, he cannot help but be grateful.

I was out and about on errands yesterday blissfully enjoying myself and the beautiful day I was experiencing. At the bank, two girls were at their windows and I was floating in to take care of some business. One said that they were discussing the Pollyanna Principle and that is how they thought of me, and then she said that she feels like she gets a mini-therapy session whenever I come in. Wow. What nice things to say.

As I left the bank to walk Charlie (he loves to go for a walk around the bank), I was thinking about how few times in my life now that I have any negative thoughts worth considering, and how often I now pivot to a better way to see things when on the surface they may seem negative. I realized again that a happy life is simply choosing to see things as you want to see them.

A few days ago, I wrote about the sign on my wall of a quote from Abraham, Esther Hicks. It has now been there for years and yesterday I realized that I am pretty much living that now--so much more so than I realized before. It says, "Today, no matter where I am going and no matter what I am doing, it is my dominant intent to see that which I am wanting to see."

Getting excited about things that seem to go wrong, or be negative on the surface are miraculously changed by how we choose to see them. Just as Gibran realized his teachers were in that place, and that he learned to see their value to his growth, at some point he, as I have realized I now am, become excited about the bumps on the road of life.

Here's another way to see that. If you looked with a strong lens at the grooves in a vinyl record or even a CD, you would see all these little bumps. It is the bumps that is the music. Without the music, there would be no bumps.

Maybe we can look at life anew by seeing that the bumps are the music and without the bumps, there is no music. Maybe we could find joy in the bumps. Maybe we might even look forward with great anticipation of the bumps to come. Maybe we simply go with the flow and enjoy the whole of it all.


Which Brings Us Back To The Choice Being Strictly And Completely Up To Us. 

Spread Some Joy Today--May your highs be high, and your lows be higher.