To move forward from the last one sent to you, the Jeffrey Brantley & Wendy Millstine book used indicates regarding ¡§DON¡¦T LIKE WHAT YOU¡¦RE DOING?¡¨ the following:
An old saying goes, ¡§If you can¡¦t get out of it, get behind it!¡¨ How much is lost when you are fighting within yourself again the very activity you¡¦re trying to accomplish?
Next time you find yourself fighting, try the following practice:
1. Breathe or listen mindfully for about a minute.
2. Set your intention. For example, ¡§May this practice bring me more peace and joy.¡¨
3. Listen mindfully to your inner voices. Are they loud, angry, afraid ¡V what? Remember that you don¡¦t have to fight them, and you don¡¦t have to follow them.
4. When you notice feelings of aversion or ill will toward anything, gently name them.
5. Breathe mindfully for a few more breaths. Imagine that the ill will leaves you on each breath out.
6. Refocus on your work. Can you see something valuable there? Can you meet it with interest?
We all find ourselves with daunting tasks that we don¡¦t¡¦ like doing, but we do them anyways (even if it is after much procrastination and despair before doing so), such as cleaning our homes, sorting our pasts stored in boxes upon boxes, etc. The sad thing is that, after we push ourselves to do the daunting tasks, we feel a sense of real accomplishment and a sense of pride in being able to get through those tasks looming over our minds and souls for days, weeks, months, or even in some cases years.
On a funny note, my granddaughter (who had her first birthday on June 29th) still is toothless. She has no choice about it; the teeth simply haven¡¦t grown in just yet; however, we are hopeful. Last Wednesday when we were making faces at each other and laughing so hard while she was looking almost constipated while she was making the brrrr sound (like a motor boat), we noticed as we pulled out our cameras to capture the priceless moment and she became a ham for the cameras all of the sudden (what else would you expect out of a photo bug family?) we saw what appeared to be a tooth trying to break through.
I held her and my daughter and I were tugging at her lips to hold them wide open to get that ever-enduring, one of a kind milestone shot that will be memorialized in her baby scrapbook with certainty. Poor child. I am certain that she didn¡¦t like what she was doing. The question remains, is she going to appreciate our efforts when she is 18??? Only time will tell! ƒº ~~ NEXT WEEK¡¦s TOPIC: FIVE STAR VALUE ~~
Some quotes to give fuel for thought about making your opportunities (to ¡§let it all go¡¨, for example):
¡§Don¡¦t try to be such perfect girl, darling. Do the best you can without too much anxiety or strain." ¡V Jesse Barnard
¡§Dance as if no one were watching. Sing as if no one were listening. And, live every day as if it were your last.¡¨ --- Anonymous
"If you don¡¦t like something, change it. If you can¡¦t change it, change your attitude. Don¡¦t complain.¡¨ ¡V Maya Angelou
