Goodness

A bunch of positive thoughts to get us through the day:

First: “A good friend knows all your best stories.

            A best friend has lived them with you.

            See the difference?”

As I live my life I’ve met many interesting people. I usually cannot tell which will be very special to me. Or how long it may take to realize their specialness. But it happens anyway. One day I wake up to know that person, that one, right there, is indeed very important to me. He or she helps me understand the random happenings. Making sense of ideas is so much clearer with the routine interaction with this person. Some people have minds that jump to connection with yours, almost instantly. I can barely believe it is happening – the synchronization of thoughts, feelings, awareness of meaning. Like magic our brains are working together. And we laugh! Oh how we laugh. Surely this is a best friend?

How many do we have?

Second: from Doe Zantamata,

            “Keep your chin up. No one expected you to save the world,

            Otherwise you would have been born wearing a cape and tights.

            Just do the best you can.”

The intake nurse at the alcohol rehab center told me bluntly: “You don’t have to drive the bus when you are a rider.” Lucky me! I had a witness to this exchange. And he reminds me of it from time to time, usually as I’m driving my own car down the street. He casually states the obvious: “You’re driving the bus again!”

Don’t do that. Others are responsible for themselves, what they do. I’m in charge of what I do, my life. Meanwhile, toil in your own garden and let the others pull their own weeds. Last I checked, I had no cape and certainly no tights! God. No tights. Ever! They look so bad on me.

Third: from Knowmyworth.com,

            “Note to self:

            I am doing the best I can with what I have in this moment.

            And that is all I can expect of anyone, including me!”

These quotes are taking on a pattern. That’s nice. We need patterns. They provide resonance and lessons underscored for clear meaning. If I allow myself the freedom to be, in all my strengths and weaknesses, then surely I can do the same for others. They are doing their best. Am I?

Fourth: Deepak Chopra,

            “Be happy for no reason, like a child.

            If you are happy for a reason, you’re in trouble,

            Because that reason can be taken from you.”

Take the time to examine the moment. It is rich within itself. Value it. It contains much that we can use and appreciate. Chopra has it right. Happiness can be taken from us easily by others. Best to find the things that are timeless. They provide endless joy and reward.

Fifth: Kenneth Overton,

             “You will always lose when trying to please everyone.

            The only way you win is if you’re pleased with yourself!”

Surely you know this. Surely I know this. But do I remember? Perhaps the greatest failing I have is and has been the urge to please others. That is like climbing a greased pole. The task of pleasing the self is hard enough but doable. Tend to it.

Sixth: Anonymous,

            “I am aware that I am less than some people prefer me to be,

            But most people are unaware that I am so much more than what they see.”

Missing the good stuff in all the details of life. So easy to do. It is not a needle in a haystack, though. It is there for the looking. If we cannot find it we have lost it to the act of judging. Avoid judging; find the good that stares out at us from all directions!

There is much to be grateful for. Being open to it is the first step in finding it.

July 18, 2012