Much of Mary's shtick is based on her awareness of how important it is to know that our NOW is a self-creation. It comes to us blank, unformatted, like a new out-of-the-case CD. What we write on it is entirely of our own making. Mary is also an adept at creating the space where we can plan to be happy...we set the tone for any particular day or time-frame by visioning what we want, and then opening ourselves to the space where it's happening. We filter out the stuff that isn't relevant to us, keeping only what we need to grow.
Sometimes, what we need to grow are the challenging moments. There are plenty available for us to use, heavens knows, but they are small components of our whole, not the whole itself. Important distinction.
I received an email the other day from Mary's marketing machine reminding me again of how important it is to plan to be happy. OK - I know this - Happiness begins with a decision— a recognition, a choice. Check out this little story...
A 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud man, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o’clock, with his hair fashionably combed and shaved perfectly, even though he is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today. His wife of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary. After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, he smiled sweetly when told his room was ready. As he maneuvered his walker to the elevator, one of the staff members provided a visual description of his tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on his window.
“I love it,” he stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy.
“Mr. Jones, you haven’t seen the room; just wait!!”
“That doesn’t have anything to do with it,” he replied. “Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn’t depend on how the furniture is arranged. It’s how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it. It’s a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do. Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open, I’ll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I’ve stored away. Just for this time in my life.”
What a powerful attitude this is. Why not start building your happy memories today by choosing to be happy. Take charge of your thoughts today. It’s not your mind if you allow anyone and any media to fill it indiscriminately. It’s not your choice if you’re choosing between the options programmed for you to choose between. It’s past time to become the programmer of your own mind. To own happiness you must first get beyond all those negative thoughts and feelings that have been foisted upon you as a part and parcel of your enculturation.
Begin today by finding the good in all if it requires saying to yourself, “I can’t wait to see what good comes from this.” There will always be something good to be gained. I promise you. Hold onto that gratitude attitude. Let your attitude be infectious. Help another and the speed by which happiness arrives will be accelerated.
Do a good deed every day and you will glue that happiness to you. Random acts of kindness and beauty...today your mission is to create one of each - even better, do it with the power of your mind alone.
No comments:
Post a Comment