REDISCOVERING JOY - Week #3 What Are You Drawing to Yourself

In our quest for finding greater joy in our daily lives, I have a question for you:

Is there something in your way of thinking that might be robbing you of the very thing you seek while you are searching for greater happiness?

Please stop a moment and think about this.

I'm sure you have heard the idea that we draw to ourselves the things we think about and put our attention on, even and especially the negative experiences that happen to us.  There is a lot of information out there in books and on the Internet that promote this belief.  Whether or not you completely swallow that EVERYTHING that happens to us is a result of our own thinking, there is no doubt in my mind, at least, that MUCH of what transpires in our lives is an end result of HOW WE PERCEIVE what is happening to us and HOW WE CHOOSE to react to it.

Think about that.

Now, I am going to tell you a story:

Years ago, when I was a lot younger than I am now, I was complaining and whining to a very close friend about how so many of my friendships at that time were problematic and what a source of pain they were for me.  Instead of commiserating with me and saying something compassionate, my friend finally grew exasperated.  She interrupted me with this comment:

"This is hard for me to tell you and you may not want to hear it.  But, the problem isn't these people.  The problem is the type of friends you have CHOSEN.  If you continue to CHOOSE to be around them, you are CHOOSING to continue to have painful experiences."

OUCH!  My friend put the problem squarely on my shoulders to solve.  Although, her words hurt me some (what had I done to deserve this, after all?!).  I had to admit she was right (In the end, I continued to associate with the same people).

That is just one of my experiences that taught me a profound lesson about happiness and what I can do to create it for myself.  However, you may be struggling with something else in life.

So, let me ask you this: 

Do the same types of difficulties keep happening in your life?  Do the same types of difficult people keep showing up? 

This is usually a HUGE sign, that you might be making the types of choices that bring the same problems around, over and over again.

What was it that Einstein said?

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

Woah!...

Is there something that you are doing over and over again with the same negative results?  If so, What is it?  What can you do to change it now?  Remember..

A small change at the hinge, swings wide the gate!

Resolve to make a positive change now, even a small one,...and watch how great the end results can be!

On to greater Joy!~