This is from Gil\u2019s book, \u201cHow to Be Happy, dammit\u201d (which I still have, although I\u2019m not STEALING it, I\u2019m going to give it back, because otherwise that would be STEALING HAPPINESS):<\/p>\n
Life Lesson #21 says you have to live in the NOW. As opposed to dwelling on the past or worrying\/hoping for the future. Very good advice; as I\u2019ve said before, this little book is chock full of pearls of wisdom. Everybody needs a copy, just like EVERYBODY needs a massage, at least a short one, on a daily basis. Wouldn\u2019t the world be a better place if that happened?<\/p>\n
I\u2019m SO trying to live in the now, right now. OK, here\u2019s a perfect example of how thinking about the future doesn\u2019t necessarily pan out: you may recall that I wrote just this afternoon about my anticipated bliss at eating the Cadbury Cr\u00e8me Egg in my car.<\/p>\n
I was quite ecstatic to finally get out to my car and unwrap the foil\u2026and it was an inferior Cadbury Cr\u00e8me Egg. They CAN be mouthwateringly delicious (although I must admit I\u2019d forgotten how very VERY sweet they really are), but only if they\u2019re fresh. <\/p>\n
I suspect the Cadbury Cr\u00e8me Egg I snarfed down was perhaps from last Easter. Just not up to snuff.<\/p>\n
So, according to Life Lesson #21, I shouldn\u2019t have been hoping for that Egg after all, and that way, I wouldn\u2019t be disappointed. This sounds like a Buddhist thing, doesn\u2019t it? Although I doubt that Buddhist monks eat a lot of Cadbury Cr\u00e8me Eggs. Perhaps they should start. If I knew any Buddhist monks, I\u2019d give them one.<\/p>\n
I lived all the rest of my day, and finally got home, exhausted, ready for bed\u2026and there was a container of organic chocolates on the counter (I find it best to never question where all the goodies come from \u2013 God, perhaps?). I tried one, and THAT was Nirvana. Found without seeking it. Just happened upon it, no anticipation, no hope, just\u2026there it was. <\/p>\n
The only downside being that I felt the need to try three or four of them, which might impede my sleep which I CRAVE. Too much sugar and caffeine at this time of night.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve been thinking about auditioning for a summer musical, and tonight I practiced the song I\u2019d sing.<\/p>\n
I\u2019d forgotten that aspect of singing a song \u2013 the singing part. <\/p>\n
Randy kept saying, \u201cyou could SELL that song, you just have to practice. You\u2019re be GREAT in the role.\u201d Randy\u2019s usually not an optimistic fellow, but I felt that he was suddenly making up for his usual pessimism. I\u2019ve started having second thoughts about auditioning, because it could be very stressful\/humiliating\/agonizing.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m sure there\u2019s a life lesson in the happiness book that addresses this. It could be #18, \u201cRelax and Enjoy the Ride.\u201d Or maybe it\u2019s Life Lesson #10, \u201cFear stops you from getting what you really want\/need.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a marvelous little book, I tell you, and I think everybody needs to read it. But anyway, I don\u2019t think either of these lessons pertains to me. It\u2019s not fear that I have exactly, it\u2019s more the inevitability of knowing what the sound will sound like that comes out of my mouth. I\u2019m just being realistic.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ll just see what happens. Meanwhile, I\u2019m attempting to relax and enjoy the ride, I promise.<\/p>\n
My good friend Paul e-mailed me today. I haven\u2019t heard from him in a while; he came to visit a couple of summers ago and we went out on the pontoon boat and had a very nice time. He taught a stand-up comedy class I took in LA, and now he\u2019s doing stand-up on the east coast and on cruise ships, and has a place in NYC. Quite exciting. He might come out to visit. And, hmm, wasn\u2019t I just writing about wanting to go to New York? And now, unexpectedly, I\u2019d have a place to stay\u2026<\/p>\n
Life Lesson #25 \u2013 \u201cnothing in this universe is random.\u201d Hmm. <\/p>\n
The day is ending on a much happier note than it started with. Life Lesson #4, \u201cHappiness is not about what happens to you, but how you choose to respond to what happens. You must always leave room for hope that all has happened for a good cause.\u201d <\/p>\n
Ok then. I certainly don\u2019t believe ALL has happened for a good cause, because sometimes inexplicably horribly bad things happen, but by and large (who thought that up, anyway, \u201cby and large?\u201d), I do think that plenty of things happen for a good cause, one that one doesn\u2019t necessarily see right away.<\/p>\n
All right then, enough already,<\/p>\n
Wiser and wiser grace<\/p>\n
(soon to be a sage, or perhaps a Buddhist monk)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This is from Gil\u2019s book, \u201cHow to Be Happy, dammit\u201d (which I still have, although I\u2019m not STEALING it, I\u2019m going to give it back, because otherwise that would be STEALING HAPPINESS): Life Lesson #21 says you have to live in the NOW. As opposed to dwelling on the past or worrying\/hoping for the future. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-90","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6JLYy-1s","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graceuncensored.com\/WordPress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}