Addressing the "real world" requires three actions - simultaneously...

A reader wrote: "Your words are so calm. But you have never addressed the real world.
I was beaten...what calm and enlighten words do you have to say to that.
Get with the real life world ...sir❗️"

My Reply...

Thank you very much for writing.

Addressing the "real world" requires three actions - simultaneously...

1) Recognize that whatever has happened in the past cannot be changed. Anger can't change the past. Revenge can't change the past. Acceptance and forgiveness are powerful tools in letting the past be the past, so you can focus on the present and the future.

Anger is often more hurtful than the injury that caused it.
- English Proverb

Genuine forgiveness does not deny anger but faces it head-on.
- Alice Duer Miller

2) Have a positive attitude. Having a positive attitude is both a tool to make you happier in the present, and a tool from which to launch "real world" actions and success.

Positive thinking will let you do everything
better than negative thinking will.
- Zig Ziglar

3) Take action. Begin now. Begin again each day. Take action with calm focus, and with a well-thought-out plan, but take action, and persevere.

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent
about things that matter.
- Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Attitude and action are both essential.
Attitude without action is mere pretense.
Action without attitude is merely frenzied motion.
 - Jonathan Lockwood Huie

May the world be kind to you, and may your own thoughts be gentle upon yourself.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

 

Aptitude or Attitude

A reader wrote to ask whether I agreed with the following quote...

Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.
- Zig Ziglar

My answer...

What you accomplish in life is a function of BOTH what God gave you (aptitude, place of birth, etc.)
AND what you do with your gifts (your attitude, etc.).

BUT, you can't change what you have been given,
while you CAN CONTROL your attitude: being positive, working hard, etc.

SO your attitude does control your altitude in the sense that it is the only variable that you have the ability to change.

Someone born with an IQ of 56 isn't going to become a great nuclear physicist - they just aren't.
But with a positive attitude, they can live a great life, being happy and inspiring happiness in others.

May the world be kind to you, and may your own thoughts be gentle upon yourself.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Physical Pain

Reader question: I experience a lot of pain after a recent surgery, how can I remain joyful and positive in spite of this?

My reply:

Physical pain is the most challenging obstacle we have to face, and the one least amenable to overcoming purely through attitude. Nonetheless..

1. First apply a positive attitude toward the the other issues that are probably accompanying your physical pain, such as… the fear that the pain will get worse or never go away.  Unlike physical pain, fear and worry are relatively easy to overcome through a positive attitude.

2. I find great help from self healing, and those who are more inclined toward prayer healing often find that helpful. There are many systems of self healing or prayer healing, but you can also just keep it very simple. Visualize a white light shining down on the painful area, and give thanks in advance for the healing that is about to occur. Whether is is due to the power of God, the placebo effect, or something else entirely, it does work for those who believe it works.

3. Just take one day at a time — or one minute at a time when the pain is really bad. Believe that tomorrow will be a better day.

Tell your heart that the fear of suffering
is worse than the suffering itself.
- Paulo Coelho

Anyone can heal who believes that he can
and will take the time to put that belief into motion.
- Ernest Holmes

Gratitude in advance is the most powerful
creative force in the universe.
- Neale Donald Walsch

Courage doesn't always roar.
Sometimes courage is the quiet voice
at the end of the day, saying,
"I will try again tomorrow."
- Mary Anne Radmacher

May the world be kind to you, and may your own thoughts be gentle upon yourself.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

My Personal Motto

Question from a reader: WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO IN LIFE? AND WHY?

My Answer: I don't know that I have chosen a single personal motto. The "why" is that we can't control what happens to us, but we can control how we react - and that choice creates all our happiness or unhappiness.

The following mottos/quotes all reflect the idea that happiness is a matter of choice, rather than external conditions.

God grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
the courage to change the things I can;
and the wisdom to know the difference.
- Reinhold Niebuhr (Serenity Prayer)

Life is as easy or as hard as you think it is.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Happiness depends upon ourselves.
- Aristotle

Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass...
It's about learning how to dance in the rain.
- Vivian Greene

Happiness is a choice.
- Anonymous

You don't have the power to make life "fair,"
but you do have the power to make life joyful.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

We cannot choose our external circumstances,
but we can always choose how to respond to them.
- Epictetus

Happiness doesn't depend on any external conditions,
it is governed by our mental attitude.
- Dale Carnegie

Attitude is everything.
- Charles Swindoll

Life is 10 percent what happens to me
and 90 percent how I react to it.
- Charles Swindoll

Choose the World You See, and See the World You Choose.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

The beauty does not live out there; the beauty's in my eyes.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

My happiness depends on me.
- A Course in Miracles

Happiness is a function of accepting what is.
- Werner Erhard

The key to happiness is not to have what you want
but to want what you have.
- Anonymous

Success is getting what you want;
happiness is wanting what you get.
- Dale Carnegie

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Further reading: 7 Secrets for a Happy Life

Attitude Quotes

Happiness Quotes

Quotes about Choice

s Quotes to Live By

May the world be kind to you, and may your own thoughts be gentle upon yourself.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

What Are You Doing?

Joe and Sally are sitting in the same conference room attending the same long and emotionally-charged meeting.

Joe is "Listening to my stupid boss make unreasonable demands."

Sally is "Happy that my salary provides a good home, good food, and music lessons for my wonderful children."

-----

Jean and George are both in the hospital recovering from minor surgery.

Jean is "In pain. Tired of waiting for the nurses. Angry that life has been so unfair."

George is "Grateful for living today, rather than in the days before anesthetics, antibiotics, and modern surgery. Appreciative that kind people feel called to nursing. Looking forward to many more joyful years thanks to this surgery."

-----

Are you Joe or Sally? Jean or George?

Accept Circumstances - Choose Response

Question: My life is not the way am expecting, ... please advise me and pray for me.

Answer:

Our ability to change our circumstances is often woefully limited. However, each of us has an unlimited capability to choose the attitude with which we respond to those circumstances. We can look for joy in the smallest pleasures of life, while accepting the trials to which we have been subjected.

Accept Circumstances - Choose Response.

Expectations

Intention versus Expectation (Demand)