Laughing @ yourself....

Sometimes you just have to laugh at yourself - not because you've done anything especially funny or extremely silly but because it is a good thing to not take yourself too seriously. When we begin to take ourselves too serious, we run the risk of thinking more of ourselves than we ought. As much as I'd like to think so, I am not God's gift to the world or to any particular person. Well, let me rephrase that, I am a gift from God, but not his only gift...nor his most extravagant gift. The more that I remind myself of that the more I'm able to accept my shortcomings and my faults without wanting to throw myself off of a bridge.

Life is not always what we would wish, but it is always what we make of it. Last night I was having a conversation with a dear friend and he kept saying how unhappy he felt and how unhappy he was and how he wishes this and if it weren't for that and it made me sad. Because for the first time in a long time I can't say the same thing. I was sad for him, not for me. Because he doesn't realize that he is the cause of his unhappiness and the author of his own torture - as many of us are. I realized that any unhappiness or any unfulfillment in my life is usually caused by my own hands. I, and I alone, have the power to make me happy and on the flip side of that same statement, I and I alone have the power to make me sad or to disillusion myself into thinking that the grass is really greener.

I have spent a great deal of time, both in dreams and reality, thinking about the what if's of life. What if I had made this decision or what if I hadn't made that decision??? In the end all of that brought me to a place where I didn't trust God or myself because every decision was subject to second guessing. That doesn't mean that there is no regret in my life, but regret will not chart the course of my life. Sure I wish that some things could be different, but try as I might I can not go back and change them and so I resolve to make the best out of the reality of my life.

Reality is a funny thing. You can't wish away a problem or dream away an issue. You can only live tomorrow differently to get a different outcome. 2+2 will always equal 4. It is not until you plug in different numbers that you will get a different outcome. If you want different results then do different things. You can't continue to think the same way or do the same things and expect for your heart to feel differently.

Not that you ignore what you feel but don't feed it. Don't pour into it, especially when you are saying that you want something different. Tropical punch kool-aid is always red...if you want purple kool-aid then get some grape and put away the tropical punch!!! It really is as simple as that. Not easy mind you, but simple!