“Folks are usually about as happy as they make their minds up to be.” ― Abraham Lincoln
“We know from daily life that we exist for other people first of all, for whose smiles and well-being our own happiness depends.” ― Albert Einstein
First, decide that you are going to have a good day. Then go about having one. It really doesn’t need to be any more difficult than that. No one can change the way you feel unless you allow it. If something upsets you, think about why it is bothering you and then decide if you can do anything about it. If you can, then take action. If not, walk away and let it go. Life is too short to spend it dwelling in unhappiness.
Blame the Planets – Sometimes the energy around you makes it difficult to think clearly. You act irrationally and don’t know why. Well, if you aren’t blaming the moon, then you should blame the planets. Everything in our universe affects us in some way.
Be aware that Venus is still in Retrograde motion and squaring Mars. This can bring tense energy in your relationships that create conflict. Issues or problems you face will be brought to the surface, so try not to act impulsively. It should go without saying, but think before you talk. Words can be weapons when used in the wrong moment.
Thought of the Day – It is best to accept that this year is going to challenge us all individually in many ways. Nothing is the way it was, and it won’t be that way again. Figure out how you fit in the new energy and then release resistance. Fighting against things only creates more resistance, ultimately preventing you from noticing opportunities that may be right under your nose.
Have a special day.
“I think I’m afraid of being happy because whenever I get too happy something bad always happens.” ― Charles M. Schulz
There is nothing more magical than the sunrise that comes after a long, stormy night
“I would rather walk with a friend in the dark, than alone in the light.” ― Helen Keller
“The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien
Sometimes we need to reach despair in order to learn what there is to learn. The human spirit is all about survival, and even when the night seems the darkest, before long the soft hues of dawn chase away the shadows. As long as you are still breathing, there is the possibility of getting through to the other side. What awaits there is something magical and wonderful. Hang on even when it doesn’t seem like you can anymore. It’s worth it.
In the Sky – Meanwhile, Neptune will be an exceptionally powerful influence this week as it meets up in a caustic angle to the Sun today. On Saturday it moves on to merge with Mars. It is an opportune moment to find some quiet time so you can access your intuition and get clarity as to what’s next for you.
Speaking of Skies – On June 11, 1982, the movie E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial was released. It made $435 million in theatres and captured the imagination of young and old alike. It made us wonder out loud if there is something else out there. One would have to think that it would be stranger to believe that we are alone in this huge universe rather than think that there is probably a lot more happening than we can know.
Thought of the Day – It is so much easier to access your inner guidance when you keep yourself light, both physically and mentally. Eating whole, fresh foods and not indulging in heavy fats or lots of sugar can keep you centred and present. Getting away from the electronics and into nature also clears up your energy channels. Go for a long walk with just the sound of the birds to keep you company and you will find yourself more relaxed and peaceful.
Have a special day in every way.
“But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough can you see the stars.” ― Martin Luther King, Jr.
Float on a boat on a beautiful day, nothing to worry about in a perfect moment in time
“Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness. How do you know this is the experience you need? Because this is the experience you are having at the moment.” ― Eckhart Tolle
If you were to believe that all experiences in your life are absolutely essential to your inner evolution, would it be easier to accept and learn from them? It seems that fighting against something that is happening doesn’t make much sense. Denial, withdrawal, and non-acceptance are all energy drains that don’t contribute to any resolution of the issue. Looking at what is, and then moving forward from there, is more direct and focused than looking at it and wishing it was something else.
Wishes are desires with no power. Saying that you wish something will occur, as opposed to stating that you want something and then detailing steps to get there, portray two entirely different levels of expectation. Wishes are wishy-washy. Goals are concrete.
Do What it Takes – On June 10, 1752, Benjamin Franklin went out in a thunderstorm with a kite. He had a theory and he was willing to do whatever it took to prove it. When there is a burning desire within to know something, and a decision is made to figure it out, there is no stopping that force. Just don’t fly a kite in a thunderstorm – Ben did it for us and we should appreciate everything that followed because of it.
Personal History – Modern times are wonderful, but they can also be very punitive. Now that there are cameras and recording devices everywhere, anything that was ever recorded can be put on the internet where it will live forever. We can do something dumb at the age of 20, and then 20 years later it can come back to haunt us. Is this fair? Should you be held accountable for everything you did, just because there is some type of evidence of it? We are supposed to learn from our mistakes, but to be haunted by them for a lifetime is beyond being a lesson. Takeaway – be careful that what you say and do truly represents who you are. People are listening and watching.
Thought of the Day – Try to eat less cooked food, especially now that the weather is warmer. Big salads, fresh fruit, and raw nuts and seeds are nutritious, light, and living. It’s amazing how making a few simple changes to your diet can completely change how you feel within a short time. Take care of the body that works so hard to support you. Be good to yourself and those around you.
“I heard a definition once: Happiness is health and a short memory! I wish I’d invented it, because it is very true.” ― Audrey Hepburn
Be like the rock, unfazed by the good opinion of others
“Whatever may be the tensions and the stresses of a particular day, there is always lurking close at hand the trailing beauty of forgotten joy or unremembered peace.” ― Howard Thurman
“We must have a pie. Stress cannot exist in the presence of a pie.” ― David Mamet
You are what you think about all day long. How could it be any other way? Consider how life is processed through you as opposed to happening around you. Everything you see, hear, and feel is taken in by your senses and then your brain turns it into something. What that something is depends on you.
Stress cannot occur without your permission. Use the ability to control your own mind and turn everything into possibilities. Change can occur, and rapidly at that, if you decide in your mind that it will. Never entertain the idea of limitations, but instead focus with crystal-clear intent on what you want to see. Then go about doing what needs to be done, for without action dreams can never become reality.
Thoroughbred of the Ages – On June 9, 1973, the magnificent Secretariat put on a show at Belmont to take the final leg of the Triple Crown. He punctuated his brilliance with a 31-length win and is still one of the most recognizable names in the sport. He would become the first horse in 25 years to accomplish the Triple victory.
Thought of the Day – Blame is a destructive emotion. Take responsibility for your life and what surrounds you. Putting the onus on others for your happiness or sense of self-worth is neither fair nor is it productive. If you love, or don’t love yourself, it doesn’t matter what anyone else says or does. Nothing can change the way you feel about yourself when you know the truth.
Have a special day.
“All negativity is caused by an accumulation of psychological time and denial of the present. Unease, anxiety, tension, stress, worry – all forms of fear – are caused by too much future, and not enough presence. Guilt, regret, resentment, grievances, sadness, bitterness, and all forms of non-forgiveness are caused by too much past, and not enough presence.” ― Eckhart Tolle
The trees grow as tall as they can. We should aspire to be so grand
“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” ― Mahatma Gandhi
“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.” ― Leo Tolstoy
It’s easy to criticize, judge, and talk about what other people should or shouldn’t be doing. It’s less simple when it comes to changing ourselves. Before looking around and finding fault with others, peer into your own life and see what’s going on there. You might be surprised that you are less than perfect, and therefore have no right to demand that others be so.
Momentum – Make a decision and stick with it. The only way to get something accomplished is to do it. It’s amazing how so many people will say that they want to lose weight, and yet they continue to overeat and not exercise. They want the reward without the work. Life kind of works in the opposite way – you get out of it what you put into it. At some point, realizing that anything worth having takes work and then doing the work brings a satisfaction upon completion that is more fulfilling than anything else.
Stop looking for easy answers and do the work if you really want something. Or else just let it go. No one is interested in hearing about the things you want to do if you aren’t actually doing them.
1984 – On June 8th, 1949, George Orwell published his last book, 1984. All of his books make for incredible reading and inspire a thought-provoking journey. Born into privilege in India, Eric Blair, the real name of the author, became disillusioned and left to follow a life of poverty in England and Paris.
Orwell’s last novel, 1984, brought him lasting fame with its vision of a future where all citizens are watched constantly and language is twisted to aid in oppression. It’s a grim outlook that speaks to the times of today.
Thought of the Day – Don’t assume that what you hear and read are true. Make sense of it yourself and listen to many different viewpoints. Following anything blindly impairs your ability to make fair assessments. Stay informed and enjoy a beautiful day.
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” ― Martin Luther King Jr
Sometimes you can grow even in the most difficult places
“I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” ― Henry David Thoreau
“Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.” ― Maya Angelou
Today is a perfect day to stop allowing yourself to be small. If you aren’t doing what you want to do, figure out a way to make it happen. Now with a very powerful full moon behind us and the beginning of the waning phase, take time to devise plans and a schedule and prepare to put ideas into motion. It feels like the rest of this year is going to provide many opportunities for personal and professional growth, and you need only want it to have it happen for you.
Challenging Times Ahead – So many retrogrades, eclipses, and general unrest in our celestial skies are contributing to uneasiness, a desire for change, and no longer tolerating the archaic beliefs of the past. The collective is pushing towards something better as consciousness continues to find expression. Allow yourself to challenge every belief you hold. Figure out where it came from. Was it something your parents told you, or you learned at school, or it’s just the way you have always thought? Now is the time to expose these ghosts of the past and decide if they still work for you.
Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto continue in their retrograde motion, and before the end of the month Mercury and Neptune will join them. That will mean that from June 23rd to the 26th, six planets will be retrograde. It’s also eclipse season. What does this all mean? That it’s okay not to feel okay right now. Sometimes the energy outside of you challenges everything that you thought was safe and secure.
The year 2020 isn’t finished shaking our foundations quite yet. But from the turmoil can come strength and the realization of what is truly important in life. Sometimes you need to let go of everything in order to get everything that you want.
Gandhi – On June 7th, 1893, a young lawyer was kicked off of a train in South Africa. It was on that day that Mohandas Gandhi decided to fight racial inequality, a pursuit that would span a lifetime in a series of peaceful protests and the ability to motivate thousands. Gandhi’s persuasive methods of civil disobedience influenced leaders of civil rights movements around the world, including Martin Luther King, Jr.
Thought of the Day – It’s a new day. Step into it with fresh eyes and leave the tired, old way of looking at things behind. It isn’t serving you. Enjoy and be peaceful.
“Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” ― Winston S. Churchill
Express yourself with extravagant displays of joy and happiness and the world will smile back at you
“It isn’t what you have or who you are or where you are or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about it.” ― Dale Carnegie
“A child can teach an adult three things: to be happy for no reason, to always be busy with something, and to know how to demand with all his might that which he desires.” ― Paulo Coelho
If you awoke with no expectations other than having the basics that are necessary for survival, then experiencing happiness would be a much easier task. The fact that it is more comfortable to dwell in misery than to express joy is an interesting observation of life in the modern world.
The sun will be shining and someone will inevitably say, “Oh, it’s not going to last. It’s supposed to rain tomorrow,” or something else optimistic like that. We look for reasons to be unhappy if there aren’t any obvious ones at the moment. It may stem from a fear that if we let loose and enjoy ourselves, God may see us having fun and decide to throw a little trauma into our situation. As long as you stay in an expectant state that things will get worse, then maybe they won’t get too bad. But don’t be too happy, because that isn’t appropriate.
History Lesson – On this day in 1966, James H. Meredith, who in 1962 became the first African American to attend the University of Mississippi, was shot by a sniper shortly after beginning a lone civil rights march through the South. Have we accomplished anything in 54 years?
This year has presented many opportunities to be unhappy. Record unemployment, uncertainty, and the fear of getting sick has spread throughout the world because of the pandemic, and now civil unrest in the States is causing all of us to feel uncomfortable and wonder how it is going to end. In spite of all of this, the world goes on. Children laugh and play, birds sing, and the rest of us try to maintain some sense of normal.
If ever there was a time to feel joy just for the fact that you are alive and that the day could bring any number of wonderful things to you, now would be it.
Natural Sensitivity – An interesting study out of London has found that how sensitive we are may be determined by our genes. The study compared pairs of identical and non-identical 17-year-old twins to see how strongly they were affected by positive or negative experiences. Michael Pluess, Professor of Developmental Psychology at Queen Mary University of London and study lead, said, “We know from previous research that around a third of people are at the higher end of the sensitivity spectrum. They are generally more strongly affected by their experiences. This can have both advantages and disadvantages. Because we now know that this sensitivity is as much due to biology as environment, it is important for people to accept their sensitivity as an important part of who they are and consider it as a strength not just as a weakness.”
They found that 47 percent of the differences in sensitivity between individuals were down to genetics, leaving 53 percent accounted for by environmental factors. It seems obvious that some children are more sensitive than others, but this is interesting that so much of it may be attributed to genetic makeup.
Thought of the Day – Think of something you are grateful for just before you are ready to go to sleep. Going to bed in a state of gratitude can go a long way towards fostering an overall attitude of happiness.
Enjoy all that the day brings your way, knowing that it is there for a reason.
“In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer. And that makes me happy. For it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, there’s something stronger – something better, pushing right back.” ― Albert Camus
So many different flowers, all beautiful in their own way
“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.” ― Rob Siltanen
See something, say something. If we can live by that, then the injustices have to stop. Turning a blind eye condones, allows, and supports. One voice may be small, but it is a vibration that has the power to turn into something powerful. Use your voice and speak up.
Random Tidbits – Kevin Kelly is the founding executive editor of Wired magazine, and a former editor/publisher of the Whole Earth Review. He writes about a wide variety of things and his list of “68 Bits of Unsolicited Advice” is a fun read. Some of it is thought-provoking, some is practical, and all of it comes from a space of forgiveness and love. Here are a few examples from the list:
• Learn how to learn from those you disagree with, or even offend you. See if you can find the truth in what they believe.
• Being enthusiastic is worth 25 IQ points.
• Always demand a deadline. A deadline weeds out the extraneous and the ordinary. It prevents you from trying to make it perfect, so you have to make it different. Different is better.
• Don’t be afraid to ask a question that may sound stupid because 99% of the time everyone else is thinking of the same question and is too embarrassed to ask it.
• Being able to listen well is a superpower. While listening to someone you love keep asking them “Is there more?”, until there is no more.
• A worthy goal for a year is to learn enough about a subject so that you can’t believe how ignorant you were a year earlier.
• Gratitude will unlock all other virtues and is something you can get better at.
Thought of the Day – If we notice when others are struggling, we can reach back and help. That is part of being human. Even the animals do it – elephants will rescue others who are trapped by water, turtles will flip other turtles over, and dogs will stay with an injured friend on the side of the road. Do something not because it is convenient or comfortable, but because it is the right thing to do.
Have a peaceful day and share love with all.
“Everybody can be great…because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.” ― Martin Luther King Jr.
“Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.” ― Albert Einstein
Discovery and creativity are two of the most exciting aspects about being human. It’s possible to learn something new every day, and there is no end to what we can create out of thin air. Listening to intuition and acting on it could lead to something wonderful that right now doesn’t even seem like a possibility. Think of the quantum leaps that have happened, things like the desire to fly leading to the invention of air travel, or building a space station, and now the ability for space travel that will be available for more people. Big ideas can turn into reality as long as the focus behind them is strong and prolonged.
Notable Day – In 1968 on June 5th, Senator Robert Kennedy was assassinated, and on the same day in 2004 Ronald Reagan died. Not a good day in history tomorrow for politicians.
Something Good – Learning to meditate and let go of yesterday is good for the mind and the body. Holding on to the past can put the body in a chronic state of unease, which is a mild form of stress. This can contribute to a suppressed immune system and an inability to fight off common infections. Remember that who you were yesterday is not who you have to be today. Free up the energy that goes to preserving memories from the past and put that into exploring the beauty of the present.
Enjoy everything that comes your way today.
“It’s no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.” ― Lewis Carroll
Sometimes you just want to sing by yourself, and that’s a wonderful thing
“It is not a lack of love, but a lack of friendship that makes unhappy marriages.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche
“The truth is, everyone is going to hurt you. You just got to find the ones worth suffering for.” ― Bob Marley
There is a big difference between being alone and being lonely. When your inner world is rich and vibrant and full of joy, the presence or lack of other people doesn’t seem as important. If you are unhappy within, then perhaps it is more difficult to spend time with yourself.
Cultivating a rich inner environment is supportive to living a happy life. When your thoughts are of peace and joy, it is next to impossible to feel anything else towards others. This is the way to bring peace into the world. Take care of your inner garden and then worry about tending to the outside world.
Doing the Opposite – Tim Ferriss, time management guru, entrepreneur and author, put together an interesting list of 17 questions to ask yourself that could help increase your productivity. Things like, what if you did the opposite of everything for 48 hours, and if you could only work for two hours a week on your business, what would you do? It’s thought-provoking and a good way to clarify both your desires and to focus on what is important.
Staying Present – As we continue to navigate this challenging year, it is helpful to remain as grounded in your own reality as possible. Look around and see what you need to do to make things better in your own sphere. Consider what you might be doing or saying that adds to the fear and hatred that is so prevalent right now. Take care of what is in your own backyard and make it as wonderful as it can be.
Where We Were, Where We Are – Tomorrow marks the 31-year anniversary of a pivotal moment in history. In 1989 on June 4th, the Chinese government ordered the military to take back control of Tiananmen Square. Hundreds were killed, thousands were arrested, and the world was horrified by the image of a lone protestor standing in front of a rolling tank. What memories are we burning into the minds of our children today?
Be good to yourself and love those around you as much as you can.
“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown” ― H.P. Lovecraft
