Daily Gratitude: “If Today’s Date Was 12 September 2001, How Much Would This Matter?”

When things seem to be hopeless or as if a disaster is looming, stop, take a few deep breaths and ask yourself this question “if today’s date was 12 September 2001, how much would this matter?”

I’m not making fun of or diminishing the importance of anything you’re going through. And the answer to the question might actually be a lot. But, there is a distinct possibility that the answer would be “not much ”.

The point is that when something seems out of kilter, our minds go into microscope mode and everything we have is focused on that one thing. Under the microscope tiny tiny particles look gigantic. So anything we are looking at through those lenses seems gigantic. Our perspective is skewed since we’re looking through the microscope.

If we could just step back and let it be its real size and shape in relation to everything else in our existence, perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad.

This especially applies to that which we worry about – you know – those things that haven’t happened yet. The “what ifs” in our life. What if this symptom means it’s a brain tumor? What if the fact my friend is late means they don’t like me or maybe they were in a fatal accident? What if….

Well, what if it was the 12th of September 2001? What would it all look like then?

Let’s take our eyes off the microscope and put them back into everyday viewing mode. Look around you. What else do you see?

Daily Gratitude: “Friendship improves happiness and abates misery, by the doubling of our joy and the dividing of our grief.”

This is a perfect description of friendship. When two people are in sync, amazing things happen. Everything is more than doubled. It’s as if there is a rocket in each one of us but the fuel level is extremely low. Then when another person with the same level of consciousness comes into the picture, the fuel pumps are open wide and each rocket’s tank is filled to the brim. Combustion and lift off are then almost automatic.

There’s usually only a few friendships in someone’s life that are that powerful. But each of our friendships should have a special current running through them – a current that unites both parties and strengthens each.

Two people can solve problems together much more efficiently and effectively than one.

Of course it’s like a farmers field. A friendship, like his field, has to be cultivated and nurtured or it will go stagnant and won’t produce healthy crops. So make sure you take care of your field, your friendship. As with everything else inattention will destroy what you’ve built. That maxim applies not just to things but to human relationship as well.

Daily Gratitude: “Let the beauty of what you love be what you do.”

It’s funny how this quote popped up now. I’m having problems with my training for Vol State. I usually love both walking and Vol State. At this point, I don’t love either. Although… I noticed that things felt better this past week when I started to vary my route.

This tells me I still love walking because i love what I see all around me. And that’s the key to everything joyous.

My last job in the navy and as a civilian for the army involved paperwork and just reading cases. Boring? Nope. I looked at each case as a mystery. There was always so much more to a person than what their paperwork showed. I acted like Jessica Fletcher in “Murder, She Wrote” (for those of you old enough to remember). And it made what I did something I totally enjoyed. Sure there were times it wasn’t “exciting” but when that happened, I still reminded myself that this was someone’s future that I was attending to and it was my responsibility to do the best by that person. I loved it.

When did I retire? When it stopped being fun.

What do you really love? Ask yourself that every day and then make sure you’re doing as much of that in your life as you can.