It's How You Arrange Your Mind

I was watching, or mostly listening to, PBS this afternoon. It was one of their fundraising programs featuring Dr. Wayne Dyer. This particular program was about the Power of Intention. Of course, the idea is you make a donation to PBS and they will send you something relating to either PBS or this particular program.

I've heard this program before and wasn't really listening to it (it was on mostly for background noise. I have to have a TV on. Sad, I know, but that's the way it is). Dr. Dyer ended his program with the following story. It may not be exactly as Dr. Dyer told it, but the core is there.

An elderly lady was moving into a nursing home. She was impeccably dressed; make-up and hair perfect. This inspite of the fact that she was legally blind. Her husband of seventy-something years had recently passed away, which was the reason for moving into the home. She patiently waited while the room was readied. Finally, someone came to escort her to her new home.

As they proceeded down the hallways, her escort described the tiny room to her. The lady smiled and said that she knew she would love it. The escort asked how she knew that, since she hadn't yet seen the room.

The lady explained that it didn't matter how the furnishings in the room were arranged, but how her mind was arranged. She had a choice to either accept and like the room, or to not. She chose to like it.

I love that story. I've heard it before and listen every time Dr Dyer tells it. I want to be that lady. Accept with grace the difficulties (blindness, the death of her husband, the loss of her home and her independence) and live her life with joy. One of my life's mottos is when you're handed lemons, make lemonade. And yes, one of my favorite songs is Don't Worry, Be Happy. Remember it? I feel like my life is better because I choose to make the best of things. Do I get depressed. You bet I do, but for me, it doesn't last more than a little while. I have a little pity party and get over it. Why be unhappy or disagreeable when it's so much nicer to choose to be happy or content? That doesn't mean I allow people to walk all over me. I choose my battles. I'll battle over something or someone that is important to me. The rest, well, is it something that will matter in 5 years? 10 years? How about next week?

Life is not perfect right now, but I can't do a whole lot about it. We're undergoing some financial problems, mostly of our own making. We made some bad choices over the last few years, so we've got to ride it out and do what we can to work it out. If things go right, in a little over 3 years, life will be good. Or at least better financially.

So in the meantime, why be unhappy? Life is much more pleasant when you look for the good, instead of the bad.