Where Fun is Most Abundant by Jane Powell “Enthusiasm is where the fun is.� When enthusiasm strikes, you know because you want to jump up and down and scream with happiness. It’s a moment where your heart soars because you have just felt or done something that inspires you deep within. Enthusiasm is where your body screams with excitement and you hear that “Yes!!!� from deep inside. It’s one of the best feelings in the world. Today, no matter what your rational mind says look and listen for the places, events, ideas, people and activities that make your heart shout a loud “Yes!!!� Next, spend some time deciding how to bring more of those things into your life. Make a commitment to yourself to do the things you need to do to live a more enthusiastic life. When you’re enthusiastic you look forward to each and every day. And, that’s what makes life so fun! LETTING YOURSELF GROW Did you know that the gestation period for an elephant is 22 months? And then, she will give birth to a bundle of joy that weighs 150-250 pounds. If you're pregnant and sick of feeling like an elephant, at you aren't one. Growth takes time. That is true of humans as well as elephants. I attended a parent-teacher conference for my second-grade son.. We sat in the children's chairs. They were about two feet tall and certainly not made for adults. Those chairs were designed for little people. Growth is a slow process, but as we grow up, we outgrow the little chairs. We grow physically and we grow in other ways, too. We grow in our roles and relationships. I occasionally asked my adolescent kids, "How do you think you're doing raising your parents?" I understood I would become a better parent as I grew into that role. Sometimes growth in parenting involves the understanding that we don't know as much as we thought we did. Before my wife and I had children we taught parenting classes. We knew all of the fundamentals of raising happy and well-behaved children. Now, after raising my own children, I am sometimes asked about parenting issues. This often occurs when I am teaching a class on a different topic. My response these days is to turn to the group and ask, "Does anyone here have any suggestions?" As I've grown older, I have come to see more clearly just how much more I need to grow. I realize that simple answers do not fit every situation ...or every child. I am throwing out the easy answers and learning to assess every parenting issue individually. I try to learn from my failures, to trust my instincts and to respond more often from my best self. I have come a long way, but have a long way yet to grow. And that is true of every area of my life. If you're not yet the person you want to be, can you be patient as you grow? It takes the elephant 22 months to give birth. Even the mightiest tree begins as a frail seed. Be patient. You can go through life or you can grow through life. Steve Goodier Unreasonable Many things that were considered completely unreasonable a hundred years ago are so common today that everyone takes them for granted. Great progress is made by those who have the foresight and the courage to be unreasonable. Are your decisions being guided by the conventional wisdom about what is and what is not possible? That can keep you trapped in frustration and mediocrity. Instead, listen to your heart and decide upon what you must do. Go beyond being merely reasonable, and live the life that you know is you. Instead of worrying about whether something is reasonable or not, focus on how much you truly desire to let it be. Put the power of passion behind your efforts, and it won’t really matter whether something is reasonable or not. If fulfilling your true purpose means being unreasonable, then go ahead and be unreasonable. Instead of compromising your dreams to fit into what the rest of the world thinks, lift the world up to match your highest vision. Unreasonable people change the world. Be willing to be unreasonable, and you’ll make your own world a more beautiful and fulfilling place. Ralph Marston
|
0 comments:
Post a Comment