“In the end it is not the years in your life that count but the life in your years.” Abraham Lincoln
“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is what are you doing for others?” Martin Luther King Jr.
“When I stand before God at the end of my life I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left and could say I used everything you gave me.” Erma Bombeck
I find it so easy being trapped in my own thoughts and seeing life as half empty. I admit that happy days make it unnecessary to think so hard about life in general. Difficult days make me review every single word spoken to me. Everything people say and do is a competition. Most of us would definitely say they are not competing with anyone but the opposite is true. Every second every day it happens unless we consciously stop the runaway thoughts.
Look at the glass half full
I would have said not true a short time ago but once I reflected I realized we spend a huge amount of time worrying about what others say do and think and we worry about fading into the background of our lives. In a sense, we almost have our lives finished and done with because we sometimes see no alternatives and only endings and loss. It is helpful to look at the glass half full rather than half empty but how we think and feel goes beyond that.
Have you ever asked why we let our emotions get us down? We perhaps blame it on our difficulties. I do the same thing and have done it for a long time. With a lot of introspection, I have discovered a much calmer world within which has led to a calmer world without. That doesn’t mean I don’t get angry, feel insecure at times, feel useless and lost and confused and a whole lot of other things. It becomes a runaway train that must be stopped the sooner the better. Likely when we need sympathy or someone to say things like “It will be okay just hang in there.” it doesn’t happen.
We are never alone
What can we do? We must remember we are never alone and we can find the peace from within and the answers. It is how one views life and the happenings. For kids, it is all about getting control of toys and friends. They like to have friends that pick them first or play the games they like to play. Kids get very upset when their friends choose to play with another child or allow another person to hold the toy before they let us hold the toy. That may sound silly to an adult but in many situations, we do the same thing.
Have you ever been at a party and your in a conversation with a couple of people only the person doing the talking keeps you out of the conversation by ignoring you? They most likely would deny this yet they focus only on one person until you feel like the third thumb and you humbly walk away crushed and wonder why they did that to you. I would guess that whatever it happens to be their issue and that is easy to say because it becomes your issue when they crush you especially in front of others which is embarrassing.
Don’t accept a burden
They might even come back and say they are sorry “You took it the wrong way” which is even more upsetting to you because you know how it went down. So now it is like your own fault. Now we again have two choices. We can get angry lash out at them or simply accept their apology understand it is still their problem and take none of this into our own hearts. Being so insecure including myself we tend to think maybe we did overreact but maybe we didn’t. The point is to let go of any attempt to accept a burden you don’t need or want. It is extra baggage and it is not yours to carry unless you unwittingly grab the bag.
Most of us do end up with more unhappy thoughts and assumptions that are not real. It is overwhelming to realize that most if not all of us do this all day long with every interaction we have with others. One must think about the fact that we can’t control another’s mood or ideas about who or what they are or what they did and perceive as right or wrong. We also cannot control what others have for burdens whether we think they are problems or not. If one believes it is an issue then it is so.
It is relevant to refrain from adding to our own baggage. This is done by recognizing some problems before they happen. The mind can convince us something is one way when it isn’t. I think that is why we are insecure at times. Everyone and everything appears to be against us. Although that is absurd if you are in a bad mood or place one has faith it is true. Life is not easy everyone agrees with that. We all deal with stuff. Perhaps we might look at how we deal with problems.
Our half-empty glass
It is not good for any of us to enjoy being unhappy and look at our half-empty glass. It only keeps us at the bottom of the glass and in a drowning state. It may get too comfortable being there because people leave us alone, steer clear of us and sometimes begin giving us excuses for our poor behavior. It is almost like an adult temper tantrum. I have been there many times and it can feel cozy and it allows me to step on whoever I want.
In a way it is refreshing but at some point, we need air and should surface. Open your eyes and look around. I know it gets repetitive to say to people be grateful for what you have when all we can think about is what is missing. Honestly, there is wonder all around us. We want to enclose everything and every moment but we can’t. Kids are a joy but they grow up and must move on and that is hard for parents to accept. Change is hard on all of us. We plan our lives and believe the plan will unfold exactly as we set it up. Of course, it never does. But in the “something else” that happens there is a lot of good in it if we open our eyes. Keeping them shut and complaining about the dark won’t work.
Truth is love is eternal
I hate change and always have. It doesn’t stop the changes. When we have kids or grandkids we believe they are the best of course. Then we get into who is like whom or which child resembles which side of the family. That is full of potholes. what it comes down to is our desire to keep love all to ourselves. Somehow by claiming the child in this way we feel like it is ours. It creates arguments over what. All of this is competition for acceptance and love to last eternally. The and it does not need to be sheltered or covered up in order to keep it.
Our insecurity can keep us in chains. Just let it go. Nobody has the power to lock up love, hate or anything. We do have the power to increase love and give it to others just by letting people in. When that happens the pain goes out because there isn’t room for it. The love and memories we have to remain and our mind is left focusing on the happy rather than the sad. Anxiety and sadness render us helpless whereas love and happiness give us strength. There are people who care and we have all been in positions of helplessness and sadness and worry.
Accepting love; create an acceptance
Honestly the worry can be for nothing because things do happen in curious ways that we would never have imagined. Thinking we have it all worked out will surprise us one day when we discover that it isn’t true. So worry can be over nothing that is real. We all have people and stuff to be thankful for. If we won’t open our eyes we are going to miss so much. We have choices to make every day about our anger attention and job list. We also have choices about how we will give love and accept love. Sometimes it is harder to accept love than it is to give love. Though that benefits everyone and leaves us open to more love which is overwhelming in pushing out the anxiety and fear we have enjoyed leaning on. It takes courage to accept love and understand your cup is half full instead of half empty.
“Don’t squander yout time on the what- if’s of life. They are unlimited and endless.” Gary Zukav
Eventually you will come to understand that love heals all and love is all there is.” Gary Zukav
