If you spend your whole life waiting for the storm, you’ll never enjoy the sunshine.
Morris West
The last week or so has been a real challenge for many of us in Central Indiana, as we were hit with a series of torrential rain storms, extremely high winds and even a few tornadoes. Whole neighborhoods in Kokomo Indiana have been totally flattened leaving lots of folks homeless. Closer to home we have seen huge trees uprooted, homes flooded and lots damage to houses created by the storms.
My two daughters did not have electricity in either of their homes for three days. But as bad as it has been there has been no loss of life. I credit a lot of that good news to the excellent weather warning systems and folks responding appropriately to the Tornado Warning sirens. Of course the knowledge that a tornado is in the area does generate anxiety in many but as a whole people seem to manage it well.
Some time ago I saved an article by Marc Chernoff were reported on how he manages worry. I think some of what he said makes sense when things happen that are beyond our control. Here are his thoughts:
Quotes to Stop Worrying About the Uncontrollable
Like you, I still struggle with letting go of control sometimes. So I’ve implemented a simple strategy for helping myself with this predicament. In a nutshell, I proactively remind myself NOT to worry about things I can’t control. Anytime I catch myself doing so, I pause and read the following seven quotes to myself. Then I take some deep breaths, and reassess the situation with a more mindful presence…
- You can’t control everything that happens to you, but you CAN control the way you respond. And in your response is your greatest power. Yes, most of your stress comes directly from the way you think and respond, not the way life is. Adjust your attitude, and all that extra stress is gone.
- Don’t bother worrying about whether there will be problems. There will be plenty of them, and you’ll work your way through every one of them.
- If you worry too much about what might be, and wonder too long about what might have been, you will ignore and completely miss what is. Realize that worrying is a misuse of your incredible creative energy. Instead of imagining the worst, imagine the best and how you can bring it about. (Angel and I show how in the “Happiness” chapter of 1,000 Little Things Happy, Successful People Do Differently.)
- Today is a choice. Today, choose grace over impatience, beauty over negativity, and presence over panic.
- There is absolutely nothing about your present situation – even the aspects you can’t control – that prevents you from making progress, step by step.
- You are alive and breathing, so act like it. Let go of what’s wrong and grab a hold of what’s right. Make things happen, and then let things happen. Learn, accept, explore, create and experience, every single day, one tiny step at a time. (Angel and I build tiny, life-changing daily rituals with our students in the “Goals and Growth” module of Getting Back to Happy.)
- Keep being mindful. Keep breathing deeply. Things ultimately turn out best for people who make the best out of the way things turn out.
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If you want to see the sunshine, you have to weather the storm.
Frank Lane
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A group of Rabbis were having lunch in “Isaacs White House” kosher restaurant. Unfortunately, Isaac served them watermelon spiked with cherry vodka that he had prepared for another table and he realized his mistake too late to do anything about it. All Isaac could do was wait in his kitchen and expect the worst.
As soon as the waiter came back into the kitchen with the empty plates, Isaac grabbed hold of him and asked, “What did they say, please tell me, what did they say?”
“Nothing at all, Mr Isaac,” replied the waiter. “They were all too busy cleaning up the watermelon seeds and putting them into their pockets.”
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“You’re Just Jealous Because the Little Voices Are Talking to Me”
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There was an old priest who got sick of all the people in his parish who kept confessing to adultery. One Sunday, in the pulpit, he said, “If I hear one more person confess to adultery, I’ll quit!”
Everyone liked him, so they came up with a code word. Someone who had committed adultery would say instead that they had “fallen.” This seemed to satisfy the old priest and things went well until the priest passed away at a ripe, old age.
A few days after the new priest arrived, he visited the mayor of the town and seemed very concerned. “Mayor, you have to do something about the sidewalks in town. When people come into the confessional, they keep telling me they’ve fallen.”
The mayor started to laugh, realizing that no one had told the new priest about the code word. But, before he could explain, the priest shook an accusing finger at him and shouted, “I don’t know what you’re laughing about, because your wife has already fallen three times this week!”
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It is when we forget about ourselves that we do things that are most likely to be remembered
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This is a conversation that took place between a young man and a market surveyor in London.
Surveyor: Which shaving cream do you use?
Young Man: Raymond’s
Surveyor: Which aftershave do you use?
Young Man: Raymond’s
Surveyor: Which deodorant do you use?
Young Man: Raymond’s
Surveyor: Which toothpaste do you use?
Young Man: Raymond’s
Surveyor: Which shampoo do you use?
Young Man: Raymond’s
Surveyor: (Frustrated) Okay, tell me, What is this Raymond? An international company? A local firm? What???
Young Man: Raymond? He’s my roommate.
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Birds sing after a storm; why shouldn’t people feel as free to delight in whatever sunlight remains to them?
Rose Kennedy
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Stay well, do good work, and have fun.
Ray Mitchell
Indianapolis, Indiana
Management is not responsible for duplicates from previous dailies. The editor is somewhat senile.
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