Category Archives: Walking Wisdom

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You’re Really Here to Teach Others

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Did you ever think about that? That your primary role in life is to teach others something? You may not know exactly what but you are here to do that? Look at how children model their parent's behavior and mannerisms. Older people do that too. People are always watching you. If they see something they don't think is right they will remember you. But if they see something that they think is wrong, they will also remember you. Keeping that in mind, how do you want to be remembered? Can you think about that the next time you try to cut someone off in traffic or worse yet flip them off when they cut you off? Do you have to respond "in kind" to people or can you respond and "be kind". 

What side of you do you want to show the world? We all think about this to some degree when we do something "important". Yet we need to let this thought guide us in everything we do. 

What is it you have to teach others? You may be saying "not much. I'm not a teacher, I'm a business person." Always remember that more teaching is done outside of the classroom than in it. Just ask the many parents who had their kids out of school during the pandemic. 

It also pays to remember that you teach other people how to treat you too. If you can't say "no" or aren't very good at setting boundaries (like me) then you may end up feeling that you've been taken advantage of. But no one is taking advantage of you, they are just doing what they always have done. You have always said "yes" so why is it bothering you now? Do you let other people or your kids take advantage of you? That is on you? Be the victor, not the victim and simply take control of your life. Don't give it away to others. You'll be doing them a favor by teaching them how to recognize a problem (that you can't set boundaries) and then how to solve it (by starting to set some but doing it gently - so as not to frighten yourself or others. 

Everywhere you go, everything you say, and everything you write on social media follows you forever. I cringe when i see people yelling at the employees at a fast food place (there are a lot of those lately) and throwing food at them. What message are they giving people - not only about how they think others should be treated but also how it's ok to be hateful and then act on that rage. We have seen a great increase in that since 2016 and it hurts my soul to watch the hate surface again against pretty much anyone who is DIFFERENT. I hate to tell these people but they are DIFFERENT too. It is up to us to teach kindness, love and understanding. This is not something to do only when it's an event on the calendar but every single day.

What's your lesson plan for life?
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The Cafeteria

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Emmet Fox wrote this short piece about his experience when he first came to America. He saw a nice looking restaurant, went in and sat down. He waited and waited and waited and yet no one came to him to take his order. He was upset and a bit perplexed as many people around him were eating and seemed quite happy. He was feeling very neglected.

Finally he realized what a cafeteria was. They didn't have them yet in England where he came from. He discovered that there was plenty of food and goodies to have but you had to go up to the tables and choose from them. 

The universe operates in just the same way. No one is going to bring you happiness or joy. You have to go up to the "buffet of life" and make your choices. Otherwise you may sit and wait forever, not getting anything out of life that you want. 

So, if you want happiness, go to the happiness section and tell the universe mentally that you are claiming happiness for yourself. You don't necessarily need to detail what happiness means to you and in fact, you probably shouldn't. Why? Because what you think will make you happy today might not be it at all. I don't know if you remember when I told you i had wanted to be a neurosurgeon but then my epilepsy kept me from doing anything surgical. I thought that would bring me happiness and maybe it would have. But i will tell you that all the different things I ended up doing in my life made me extremely happy and I'm pretty sure I would not have been at such a state had I been able to go into neurosurgery. I received happiness and you will do once you claim it. But you don't really know today what will make you happy for the next 20 years or so. 

Don't sit around waiting for things to happen for you. You have to take action in life. Once you decide what you want, then focus on that thought and ask youself some questions:

- What does this mean to me?
- What can I do today to start me on the way to x (whatever it is you picked)?
- How can I stay focused while it's being delivered to me and how can i always keep it in sight no matter what's going on around me?
- what actions can i take to repay the universe for these wonderful things that are going to happen to me?

You want to start taking action to help yourself. It's the start that stops most people.

What's on your plate today?
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What Good is a “Crappy” Day?

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Terrie’s tip – “Crappy” days actually offer more information and ability to learn than you realize. You just have to make a bit of an effort.

Today was a “crappy” day. No other way to put it. Now I’m talking about training days and my non-training time was beautiful and glorious because I am so alive and happy. But those 5 hours on the road – not so good. Thus, I will be talking about training days but as you can imagine I wouldn’t write something for just a small group of people. We’ll see how these principles apply in any aspect of your life.

First – You have to do what I just did in my introduction. You have to recognize that you’re using the term “crappy” (or whatever you use) to describe a specific set of circumstances that weren’t as great as you’d like. But in that recognition, know that there were other parts of the day that were good – even if you have to reach to find them, they are there.

Next – step back and tell yourself “this is just one day”. When it comes to training (as well as life) it all has to be put into perspective. Many parts of my training were good and tomorrow has just as good a chance of being good too. It is simply one small period of time in the grand scheme of things. Today does not predict tomorrow’s outcome nor does it mean all that hard work you put in didn’t mean anything. It will just stand by itself – unless you continue to dwell on it and catastrophize it into meaning the end of everything. Then, just as you predict, tomorrow will be horrible too – because your thoughts became reality.

Then, while you’re in the midst of this “day” – while out on the road in my example – ask yourself if you have any idea what this “down” is all about. That’s a good way to look at things objectively instead of just throwing your hands in the air and giving up. If there are different things you can try right then and there, go ahead and see what you can do. If not, store the ideas away in your mind and you can address them later. The primary point is not to get so focused on what’s seemingly wrong and then fall down that spiral staircase into the abyss. Stay present. You hear people talk about mindfulness all the time. Mindfulness doesn’t necessarily mean that things are always rosy. The point is to stay right here and now and now 2 1/2 weeks from now declaring that there is no way I can finish this race. If you have such a crystal ball, you should be out selling your prophecies instead of training on a long and quiet road anyway.

Make the decision on what to do. If you feel horrible physically for instance, maybe you should stop, head home or maybe even call someone. But, if you’re just dragging like I was today, decide to either rest for a bit or keep going. I did both and made it as far as I had planned to make it anyway. I varied my route a bit so I wasn’t as bored in order to see if that helped and it did. But the sun is the sun and when you can’t get out of it, you just have to suck it up.

Realize that your emotions are trying to sabotage you and tell your brain “thank you for your input. I see what you’re doing but be assured we’re safe and we will have a great day tomorrow. Just take it easy right now and don’t panic.” Yes, i know it sounds weird to talk to your brain but it really does work. And again it keeps you in the present.

When you make it home, sit down and evaluate what you think went wrong and how you can fix it. Spend a short period of time on this, always reminding yourself that it was just 5 hours and it doesn’t mean the world is coming to an end. Don’t continue to dwell on it all. Set a specific amount of time and then move on to things that make you happy.

“Crappy” days are just that – one day – or in my case, just 5 hours. And the rest of the time was terrific and will continue to be terrific!