Daily Mood Quote - August 18, 2011

 

Daily Mood Quote

Day 107 – August 18, 2011

I love people who make me laugh. I honestly think it's the thing I like most, to laugh. It cures a multitude of ills. It's probably the most important thing in a person.

~Audrey Hepburn

They say, “laughter is the best medicine” and I agree with this because when you are laughing it is hard to be angry. Wayne Dyer said, “It is impossible for you to be angry and laugh at the same time. Anger and laughter are mutually exclusive and you have the power to choose either.” It was June of 1981, when I met my husband, he was a young, handsome 22 year old, who said to me, “stach your wep” as I crossed the gangway to the deck and begin my first day of work on a dinner/dance boat as a greeter and a bus kid. My first impression of him was, he's funny and hmmm....he's cute.What made me take notice was he made me laugh, that was 30 years ago. He stills makes me laugh today and I suspect he will continue to make me laugh. Our agreement was "sixty years of marriage and then all bets are off." He said this right in front of the Pastor who married us. I thought it was funny, however, the Pastor wasn't laughing and didn't think it funny. Oh well! Sometimes I wonder when I look at my husband, if he will be funny or just funny looking when he's in his 70's. I guess we'll see.

One thing I can say here; recently we have been dealing with some serious issues in life and in the blog and it has been the little moments of laughter and one significant perspective change that has buoyed the spirit. Wayne Dyer was right, no matter how hard you try you can not be angry and laugh at the same time. Because once you find something genuinely funny, it simply dominates your consciousness for a short period of time. Sometimes that short period is all you need to change you perspective and get a grip. I guess its why they make so many movie comedies and comedians like Jeff Dunham (www.jeffdunham.com) can get $50 plus per ticket and fill the house...in the middle of a recession! We all need the change of perspective and funny ranges from the goofy one-offs of life like Jim Carey in Ace Ventura Pet Detective when he and Lois (Sean Young) have a little “conversation:

Lois: “How would you like me to make your life a living hell?

Ace Ventura: Well, I'm not really ready for a relationship, Lois, but thank you for asking. Hey, maybe I'll give you a call sometime. Your number's still 911? All righty then.”

to the more snarky and subtle quips of Bruce Willis in Die Hard (Pick one: original or sequel). One I especially like is in Live Free or Die Hard when Detective John McClane (Bruce Willis) is barreling through a Washington D.C. tunnel (not sure which one) and the car begins to burn; He calmly says, “Car's on fire, that can't be good” in the middle of an extremely tense scene. I just about fell out of my chair and by the time I refocused on the movie, his car was flying through the air. The point is, funny is out there, you just need to look for it. It can separate you from your problems just long enough to breath and give you a chance to refocus on your day, in a better frame of mind.

Where will you find “funny” today?

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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?

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Daily Mood Quote - June 24, 2011

Daily Mood Quote

Day 51 – June 24, 2011

It is impossible for you to be angry and laugh at the same time. Anger and laughter are mutually exclusive and you have the power to choose either.

~Wayne Dyer

The past couple of nights at the dinner table, I found myself laughing so hard I got the hiccups. With all that has been going on here, I forgot, or just chose to ignore how important laughter is when dealing with life's situations. Things can overwhelm us and sometimes take control, so much that we forget the phrase, “this too shall pass” by King Solomon and quoted by Abraham Lincoln. I added to this by saying “Yes, this too shall pass, like a kidney stone, but it will pass.” meaning, there will pain and difficulty involved, but it's important to keep perspective, especially when things are tough.

Last night, I had gone to bed early, because I was feeling a bit sorry for myself. I injured my knee many years ago and recently re-injured it, causing swelling, inflammation and pain every time I take a step. But as I sat in bed, I listened to some neighborhood kids playing outside, running after each other, screaming in fun and just having a good time. What an awesome thing it is to be young and have fun. “Somewhere along the course of our lives, we forget to have fun and begin to “audit” our lives (thank you to Terrence Stamp who played the guru Terrence Bundley in the movie, Yes Man). “You can't audit life, my friend.” We try to appear to be something we are not and laughter seems to be the first thing to go. We have serious issues to deal with, but I wonder if those issues would be easier to deal with if we laughed, or smiled?

In the movie Yes Man with Jim Carey (Carl Allen) Allison (played by Zooey Deschanel) said, “The world's a playground. You know that when you are a kid, but somewhere along the way everyone forgets it.” I must admit I have forgotten that occasionally, but not today. Today, I will approach the world with a smile and laughter, no matter how many grumpy people I run into. And around here, that seems to be the majority. Maybe I'll dance in the grocery store aisle today, you never know...

How will you spread joy and laughter today?

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Daily Mood Quote - June 13, 2011

Daily Mood Quote

Day 40 – June 13, 2011

Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell 'em, "Certainly, I can!" Then get busy and find out how to do it.

~Theodore Roosevelt

This seems to be a missing theme in today's world. To a large degree you need a “can do” attitude. Everything changes so fast and to stay afloat people need to keep changing just as fast. Sometimes that means committing to something before you know how to do it. This may sound contra-productive and out of vogue, but isn't that exactly how we got to the moon? We committed a nation to getting there and then figured out how to do it. John F. Kennedy said, “We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.” That was a goal for a nation, to put a man on the moon and bring him home safely. It wasn't easy and it took many to say “yes” or “certainly, I can,” or at least “I don't know, but I will figure it out.”

I can remember a time when people accepted challenges, individually, as a group, a committee, a Nation, but now it seems as if we don't want the responsibility if something fails. So, we shrug our shoulders, point the finger and let someone else take on the challenges. My husband asks, “Where have our balls gone?” Funny thing, our goofy dog Chester heard the word “ball” and brought the play ball (one thing he hasn't managed to destroy) to my husband. Chester said “yes” by bringing the ball and got to play a little bit. But in life, in the job market and in day-to-day living, the balls seem to have left the building, because many just don't take chances anymore. It seems we're afraid to hire the best people... because they may leave? We're afraid to hire an older, experienced, educated person, because they might know a bit more than the boss, really? What's wrong with that picture... you think you would want the best person? There is a difference between a “yes, man” and a “yes, I can man.” Can you tell the difference?

In the movie Yes, Man, an average guy named Carl (played by Jim Carey) made the statement, “The era of "yes" has begun,” and thereby changed his life.

How will you say “yes” to life this week?

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