Last week was my daughter’s ninth birthday. As dedicated parents, we of course made her birthday special with a day off from school, work (for me), balloons, activities, presents, and more!

Birthdays Are So Exciting And Something We All Look Forward To...Until….

What happens to us as we get older? Why do we stop celebrating? Is it that we don’t care because it happens yearly? I don’t think so. I think it comes back to Storytelling. As termed in my book, The Gifted Storyteller, storytelling is when we make a story up in our head, either the way we would like something to happen, or the way we fear something will happen, and then learn reality is very different. 

We Stop Celebrating As Openly Because We Became Tired Of Being Disappointed

In other words, we had a few birthdays that didn’t turn out the way we had hoped, and to protect ourselves, we decide we won’t make such a big deal about our birthday to make sure the disappointment isn’t as big. Bluntly, expectations not met dull down our happiness. This happens with birthdays, seasons, and other areas of our life, until we reach a point where we just watch time pass, and wonder why everything is moving faster.

But Here’s The Truth…

1) Time isn’t moving faster! You are on autopilot, and not appreciating the gifts all around you. Stop and take in the moments, or smell the roses as the quote goes.

2) Celebrate - all the F#$%^n time! Celebrate your wins, your losses (or should I say your lessons), the fact that you're breathing, the fact that you can read, birds chirping, wind howling, a table you're using, and so on. Celebrate everything so your brain learns to see the celebrations all around you.

3) Remember. Socrates once said, learning is just remembering. Remember who you are, before all the hurt, before all the disappointments, etc.

Look at the world through fresh eyes daily, and in it, you will find what you seek.

 

 

Like me, you have problematic people in your life. They may be family, friends, or co-workers. (Seems you already have someone in mind lol). Here’s the thing, they may be crazy, they may be “off”, they may be mean, and they may be one of the greatest gifts in your life.

How could they possibly be a gift?

As Tony Robbins, Jim Rohn and even Shakespeare has said (albeit slightly differently), “Nothing has any meaning except the meaning you give it.”
The world does not exist as it is; the world exists as YOU ARE.

Think about it…

Ever notice how 10 different people can look at the same thing and walk away with a different experience or story? Think of people getting off a roller coaster - some are laughing, some are shaking, some say never again, some say lets get on line again! People who create problems, while not pleasant, also give you an opportunity to learn something about yourself.

A few things you can learn:

• Practice patience with your reactions. You don’t know the other person’s world. You don’t know what they’ve experienced or if their brain is wired slightly differently. While you don’t have to become best friends, be patient within your reactions.
• Try to see them through compassionate eyes. You aren’t the only one who thinks that person is problematic; most likely many people do. And while the person may act like they don’t know it, they definitely do as they see how people react to them. Imagine you had people often respond to you in a negative way and couldn’t understand why. To you it seems obvious why, to them, they think they did nothing wrong.
• What specific button have they pushed? Is there a particular thing they say or do that gets you really upset? Ask yourself why? That piece is about you. If you can figure out what button they pushed within you, you’ll grow and be a better person for it- hence the gift.

As Mike Dooley said, “The trouble with troublesome people is they often have much to teach to those to those they trouble. Love ‘em all”

  

 

We often depend on certain conveniences in life. Simple things like a clock or a temperature gauge help us plan for our day. For instance, when I see it’s around noon, I think it’s about time for lunch. When I see the temperature gauge reads 50 degrees, I know which coat to wear.

While these conveniences are helpful, can they also be controlling us?

50 degrees means something to you and therefore dictates how you should proceed (clothes to wear, perhaps what activities you will do, etc). Yet on the other hand, perhaps 50 degrees doesn’t feel that cold to you, and you are overdressing because your mind has been given a frame for what to expect. The clock works in the same way. You see it’s noon, and think it’s time to grab lunch. Even if you are not hungry, you eat anyway, because it is lunchtime.

While I’m not stating to give up such conveniences, I am suggesting you try listening to your own inner voice. For example, when I shower, I finish by turning the hot water off and letting the ice cold water pour over me. Ask me about this a year ago and I would’ve shivered just at the thought- now, the water seems borderline warm! If I actually checked the temperature on the water, I would probably never do it. Point is, sometimes what we see or are told can create a thought within us that’s not our own. Listen to your inner voice and be aware how the environment influences you.

Do you have some other examples? Comment below and share them with my readers!