Daily Gratitude: Did you ever consider having a day of silence? Probably not since we’re such tribal beings. But could you pick a day when you only paid attention to what you were saying – to yourself? You need to really be committed to doing this since we are continuously talking to ourselves and don’t even know or notice it. It’s also a bit hard since our thoughts come and go so fast we are hardly aware of them. The brain is a miraculous organ and we don’t respect it enough. Why not decide to script your day one weekend or holiday. By that I mean in the morning – or even the night before – figure out what you’re going to say to yourself from the moment you get up. Then do it but also pay attention to the dialogue that’s happening between the time of the thoughts you prepared and planned. Maybe you should only do the scripting for an hour or so. How about your trip to and from the grocery store. Plan what you’ll say in that time period and then watch what happens. How much of that less than desirable convenience actually took place? “Who” else was in that conversation with you. Did you have a so called back seat driver? This will give you a flavor of what you are whispering (although sometimes it’s just like shouting) to yourself when you’re not even aware. Maybe then you’ll be more attentive.

Daily Gratitude: Have you ever noticed this about yourself? You spend lots of time wondering and worrying about what other people either do or will think about you – about what you wear, what you say, how your hair is styled or cut, how much you weigh, how you talk, what accent you have, what kind of car you drive, what gym you belong to, etc. Why? Have you ever asked yourself that? What does it matter what others think of these mundane aspects of life? If we have to worry about what others think, we should be worried about what they think of our character. But even then, you are subject to their quick impressions and judgments without having the full context behind what it means to you. These “others” probably have no clue to how you were brought up and what value system was instilled in you so how can they really judge you – your thoughts or your reasons for doing something. And you don’t know anything about most of the people you’re interacting with. They may be smiling on the outside but crying on the inside. People with chronic illness, especially the invisible illnesses, have to do this all the time. They have to suffer in silence so that they can “put on a happy face” so that another person won’t feel uncomfortable around them. How messed up is that? But we all do it. Why not take that time you’re worrying about other people’s opinions and figure out how you are treating others and what virtues you want to show the world, regardless of what others think. Can you go a day or more without thinking about that? Let us know.

The art of living

Daily Gratitude: What a wise saying. Too bad it’s not that easy to live. It would be great though if we could just accept things as they appear, realize that whatever it is, it’s meant to help us grow, and rejoice in that lesson. If we adopt “everything always works out for me”, then it’s easier to realize that whatever it is that’s happening really is what’s best. It may not be so obvious right away but I have learned that eventually it will show itself to have been the best thing. I still marvel at the fact that although I wanted to be a neurosurgeon from a very early age, the universe knew much sooner than I did that that wasn’t where I was meant to be. But since I, like most humans, was a control freak and of course “I knew what was best for me”, it had to take significant action to keep me from pursuing what would have been an unhappy career. So I developed epilepsy. I couldn’t be a neurosurgeon (or any kind of surgeon) so I had to find something else to do. The funnier part is that it took many years and attempts at many different things to finally land where I could do the most good. And boy was that a far cry from neurosurgery. Ha ha. If we’d just remind ourselves that we don’t know everything and we don’t have all the answers and put our faith in the universe, we’re liable to make it to our true destiny a lot sooner. Think about how important control is in your life. Can you let go of some of it? If not, why not? Look back over your life and see how your holding on to control has influenced it – either in a good way or a not so good way. Can you change that?