Daily Gratitude: “The good life is a process, not a state of being. It is a direction not a destination.”

When you accept the premise behind this quote, you might cease being so impatient with how things are going.

Have you ever made plans to go somewhere or do something, working hard to get everything right? Then the event occurs. It can go very well; it can go horribly wrong; or it can be somewhere in between. We’ve talked about this before as far as expectations are concerned. By that I mean take some time to determine if things really were okay but just not as great as you expected (hoped) they would be. You can then change your opinion of how things went by removing or altering your expectations.

But this quote is about accepting that there is a reason for what happened when they actually did have problems or went badly.

Accept it. And declare it good (that’s thanks to the great Catherine Ponder). Stop getting your own way because you think you know how everything is supposed to work out. You don’t. Remember by motto “everything always works out for me”. It may not look that way at the time. But it will eventually.

What’s going on or happening in your life right now is not the end, not the destination. It’s just part of the process. You got on the local train, not the express. This train makes lots of stops but eventually will take you where you’re supposed to be. Even you don’t know where that is going to be. You can only hope for something and yes, you can plan for it but know that there is a force much smarter than you operating the train you’re on.

Enjoy the ride. Get off at each stop and see the sights. You will get where you’re supposed to be.

Daily Gratitude: “The struggles we endure today will be the ‘good old days’ we laugh about tomorrow.”

This may be one of the hardest concepts to embrace but it could become one of the most important if you do.

What might help is reviewing your life (which I highly recommend anyway) and finding those times when something “horrible” happened. And then thing about the months and years after that. How “horrible” did it remain? Sure there might be a few things that still seem not so good. But I will bet you that there aren’t as many as you thought that remain “horrible”. Even deaths and other losses.

It’s not that we shouldn’t feel sad or hurt or angry when those things do happen. It’s that we should keep them in perspective. Remember one post I wrote where i mentioned what a hotline caller had recommended. She said ask yourself (or ask a friend) “if this were September 12th, 2001 how important would this be?” That may sound callus but it isn’t. It’s a friend trying to help us put things in perspective.

We can endure so much more than we think we can. As the days go by, the intensity of even the most devastating event decreases. Our resilience helps us through. We may not think we are resilient but we are.

This horrible experience will, indeed, become part of the “good ole days” if we just wait long enough. But you don’t have to wait “long enough” to start to feel better. Recall what else you’ve survived and that will give you the strength you need.

Daily Gratitude: “A ship is safe in harbor, but that is not what ships are for.”

How many of us hang out in the harbor yet expect great things to happen for (and to) us?  

That’s not what we are made for. If you look at the well known people throughout history and wonder why this person is remembered when his or her neighbor isn’t, you’ll see that the “famous” one left the harbor and ventured out into the rough seas. 

We get complacent; we get bored; and most of all we get scared. And like little children, when we’re scared we want to run and hide under the bed or in the closet – our own personal harbor. We get nowhere in life. 

I think we should realize that ships do face dangers in harbor. In fact, it’s often more dangerous.  Out at sea when a storm has come about, the ship can move up and down and all about because it can go with the waves and stay safe…or at least intact. 

Ships that remain in harbor are tied up.  Tied to the pier. They have no freedom. They can’t move about.  So what happens when a storm takes aim at a ship in harbor. There is much greater chance of damage and destruction- all without the ship ever having performed any of the wondrous tasks it was created for. There is danger staying in the harbor too. 

Where would you rather be when adversity hits?