Happy Birthday America!

Happy Belated Birthday America! I was inspired to write as I had a nice relaxing stroll through my neighborhood while watching the wildlife abound and the golfers having a relaxing time on the golf course. People were outside talking to each other and some were on their patios sipping their morning coffee! It was nice and then I got on my computer to read some news which I have to say was depressing, especially how some writers keep pounding in our heads how horrible it is to be an American and that America is horrible this, horrible that. I often ponder if the negative folks out there are conspiring daily to pull the other optimistic folks down? But, what is fantastic, is that an optimistic person can choose to be up or be pulled down. I'm not quite sure why people like to invoke fear in others when it's unnecesary? Now, do I think everything is rosy right now? No, the housing market is hurting and I have been very, very much affected by this, gas prices are high and people are sort of wondering what's going on. But, this is not the first time that markets have corrected, gas prices have soared, etc and it will not be the last time either. What is the positive? The housing market correcting allows the prices to fall so people can actually truly afford housing. I write this as I have personally been affected by about $250,000 myself, so it hurts, but will get through it. Gas prices being high sparks innovation and alternative fuels. I have no doubt that this is a fantastic wake up call and someday soon, there will be some little genius who figures out an alternative source and changes the world for the better! It's coming and this situation forces us all to change which is a great thing! The economy will correct and we will definitely be in a better place! I sure wish I could read about it more!! Am I proud to be an American? Yes and I'm proud to be part of humankind regardless of nationality!

A saying that hit home!

I read a saying today that was so right on point at some time in our life. The saying was, "God sometimes slams a door in our face in order to have us walk through another." That is so true and really parallels the lemons to lemonade saying. Basically, when we abruptly or over time reach a point in which we must go forward with what we have, we are forced to go down an unfamiliar journey which usually turns out to be wonderful. We leave a part of us behind the proverbial door that was shut, but are elated when that wonderful door opens for us again and brings along all the inspiration we all have inside us! When going through our journeys, we all doubt we can make it through, but over time, we always do and come out stronger and happier with another experience to draw upon. There is so much around each one of us to be happy and grateful for, its just a matter of seeing all the wonders that are around us everyday.

Simple Pleasures

Are the best things in life free? Many times they sure are! I am inspired to write this on a lazy Sunday afternoon writing outside on my patio and amazed at all the wildlife in my backyard and being appreciative of so many things.

So what are those simple pleasures? A lazy Sunday afternoon with not a care in the world, a dragonfly buzzing around while a butterfly dances in the breeze. A pond filled with teaming wildlife with the fish and turtles frolicking around. The birds singing and hearing laughter by the neighbors. Hearing a fountain trickle in the background. A caterpillar sitting comfortably while waiting for his transformation into a lovely butterfly. A quick thunderstorm that reminds us of how ominous nature is and giving the earth a little sip.

Remembering good times with family and friends and looking forward to great times to come. Being thankful for the people in your lives and the wonderful home you have. Small gestures of gratitude given to you and being sent by you. Looking at puffy clouds that bring a calmness to one.

There is plethora of small pleasures that make us feel lucky to be alive and appreciative of all we have.

Giving and receiving smiles is such a wonderful pleasure and it's free yet brings so many returns. A simple smile is contagious and automatically makes a person feel better! This pleasure may bring somebody out of a funk and you don't even know it. I love these little free treasures!

A saying I read today

"Create the kind of self you will be happy to live with all your life." This saying resonated in me because the person you are with 24/7 is yourself! So why not be the person who you can live with day in and day out? Some of us look at others and think about emulating that person. Now, perhaps there are some things that are truly not you, but for the most part, why can't we change to be who we feel is the best person we can be? The answer is, we CAN! We have control over some many things including many health issues, internal turmoil, relationship turmoil, and everything else. Once you decide that things are going to change, they will! Does that mean that you get healthy the next day, your relationships are all wonderful and life is perfect? No, but it means that this is the day you change. And it might mean perhaps things get a bit worse before they get better, but it's almost a guarantee that if you really want things to change for the better, you will succeed!! And I think one of the key points, don't do it alone......

Re: It's all good!

How do we know what we are supposed to do? When we are living a life that is moving along smoothly free of stress and anxiety. Knowing that one can handle all situations that come of our way and have an inner peace that all is good! We go with the flow and are not swimming upstream. There are people who live this day in and day out and usually people can sense that amazing energy and flock to be around the person with a true inner peace. They almost have an armor but actually they have no armor but just a knowing which is tougher than armor. To me, this is the ultimate to strive for and the barrier for most of us is to truly letting go. Letting go and trusting it's all OK and it's all good!!

Keeping centered

There are many situations and people in the world who may attempt to knock people out of balance. I think these are a tests to ensure we keep improving to stay in balance and be content and happy with who we are. They are situations and people who will continue to question one's actions or words, but again, I think these are tests for our self improvement and to really understand who we are and who we strive to be.

Encountering new people or new situations is a very exciting time with new opportunities to meet interesting people and learn from others. And sometimes we may have a person who we like but perhaps they may not feel the same towards you. And that's OK. Most likely there are 99% who like a person and then 1% who does not. But we focus on that 1% instead of appreciating the 99%. Who knows, perhaps the 1% can teach us the most?

It's an ever changing landscape and that is what makes each day unique and great to be alive!

All is well

When we look around at the good, we tend to see only good things and obviously the reverse of this statement is true as well. It seems that life would be far more enriching if we all choose to see the good is all situations versus identifying all that is bad in the situation. Like a new relationship, we tend to see only the good even though what we think is bad is there but we are only seeing good. Then over time, we start seeing and fixating on the bad. What happened to the good? It's still there, but we trained the mind to see things differently. We can train our mind to think whatever we want. Is everything easy and rosy? No, but we can take challenges and see this as a time to grow and learn and train our mind to see the good. The bottom line is that life is good and we create our own environments and circumstances by our thoughts.