Feeling good about 2022!

Well, it is officially the first day of a new year. We've been through a lot the last couple of years, however I choose to remain optimistic and hopeful simply because it feels better than the alternative. I am prepared to deal with whatever comes, of course...but for now, I'm feeling good about 2022.  

Today I am going to share with you two excerpts from my book "Notes from Your Fairy Godmother." This is a little book I created a few years ago which is not intended to be a long read. The purpose of this book is to pick it up occasionally and flip through over 200 of my favorite quotes curated specifically to make you smile and offer you inspiration. When you read the excerpts from the book below, you will understand why our minds need regular doses of funny. Balance matters.

There are two lessons I have learned in life that really set me free, thereby allowing me to find the humor and the joy in most situations. Perhaps those lessons will help you too, so here they are: 

1. It is not other people's job to make me happy. That is my job. 
2. Being offended is a choice. If I choose to be offended, I have just given that person power over me which is exactly what they want. It is what powerless people do to feel powerful. Becoming unoffendable will set you free. 

From my book "Notes from Your Fairy Godmother":

   My desire to be well-informed is currently at odds with my desire to remain sane.

Whether you look at it from a scientific or spiritual perspective, evidence clearly supports the fact that there is a mind-body connection. Therefore, exposure to constant negativity and fear not only gets in the way of our joy, but it adds to our stress and anxiety levels which can ultimately impact our health.

It’s interesting to note the disparity between the careful thought people give when deciding what they will ingest into their body via food sources, as compared to the lack of thought given to what they will allow into their mind. For example, many believe that a diet high in fat, sugar or processed foods will negatively impact their health, but the same consideration is rarely given to the elements of the content allowed into their mind.

To put this into perspective, consider the fact that few of us would ever walk into a restaurant and say to the server, “I don’t need a menu. Just bring me whatever you want me to eat and I’ll eat it.” Yet most of us absorb whatever information is presented to us from various external sources without considering the long-term effect on our health and our life.

Negative aspects are all around us and always will be. We are reminded of this every day via social media and television commercials offering us products and services to protect us against crimes which in all probability we will never encounter, and medical conditions we didn’t know we had, probably don’t, and likely never will.

The power of suggestion is potent, and very lucrative for vendors. But for us, it causes a shift in perspective -- away from the lightness and fun in life. The good news is that once we become aware of the sources of anxiety consistently being thrown at us, we can choose to do something about it.   

 Sometimes you need to talk to a 3-year-old so you can understand life again.

Joy is an internal process for us all. Children are born knowing that they are enough, and it’s not until lack and fear is put upon them by their environment that they attach to identity and begin responding to conditions.

This is a problem because the rest of the world is not here to appease us. Humans are going to do what they are going to do based upon their own backgrounds, beliefs, wishes, dreams and life experience. So if you expect to control conditions or demand that others comply with your view of the world, you’re going to be out of luck and not very happy.

Here’s an analogy that will help clarify the futility of relying on external conditions in order to be balanced and happy:

Imagine you are standing in a swimming pool and you have carefully arranged several ping pong balls in a perfect circle around you. Each ping pong ball represents something important in your life such as a child, spouse, job, self-image, the state of your country or the world.

Even as you play your part perfectly in this scenario and stand motionless in the pool, those ping pong balls are going to go their own way. They will drift in different directions and at various speeds due to conditions that have nothing to do with you and which are completely out of your control. It would be a stressful and ultimately futile effort to try to control those ping pong balls, and it would be a very unsatisfying experience.

The moral of this story is that if we need those ping pong balls to align with our wishes, needs or beliefs in order to be happy, we are in trouble. Our goal should be to find ways to keep ourselves in balance without relying on anyone else, because only then can we can stay our own course no matter what the conditions may be. So forget about those uncooperative ping pong balls and instead go for a wonderful swim or float in the pool!

Everyone knows what it feels like to be around a joyful person. They leave the room a little brighter than when they entered it. A joyful person is a gift…to themselves, to their family, to their friends, and to the world.

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