attitude

“Be happy while you’re living, for you’re a long time dead.” – Scottish Proverb

Everyone says, “How the time flies.” The days go by and they are years, and the years finally become our whole life. Each daily portion can be wasted, or it can be a pleasure, before it is gone forever. If a bedtime review of the day concludes that we were too stressed, too busy, didn’t accomplish anything, didn’t have any fun, then it has been another lost piece of precious life.

Perhaps we are putting off our enjoyment until we have more time, or money, or some other improved condition. The trouble with that is that it might never happen, or it may be too long in coming.  It’s so important to accept this time, this very minute, as something of tremendous value that will very soon be gone forever. There are many ways to ensure that we make the best of our time here on earth.

In our daily routine let’s include time to enjoy others and thus ourselves. Look and wonder at the trees, fields and mountains, smell the flowers, hear the birds, and watch the clouds in the sky.

“This world, after all our science and sciences, is still a miracle; wonderful, magical and more, to whosoever will think of it.” – Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881)

Face your problems bravely, confidently, and improve on your situation, no matter what state it be in. Be good to feel good. Be active and improve your mind. Laugh, relax, and sleep well.

Life is mostly froth and bubble;
Two things stand like stone:
Kindness in another’s trouble,
Courage in our own. – Adam Gordon (1833-1870)

Cheerfulness is a state of mind in which we feel content and confident and are free of stress, anxieties and fear. A prolonged state of being cheerful is happiness.

Cheerfulness is wearing a smile and therefore easy to distinguish. It is usually contagious and will often be returned, so that the positive feelings flow both ways.

“What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity.  
They are but trifles, to be sure, but, scattered along life’s pathway,  
The good they do is inconceivable.” – Joseph Addison (1672-1719)

It is said that laughter is the best medicine. It is an excellent medicine. When you are low and perhaps feeling sorry for yourself, find something funny to laugh at. You can’t feel really bad and laugh at the same time. Laughter just feels good. When things are a bit sour between friends, what better way to set things right, than to have a good laugh together. 

“The most completely lost of all days is that on which one has not laughed.” – Nicolas Chamfort (1741-1794)  

We may not feel like smiling or laughing because we have too much upsetting us. This is a condition that we can usually do something about. Since we are happy when we have pleasant thoughts, we can change our thoughts to something that is enjoyable. Sometimes it is difficult when we are in a deep rut but it can be done with practice.

“Thus the sovereign voluntary path to cheerfulness, if your cheerfulness be lost, is to sit up cheerfully and to act and speak as if cheerfulness were already there.” – William James (1842-1910)