Dec 12 2008
The Sure Things of Life
Death and taxes, right? Nah, forget that old saw. That’s just for sarcasm sake. But then, are there any sure things in this often mixed up, messed up world today?
Is there a bedrock upon which we can build? Or our all of our lives built on “weak and shifting sand?”
I marvel at how most folks seem to look at things from a purely negative point of view. Take that stock answer, “Death and Taxes.” Most will tell you that if there is anything at all you can be sure of, it is nasty things like those.
HOGWASH! And that is the most positive thing I can say to that kind of thinking. Believe I’m wrong? Then we know one thing for sure. You are looking at life from that negative perspective. You can call it ‘being realistic’ all day long. And that is called rationalization.
Simply by definition there can be no bad without good, no up without down. For every valley there is a mountain top and within every drop of rain comes the promise of sunshine!
Yet we all seem to be talking about how ’stuff’ happens and I don’t mean wonderful stuff either. It is obviously not because of our life experience. After all, most of us will live through good and bad. Ancient scripture says the rain falls on the just and on the unjust both.
It appears that we ‘choose’ to dwell on the down side too much. We tell our children what NOT to do rather than what they can safely enjoy doing. How well does that work? Take the time to investigate how animals turn out when taught by negative reinforcement as compared to those brought up with positive reinforcement. We are governed by STOP/RED lights never mentioning or even noting the concurrent GO/GREEN lights. How we see things is expressed in “Is the glass 1/2 empty or 1/2 full?” Yet hearing that has failed to wake people up to the truth of it. Everything is about how we view what we see. Even more so, it is about how we DECIDE to see things.
It is a tough decision to be positive in a negative world, and even tougher to LIVE that decision. Why? You will be walking in the opposite direction of all those around you, all the people who don’t even know they are a downer to everyone else. More than that…..they are guaranteeing more frowns than smiles for themselves. Consider. If they go around all the time seeing only the minus and never the plus just how happy will they be? How happy will others be while in their presence?
When I first discovered this as a life philosophy, I was not prepared for convention’s reaction. It seems that others are bothered by this strange shift in perspective. You see that’s all we are talking about. How you look at things. Let me give you an example.
There is no such thing as bad weather. Just different kinds of good weather. And it’s all good in some way! That is not a popular sentiment. So much so, that most of us immediately start talking about things like tornados and earthquakes. Now wait one minute here. When most people say that the weather is bad all they usually mean is that it’s not sunny, dry and warm!
Our entire existence is measured by how we perceive our world. Could your perception of something that you can not change affect how it FEELS to you? Of course. Would your life be a little different if you always looked for the bright side? If you actually applied your mental energy to finding the ‘Silver Lining’ to every cloud?
I think so. You realize I’m sure, that not every cloud has one of them things. But MOST do! And if we can train ourselves to look for the good in things, people, circumstances, whatever..WELL, as John Lennon said, “Imagine.”
So what are the Sure Things of Life? Spring follows Winter. New growth follows cutting back. When the old and tired are wearing down there is a new and exciting freshness moving in. There is always tomorrow, which we can never touch…but we can usually change today. And when we do, we can sometimes change tomorrow! A simple “I’m sorry” can fix a tremendous quantity of difficulties. It will always be difficult to do the right thing, but it is worth it. Plan your work and work your plan and you will prosper in many ways. Give love, and sometimes you will get it back.
There are a lot more. How about if you think of some?
Till next time. Good luck and God Bless,
Khalkru
