Boy, if I could go back to yesterday and re-live some of my parenting of my children, I would love to do that. As we get older, we seem to be a little wiser and I would love to have the opportunity to raise my children with the wisdom that I now possess, realizing that loving them and with a small amount of discipline (tailored to each child) would be the most important thing I could do for them. That yelling and anger have no place in raising children. Oh, how I wish......but, once we have completed our tasks in life, we cannot re-do them. I did do the very best I could raising my children and that's all I can do. If my inadequacy has left them with problems in their adult life, they will have to work their way through it and I wish them the very best. Fortunately, I am on speaking terms with all my children and am grateful for that.
I have spent a lot of time regretting, and I can't seem to get past that but it certainly is a waste of energy. You know, out of everything we go through in life...good or bad...we can learn something from it. Sometimes, it takes a while to get a clear view of what was positive out of an awful situation. But, it's there for your learning.
I used to spend a lot of time trying to find the answer to being happy and here's what I discovered. If you are grateful for the smallest things and chose to think about those good things and repeat those good things that happen to you, you will find happiness. If you serve others and forget about yourself, you will find happiness. If, on the other hand, you chose to talk about the negative things that happen to you and look for justice (that never comes) you will be unhappy. You must forgive and you must be positive and you must serve others to truly be happy. Forgiving others is so important. Being angry and hateful is a physical thing that hurts you, so you forgive those that have crossed your way because it is good for you, not them, YOU. It's good for you to forgive others. Happiness is a something you do....it's not something that comes to you automatically. You make your own happiness...it's a mechanical thing. Smile and you're happy, frown and you're sad. No brainer.....smile.
I was driving along one day and another driver cut me off. I was angry about that and was sitting in my car sputtering about it when all of a sudden I realized that I was letting this person ruin my day and it just sort of seemed silly after I thought about it....why should I give them that much power over me. So I put a mechanical smile on my face and within seconds, that mechanical smile was a real smile and all the anger was gone and I was so happy realizing that little decision to mechanically change an outward appearance, changed my inward feeling. How wonderful.
We used to live in the northwest and the surrounding landscapes were beautiful. It was green and lush and without reservation, beautiful. We moved to the desert and I had to look for the beauty that lives here. Even though the beauty isn't as apparent in the desert, it's there....you just have to look for it. The skies are blue and dotted with white clouds, the mountains are red. There's no green lush beauty here but there is beauty here none-the-less. In all of life, if we look for the good and the positive and the not-so-apparent beauty, we will find it and we will be much happier having found it.
Now, we that are older have a few more problems than we did when we were younger....but the answers are the same. If we dwell on our aches and pains, we will just have to live through it but if we dwell on helping our neighbor or writing positive letters to our grandchildren to tell them how much we love them, or if we volunteer in the community, we will forget about ourselves a little and we really will be happier. If you can't think of anything you can do, ask someone to help you come up with ideas to keep you involved with the community and your family. It can be done and you will be happier for making the effort.
So, I guess what I am saying is that enjoying life and things that surround us don't just happen....we may have to look for it...but, it's there, or in other words....take time to smell the roses. It will be worth it.
I have spent a lot of time regretting, and I can't seem to get past that but it certainly is a waste of energy. You know, out of everything we go through in life...good or bad...we can learn something from it. Sometimes, it takes a while to get a clear view of what was positive out of an awful situation. But, it's there for your learning.
I used to spend a lot of time trying to find the answer to being happy and here's what I discovered. If you are grateful for the smallest things and chose to think about those good things and repeat those good things that happen to you, you will find happiness. If you serve others and forget about yourself, you will find happiness. If, on the other hand, you chose to talk about the negative things that happen to you and look for justice (that never comes) you will be unhappy. You must forgive and you must be positive and you must serve others to truly be happy. Forgiving others is so important. Being angry and hateful is a physical thing that hurts you, so you forgive those that have crossed your way because it is good for you, not them, YOU. It's good for you to forgive others. Happiness is a something you do....it's not something that comes to you automatically. You make your own happiness...it's a mechanical thing. Smile and you're happy, frown and you're sad. No brainer.....smile.
I was driving along one day and another driver cut me off. I was angry about that and was sitting in my car sputtering about it when all of a sudden I realized that I was letting this person ruin my day and it just sort of seemed silly after I thought about it....why should I give them that much power over me. So I put a mechanical smile on my face and within seconds, that mechanical smile was a real smile and all the anger was gone and I was so happy realizing that little decision to mechanically change an outward appearance, changed my inward feeling. How wonderful.
We used to live in the northwest and the surrounding landscapes were beautiful. It was green and lush and without reservation, beautiful. We moved to the desert and I had to look for the beauty that lives here. Even though the beauty isn't as apparent in the desert, it's there....you just have to look for it. The skies are blue and dotted with white clouds, the mountains are red. There's no green lush beauty here but there is beauty here none-the-less. In all of life, if we look for the good and the positive and the not-so-apparent beauty, we will find it and we will be much happier having found it.
Now, we that are older have a few more problems than we did when we were younger....but the answers are the same. If we dwell on our aches and pains, we will just have to live through it but if we dwell on helping our neighbor or writing positive letters to our grandchildren to tell them how much we love them, or if we volunteer in the community, we will forget about ourselves a little and we really will be happier. If you can't think of anything you can do, ask someone to help you come up with ideas to keep you involved with the community and your family. It can be done and you will be happier for making the effort.
So, I guess what I am saying is that enjoying life and things that surround us don't just happen....we may have to look for it...but, it's there, or in other words....take time to smell the roses. It will be worth it.
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