Quote of the Day

Fall Seven Times, Stand Up Eight.

- Japanese Proverb

My daughter, who is 11 months old, lives by this proverb as she has been learning to walk. It is inspiring to watch her determination and perseverance. And it is paying off — she is now walking around like a toddler. Go Sarah!

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Quote of the Day

If you are going through hell, keep going.

-Winston Churchill

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Quote of the Day

Never let life’s hardships disturb you … no one can avoid problems, not even saints or sages.
- Nichiren Daishonen

Have a good weekend!

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Put On Your Oxygen Mask FIRST, then Help Others

I was thinking about the direction from flight attendants about oxygen masks in an emergency. They always say something like:

In the event of an emergency, an oxygen mask will drop from the panel above your head. Put on your oxygen mask first, then help others around you to put on their oxygen masks.

The order of taking care is apparently very important during an in-flight emergency. It makes sense: if you don’t have any oxygen, you certainly can’t help someone else stay alive.

I think this instruction is equally important in every day life. If you don’t take care of yourself, then you can’t take care of others. So many of us neglect our own needs, as if we are martyrs for our spouse, children, friends, and co-workers. But we do a dis-service not only to ourselves, but to all those other people that we care about.

Remember that you are an important person in your own life, as well as in the lives of other people, and you deserve to be taken care of, just like they do.

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Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway!

“Do not fear mistakes. You will know failure. Continue to reach out.”

–Benjamin Franklin, American author, statesman and inventor

The only way to avoid failure is to stop trying. Without trying, you cannot grow. What would you do if you did not fear failure? Then do it.

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Forget and forgive — yourself

“Forget and forgive. This is not difficult, when properly understood. It means you are to forget inconvenient duties, and forgive yourself for forgetting. In time, by rigid practice and stern determination, it comes easy.” – Mark Twain

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Happiness versus Pleasure

In The Art of Happiness, the Dalai Lama discusses the difference between happiness and pleasure:

“True happiness relates more to the mind and heart. Happiness that depends mainly on physical pleasure is unstable; one day it’s there, the next day it may not be.”

I like this idea and think it is relevant to our relationship with food. So many of us try to fill some emptiness in our lives with something pleasurable, and that something is often food, mostly sweet, high calorie food. It makes us feel better because it is pleasurable to smell the baking brownie and savor its chocolate-y goodness. But it doesn’t make us happy.

In fact, it makes us very unhappy as we then feel the guilt of not sticking to our diets and see the detrimental effect on our bodies that too many indulgences cause. If you are self-medicating with food, stop and think for a minute. When you reach for that dessert, what are you really reaching for? Are you hungry or are you just trying to feel pleasure? If you are only seeking pleasure, which is a physical sensation, then do something physical instead. Exercise to release endorphins. Snuggle your kids or dog or cat. Hug your spouse or friend. Take a hot bath. The options are endless.

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The Psychology of Winning

I read The Psychology of Winning by Dr. Denis Waitley many years ago. The subtitle is “Ten Qualities of a Total Winner.” It is a classic book and I reread it every ten years or so. Each of the ten qualities is preceded by “positive,” as in positive self-awareness, positive self-esteem, positive self-control. You get the idea.

Chapter One is about positive self-awareness. Here is one of my favorite paragraphs in that chapter:

Positive Self-awareness is realizing that a person who does not read is no better than the person who cannot read – and that the person who does not continue to learn, to adapt and grow, is no better than one who cannot grow.”

Remember the power of positive thinking, especially in the way you view yourself. There are so many people and things in the world that will try to bring you down. You should be one of the people who tries to build you up!

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Stillness is Important to Good Health

A Taoist Proverb advises: “We cannot see our reflection in running water. It is only in still water that we can see.”

Remember to relax, to be still, and to take time for yourself so that you can be the best for yourself and everyone that is important to you.

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Quote of the Day

Not procrastinating is efficient.

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