Daily Mood Quote - October 12, 2011

 

Daily Mood Quotes

Day 162 – October 12, 2011

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, and honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.

~Leo Buscaglia

So simple and yet its the simple things we seem to forget or just choose not to remember. How much time does it take to smile, to lend a helping hand, offer up an honest compliment, help someone who needs help? Yet, everyday I watch people walk away and never pay attention to the little things. Even responding to an e-mail seems to have become “to much work.” I'm glad the previous generations didn't think like that. Chances are good we'd all still be scraping out subsistence livings as serfs, or something. It makes me wonder if the generation of today understands the impact we are having on the generations of tomorrow. What do I mean, well think about it: in today's hurried world, we are not stopping to take a moment to do the right thing and the example that is being set is being watched by the next generation. Hey, if walking away from someone who needs help works for them, then I can do it too. Slowly, the civil in civilization has begun to fade. I'm really not worried about some Apocalyptic event or comets rubbing out civilization. Our laziness in dealing with each other will quietly provide an unrecoverable death spiral. There are several cases, just within the last year, where everyday people needed help (someone hit by a car, a mugging, take your pick) and everyone just went on about their day. Worse yet, some actually stood there and took pictures with their cell phones. Are you kidding me, thats what we have come to...Shameful.

The point is somewhere amid all the hustle and bustle, chaos and confusion; it seems we have begun to lose our capacity to be empathetic toward each other. The little things that build unity among people are now “passe.” Attitude has replaced empathy and disengagement has superseded courtesy. So, how do you think that's going to play out over the next decade, or four? Our children see that as the norm and so they push the envelope a bit more (hey, we did), and each generation after that does the same thing. Where do you think that will lead? It won't take too long before we have regressed to a point of no return. End of game. All because we didn't take the time today, to do that little extra caring step that means so much.

We always want the other guy to step up and be there for us, but on a planet of 7 billion people, we are all that “other guy.” Little things count and we are all part of the bigger picture, no matter how we try to mentally frame our lives; we are all accountable to the next generation. A butterfly flaps it's wings in Brazil, or not.... In the movie Terminator with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sarah Connor, (played by Linda Hamilton) said it point blank. “Its our mission. This is our life, If we stop caring about that, then we are lost.” Our mission is to show the best in us to the next generation and to the generations after that. Otherwise, we as a species really will be lost.

What positive step will you take to turn a life around today?

Tune in tomorrow to read the daily mood quote

Thank you for reading

Daily Mood Quote - August 6, 2011

 

Daily Mood Quote

Day 95 – August 6, 2011

If you paint in your mind a picture of bright and happy expectations, you put yourself into a condition conducive to your goal.

~Norman Vincent Peale

Norman Vincent Peale, the author of The Power of Positive Thinking also said, “Imagination is the true magic carpet.” I have always been a person who sees “the glass half-full,” even when dealing with negative people. Sometimes that requires a lot of imagination. I try to look for the best in others, but let's face reality, I am only human and sometimes its just not there, at least as far as I can see. So, occasionally you just have to “punt” (football season is coming soon!) to clear the slate and begin again. Letting frustration and disappointment build up is never a good idea. That includes letting the negativity of others wear on you. Eventually, repeated exposure without addressing the issue only drags you down. Is it really worth it? I don't think it is and yesterday at the grocery store I was on a tear... I'm not necessarily proud of it, but I had finally had quite enough. A forty cent increase on a loaf of bread (sweet Italian) was the last straw. Truth be known, my husband was the one who primed the pump by commenting on the price increase. So, there I was, in the middle of the produce department, looking at the dull and condescending stares of the other shoppers when the cork popped. Again, I'm not really proud of this, but a 33 percent increase, literally overnight, is a shock to an already tight budget. I was really looking forward to that tasty loaf of bread. Subsequently, I began to unload an impressive trail of derision and insult; commenting on just about everyone and everything. I was really rifting, right up to and through the checkout. Seriously, it was eerily reminiscent of Whoopi Goldberg on truth serum in Jumping Jack Flash. I'm not sure that “I'll be back” (Thanks Arnold Schwartzenberger, Terminator) there anytime soon. OK, enough said.

The point is that I finally got the negativity out of my system. Perhaps at the price of some minor embarrassment. Nothing worthwhile is without cost... But okay, now I can start with a clear canvas and its time to paint a happier, brighter and more colorful picture of the future. There is great power in imagination; it helps us to envision and begin to work toward a better, and more than half-full destiny. Napoleon Hill wrote in his treatise on self-empowerment Think and Grow Rich “Man's only limitation, within reason, lies in his development and use of his imagination.” Mr. Hill. might have been a touch chauvinistic in that statement, he was from a different time, so I'll just go ahead and include women too. If the first step toward a positive future is a positive attitude, then the walking stick is imagination. Dare to dream and dream big.

Let's end with a thought provoking quote, Ralph Marston said, “You've done it before and you can do it now. See the positive possibilities. Redirect the substantial energy of your frustration and turn it into positive, effective, and unstoppable determination.”

What positive possibilities will you see today?

Tune in tomorrow to read the daily mood quote

Thank you for reading