Daily Mood Quote
Day 109 – August 20, 2011
One's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions.
~ Oliver Wendell Holmes
Every once in a while I run into a situation (Note: “a” situation not “The Situation”.... my thoughts on that particular program are not positive at all), or an idea that is new to me. Usually, I do the standard scan, discard, select, move on, for new information, because there is just so much to filter through during the day. I suppose I'm like everyone else in that respect. But every once in while a comment or an idea snags in the fabric of my mind and begins to take root. Sometimes, they lie quietly dormant, like little seeds in the folds of the subconscious, until by fate they are given the opportunity to spring up and get some new attention. Last night one of those little seeds finally grew into my consciousness and got my attention. A long time ago, I took a communications class and one of the books I had to read was Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, a Roman Emperor and philosopher of sorts. He wrote: “The universe is change; our life is what our thoughts make it”. Even if you disagree with his other meditations, this one is painfully true. So the big question is; who guides those “thoughts” that make our life? In our modern world we are so constantly bombarded on line, on the air and by the pressures of our community to sculpt our thoughts to match somebody else's agenda, that we can barely hear ourselves think. No wonder people get confused and sometimes resentful. We can get so caught up in what we don't have and what others expect, that we simply don't ask ourselves: What's really important to me and who exactly do I want to be? Maybe, we all need scheduled time outs?
Yesterday, I mentioned a sign that I saw in a local school and it's profound impact on me. Well another thing caught my eye, but I didn't process it until very late last night. It started out “100 years from now it wont' matter what car you drive....” I'm sure you all have seen this quote at least once, or twice, but I'll look for it later and attach a link. The thing is it's true; our thoughts make our life, and what we pass along in the form of thoughts makes our legacy. Stuff can come and go and it will all eventually pass, but how we live and what thoughts we “pass” to others, either purposefully or by accident, are the tale of our time here. They are the real substance of our life. I must confess lately given our tough circumstance, not all my thoughts have been something I would be proud of 100 years from now, so its time to make a few adjustments.
In the movie Mr. Holland's Opus the Governor, Gertrude Lang (Joanna Gleason), a former student of Glenn Holland (Richard Dreyfuss) relays this concept so very eloquently, that it bears repeating; “Mr. Holland had a profound influence on my life and on a lot of lives I know. But I have a feeling that he considers a great part of his own life misspent. Rumor had it he was always working on this symphony of his. And this was going to make him famous, rich, probably both. But Mr. Holland isn't rich and he isn't famous, at least not outside of our little town. So it might be easy for him to think himself a failure. But he would be wrong, because I think that he's achieved a success far beyond riches and fame. Look around you. There is not a life in this room that you have not touched, and each of us is a better person because of you. We are your symphony Mr. Holland. We are the melodies and the notes of your opus. We are the music of your life.”
I guess what I'm saying is, we all have that same opportunity everyday in our lives, to affect the lives of those we contact each day. All our lives are colored by “thoughts” we let in and “thoughts” we give out. That is the true legacy and treasure of our lives.
What “thoughts” will you be proud to have remembered 100 years from now?
Tune in tomorrow to read the daily mood quote
Thank you for reading.
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