Daily Gratitude: “Whoever pulls our chain becomes our master.”

This should also say “whatever” pulls our chain because so often we are tied to objects or things.

If we can become angry, upset, sad, depressed, or worried, we are not free. If we become happy or feel elevated because of what someone else says or does, we are not free either. Whoever can make us feel better or worse can pull our chain.

Next time something someone says or does makes your mood change, think of this. Either way, you don’t want to have your mood and well being dependent on someone else, do you?

Teach this to your kids and even your friends. Remind them of this when they’re feeling down because of what someone else says.

Daily Gratitude: “Owning our story and loving ourselves through that process is the bravest thing that we’ll ever do.”

A lot of people own their story but not necessarily in a productive way. They use it as an excuse. Like “you can’t blame me because this is what happened to me.” That’s not what this quote is about.

It’s so helpful to know what happened and maybe even why it happened but only if you do something with it.

As the quote says, love yourself no matter what your experience has been. This isn’t always easy but it is always the most important thing you can do. Self love starts with self care and acceptance.

What’s most useful is taking what happened, your story, and extracting the lesson(s) from it. Once you have the lessons outlined, it’s so much easier to take action to prevent the same story from repeating itself. We all know that that happens and I believe it occurs when we just stay in the “I was in this yucky situation” mode and don’t examine all aspects. That makes it easy and probable that the same thing will happen again.

Move forward with your life. Love yourself and learn about yourself. Don’t be afraid to examine your inner being.

Daily Gratitude: “Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.”

This says it all. The key is that you need to define what success is for yourself. It doesn’t have to be something major. It’s usually doing what makes you happy.

And once you define that for yourself, it doesn’t matter what other people think. You don’t even have to tell them if you’re worried about what they may say. Just do it.

The most important part of this quote, though, is that you Have to like yourself. I think that once you like yourself, truly like yourself, then you’ll be happy doing almost anything that gives some pleasure and also serves others. It’s hard not to be happy when serving others.

Would you want to spend your whole life doing something you don’t like? I wouldn’t. I didn’t. I could have made a ton more money as a doctor in the civilian world but what I was able to give through my service in the Navy enriched me more than I ever dreamed anything would.

Experiment and find what it is you like. Then set about doing it!!