Watching and listening to the negativity, dread, anger and disgust (we can come up with a longer list of words) I can't do it, I can't let those thoughts occupy my brain. It is not that I don't care, but if I let those thoughts fill my being, I won't be able to focus on the things I can do, the way I can make the world a better place.
A therapist had his patient meet him in a park one day, and he gave her rubber gloves, and garbage bags and had her pick up trash in the park. As she did they talked, they talked about all of the people who had left trash in her life, all of the negative thoughts that cluttered her mind. After an hour or so, it hit her, that she was letting other people's trash fill her life - it was a breakthrough moment for her. If we let others fill our lives with trash, our lives will be filled with garbage.
A couple had twin boys. When the boys were about 10 years old one of them was always sad and glum, and one of them was always happy and enthusiastic. They took the twins to a renown therapist to see if they could even out their outlooks on the world. The shrink put the first kid, the glum one, in a room with a pony and left him there for an hour. When they came back, the kid was sitting on the floor crying, the pony was the wrong color, the pony didn't like him, he wanted a boy pony and this was a girl pony, he had stepped in piles of horse shit and if he went near the pony it would probably try to bite or kick him. Gee that didn't work. The shrink removed the pony from the room, and sent in the happy child and closed the door. When he came back an hour later the kid was running around the room, throwing straw in the air, looking behind bales of hay and having a great time. When he asked him why he was so happy, he replied, with all of this horse shit there has to be a pony in here someplace. I choose to look for the pony.
Are you letting others fill your life with trash? Are you looking for the Pony?
What a great question....
ReplyDeleteGood advice!
ReplyDeleteDoes that building have a scenic elevator?
ReplyDeleteYes, glass enclosed elevators, they are on the right in the picture, they are almost to the top. It is the Marriott Marque in Atlanta.
ReplyDeleteI just know that reading your blog generally makes me happy, so for that I thank you!
ReplyDeletePS, i think I found the horse. It was hiding under some straw.
I use the metaphor of a beachball. People love to throw their at you hoping you will catch and carry. I recognize this quickly and I don't carry any now but my own. Which is a lovely pink one with gold stars.
ReplyDelete