Daily Mood Quotes - October 3, 2011

 

Daily Mood Quotes

Day 153 – October 3, 2011

Happiness depends more on how life strikes you than on what happens.

~Andy Rooney

In my life, the one thing I have always been able to do, is take something good, something memorable, or something I didn't know, from every situation I have been in. Letting others dictate the direction of one's life only means never finding the happiness, that was truly meant for you and it is a recipe for failure. What I consider to be one of the biggest mistakes people make is “trying to fit in.” I tried it once; it was the most unhappy time of my life. To quote Peanut from Jeff Dunham, “it suck-ka-kaed.” I was miserable trying to be someone everyone accepted, everyone liked. I was looking for those after work invites to a nearby bar or restaurant, just to feel like I belonged... to be one of the group. What's the point? I've seen and heard too many stories of how these events can destroy people, because of unprofessional conversations that took place in those settings. You have heard the old saying, “loose lips sink ships?” Well they also sink careers, relationships, promotions and pay raises, so why do it? I know; “to fit in” “be accepted.” It's that sense of “needing to belong” which drives many of us to disaster.

There is another old saying, “Why don't they put lids on crab pots? Answer, because when one starts climbing out, the others reach up to pull them back down.” So, it is with fitting in. Every group of people, has an up, or positive side and a down, or negative side. One of the great hazards of trying to “fit in” is that we seldom see the negative side, until it's too late and the damage is already done. Friends are a gift. However, if they can't accept you for who you are, then maybe you need to reconsider who your friends are.

Happiness isn't something someone can give you, it can only be achieved from within. I learned this a long time ago, my friends, my family, even my spouse were not responsible for my happiness; only I was. When I realized that, I changed the course of my life. And today, I am happy. Okay, still unemployed with a nuisance vision disability, but I am happy because of the choices I made for my life. In the movie The Pursuit of Happyness, Christopher Gardner (played by Will Smith) said to Christopher (played by Jayden Smith), “Hey. Don't ever let somebody tell you... You can't do something....You got a dream... You gotta protect it. People can't do somethin' themselves, they wanna tell you you can't do it. If you want somethin', go get it. Period.” Follow your dreams. I can remember many, many times in my life when I was told, I wasn't any good at something, or I couldn't do it because..., (okay, driving aside). I always wondered, if I could. Well, I don't wonder anymore, I have done and achieved many of the things I wanted to do, and I will continue to achieve. This winter, I'm thinking about learning to ski. 

I also always wanted to be a writer and after listening to Andy Rooney's sign off speech from 60 Minutes last night on CBS, I feel more inspired and less ashamed about following that dream. I wonder if 60 Minutes would consider me as a temporary fill in? I'm not Andy Rooney, but I always say what's on my mind. Someone once told me, “If you never ask, you never know.”

How will you pursue “happiness” today?

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Daily Mood Quotes - August 9, 2011

 

Daily Mood Quote

Day 98 – August 9, 2011

It is an endless procession of surprises. The expected rarely occurs and never in the expected manner.

~Vernon A. Walters

Yesterday was surprising. I had stressed over something that was a waste of time. First, I did not run into any of the two-faced phoneys I know. For me, this was the first time in many, many school registrations, timing was on my side. Well almost. Second, I stopped and paid attention to the subtle things that were going on around me. I was taken back when I realized that many local people are struggling in this economy. 

Here's what happened. It was registration day at the school, time for school pictures, books and clubs. However, the only pictures being taken were ones for the yearbook and school IDs, I noticed the large stack of blank photo-order forms that were on the requisite student ID/photo table. Still...so few orders, so late in the afternoon? Under the table there were boxes of blank photo-order forms as well, untouched and unopened. Then, there were the boxes and boxes full of school spirit apparel for sale; they were not selling either. I remembered last years apparel sale and they were sold out of many items by mid-morning. In fact, the entire time we were there (almost two hours), nobody even went to the school spirit apparel table. Last year, it was staffed by three people who never seemed to stop moving and doing at that table. This year, one person was sitting down behind the table, looking rather bored and disgusted. Lastly, I noticed the number of people who were passing on the purchase of the other ancillary things, like the school yearbook, the PSAT and ACT practice tests, etc. Along with the throng of parents simply passing by the tables for donations to the school's booster programs, there was a large number of men working the tables this year. There was also an inordinate number of fathers at registration with their families. This was the middle of the afternoon, during working hours. A sign of the times, I guess. I doubt seriously they all “took off” on purpose for school registration.

It was kind of bleak, but then again material presents itself. You know the old saying, “There's always one” and she just happened be right behind us. I said to my husband, “I wish I had ear plugs.” She began talking to the woman standing next to her (thankfully, it wasn't me), apparently oblivious to the hard times around her and began an endless litany of bragging, and bragging and oh-my-gosh bragging some more. At five-foot tall and four foot wide, she put her considerable weight into her tone and timber. Everyone heard about their many vacations this summer, the many vacations their daughter took this summer, the trip to a major amusement park this week, the second home they have, the third home they want to purchase. Seriously, how many houses can you live in at one time? Oh my goodness, then she began to talk about all of the shopping they were planning to do this week. For me and my family, minutes dragged on like hours, which seemed to turn into days. Was there no end to this woman's diatribe of decadence? Again, there is always one that makes you roll your eyes, take a deep breath and shake your head. A few years ago, I may have “cut loose” on her, but I suspect that she was so disconnected, she wouldn't have understood anyway.

At the end of the day, I listened to Scott Pelley deliver the CBS Evening News from a refugee camp in Kenya, just outside the Somalian border, where it hasn't rained in three years. Children are dying of starvation everyday and they parents are forced to leave them where they drop, because they themselves are too weak from their own starvation, to carry or bury them. It brought tears to my eyes; not just for the sadness of this situation, but because the bragging woman was so completely ignorant of the hard times in her own community. How could she and those like her, possibly begin to grasp the scope and breadth of unnecessary, daily human suffering on the planet. I don't even have the words...

However, I do have words that apply to today's quote. I never expected to witness such a broad contrast in the human condition within the scope of a few short hours. I never expected to feel total distain and unnerving sympathy all at once, while I pondered the events that had unfolded before me. And because of this, I made a resolution to not take anything for granted, because I clearly see that for the lowly darkness that it is. Plus, I will be thankful for what I do have, because we have no real control of when it might be taken away by circumstance and/or time. I do expect to take every day as a gift and not squander the gifts, with which I have been blessed and to share when I can. This, I can control.

In the movie, Dead Poet Society, John Keating (played by Robin Williams) said, “No matter what anybody tells you, words and ideas can change the world.” The words I heard yesterday, changed my world. From the clearly over-the-top selfishness (there really isn't anything else you can call that?) to the painful description of the desolation and suffering on Africa's East Coast; how I viewed the world, the people in it, and my connection to them has forever changed. It's a bittersweet thing. As Loretta Lynn said, “I've been around a long time, and life still has a whole lot of surprises for me.”

What “words” will change your world today?

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