Monday, August 9, 2010

Avoid The Swamp

Summon the power of your happiness.

Unknown
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It is an amazing and quietly miraculous thing to realize that just under the surface of all our grief and sorrow are the thoughts and memories of things that make us happy. There is a fist of determination that can pull the plug on the sink full of nasty things if we choose to use it.

Joy is a powerful thing. It can change the way we think and since most of life's troubles come from the way we think joy can make anguish tremble in fright. A certain Jewish mystic and Kabbalist scholar once described the mind as like a radio that only had two stations, one broadcast only good news and the other only bad news. If we don't keep alert the radio will automatically switch over to the bad news station. We have to keep our hands on the knob to keep it playing the news we want and need to hear. If I let my mind wander it will soon take me into bug filled swamps of ugly thoughts and memories. I have thankfully adopted a good angel who puts up with my negatives long enough and then says, with benign scorn, "What are you thinking about?" That stops me and makes me laugh.

It's truly a matter of consciousness. A constant consciousness of good makes a better life, and consciousness is the result of disciplined and habitual thinking. That's why we have to stay close to that radio.

I'm not a great Biblical scholar but if you want a Bible reference here it is:

"whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."

And stay out of the mental swamps.

DB - The Vagabond
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SUMMER QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)

Who are the 2 (two) most important people alive today? Why?

Only 6 responses so far.

dbdacoba@aol.com

Thank you.
DB
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5 comments:

pacifica62 said...

Thank you db. If ever there was a message that I needed to hear today, then this would be it. Been spending a bit of time in the mental swamps myself the past couple of weeks and I know better than to do that. Sometimes it just takes me a while to catch myself listening to that wrong radio station. Tell me, does that good angel of yours have a sister looking for a job? I feel certain that I could offer her some part time employment. I am getting tired of the bugs and 'gators hanging around me in this swamp, so I want to get to heck out of here. Your message has, without doubt, helped me to escape the swamp today. Thank you my friend.

DB said...

And thank you Pacifica. Isn't it strange that the mental swamp is an easy place to get into but a hard place to leave?
DB

Anonymous said...

My joy often comes as joyful consternation. ~Mary

Rose said...

Oh, we have all had problems with that radio station along life's highway!

Great post!

Hugs, Rose

Ken Riches said...

It takes effort to find the good things, the joy, but it is an effort worth expending.