The Love Boat
It's true we are joined at the hip. We can fight it, complain about it, but at the end of the day we will realize that we are in the same boat. We don't have to like it, but we do have to accept it. Yesterday I had the wonderful privilege of speaking to a lady that had obviously attended someone's pity party. It seemed as though she may even be planning to throw one herself. She kept saying the same old thing, "I just want to be happy", finally I found a spot to interject a word and I asked her this, "what exactly will it take to make you happy". She looked at me and said "well let me just tell you". Then there was a great pause, then nothing, and finally she admitted that she didn't know.
It's true we are all in the same boat in this life. Some of us have different views, unique task, individual talents, yet we are all riding the same waves and seeking the same destination. With that in mind, I wonder why we fight so hard to make sure the boat capsizes. You all know me well enough, I am by no means implying that we should all conform and simply accept that the boat we are on has our fate on-board and there is nothing we can do about it. That is far from where the message is going.
When you stop long enough to see what it is that makes you unhappy, you begin to notice something peculiar. All of our energy and emphasis is attached to the negatives we see in life and little to no energy placed on the positive. Yes the boat of life is sailing along with all of earth's inhabitant's sharing the trek. Yet something fascinating is taking place at the same time. One person on the lower deck is dying of starvation and only desires another meal or morsel to eat. This person is neither happy or sad due to the fact that any expenditure of energy would deplete the body of the needed essentials to withstand another day or hour without food. Every now someone from the upper decks will be gracious and throw some food down to the hungry. That way they can tell everyone how charitable they are.
Two decks up on the middle class deck we hear a group of people arguing over the discomforts of their cabins. No issue with the food yet the accommodations are less than desirable. This group is the center of gossip and bitter feelings. Basically nothing pleases them for extended periods of time.
As we move up a few decks we start to notice extreme differences in living. The higher up you get the more exclusive and luxurious things become. For the most part this group is happy with their lifestyle yet the food presentation isn't always up to par. The have no problem complaining when a dish doesn't meet their snobbish expectations. All the same boat, yet such different views.
Be honest, what do you really have to complain about? I have said time and time again, no man is a failure until he starts blaming others for his plight in life. Happiness is truly a choice. It doesn't matter where you are, what you have, how old or young, how long you have to live, there is always something to be thankful for if you take the time to see and appreciate it. No one will ever walk into your life and flip on the happiness light, that my friends is up to you. You can walk around blaming everyone for everything or you can pick your butt up and get busy making a difference.
We all live on the same planet, yes we all have different views. Just think what could happen if we put prejudice, bitterness, jealousy, and bigotry aside and replaced it with absolute unconditional love. There is no need for us to get people to agree with our point of view, but there is a need for us to sit at the same table and share ideals that can make our communities better places to live. We can't wait for someone else, it is up to us to get the dialogue started.
Do you want to be happy? If you answered yes, then STOP doing things that make you unhappy. Consider this for just a moment. When you tell a story to someone my guess is that you are usually the victim and everyone else the villain. Or maybe you explain it in such a way that you are right and they are wrong. Seldom do we share a story to where we vilify ourselves, even though the truth is more times than not we are the sources of our own problems. If you don't believe me, tomorrow as you share stories with friends and co-workers pay attention to what you say. More than likely there will come a point to where you say something like "I can't believe he or she did that or said that", I highly doubt you will air out your dirty laundry, I mean hey you are the victim, they are the villain, yet the truth may just be the opposite.
Beings we live in an age of instant news and social media overload, I must ask, do you ever post things that are negative just because you feel it is your right to do so? Do you ever respond to someone's negative post validating their victim mentality? Do you ever share a point of view with such vigor that if anyone opposes you they must be wrong because there is no doubt you are right. Oh, all the while you desire to be happy.
You want to be happy? Act like a happy person. God placed in you everything it takes to be happy. You learned by conditioning how to hate, be bitter, express anger, and yes be unhappy. At the end of the day we truly are riding on The Love Boat. It's up to us to use our time in a loving manner. If we all utilized the love God gave us, my my what a wonderful world it would be.
You want to be happy? The only person stopping you, is you.
God bless
Dale
It's true we are all in the same boat in this life. Some of us have different views, unique task, individual talents, yet we are all riding the same waves and seeking the same destination. With that in mind, I wonder why we fight so hard to make sure the boat capsizes. You all know me well enough, I am by no means implying that we should all conform and simply accept that the boat we are on has our fate on-board and there is nothing we can do about it. That is far from where the message is going.
When you stop long enough to see what it is that makes you unhappy, you begin to notice something peculiar. All of our energy and emphasis is attached to the negatives we see in life and little to no energy placed on the positive. Yes the boat of life is sailing along with all of earth's inhabitant's sharing the trek. Yet something fascinating is taking place at the same time. One person on the lower deck is dying of starvation and only desires another meal or morsel to eat. This person is neither happy or sad due to the fact that any expenditure of energy would deplete the body of the needed essentials to withstand another day or hour without food. Every now someone from the upper decks will be gracious and throw some food down to the hungry. That way they can tell everyone how charitable they are.
Two decks up on the middle class deck we hear a group of people arguing over the discomforts of their cabins. No issue with the food yet the accommodations are less than desirable. This group is the center of gossip and bitter feelings. Basically nothing pleases them for extended periods of time.
As we move up a few decks we start to notice extreme differences in living. The higher up you get the more exclusive and luxurious things become. For the most part this group is happy with their lifestyle yet the food presentation isn't always up to par. The have no problem complaining when a dish doesn't meet their snobbish expectations. All the same boat, yet such different views.
Be honest, what do you really have to complain about? I have said time and time again, no man is a failure until he starts blaming others for his plight in life. Happiness is truly a choice. It doesn't matter where you are, what you have, how old or young, how long you have to live, there is always something to be thankful for if you take the time to see and appreciate it. No one will ever walk into your life and flip on the happiness light, that my friends is up to you. You can walk around blaming everyone for everything or you can pick your butt up and get busy making a difference.
We all live on the same planet, yes we all have different views. Just think what could happen if we put prejudice, bitterness, jealousy, and bigotry aside and replaced it with absolute unconditional love. There is no need for us to get people to agree with our point of view, but there is a need for us to sit at the same table and share ideals that can make our communities better places to live. We can't wait for someone else, it is up to us to get the dialogue started.
Do you want to be happy? If you answered yes, then STOP doing things that make you unhappy. Consider this for just a moment. When you tell a story to someone my guess is that you are usually the victim and everyone else the villain. Or maybe you explain it in such a way that you are right and they are wrong. Seldom do we share a story to where we vilify ourselves, even though the truth is more times than not we are the sources of our own problems. If you don't believe me, tomorrow as you share stories with friends and co-workers pay attention to what you say. More than likely there will come a point to where you say something like "I can't believe he or she did that or said that", I highly doubt you will air out your dirty laundry, I mean hey you are the victim, they are the villain, yet the truth may just be the opposite.
Beings we live in an age of instant news and social media overload, I must ask, do you ever post things that are negative just because you feel it is your right to do so? Do you ever respond to someone's negative post validating their victim mentality? Do you ever share a point of view with such vigor that if anyone opposes you they must be wrong because there is no doubt you are right. Oh, all the while you desire to be happy.
You want to be happy? Act like a happy person. God placed in you everything it takes to be happy. You learned by conditioning how to hate, be bitter, express anger, and yes be unhappy. At the end of the day we truly are riding on The Love Boat. It's up to us to use our time in a loving manner. If we all utilized the love God gave us, my my what a wonderful world it would be.
You want to be happy? The only person stopping you, is you.
God bless
Dale
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