For some reason I thought of this poem last night :
Happy the man, and happy he alone,
He who can call today his own;
He who secure within can say
Tomorrow do thy worst, for I have lived today.
—John Dryden, 1631-1700
I love the energy and courage of the poem, and I’m not superstitious, but it does seem to be tempting fate.
The Buddha’s quote,
The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.
seems a lot more sensible, but it lacks the spirit and joy of this one:
Look to this day!
For it is life, the very life of life.
In its brief course
Lie all the truths and realities of existence:The joy of growth,
The splendor of action,
The glory of power.For yesterday is but a memory,
And tomorrow is only a vision;
But today, well lived, makes every yesterday
a memory of happiness,
And every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well, therefore, to this day!
—Ancient Sanskrit poem
Do you think it’s overly optimistic? Inspiring? Or?
June 15, 2020
I don’t know! I’m so confused. Sometimes the overly optimism is annoying when there are so many problems in the world, but that’s probably when we need that mindset the most.
I think the last quote is way overly optimistic, but I love its spirit and energy. There has always been a lot of suffering in the world, but that’s no reason to give up. Help others when we can, but that can’t happen if we don’t nurture our own lives. An empty platter feeds no one, when the oxygen masks drop in a plane put yours on first, then help others if you can, etc., etc. .
as long I was was protected by someone like a “fairy godmother” who kept me in sparkles and sequins with much glitter and a whole lot of fairy-like love.
but that is not something that is truly around us currently…although it is nice to think that wherever we feel “safest” it’s alright…
the simple worded the quote, the better it feels, as if the sugar coated joyous one is like “pie in the sky”
Yes, that last poem is pie in the sky, but I love it for the phrase, “The joy of growth.” That’s what resonates with me.
I like all three but the last one is definitely the best.
It’s overly optimistic, but it celebrates life, and so often we forget to do that.
I am a well-known negative Nelly person and my glass is always half-empty. Some people say I’m negative I say I’m realistic. So none of these three fits me but I can see that it would fit a lot of people. Of the three I don’t really like the first one the others are okay
What do you think of this quote?
I like this one: “Those who say the glass is half empty or half full are missing the point; the glass is refillable.”
I’m not so sure that living well today makes the memories of yesterday good ones but… I am 10000% all for living in the here & now. We can’t change the past and sometimes we angst over what “might” happen tomorrow, which we have no proof that it will. Before we went (or thought we were going) to look at that house on Saturday, I had already worked myself up into the blather just thinking about moving: do I really want to leave this house, will I forever miss this house, are we making the right move, and on & on! Then, I calmed myself down and thought “Andrea, what are we actually going to do today? We’re going to look at a house. No more, no less!” So I didn’t let my mind go any further than that fact.
Living in today… and actually seeing what we’re physically doing & not analyzing anything… seems to produce the most peace for me. But I find I have to continually reign my mind in, to achieve that.
Love, Andrea xoxo
Good for you! When my mind starts racing and/or I feel anxious, I immerse myself in puzzles. It gives my subconscious mind time to process what’s going on. My conscious mind is for gathering information, my subconscious is the problem solver and decision maker.
I studied these earlier and have sat and looked and thought about them tonight…and none fit me. So I went looking for quotes for a few minutes. I came across one line, and it is what I tell Roger all the time…
Happiness comes from within.
And I found one by Winston Churchill:
We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.
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I always wonder what makes us how we are. How come some of us are more fearful and others always look at the positive side.
I was fearful, and depressed for a while, as a kid but I made a conscious choice to change. It was a rewarding project.