I love feeling awesome. There are some times when I am living my life and can't find a single thing wrong with my it. Sometimes I just feel on top of the world! There are other times when I feel like I'm drowning in all of my first-world problems and I can't see the light. Obviously, I want to feel the former a lot more than I want to feel the latter. So, what can I do to feel as much On-Top-of-the-World-ful as possible at any given time?
It's funny because as I'm writing this, there is an unruly child my mom is babysitting right now who is being, well, unruly. And obviously it is making my mom and I angry which is then making him even more unruly and it's just this vicious cycle.
So, even in those events, or times of stress, sadness, uncertainty, etc. what can I do to make me feel on top of the world? Well, as much as possible.
The more I write this, the more it's becoming a segment on TV that is the stereotypical motivational speaker. Can we get some Matt Foley up in here?
Anywho!
I was having an office hour with a professor who is just so awesome. She's so connected with the earth and so awesome! Well, we were discussing how to be our best selves. She, in all of her brilliance, said this thing that I feel like I should have known, but put in words was so profound and awesome, but simple. "If we want to be our best selves, we need to do things that enrich our soul and make us feel good. This includes the people we spend time with, the movies we watch, the things we eat and drink. Only eating and drinking the things that we feel good, even after having eaten it."
Pretty cool, right?
How many times do we hang around a friend who sucks the life out of us? Or we eat the gross buffet food, and just when the button on the unfriendly blouse is about to pop, we go up for another, knowing we are going to hate ourselves after we finish the plate, which we are going to do because "there are starving people in China who would LOVE to have that food." Or we watch a movie that makes us look at life differently, and not in a good, artsy way-- at all.
We torture ourselves all the time!
I mean, granted, sometimes it's an indulgence, and we all deserve an indulgence every now and then (my favorite is cheesecake!). But other times it can be the people we surround ourselves with, the Facebook posts we cannot pass up without throwing in our two cents, or the unruly child being unruly and letting it get to us (oh, just me?).
But what would happen if, instead of living through it as "comes with the territory, you'll get used to it" kind of attitude (or, if you're like me, complaining about it with your parents), I change it. What if I take charge and decide that maybe this person is not good for me to be around. Or what if this Facebook post -isn't- worth throwing the computer on the floor with anger and then going back to it whispering sweet nothings to it in hopes that it works again (and the sweet nothings must have done something right, because it turned on again. Woo). Maybe this child's temporary unruliness isn't worth getting flustered over. So, maybe I scroll past the post (or, if it's someone who --constantly-- posts things like it, delete the virtual friend). Maybe I try a different approach and talk gently to the child.
Over the summer, I had lunch with a good friend of mine. Another brilliant human being who is kind, loving, talented, amazing-in-every-way kind of person. Anywho, we got on the subject of friendships. I, being the person who cares (too much) about reputation and how others see me and liking everyone, was dumbfounded when she said a very simple phrase.
Supercalifradgilisticexpialidosious.
Kidding! I don't even think I spelled it right.
She said "you don't have to be friends with everyone."
Wait! I don't? I mean, it seems really simple, but not being friends with everyone is a thing that people do? I mean, I knew that they did it, but I thought not being friends with someone meant being awful to that person every time they walk by.
Of course, I watch reality TV, so of course I thought that.
She went on to say that one must still be loving and kind to that person, but there is no rule that you have to be friends forever.
Unless you gave them the other half to your Best Friends necklace. Then you're in it for life. Duh.
(kidding)
There is a friend of mine, we've been friends for years! The friendship runs deep, I mean. But, as I have changed and grown, and my friend has changed and grown, we've grown apart in many ways. So, I have started distancing myself from my friend. Not because this person is a bad person or because I hate this person, but because I no longer feel enriched and fulfilled by being around this person. Not a good or bad thing, just a thing that has grown between us. I still care about my friend's well-being and send as much love and kindness as possible. However, our interactions grow shorter and shorter as time continues.
I guess what my friend (man, I am talking about a lot of my friend here) said about being friends with everyone was kind of hitting it right on the head for me. Since she said that, I have been really looking at my life and have noticed quite a few people who no longer leave me fulfilled.
God speaks to us all the time. In so many different ways. Sometimes, the talks are easy to catch. Other times, you gotta search. I knew my friend was on to something with that "no need to be friends with everyone" stuff, and my professor with "what leaves you fulfilled and enriched" stuff! But I hadn't anticipated the impact they made.
A lot of times, I see themes in a certain amount of time. I look at it as what God is speaking to me about, generally, in that specific time frame (a year, semester, week, whatever). It seems like the last couple months of 2014 and some of this 2015 is going to be about finding that (or who) which enriches my soul and leaves my fulfilled.
Let's continue on in love, understanding, and kindness.
It's funny because as I'm writing this, there is an unruly child my mom is babysitting right now who is being, well, unruly. And obviously it is making my mom and I angry which is then making him even more unruly and it's just this vicious cycle.
So, even in those events, or times of stress, sadness, uncertainty, etc. what can I do to make me feel on top of the world? Well, as much as possible.
The more I write this, the more it's becoming a segment on TV that is the stereotypical motivational speaker. Can we get some Matt Foley up in here?
Anywho!
I was having an office hour with a professor who is just so awesome. She's so connected with the earth and so awesome! Well, we were discussing how to be our best selves. She, in all of her brilliance, said this thing that I feel like I should have known, but put in words was so profound and awesome, but simple. "If we want to be our best selves, we need to do things that enrich our soul and make us feel good. This includes the people we spend time with, the movies we watch, the things we eat and drink. Only eating and drinking the things that we feel good, even after having eaten it."
Pretty cool, right?
How many times do we hang around a friend who sucks the life out of us? Or we eat the gross buffet food, and just when the button on the unfriendly blouse is about to pop, we go up for another, knowing we are going to hate ourselves after we finish the plate, which we are going to do because "there are starving people in China who would LOVE to have that food." Or we watch a movie that makes us look at life differently, and not in a good, artsy way-- at all.
We torture ourselves all the time!
I mean, granted, sometimes it's an indulgence, and we all deserve an indulgence every now and then (my favorite is cheesecake!). But other times it can be the people we surround ourselves with, the Facebook posts we cannot pass up without throwing in our two cents, or the unruly child being unruly and letting it get to us (oh, just me?).
But what would happen if, instead of living through it as "comes with the territory, you'll get used to it" kind of attitude (or, if you're like me, complaining about it with your parents), I change it. What if I take charge and decide that maybe this person is not good for me to be around. Or what if this Facebook post -isn't- worth throwing the computer on the floor with anger and then going back to it whispering sweet nothings to it in hopes that it works again (and the sweet nothings must have done something right, because it turned on again. Woo). Maybe this child's temporary unruliness isn't worth getting flustered over. So, maybe I scroll past the post (or, if it's someone who --constantly-- posts things like it, delete the virtual friend). Maybe I try a different approach and talk gently to the child.
Over the summer, I had lunch with a good friend of mine. Another brilliant human being who is kind, loving, talented, amazing-in-every-way kind of person. Anywho, we got on the subject of friendships. I, being the person who cares (too much) about reputation and how others see me and liking everyone, was dumbfounded when she said a very simple phrase.
Supercalifradgilisticexpialidosious.
Kidding! I don't even think I spelled it right.
She said "you don't have to be friends with everyone."
Wait! I don't? I mean, it seems really simple, but not being friends with everyone is a thing that people do? I mean, I knew that they did it, but I thought not being friends with someone meant being awful to that person every time they walk by.
Of course, I watch reality TV, so of course I thought that.
She went on to say that one must still be loving and kind to that person, but there is no rule that you have to be friends forever.
Unless you gave them the other half to your Best Friends necklace. Then you're in it for life. Duh.
(kidding)
There is a friend of mine, we've been friends for years! The friendship runs deep, I mean. But, as I have changed and grown, and my friend has changed and grown, we've grown apart in many ways. So, I have started distancing myself from my friend. Not because this person is a bad person or because I hate this person, but because I no longer feel enriched and fulfilled by being around this person. Not a good or bad thing, just a thing that has grown between us. I still care about my friend's well-being and send as much love and kindness as possible. However, our interactions grow shorter and shorter as time continues.
I guess what my friend (man, I am talking about a lot of my friend here) said about being friends with everyone was kind of hitting it right on the head for me. Since she said that, I have been really looking at my life and have noticed quite a few people who no longer leave me fulfilled.
God speaks to us all the time. In so many different ways. Sometimes, the talks are easy to catch. Other times, you gotta search. I knew my friend was on to something with that "no need to be friends with everyone" stuff, and my professor with "what leaves you fulfilled and enriched" stuff! But I hadn't anticipated the impact they made.
A lot of times, I see themes in a certain amount of time. I look at it as what God is speaking to me about, generally, in that specific time frame (a year, semester, week, whatever). It seems like the last couple months of 2014 and some of this 2015 is going to be about finding that (or who) which enriches my soul and leaves my fulfilled.
Let's continue on in love, understanding, and kindness.
"For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church."
--Ephesians 5:29
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