Motivational Minute
May 01, 2000
Hello
Friends!
Here is a message of POWER and PASSION to get your week started with
ENTHUSIASM!
Please feel free to share it with your friends and associates.
Why pay attention to all this positive information? Why try and keep our minds focused? Why read this Motivational Minute?
Simply put, because by exposing yourself to just a little bit of positive influence each day can make a difference in your whole outlook. In the words of William James, "Man can alter his life by altering his thinking."
Have you ever rolled a snowball down a hill? I am not talking one of those giant ones you see in cartoons - just a little one will do. You pack the snow and ice, and then place it at the top of a hill. As you roll or push it down the incline, the snowball will grow. This is because with each turn, it adds snow but then it also adds anything else in its path. The real result usually isn't a fluffy whitish globe. It's more like a slushy ball of snow, leaves and dirt.
Try an experiment right now. Take a small piece of tape and stick it to your desk, or the fabric of your shirt. Pull it away. Chances are, you can now see other things stuck to that little piece of tape - dust, clothing fiber, hair, eraser bits.
Your own mind is similar to that snowball or that piece of tape. Each and every event or image to which you are exposed becomes a part of you. Everything from movies and television, to news and current events, to music and books - it all affects you whether you realize it or not.
The television news is a terrific example. Very often, when you watch scenes of attacks or victimization, you come away angry and upset. Television ads for politicians are written to drive emotion straight home to your heart, mind and voting hand.
Music is another excellent example. Depending on the beats per minute within a song, you'll move faster or slower - gain energy, or get depressed. Relaxation techniques are often combined with specific forms of music, slowing the number of beats per minute down gradually throughout the recording.
You can actually defeat the negativity out there by taking a few small steps regarding what influences your life each morning. For example - you have a huge office meeting today.
You are stressed, and worried. Rather than listen to the news, listen to a favorite, upbeat song. Instead of reading the paper before work, take time to hug your kids, or walk around the block and breath fresh air. You'll notice the difference as the day progresses. You can catch up on news later. Why start your day with anything that may bring you down? Just a few breaks in your routine could make a remarkable difference in your outlook!
In the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, "A man is what he thinks about all day long." Starting your day in an uplifting manner is like removing some of the dirt and gravel from the path of that snowball. Sure, you can't control every circumstance in your life, but you can put more "white snow" in the path!
LAUGH-A-DAY
Some entries in a contest held to imitate "Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey". The entrants were age 4 to 15.
"I believe you should live each day as if it is your last, which is why I don't have any clean laundry because, come on, who wants to wash clothes on the last day of their life?" - age 15
"Give me the strength to change the things I can, the grace to accept the things I cannot and a great big bag of money." - age 13
"For centuries, people thought the moon was made of green cheese, then the astronauts found that the moon is really a big hard rock. That's what happens to cheese when you leave it out." age 6
QUOTE-OF-THE-DAY
"Don't forget until too late that the business of life is not business but living."
- B.C. Forbes
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