Spring Up, Spring Out, Spring Onward!!

Spring. New beginnings. New life. New adventures.

New challenges. New worries. New problems. New Fears. New misery.............

I don't want to be preachy. There's loads of that on the internet, tv, radio, magazines etc etc. I could quote several cute and well-known inspirational quotes and sayings: "Your altitude determines your attitude". "I have a dream.....". "Never never never never never give up........." "Turn that frown upsidedown"

 "When Life serves you lemons, make lemonade".

You catch my drift.

I used to allow myself to always get caught up in the little things. Someone would cut me off on the highway and I would arrive at work all fired up and peeved at ......................at what???  A person who I will never meet or likely cross paths with again??? For all I know they were rushing off to a medical emergency. Or they were distracted with worry about some personal tragedy.  Yet, here I was, peeved with a person I "made up" in my own mind. Some son-of-a-bleepy-bleep.  Really???

Now I realize how incredibly dumb and pointless it is to allow such meaningless events shape how the rest of my day/week will go.

Lets further this a bit more.

What about events that are not so "meaningless"? Like say for example, you find yourself suddenly unemployed, out of work, without a job. Probably your first reaction would be anger, shock, dismay, extreme worry, frustration and confusion. What are you going to do now?

Your whole world is now spinning out of control, no job!?! No money!!! Can't pay my bills, can't get that new dress I saw yesterday, can't take the family to dinner and a movie, can't book a vacation to Disneyland!!!! OMG!!! The world has ended!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

really?

Once you have recovered from the initial shock of the new challenge of being unemployed, the next step is to carry on. I mean, what other choice do you have? You carry on OR you can jump off a bridge.  Now I am certainly NOT recommending the latter, I merely want to demonstrate that WORRY/FEAR/ANGER/FRUSTRATION are ALL POINTLESS!!!!!!!

Does worry, fear, anger, or frustration solve your problems?

Do they make you feel better?

Do they make others feel better?

Do they help you sleep at night?

Do they assist in your appetite?

Do they help any existing medical conditions you have?

NO, Nada...........Negatory!!!

THEN STOP IT!!

  

I have decided to "just stop it". It's a work in progress. I am not perfect at it. My first reaction to new challenges or roadblocks is still often fear. BUT I don't hold onto the fear. Once I've acknowledged it, I let it go. I acknowledge I have a problem then I work towards managing the "problem".

Since I've been doing this, I sleep much better. My overall mood is happier. I have alot of challenges to work through. Some of them seem insurmountable. But rather than allow myself to wallow in the depths of my own manufactured self-misery, I choose instead to take each day as it unfolds. Sure, I make plans, and have a list of things I'd "like" to do that day. But I also practice flexibility. When things don't pan out exactly as I imagined I adjust to the new scenario and keep moving on.

Sometimes, life can really suck. But it can only affect you, if you let it. You have control over how you choose to see and feel about the events surrounding and enveloping your life. You can jump up and down and scream and yell and get depressed and miserable about having to fix your car....Again!!! Or, you can just find a way to get it done.

simple

Day One - Flashes at the Pier

So hello fellow readers. Day one.
My plan is to enlighten you to my visions; likely I will go off on a tangent from time to time, to the amusement of some. 
Today, I didn't leave my computer desk. So my observations are limited and a bit dull.
Yesterday was cool. Went to a place that I am now listing among my favourite places to be. For those who live in the Burlington/Hamilton area, you may be familiar with it. The sight is the pier which juts out either side of the lift bridge; the lift bridge being located below the Burlington bridge.
Of course, I was out during the twilight hours. With my new best friend. We walked out the pier that juts out into Lake Ontario.
Saw a poor seagull. Limping, broken. He was being mocked by his friends. They kept circling around, laughing. Poor thing. The circle of life.
The air was pretty clear last night. After suffering through some extreme heat that lasted several weeks and seemed to knock the breath out of even the most celebrated heat-loving canadian; we managed to have a cold front go thru that has cleared things for awhile. Breath!
We watched a few sail boats skirt along the shoreline. Sail boating would be cool. But only if I could just be a passenger.
A wee pup, German Shepard, came to visit the end of the pier along with his keepers. Puppies are so cool. Big paws trying to navigate the world. I think he knocked over his water dish a dozen times. Finally his keepers brought him back to the car. Puppy = 1; keepers = 0
Walking back towards the bridges; the sun was positioned just above the larger, Burlington bridge. Should learn to bring my camera with me, always. The light was perfect. Long shadows. Bright flashpoint of sun; flashing thru the bridges grating. Trees shadowed dark and water glimmering like diamonds.  Nice.
Gonna venture off topic now, fill you in a bit on what my flashes will be. Alot of stuff I see daily; I make comment on, to myself, in secret. I'll share my secrets here. Flashpointing is the practice of seeing things happen as you go about your day; making mental comments, then, moving on.
You would think nothing of it; until later, something happens to remind you of the moment.
Flashpointing