Daily Motivation 1-31-11

Monday, January 31, 2011

Today's Gift

Thou shalt not should thyself. —-Anonymous

When someone tells us we should do something, do we want to do it, or do we feel mad that someone else is telling us what we want to do? Sometimes we forget that these messages are not our own, but are the desires of others. It's important to listen to what we tell ourselves, to be aware of which messages we're giving ourselves and which come from others. We can make a list of all our shoulds and identify where they came from: parent, boss, friend, self. Then we can decide which shoulds are want to's, and throw out the rest. Doing what we want to is very different from doing what we should, and we can usually do a better job of it.

Have I freed myself of shoulds today?

From Today's Gift: Daily Meditations for Families ©

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Twenty-Four Hours a Day

 

Walk In Dry Places
 
Releasing the Past

 

Garbage in, Garbage Out
One thing we don't need in our lives is garbage from the past.  Yet many of us say that old thoughts and bitter memories often sneak devilishly back to spoil what should have been a pleasant day. Why do we let garbage from the past befoul our lives a second time?

 

Computer programmers use a certain expression when their systems turn up errors: "GARBAGE IN, GARBAGE OUT."  If you feed erroneous, useless information into a computer, that's what you get back.
We seem to have built-in computers that work the same way.  If we waste time and energy talking about past injustices or old mistakes, we are unwittingly calling them back into our lives.  We are bringing back garbage that should have been discarded permanently to make room for better things.

There is no benefit in bringing back old garbage. We can't change the past. We can't change our mistakes by brooding about them, and we can't obtain justice by remembering how badly we were treated or by plotting revenge.  When we bring back garbage, we allow it to occupy space that should be devoted to constructive and positive things.

 

If we don't want garbage in our lives, let's not put it there by bringing up matters that should have been released, forgiven, and forgotten.

Action for the Day: I will keep my mind on the present, knowing that a positive attitude will help me make the best of the opportunities that come to me.

 

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One Day At A Time

 

Anger
Then the miracle happened -- to me!
It isn't always so sudden with everyone, but I ran into a personal crisis
that filled me with a raging and righteous anger.
As I fumed helplessly and planned to get good and drunk and show them,
my eye caught a sentence in the book lying open on my bed:
"We cannot live with anger." The walls crumpled -- and the light streamed in.
I wasn't trapped. I wasn't helpless.
I was free, and I didn't have to drink to "show them."
This wasn't "religion" -- this was freedom!
Freedom from anger and fear, freedom to know happiness,
and freedom to know love.
- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 206

Thought to Ponder . . .
Anger rules nothing except itself.

AA-related 'Alconym' . . .
A A = Avoid Anger.

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Daily Motivation

 

Double down

 

When life hands you a disappointment, don't lower your expectations. Raise those expectations.

 

If you're having trouble reaching your goals, don't give up on those goals. Make them even more ambitious and even more meaningful.

 

Yes, life can be filled with inconvenience, frustration, and disappointment. The people you deal with can be rude, incompetent, arrogant and downright abusive.

 

But you don't have to let any of it get to you. Just as easily as you can choose to be angry, you can choose to be positive, productive, purposeful and enthusiastic.

 

When the negativity gets thick, respond with positive enthusiasm. For that is precisely when it can have the most powerful effect.

 

When being positive is not working out, double down on your positivity. Base your response not on how life has been, but on how you would like it to be.

 

-- Ralph Marston