Chapter 9
This chapter is all about finding happiness by accepting yourself as you are and making a difference by being yourself. Impressing others by pretending to be someone you're not or know something you don't isn't nearly as exciting as wowing others by who you aren't (a boring know-it-all) and what you don't (you don't know what Glee! is all about? Oh my gosh I have to tell you). In fact, just being who you are opens up a world full of conversational possibilities with other selves out there.
Part of accepting myself is knowing that I cannot sew to save my life. I cannot do more than 3 hip-hop moves (and wiggling hips down low does not count) to have enough variety while dancing. I love flowers and would like to have a garden and grow flowers and veggies, but I am so deathly afraid of bugs my garden will probably never be tended to because I will kill everything with bug spray. I don't know Spanish as fluently as I wish I did, but I know I could survive in a Spanish-speaking country going off of what I do know (as long as they speak very, very, slowly). I know that I will never be a concert pianist no matter how much I bully myself,and I won't snap out of a depression just by observing my many blessings. These are things I know and finally accept. So what to do about them? I will take a sewing class, a gardening class, a dance class, and maybe go back to school and finish my undergrad Spanish major degree (only two classes left!). I will continue going to therapy and pursuing healing through sharing my experiences through blogging and eventually publish books for children and books of poetry and even some of my songs.
If you look around, everyone chases an ideal that someone else has set up for them. Oh! A new exercise program that is guaranteed to make me look bionic in 90 days AND a meal plan! What a deal. Or how about the genious inventions of the ped egg and the space saver bags? My mom used to sit down on Sundays with a pot of hot water and a knife to scrape dead skin off her feet, and I go through my clothes biannually and clear out clothing for garage sales and donations, which saves space. People, we have everything we need! We constantly seek after others to show us a better way, and cling to their leadership like lost puppies. But if we just be ourselves we can learn so much more from each other! We are all teachers, and we should support and help each other out in our strengths and our weaknesses. Yes, people have gifts for inventions and knowledge to help better our lives, but we can often find those things on our own in the resources we've had passed down through the ages and probably be ok (and have more money in our pockets).
Want to lose weight? Drink water, exercise most days out of the week, pursue therapy or meditation to discover reasonings behind overeating, eat mostly fruits and vegetables, be good to yourself, and stop fighting and punishing your body for it's changes. You don't need an expensive exercise system or gym membership to know the secrets to good health. Want to get out of debt? Get rid of everything in your life and your budget that is not an affordable necessity, and find ways to curb the temptation to spend money you don't have while trying to pay down money you already owe. Get another job. Yes it's inconvenient. Cut the Netflix subscription, you can watch most favorite shows online for free. Find out all the ins and outs of a big purchase(like a home and car) and have a repayment plan in place, both a Plan A and B. You don't need to buy into big financial programs about how to be wealthy and pay off all your debt. Granted, we could use some advising in this area, and there are people out there who do that, sometimes for free at your local bank or credit union if you are a member.
Use logic-when we need to ask for help, by all means, we should ask for help. But when we're ALWAYS looking outside of ourselves and our own resources to make our lives better, we're not appreciating the awesome gift of the thing in between our ears--our own brain and ability to produce logical outcomes to our situations. Spiritually, we have resources that have been passed down through the ages (the Bible, other spiritual handbooks and teachings) to refer to for ideas of how to handle everyday issues. When I start complaining and wondering how I'm going to do without this and that, I always think, "How in the world do you think they did it in the 1800s? Or in the Bible days? This isn't new, and somehow people got through it. Think!"
Technology has greatly enhanced and impaired our lives. We are lost without such things as Internet connections and cell phones with Twitter and Facebook apps. The thought of going the whole weekend without an everyday gadget or luxury makes us panic.But the answers to happiness in life doesn't lie in things...yes, things can provide a season of happiness.When I bought my new car, I was happy for about two weeks! Then that wore off and I started worrying about how much interest I was paying every month to have something that is just a material good. We can talk about this all day, but that isn't my goal. My goal is to say that by just reverting a little bit to using good old common sense, using trial and error, and trying to become better at the things we personally all struggle with, we can instill a sense of contentment and happiness within ourselves that we can't get from Deepak Chopra or Dave Ramsey. They have already gone through fire to get to their level of enlightenment (or else went through a whole lot of school, which is going through fire in a different kind of way). We gotta do our time, too. We can't get there on somebody else's coattails, although that can give us a great head start! I feel like I have learned so much from reading a simple issue of O Magazine. But I can't have what Oprah has or do what Oprah does by following her recipe for success. Just because it's hers. She had to go through those exact things she went through for her success to be so meaningful and inspired towards helping others. So as long as we don't give up, we're all on our way.
This chapter is all about finding happiness by accepting yourself as you are and making a difference by being yourself. Impressing others by pretending to be someone you're not or know something you don't isn't nearly as exciting as wowing others by who you aren't (a boring know-it-all) and what you don't (you don't know what Glee! is all about? Oh my gosh I have to tell you). In fact, just being who you are opens up a world full of conversational possibilities with other selves out there.
Part of accepting myself is knowing that I cannot sew to save my life. I cannot do more than 3 hip-hop moves (and wiggling hips down low does not count) to have enough variety while dancing. I love flowers and would like to have a garden and grow flowers and veggies, but I am so deathly afraid of bugs my garden will probably never be tended to because I will kill everything with bug spray. I don't know Spanish as fluently as I wish I did, but I know I could survive in a Spanish-speaking country going off of what I do know (as long as they speak very, very, slowly). I know that I will never be a concert pianist no matter how much I bully myself,and I won't snap out of a depression just by observing my many blessings. These are things I know and finally accept. So what to do about them? I will take a sewing class, a gardening class, a dance class, and maybe go back to school and finish my undergrad Spanish major degree (only two classes left!). I will continue going to therapy and pursuing healing through sharing my experiences through blogging and eventually publish books for children and books of poetry and even some of my songs.
If you look around, everyone chases an ideal that someone else has set up for them. Oh! A new exercise program that is guaranteed to make me look bionic in 90 days AND a meal plan! What a deal. Or how about the genious inventions of the ped egg and the space saver bags? My mom used to sit down on Sundays with a pot of hot water and a knife to scrape dead skin off her feet, and I go through my clothes biannually and clear out clothing for garage sales and donations, which saves space. People, we have everything we need! We constantly seek after others to show us a better way, and cling to their leadership like lost puppies. But if we just be ourselves we can learn so much more from each other! We are all teachers, and we should support and help each other out in our strengths and our weaknesses. Yes, people have gifts for inventions and knowledge to help better our lives, but we can often find those things on our own in the resources we've had passed down through the ages and probably be ok (and have more money in our pockets).
Want to lose weight? Drink water, exercise most days out of the week, pursue therapy or meditation to discover reasonings behind overeating, eat mostly fruits and vegetables, be good to yourself, and stop fighting and punishing your body for it's changes. You don't need an expensive exercise system or gym membership to know the secrets to good health. Want to get out of debt? Get rid of everything in your life and your budget that is not an affordable necessity, and find ways to curb the temptation to spend money you don't have while trying to pay down money you already owe. Get another job. Yes it's inconvenient. Cut the Netflix subscription, you can watch most favorite shows online for free. Find out all the ins and outs of a big purchase(like a home and car) and have a repayment plan in place, both a Plan A and B. You don't need to buy into big financial programs about how to be wealthy and pay off all your debt. Granted, we could use some advising in this area, and there are people out there who do that, sometimes for free at your local bank or credit union if you are a member.
Use logic-when we need to ask for help, by all means, we should ask for help. But when we're ALWAYS looking outside of ourselves and our own resources to make our lives better, we're not appreciating the awesome gift of the thing in between our ears--our own brain and ability to produce logical outcomes to our situations. Spiritually, we have resources that have been passed down through the ages (the Bible, other spiritual handbooks and teachings) to refer to for ideas of how to handle everyday issues. When I start complaining and wondering how I'm going to do without this and that, I always think, "How in the world do you think they did it in the 1800s? Or in the Bible days? This isn't new, and somehow people got through it. Think!"
Technology has greatly enhanced and impaired our lives. We are lost without such things as Internet connections and cell phones with Twitter and Facebook apps. The thought of going the whole weekend without an everyday gadget or luxury makes us panic.But the answers to happiness in life doesn't lie in things...yes, things can provide a season of happiness.When I bought my new car, I was happy for about two weeks! Then that wore off and I started worrying about how much interest I was paying every month to have something that is just a material good. We can talk about this all day, but that isn't my goal. My goal is to say that by just reverting a little bit to using good old common sense, using trial and error, and trying to become better at the things we personally all struggle with, we can instill a sense of contentment and happiness within ourselves that we can't get from Deepak Chopra or Dave Ramsey. They have already gone through fire to get to their level of enlightenment (or else went through a whole lot of school, which is going through fire in a different kind of way). We gotta do our time, too. We can't get there on somebody else's coattails, although that can give us a great head start! I feel like I have learned so much from reading a simple issue of O Magazine. But I can't have what Oprah has or do what Oprah does by following her recipe for success. Just because it's hers. She had to go through those exact things she went through for her success to be so meaningful and inspired towards helping others. So as long as we don't give up, we're all on our way.
So enlightening! Thank you Monica. You're right. We are all teachers. Thank you for teaching me that and so many things in this blog. xoxo PeaceAndLight. -Nayanna
ReplyDeleteVery inspiring, like I tell my Daughter,"Be the best Promise that you can be." People including myself need to put all effort into themselves and creating the best person within. We all are on our own paths although the basics remain the same, it's our choices that define us. Put out positive and like a seed, it willl grow. Thank you for sharing you. Nayanna, thank you for loving me. xoxo
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