Tagged: happiness

Musings at Random – Happiness is a Choice.

Happiness is a choice, and now, more than ever, we should all lean on its shoulders. The world will sometimes break us down, but it’s up to us to rebuild stronger. Brick by brick. Moment by moment, because we can.

What we choose to see, what we choose to believe, and what we choose to project becomes our ethos. We ultimately become what we choose to manifest. Hate life? Watch out – it might hate you back. Hate your job? With that mentality, you’ll never escape the negativity.

And so on it goes, into our relationships, our well being, and our overall mindset. What we choose to think – to believe – directly affects our quality of life. It directly impacts how we live, how we react, who we choose to spend our time with, what we choose to accept and tolerate, and how far we’re willing to go in order to make a change for the better.

You see, happiness is a choice. It’s not a guarantee or a foregone conclusion. And as such, it’s essentially never set in stone; money won’t buy it, good genes won’t cultivate it, and a great job won’t secure it. We do.

And it only happens when we decide to pursue it, embrace it, accept it, live it, project it, and lastly, manifest it.

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Poetry – The Sky. 

Sometimes you need to just stop what you’re doing, take a few deep breaths, and look up at the sky.  Let its colors cleanse the palette of your mind.  Put down the phone (unless you’re using it to read this post, wink wink), close the laptop, turn off the computer…or the TV…and relax.  Unplug.  It tends to put things into perspective for me…maybe it will for you too.  Best of days to you all, and thank you for reading.

Poetry – Endurance.

Survival is a beautiful thing.  As is endurance.  This race that we’re all on is a challenging thing; it can eat us up and tear us down just as quickly as it can build us up and see us to the finish line. Our perspectives matter.  Heart matters.  Courage matters.  These building blocks create a focus and a drive that kicks into high gear when survival mode emerges.  We all have it inside of us already, this gritty determination.  The instinct to not only survive, but to thrive, is already there.  Let’s let it shine through. 

Best of days to all!

 

Theatrical Thursday – Big (1988).

The year was 1988. I’d spent countless hours begging my mother incessantly in that desperate, nine year old beggary voice…begging for the chance to see Big in the theaters. I went so far as to cut the picture of it from the film section of the newspaper (it was a big, goofy picture of Tom Hank’s face), and I’d carry it around and show her with the hope of annoying her into taking me to see it. When she finally did, I loved it then and for many years to come. I’ve seen the film about 786 times to date, but seeing it again recently after a very long while opened my eyes to a few key elements that a nine year olds eyes will never see. The main character, Josh Baskin, wished “to be big”; he got his wish, and woke up one morning looking like grown up Tom Hanks. Most of the movie involved Tom acting like he was twelve, but what I hadn’t noticed before was the emphasis on choices. I had no idea that the movie was so complex; taken apart, it had some very deep inner workings.

As an adult, the kid found great success working at MacMillan Toys, great love with Susan (the love interest), and a maturity that most twelve year olds don’t possess. He also earned a pretty powerful conundrum that most kids don’t have to endure; having to choose between prematurely continuing a successful adult life, or reverting back to the comforting reality of his youth. In my opinion, the most powerful scene in the film was when he went back home, in adult form, and witnessed firsthand what he had, and ultimately would, miss out on if he chose the adult path. The ‘innocence’ of youth; friends, games, and family stared him in the face, and either decision that he made was bound to hurt someone. It showed that life revolves around choices, great or minor, and how ultimately, you have to make the decision that’s best for you.

He followed his heart and went back to his family and his young self in the end, but his decision to do so was embedded in my head for a few days after I’d watched the movie. So many of us in life, when confronted with great decisions, freeze up from indecision, and rather than formulate a well-calculated battle plan, we end up making none and float through life under the mercy of fate. It takes incredible character to exert the power of choice, despite the odds. Hey, if the kid in the film was able to make a sound decision that would affect the lives of everyone around him, then we should all be able to, right? Twenty-eight years after seeing Big, I finally got a sense of the soul of the movie; follow your heart, and you can’t go wrong. It’s never too late to learn that message.

The Choice is Yours.

Here’s a great little guest quote from my brother, Khalid (a great writer even though he’d never admit it); they are great words to remember on our life’s journey.  The choice to see and live the positive is up to us.  Thanks, Khalid!

Theatrical Thursday – Big, 1988.

The year was 1988. I’d spent countless hours begging my mother incessantly in that desperate, nine-year-old beggary voice, begging for the chance to see Big in the theaters. I went so far as to cut the picture of it from the film section of the newspaper (it was a big, goofy picture of Tom Hank’s face), and I’d carry it around with me and show it to her with the hope of annoying her into taking me to see it. When she finally did, I loved it then and for many years to come. I’ve seen the film about 786 times to date, but seeing it again recently after a very long while opened my eyes to a few key elements that a nine-year-old’s eyes will never see. The main character, Josh Baskin, wished “to be big”; he got his wish, and woke up one morning looking like grown-up Tom Hanks. Most of the movie involved Tom acting like he was twelve, but what I hadn’t noticed before was the emphasis on choices. I had no idea that the movie was so complex; taken apart, it had some very deep inner workings. 

As an adult, the kid found great success working at MacMillan Toys, cultivated a great love with Susan (the love interest), and developed a maturity that most twelve-year-olds would never possess. He also earned a pretty powerful conundrum that most kids don’t have to endure; having to choose between prematurely continuing a successful adult life or reverting to the comforting reality of his youth. In my opinion, the most powerful scene in the film was when he went back home in adult form and witnessed firsthand what he had, and ultimately would miss out on if he chose the adult path. The ‘innocence’ of youth; friends, games, and family stared him in the face, and either decision that he chose to make was bound to hurt someone. It showed that life revolves around choices, great or small, and how ultimately, you must make the decision that’s best for you. 

 He followed his heart and went back to his family and his younger self in the end, but his decision to do so was embedded in my head for a few days after I’d watched the movie. So many of us in life, when confronted with great decisions, freeze up from indecision, and rather than formulate a well-calculated battle plan, we end up making none and float through life under the mercy of fate. It takes incredible character to exert the power of choice, despite the odds. Hey, if the kid in the film was able to make a sound decision that would affect the lives of everyone around him, then we should all be able to, right? Twenty-eight years after seeing Big, I finally got a sense of the soul of the movie; follow your heart, and you’ll find your way. It’s never too late to learn that message.