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 Attitude has replaced empathy and disengagement has superseded courtesy.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 - September 10, 2011

Daily Mood Quote
Day 130 - September 10, 2011 


"Humor is a whisper from the soul, imploring mind and body to relax, let go and be at peace again."
~Unknown Author

No blog or movie quote today, will return on September 11, 2011.

Tune in tomorrow to read the daily mood quote
Thank you for reading

Daily Mood Quote - September 2, 2011

 

Daily Mood Quote

Day 122 – September 2, 2011

Decide what you want, decide what you are willing to exchange for it. Establish your priorities and go to work.
~H.L. Hunt

Just a brief blog today, I have had a breakthrough and therefore will celebrate today. It's good to dump the baggage of your past. Lessons have been learned, my eyes have been opened and my priorities are clear. The curse has been lifted. Time to move forward, onward and upward, onto a better today, tomorrow and future.

In the movie and musical Rent, Mark (played by Anthony Rapp) said, “There are times when we're dirt broke, hungry, and freezing, and I ask myself, why the hell am I still living here?” “And then they call. And I remember.” There was no phone call, just a written message that was a clear reminder. I realized yesterday in order to grow healthy one must step away from the toxic people in one's life. You can't fix them, and it is exhausting to try. You can love them, but, because they put you down and call you names, you can't allow them to continue to be a part of your life. Their destructive, negative behavior corrodes all it comes in contact with. So, as high school principal Rick Latimer (played by James Belushi) said in the movie The Principal “No more!”

Life isn't always easy and the choices it presents are sometimes very tough. Unfortunately, that means sometimes you have to choose to walk away from people who in theory should be supportive to you, but instead are toxic. It's our priorities and faith in what is right, which we need to align to help us through those tough times and difficult decisions. It's not easy at first ,but once you start walking toward a positive goal, it gets easier. I have made the mistake of letting toxic people from my past into my life one to many times. Well, I've learned my lesson and..... “No more.” I will seek out the positive in life and hold fast to my priorities. Dump the emotional baggage, let go of the the anger and the hurt and move on toward a brighter future.

How will you move forward, onward and upward today?

Tune in tomorrow to read the daily mood quote

Thank you for reading

A really great book to read: Toxic In-Laws by Dr. Susan Forward. This book gives a great insight to all relationships including the family you grew up with. Good stuff.

Daily Mood Quote - August 23, 2011

 

Daily Mood Quote

Day 112 – August 23, 2011

“How you think about a problem is more important than the problem itself. So always think positively.”

~Norman Vincent Peale

Recently I have been struggling with managing my time and like all things in life, it is work in progress. Even at 47, still work in progress. When I was younger (in high school), I couldn't wait to be an adult. At that time, it seemed to me that adults had it all. They could come and go as they please, do what they want, when they wanted. They controlled their own lives, or at least that's the way it appeared to me. Well, I have been an adult for quite some time now and I can tell you without equivocation: grown up life is like being a duck on a pond, usually its “calm and serene on top, but paddling like crazy underneath.” Have you ever noticed how rare it is to have two days exactly the same? Just like the water in the pond, life can get choppy and sloppy. Sometimes, the water can appear placid, but strong currents lie just below. Poor little ducks...big surprise for us grown ups. That doesn't stop the paddling. The choice to sit? That makes you a "sitting duck" for problems, doesn't it? On and on it goes, hoping that the current is with you, or at least your with the current.

Yesterday, I changed the time of the blog believing that would help my schedule work better. Well, I remove one issue and end up with two more...enough said. Sadly to say, this is not going to work. So back to the drawing board beginning with the next blog, August 24, the Daily Mood Quotes blog will be back on the original schedule. Please accept my apology for the change and thank you for continuing to read the Daily Mood Quotes blog.

In the movie 17 Again, Mike O'Donnell (played by Matthew Perry and Zac Efron) believed he had all these problems because he didn't go to college, instead he married his girlfriend, had a baby and believed his life, a life unfulfilled. The janitor (played by Brian Doyle-Murray) approached him while looking at the case that displayed his high school fame and said, “High school star, never quite lived up to your potential. Sooner or later you all come back to your old school, stand there and look at the picture of the glory days wondering "What might have been?" Seems to me you guys are living in the past.” Mike replied, “Well, of course I wanna live in the past. It was better there...” Well, I once thought that same thing too, but you know what, it wasn't better, it was only easier. Our problems were viewed through a lens of inexperience and perhaps a bit less responsibility. I didn’t know that some problems don't have answers and some problems grow like weeds until you dig in and get to the root. There is a popular adage in business circles that “problems are opportunities.” "What a crock!!!!" (thank you Tom Selleck from 3 Men and a Baby). Sayings like this are why I'm no fan of pop psychology, as they cause untrained, or overly suggestible people (I'll dance around a few choice words here) to create unnecessary problems; so they can get to some, as yet unfathomed opportunity. That's backwards thinking to be certain. Well, to that phrase I respectfully submit: No not quite, they are problems. They can however yield opportunity, when approached with the right frame of mind. So, I juggle the schedule and start anew, wiser for the experience (hopefully), and the blog will get back on track. Thank you for all your input!

How will you view problems today?

Tune in tomorrow to read the daily mood quote

Thank you for reading

Daily Mood Quote

Daily Mood Quote
Day 67 - July 9, 2011

When you do find humor in trying times, one of the first and most important changes you experience is that you see your perplexing problems in a new way - you suddenly have a new perspective on them.
~ Allen Klein

One of the things we tend to forget when times are toughs is to laugh. When you laugh, it allows you to view things from a different perspective and sometimes through that laughter, what was once perceived as a challenging problem can now be viewed with a solution in mind. There is a great old quote: “Laughter is the best medicine” (thank you Reader’s Digest) and it really is.

Yesterday, my family and I took a lengthy car trip and during this trip we got a flat tire. We were too far to turn home and only halfway to where we were headed. Remember “sh*% happens?” well, there it is again, but we looked at the positive things. First, it was the passenger side front tire and we were able to get the car stopped without incident. We were able to stop in a place that was out of the line of traffic and huge trucks. Last, it wasn’t a horrific temperature and there was light breeze. Also, the kids got to learn about how to not panic when things go suddenly awry and to change a tire. We resumed our trip about 20 minutes later with a donut on the car and without further incident. We laughed about donut driving and continuing on to our destination.

Life will always throw those things at you, especially when you’re not prepared for them. The main goal of the trip was for all of us to enjoy ourselves and leave behind the issues we are dealing for a while. Sometimes, you have to take those perspective days in order to maintain good mental health.

No movie quote today.

Tune in tomorrow to read the daily mood quote

Thank you for reading