Monday, July 14, 2014

Monday (7/14/2014)

Update:

Sunday was rather quiet for me after church, I ran a long errand and then found that lunch was not agreeing with me (you really don’t want any details), and so I rested at home all afternoon.  It felt a shame to waste such a beautiful day; but I supposed taking a day of rest is really not a waste after all.

On Monday morning, I have two doctor appointments scheduled (physiatrist and a retinal specialist).  At one I should receive an eye injection to help reduce the swelling in my retina; if that is the case, the rest of the day will be spent resting the eye.  I probably will not send out an update on Tuesday depending on how clearly I can see the computer screen, etc.  

Thought for the Day:

“I’ve never met anyone (including myself) who hasn’t turned little things into great big emergencies.  We take our own goals so seriously that we forget to have fun along the way, and we forget to cut ourselves some slack.  We take simple preferences and turn them in conditions for our own happiness.  Or, we beat ourselves up if we can’t meet our self-created deadlines.  The first step in becoming a more peaceful person is to have the humility to admit that, in most cases, you’re creating your own emergencies.  Life will usually go on if things don’t go according to plan.  It’s helpful to keep reminder yourself and repeating the sentence, ‘Life isn’t an emergency.’” [Richard Carlson, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff…and it’s all small stuff].

There have been times in my life when I have made my “To Do” list my god.  “These things must be accomplished or my life will be over!”  In retrospect, those things might have been nice to do and actually needed to be done; but not that very minute.  I could have taken so much pressure off of myself had I only relaxed a little bit.  You might say, “But I wouldn’t get as much done!”  That may be true but you’d end up being less stressed and those who live with you would be less stressed as result as well.

I cannot tell you how many times I have stressed out about running late as I drive to an appointment or a meeting.  I get tense, sick at my stomach, inpatient for every delay, and angry.  Whoa, big guy!  Calm down!  I have found that the world does not end if I am five minutes late.  Gasp!  Who knew?  I must affirm that I think it is best to arrive on time (or a little early) and I make every effort to do so; but if it isn’t going to happen I work hard at not letting it ruin my day.  This really is an emergency that I created myself by not choosing to leave for my destination a few minutes earlier.


So whatever it is that throws you over the edge is probably something similar.   It would be good to do; but no one is going to die if it isn’t done this minute.  If that is the case, relax.  Take a deep breath. Put it all into a realistic perspective.  The reality is that things will never go exactly as planned.  Sometimes that is our fault and sometimes things spin out of our control.  Don’t allow these truly minor events dictate your level of happiness.

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