Happiness now in honor of Sharon

[caro]

Vicki, you find the most intriguing stories! I read this and thought of the power of symbolism and
perception. Seeing deeper meanings. I want to have that awakened perception. To choose how I
see.

I have been reading Wayne Dyer lately and he said that when you change the way you look at something,
the thing you look at changes. And scientists have said this too in scientific terms. I am so curious about
this!

Love the inspiration on this beautiful thread!

 

[vickim]

I know something good of you

Wouldn't this old world be better

If the folks we meet would say,

I know something good about you!

And then treat us just that way?

Wouldn't it be fine and dandy

If each handclasp warm and true,

Carried with it this assurance,

I know something good about you!

Wouldn't life be lots more happy,

If the good that's in us all

Were the only thing about us

That folks bothered to recall?

Wouldn't life be lots more happy,

If we praised the good we see?

For there's such a lot of goodness

In the worst of you and me.

Wouldn't it be nice to practice

That fine way of thinking, too?

You know something good about me,

I know something good about you.



Shells New Cafeteria Near Capitol Hill Washington

Author Unknown

 

[caro]

This is one of my favorite poems ever. I will practice this all day, to see something
good in each person I encounter and comment on it when I can, or silently
to myself. And including myself. I am going to save this, I want to live by its wisdom.

I begin with my husband, on our anniversary this day. I so appreciate reading this, I
feel it in my soul!

 

[vickim]

I am thankful:-

for the wife
who says it's hot dogs tonight,
because she is home with me,
and not out with someone else.

For the husband
who is on the sofa
being a couch potato,
because he is home with me
and not out at the bars.

For the teenager
who is complaining about doing dishes
because it means she is at home, not on the streets.
For the taxes i pay
because it means i am employed .

For the mess to clean after a party
because it means i have been surrounded by friends.

For the clothes that fit a little too snug
because it means i have enough to eat.
For my shadow that watches me work
because it means i am out in the sunshine

for a lawn that needs mowing,
windows that need cleaning,
and gutters that need fixing
because it means i have a home .
For all the complaining
i hear about the government
because it means we have freedom of speech.
For the parking spot
i find at the far end of the parking lot
because it means i am capable of walking
and i have been blessed with transportation .
For my huge heating bill
because it means i am warm.
For the lady behind me in church who sings off key
because it means i can hear .

For the pile of laundry and ironing
because it means i have clothes to wear.

For weariness and aching muscles at the end of the day
because it means i have been capable of working hard.
For the alarm that goes off
in the early morning hours
because it means i am alive.
And finally, for too much e-mail
because it means i have friends who are thinking of me.

 

[caro]

I really appreciate being reminded of gratitude, how it colors everything. I really
needed to read this today. When I actively practice gratitude I feel so much
more connected to God, seeing opportunities in the moment.

I realize from reading this that I had drifted away from this as an active commitment,
even as I recently had felt such a benefit. So, this day I recommit to myself, so grateful
to have read this!

 

[vickim]

The following is the philosophy of Charles Schultz, the creator of the "Peanuts" comic strip.
You don't have to actually answer the questions.
Just read straight through, and you'll get the point.

1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.

2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.

3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America.

4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.

5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winner for best actor and
actress.

6. Name the last decade's worth of World Series winners.


The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday. These are no second-rate achievers. They are the best in their fields. But the
applause dies. Awards tarnish. Acheivements are forgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.

See how you do on this one:

1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.

2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.

3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.

4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.

5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.



The point is the people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards.
They are the ones that care.

 

[caro]

Vick you are on a roll, finding such uplifting readings that shift perspectives on
what really matters! Kindness and presence is what I remember and I am really
grateful to be reminded of these qualities. I have always had a tendency to
compare myself with others using "credentials" and I love how this radically
changes that focus.

May I choose this as my overall purpose ~ to uplift others and myself. I have been
too in my head lately and this feels so much better. I am grateful to have read it!

 

[Green Queen]

Wayne and I are back in perth. We are flying home in the morning. It means another early start but that's fine. I just want to go home. Hug my kids. See my animals.
The knowledge that I have a diagnosis won't change my life really. It will just mean when I'm sad I'll know what I'm sad about.
We had a lovely time away I must admit. But home is really the best place in the world.
God bless, Janelle x

 

[vickim]

Jerry is the manager of a restaurant. He is always in a good mood.
When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would always reply:
"If I were any better, I would be twins!"
Many of the waiters at his restaurant quit their jobs when he changed jobs, so they could follow him around from restaurant to restaurant. Why?
Because Jerry was a natural motivator.
If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was always there, telling him how to look on the positive side of the situation.
Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him
"I don't get it! No one can be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?"
Jerry replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, I have two choices today.
I can choose to be in a good mood or I can choose to be in a bad mood.
I always choose to be in a good mood.
Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be victim or I can choose to learn from it.
I always choose to learn from it.
Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life.
I always choose the positive side of life."
"But it's not always that easy,' I protested.
"Yes it is," Jerry said.
"Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk every situation is a choice.
You choose how you react to situations.
You choose how people will affect your mood.
You choose to be in a good mood, or bad mood.
It's your choice how you live your life."
Several years later, I heard that Jerry accidentally did something you are never supposed to do in any business.
He left the back door of his restaurant open and he was robbed by three armed men.
While Jerry was trying to open the safe box for the robbers his hand, shaking from nervousness, slipped off the combination.
The robbers panicked and shot him.
Luckily, Jerry was found quickly and rushed to the hospital.
After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body.
I saw Jerry about six months after the accident.
When I asked him how he was, he replied, "If I were any better, I'd be twins.
Want to see my scars?"
I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the robbery took place.
"The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked the back door," Jerry replied.
"Then, after they shot me, as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices:
I could choose to live or could choose to die. I chose to live."
"Weren't you scared' I asked?
Jerry continued, "The paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine.
But when they wheeled me into the Emergency Room and I saw the expression on the faces of the doctors and nurses.
I got really scared.
In their eyes, I read 'He's a dead man. I knew I needed to take action."
"What did you do?" I asked.
"Well, there was a big nurse shouting questions at me," said Jerry. "She asked if I was allergic to anything."
'Yes, bullets', I replied.
Over their laughter, I told them: 'I am choosing to live. Please operate on me as if I am alive, not dead.'
Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude.
I learned from him that every day you have the choice to either enjoy your life, or to hate it.
The only thing that is truly yours - that no one can control or take from you '
is your attitude, so if you can take care of that, everything else in life becomes much easier.

 

[Green Queen]

Vicki that's awesome. I always say to my kids they have a choice in everything. One of the options may not be what they want but it's still a choice.
My son Connor is definitely a glass half full kind of kid. I have a lot to learn from him.
God bless, Janelle x

 

[caro]

Welcome home dear Janelle! Always so happy to see you here. The way you speak
of being home really touched me. I love that your Connor is a glass half full
person, and how it goes with this amazing story....

And I LOVE this story and how it highlights the places, the turning points of making a choice of
attitude. Having the presence of mind to know that you are at a decision point, and to
choose gratitude. To make oneself into a glass half-full person by conscious choices! I
feel so inspired by this. As I consciously practice gratitude I see that I get better at
actually feeling it. This story speaks to what happens with a long habit of this, the
way it deeply changes a person.

I take away from this story the power of choice and the power of being in the moment.
Combining gratitude with presence and giving the rest over to God for guidance. I am
enriched by reading this and inspired to keep up my commitment to myself...thank you!

 

[vickim]

“Bottom line is, even if you see 'em coming, you're not ready for the big moments. No one asks for their life to change, not really. But it does. So what are we, helpless? Puppets? No. The big moments are gonna come. You can't help that. It's what you do afterwards that counts. That's when you find out who you are.”
― Joss Whedon

“We can't be afraid of change. You may feel very secure in the pond that you are in, but if you never venture out of it, you will never know that there is such a thing as an ocean, a sea. Holding onto something that is good for you now, may be the very reason why you don't have something better.”
― C. JoyBell C.

“Sometimes, however much you plan, however many precautions you take, something happens, and in a minute the world is changed. After that, you’re the person on the other side of that minute.”
― Frederick Weisel

“If you want the rainbow, you have to deal with the rain.”
― John Green

 

[Green Queen]

Vicki, I must be 'with it', because I know Joss Whedon is tied up with the Avengers franchise, which is awesome by the way. Such very wise words from a man whom you would assume has never grown up, considering the type of shows and movies he creates and produces.
The trouble is, do I want to know who I am? Do I want the world to know who I am? I used to be quite happy, blending in. Now I feel all eyes on me, all the time. I guess I do know who I am. Because it doesn't matter who's looking, it's shoulders back, head up and carry on.

Also John Green is Carrahs favourite author. I thought he must be...old...he's very eloquent. His words have so affected carrah, she marks her favourite quotes in all his books. There's been a lot of rain this past 18 months, but the closeness we now share as a family is the best rainbow ever.

Jayne, you are so inspirational. Practicing gratitude. I'm going to borrow that from you if you don't mind...what a beautiful way to enrich ones own life. Thanks for sharing that thought.

God bless, Janelle x

 

[vickim]

This is amazing....it is written by a 14 year old. Read it from top to bottom first and then read it from bottom to top.

 

[caro]

Vicki, that is my absolute favorite turn around story~affirmation ever! I need to read
that everyday. To live that way, speaking these truths to ourselves and changing our
beliefs to the power of our inner light; I am so humbled and amazed reading that a 14
year old wrote this! This is a real gift.

Janelle, speaking of gifted children, I am always so touched by what you say about your
children, they have such depth of heart. And the way you speak of the rainbow around
your family, I love the reverence. And that you want to practice gratitude, I am with you
my friend.

In my commitment to practicing active gratitude, I had a special experience. I was feeling very
low and worried about my child, and so I spoke to her in my mind, many times during the
day these last two days, speaking of love and what I love about her and sending her light.
Seeing her in light, I saw it. It radically changed my day. I am recommitting to this path
again today; deep gratitude and affirmations of inner light.