How easy it is to focus our attention on the things that need to be fixed or on the painful things that we wish were different! We can get so caught up in wishing something would change that we forget how powerful we are to change how we think about a situation.
My wonderful Mom, Gloria Robertson, always saw silver linings. One of her favorite sayings was, ‘Everything always works out for the best.’ And the other thing she said often was,
‘As a rule, Man’s a fool,
When it’s hot he wants it cool.
When it’s cool he wants it hot,
Always wishing what is not.’
My Mom was a very wise woman. We spend so much time wishing things were different when really the only thing we need to change is how we think about things. I remember my Mom, towards the end of her life, deciding that she would only worry about those things that it was in her power to make different. She had an appointment with her doctor who asked her what had changed because her health had improved. She said, ‘I’ve adopted a new attitude – NMP.’ When he asked what ‘NMP’ stood for, she answered, ‘Not My Problem.’
It is very freeing to look around and decide what is ours to work on and what is beyond our control or what belongs to someone else to handle. And it is very empowering to take charge of those things that ARE our own to deal with. Not everything around us requires that we take charge of it. Not everything is ours to handle or to fix. Sometimes another person needs to learn to help himself or herself. Sometimes someone else needs to learn a lesson by handling something their own way. Sometimes ‘good enough’ is okay – it doesn’t always have to be perfect. Sometimes another person just wants to be left alone and it needs to be okay with us to allow that. And sometimes another person needs company and we need to be beyond ourselves enough to see that and to offer the company without judgment.
Look around you today and see if there isn’t some joy to be found in every conscious moment. What can you do to make yourself smile? Is there someone you can help? Is there some situation that you can laugh at? Can you laugh at yourself or do you always take yourself terribly seriously? Is there an animal to watch? A flower to notice? Music to enjoy? What can you feel gratitude about in this moment now?
Adopting the attitude that there is always some joy to be found will bring happiness into your life. And if you are truly struggling to find something about which to feel good, then get out your sense of humor and remember a time when you laughed and laughed at something you thought was hilariously funny. All you need to do is remember and you will be smiling again.
Keep a stock of funny movies or joke books or funny emails that you’ve received and get them out when you truly cannot find anything to give you joy. One joke, one laugh, is all it takes to shift your energy. One look out the window and you will find something to delight in, no matter how small it might seem. Remember, that if you spend all of your energy thinking about what you don’t want, the Universe won’t know what to bring you from the list of what you DO want. Energize the aspects of this moment that you want to magnify in your life. Experience delight and you will have more delight. Focus on joy and you will have more joy in your life. That’s how things work!
________________________
Please feel free to re-post this article and share it with your readers. All I ask is that you include the following information when you do:
Mystic Messages 
MUSE-INGS: Focus on the Joy!
April 27, 2010 — RosemaryHow easy it is to focus our attention on the things that need to be fixed or on the painful things that we wish were different! We can get so caught up in wishing something would change that we forget how powerful we are to change how we think about a situation.
My wonderful Mom, Gloria Robertson, always saw silver linings. One of her favorite sayings was, ‘Everything always works out for the best.’ And the other thing she said often was,
‘As a rule, Man’s a fool,
When it’s hot he wants it cool.
When it’s cool he wants it hot,
Always wishing what is not.’
My Mom was a very wise woman. We spend so much time wishing things were different when really the only thing we need to change is how we think about things. I remember my Mom, towards the end of her life, deciding that she would only worry about those things that it was in her power to make different. She had an appointment with her doctor who asked her what had changed because her health had improved. She said, ‘I’ve adopted a new attitude – NMP.’ When he asked what ‘NMP’ stood for, she answered, ‘Not My Problem.’
It is very freeing to look around and decide what is ours to work on and what is beyond our control or what belongs to someone else to handle. And it is very empowering to take charge of those things that ARE our own to deal with. Not everything around us requires that we take charge of it. Not everything is ours to handle or to fix. Sometimes another person needs to learn to help himself or herself. Sometimes someone else needs to learn a lesson by handling something their own way. Sometimes ‘good enough’ is okay – it doesn’t always have to be perfect. Sometimes another person just wants to be left alone and it needs to be okay with us to allow that. And sometimes another person needs company and we need to be beyond ourselves enough to see that and to offer the company without judgment.
Look around you today and see if there isn’t some joy to be found in every conscious moment. What can you do to make yourself smile? Is there someone you can help? Is there some situation that you can laugh at? Can you laugh at yourself or do you always take yourself terribly seriously? Is there an animal to watch? A flower to notice? Music to enjoy? What can you feel gratitude about in this moment now?
Adopting the attitude that there is always some joy to be found will bring happiness into your life. And if you are truly struggling to find something about which to feel good, then get out your sense of humor and remember a time when you laughed and laughed at something you thought was hilariously funny. All you need to do is remember and you will be smiling again.
Keep a stock of funny movies or joke books or funny emails that you’ve received and get them out when you truly cannot find anything to give you joy. One joke, one laugh, is all it takes to shift your energy. One look out the window and you will find something to delight in, no matter how small it might seem. Remember, that if you spend all of your energy thinking about what you don’t want, the Universe won’t know what to bring you from the list of what you DO want. Energize the aspects of this moment that you want to magnify in your life. Experience delight and you will have more delight. Focus on joy and you will have more joy in your life. That’s how things work!
________________________
Please feel free to re-post this article and share it with your readers. All I ask is that you include the following information when you do: