Mikolaj's Monday Maunder - It's so much more peaceful

Inspiration and lessons for your leadership journey!

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“It's so much easier to be happy, my love. It's so much easier to choose to love the things that you have, and you have so much, instead of always yearning for what you're missing, or what it is you're imagining you're missing. It's so much more peaceful."
~ Kate Gulden (played by Meryl Streep) ~

I've been told by people who I work with or who know me that I'm one of the most positive, happy people around.  Really?  That floors me when I hear it because, for most of my life, I haven't been and I still struggle every day with choosing to be.

Today's quote serves as a reminder to all of us that being happy is a choice.  It comes from a 1998 movie that Leah and I watch every holiday season, One True Thing, starring Meryl Streep, Renee Zellweger, and William Hurt.  It's the story of a very ambitious, unsatisfied, and judgmental young woman and her relationship with her parents as they struggle with the mother's terminal cancer (brilliantly played by Meryl Streep) through the holiday season.

If you've read A Travel Guide to Leadership and/or this blog, you've also heard me reiterating the point of choosing to love and be grateful for what you have.  It's a basic lesson of life that was hard for me to learn, at first. 

But the part of the quote that's even harder for me to grapple with, is the part about yearning for what "you're imagining you're missing."  I have a pretty vivid imagination and I seem to yearn for a lot!  That might just be the problem.  What do you imagine you're missing?

When your thoughts, feelings, and energy - your state of being - vibrates with wanting or, as Kate more eloquently puts it, yearning for something or someone, your whole being begins to vibrate in a state of lack - the exact opposite of what you actually want.  You can read more about this on pages 77-79.

Choose to be happy, joyous, and grateful for the blessings currently present in your life - that's where you will find joy. 

Now, that doesn't mean we don't continue to work for creating growth, change, and a better way, but while we do, we can do so happily. It's so much more peaceful.

Enjoy this week's video and affirmations!

Have an amazing journey today!

Alan

This Week's Affirmations
(Repeat these quietly to yourself multiple times throughout the day.)

My thoughts produce my reality.

I am truly blessed!

I can choose to be happy!

I make the decision to be happy!

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