Daily Mood Quote - October 23, 2011

 

Daily Mood Quotes

Day 172 – October 23, 2011

“The best cure for an off day is a day off.”

~Frank Tyger

Yesterday, I took the day off. It was time to disconnect, become unwired, break free of the grid, or what is also known as the daily grind. I logged off for a day. Over the past six years, I have logged many, many hours on the computer. First with school work, research projects, papers, communications with fellow classmates on projects and presentations, work, The Daily Mood Quote, and family and friends... E-mails, Skyping, Facebook, Linkedin, YouTube; where does the madness end? It doesn't unless you say E-N-O-U-G-H!!! Much like Bruce Nolan (played by Jim Carrey) in the movie Bruce Almighty, when he said, “Bruce giveth and Bruce taketh away. Don't like it? Megabyte me” as he unplugged the computer. All right, I wasn't that harsh, and I did not unplug the computer. I just walked away.

I did that yesterday, I said enough and logged off for a day. Here's why, the weather was nice, I remembered I had a family and I was having a menopause day of gargantuan proportions. Every time, I looked at my computer, throwing it out through the sliding glass door crossed my mind. That's never good, so when my husband asked me what I was going to write about, I walked away. Ipods, Ipads, cell phones, apps, laptops, desktops; they all made me twitch yesterday. It was time for a change, even if that change would be short lived. So, I watched a little TV, the movie Die Hard (one of my favorites, I like Bruce Willis - as an actor). I also watched Christmas Vacation with Chevy Chase and some of the World Series with the Texas Rangers and St. Louis Cardinals. I took some time to go to Wal-mart to pick up a few items and just enjoyed the day unplugged. Not even a cell phone call. It was nice.

I think Matthew Broderick said it best, when he played Ferris Bueller in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” and if you don't step away from technology for a moment, you're missing a lot. Even the great Andy Rooney took a day off. And so that's done; I can get back to addressing the needs of digital reality. The need for total immersion in real reality has been satiated for now.

The point is, well you know there's always a point... Anyway, We all need to step back away from whatever has our attention the majority of the time; be it the computer, the internet, a group of associates, a job, a religion, or anything that absorbs time like a sponge. Then take a deep breath and appreciate the little things we so often take for granted. No matter where you might be, there is beauty and peace of mind to be found if we disconnect, open our minds and hearts and let the best parts of real reality in.

How will you enjoy your day today?

Tune in tomorrow to read the daily mood quote

Thank you for reading

Daily Mood Quote - September 4, 2011

 

Daily Mood Quote

Day 124 – September 4, 2011

To enjoy good health, to bring true happiness to one's family, to bring peace to all, one must first discipline and control one's own mind. If a man can control his mind he can find the way to Enlightenment, and all wisdom and virtue will naturally come to him.

~Buddha

Yesterday my mind was rattled because of the amount of homework and short deadlines for school projects. It was surprising at how difficult it was to focus or even think about anything other than the assignments that were pending. To be fair, I allowed other distractions to take ascendancy this week, putting my homework and reading on the back-burner. I won't do that again, because the stress of that event caused a horrible headache. Better time management skills are in order this week.

This morning, I woke up feeling calm and peaceful, a good night sleep was exactly what I needed after the stresses of yesterday. I was amazed at how I let things back up to the point of feeling overwhelmed. At one point I ask myself, if I could handle grad school? What was interesting was, once I sat down and began to clear the clutter from my mind, things fell into place as assignment after assignment was completed. First the paper, then the reading, then the analysis of a case study and before I knew it my homework was under control. That's a good thing because I was really concerned. I did realize something though, in grad school, you really can't take a day off. If you do, you fall behind and it's hard to play catch up. Especially when your an adult learner and have other responsibilities in your life.

They say wisdom comes with age, I think wisdom comes from mistakes and lesson learned.

Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal.” I believe this because peace isn't inherited, or a gift one can give to someone. It's not something we are born with, nor is it something we can buy. Peace is only something we can achieve if we choose. I've made the mistake of “back-burnering” an important project (procrastination) and it rattled me. So, in my case, peace begins with getting the things I can control, under control. I'll admit that there are so very many things that are beyond my control and quite frankly I wouldn't want to try to control them. In the movie Bruce Almighty, God (played by Morgan Freeman) said to Bruce Nolan (Jim Carrey) "Triumph is born out of struggle faith is the alchemist. If you want pictures like these, you'll need to use some dark colors." Those pictures are having the things I can control, under control.

I can control my thoughts, my actions and reactions and how I prioritize things in my life. Lesson learned and a little wisdom gained. From now on, I won't wait so long. My husband says that “the big lessons in life almost always carry with them a little bit of discomfort, (dark colors) so that they stick in our memory.” It's just the way we have developed as a species. Well the headache and panic of letting my work get behind is more than enough “discomfort” than I wish to experience again, so I won't soon forget. I like the “peace” that comes with that bit of wisdom. We all have the choice to control our actions and reactions, and to choose peace in our life instead of panic. It's up to each of us to make that call. I choose peace, at least in what I can control.

Will you choose “peace” today, or let panic get in the way?

Tune in tomorrow to read the daily mood quote

Thank you for reading

Daily Mood Quote - July 29, 2011

 

Daily Mood Quote

Day 87 – July 29, 2011

Without reflection, we go blindly on our way, creating more unintended consequences, and failing to achieve anything useful.

~Margaret J. Wheatley

One of the inescapable laws of the universe is; for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. This also happens when we refuse to take action, it draws action toward us that we may not see, until its too late and we have no control over it. We don't always see the effects of our actions, be they thoughtful or thoughtless. But, we can be assured the reaction happens just the same. When we push a “personal agenda” we often are blinded to how that agenda affects others and the world around us. Even if the agenda has the “best of intentions” the result in other areas may be unintended and consequential.

The other day, I had the opportunity to watch how a well intended, but ill timed action created a whole series of negative consequences. On a major highway near my home, a minivan crossed lanes to take an off-ramp ahead of a semi-trailer and caused a major accident at a very busy intersection. I'm sure that nobody in the van “intended” to cause the ensuing carnage and confusion. But, it happened just the same.The driver just wanted to take “this off-ramp,” at “this time” and didn't allow room for error, or take into consideration others on the road. The “best of intentions” tied to personal agendas more often than not lead to more problems and many unintended consequences. A simple thoughtless action, created damage, hurt innocent people, made people late for appointments, stopped critical goods and services from reaching their destination, raised all of our insurance rates....the list goes on and on. And so during the two hours it took to reopen the road and clear the mess; nothing else happened and nothing got done, at least right there AND, the persons in the van never got on the off ramp and to their destination.

The thing is that our culture has fostered the concept of “personal agenda”, well meaning or not, above common sense and the common good. This has lead our government to the brink of default (gee thanks Congress) and many families to be swimming in the same kind of debt that our country is. I believe in personal freedom as much as anyone and strongly support the ideals and intention of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, but they nowhere state “I without thought to others” It says “We the People” OK, point made.

There is another side to this coin that I am obliged to discuss. That is the unintended consequences of kindness. There isn't a downside. It is the one thing in our world which usually reacts in kind, instead of against. Kindness is unique in this behavior. When a genuine kind act is planted it is because the focus isn't on the doer, or “personal agendas” We reach out to the world and it reaches back. It also begins to grow and expand, if even a little bit, and we are all better for it.

In the movie Bruce Almighty, Bruce Nolan (played by Jim Carey) was self-centered, well meaning but more concerned with his “agenda” than anybody else. By pursuing his agenda, he creates chaos and mayhem trying to get Grace (Jennifer Aniston) to come back and love him. Until he learned the lesson "we have to think of others first." Toward the end of the movie, he realizes his “agenda” error and speaks to God, (portrayed by Morgan Freeman) and says, “No. I want her to be happy, no matter what that means. I want her to find someone who will treat her with all the love she deserved from me. I want her to meet someone who will see her always as I do now...”

In short order, things returned to their natural order and she returned that love and kindness. Yes it's just a movie, but the truth is real. Before we a can forward our own “agenda', we must consider others and consider the consequences of our actions, both intended and unintended.

What will your agenda be today?

Tune in tomorrow to read the daily mood quote

Thank you for reading