Monday, October 02, 2006

Rollercoasters Should Be Fun!

FOR THE WEEK BEGINNING OCTOBER 2, 2006

INSPIRATION FOR TODAY:
"One might say that it consists of the belief that there is an unseen order,
and that our supreme good lies in harmoniously adjusting ourselves thereto."
~ William James (from "The Varieties of Religious Experience")

FRANKLY, MY DEAR . . .

While James refers to religious beliefs and experience in particular, his insight applies pretty much "across the board" to life in general. While some things are more obvious (we don't, for example, mow our lawns while it's raining), we often overlook other ways in which we act contrarily to The Natural Order and, more importantly, to events in our lives.

While absolute and unquestioning acceptance of everything that happens to us on a day to day basis is certainly not the answer to inner peace, consider how many of us waste enormous amounts of time either bemoaning and rehashing unpleasant experiences or missed opportunities, or worrying about things that we're not able to control.

To be happy and content is, after all, really a conscious decision. Think about the unhappy people you know and the odds are that they spend a great deal of their time failing to adapt to events and conditions. They range from feeling that their weekend has been ruined because of bad weather to feeling depressed about not receiving a promotion or missing a sale.

As with the tides, there is a natural ebb and flow to our lives. Some days will be wonderful, when everything seems to be going our way. Others will be filled with experiences that remove all joy from the day, wasting significant portions of our lives.

We can either choose to permit such days to overcome us, or we can decide to reconcile ourselves to that "unseen order," and come to terms with our disappointments. Remember the mantra of Scarlett O'Hara, "Tomorrow is another day." In the meantime, "harmoniously adjust" - and find happiness and advantage in this day.

posted by The Office Grapevine at 9:23 AM  

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