Tag Archives: Positive Change

Re-Think Your Openmindedness

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“Open minded people do not impose their beliefs on others. They accept all of life’s perspectives and realities, doing their own thing in peace.”

-Unknown

Here is an excellent definition of what it means to be open minded:

1. having or showing a mind receptive to new ideas or arguments.
2. unprejudiced; unbigoted; impartial.

 

Unfortunately we have segments of our population who are of the mindset that if you do not agree with what they believe or accept everything they say as gospel, then you are at fault. You are the racist, the homophobe or the sexist. These same people claim to be the ones with the “open mind”, the people who are accepting of everyone. Everyone that is unless you disagree with them.

Don’t be frightened by those who yell and scream at you because you don’t necessarily believe what they do. You are an individual, someone who has the capacity to formulate your own beliefs and opinions. Don’t let anyone take that from you.

Here is an excellent attitude to adopt for everyone:

“I do not agree with what you have to say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it.”

-Evelyn Beatrice Hall

 

DSTSS

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“Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts.”

-Arnold Bennett

“If we don’t change, we don’t grow. If we don’t grow, we aren’t really living.” 

-Gail Sheehy

Well folks, another year has come and gone. A new year has just started and that means that it’s another year of trying to achieve balance in our lives. As we all know, things change on a daily basis, every minute of every day. Life literally forces change upon us. When we are confronted with change, at home or at work, a decision has to be made in regards to whether you will accept and embrace (to the best of your ability) what is happening or will you fight it?

I have spent most of my adult life hating change. I would do every thing that I could to fight it. No matter how big or small, if it went against what I was used to doing, I was against it. It didn’t matter whether I had any control over the situation, it just seemed like the thing to do.

As I look back on it now, I have truly wasted a great deal of mental energy immediately adopting a negative and non productive attitude towards events in my life. As a matter of fact, some of the fights I have put up thinking I was making a point or sending a message were just plain stupid. What did I accomplish by just throwing up roadblocks that not only got in my way, but others as well?

The past several years have taught me that fighting the inevitable is almost harmful to your health. It is useless to sweat the small stuff (or shit if you are so inclined) every day. In order to stay balanced, you need to give some thought as to how you are going to react when you are confronted with change that may make you feel uncomfortable. Do you really have any control over the situation? How will it affect you? Is it worth your valuable time and energy (physical and mental) to fight against it?

What is my point? It’s simple. Spend more time worrying about the things that you have some control over. Take a “big picture” look at the situation and then think about how you want to respond, if at all. I guarantee that you will be experience less stress in your life as you choose not to burden yourself with fighting everything that comes your way.

My motto is, and will continue to be, DSTSS!

 

Good morning 2017!!!

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“New Year’s Day. A fresh start. A new chapter in life waiting to be written. New questions to be asked, embraced, and loved. Answers to be discovered and then lived in this transformative year of delight and self-discovery. Today carve out a quiet interlude for yourself in which to dream, pen in hand. Only dreams give birth to change.”

-Sarah Ban Breathnach

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The sun coming up over the hill behind my house on a beautiful New Year’s Day.

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If just for a day…

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It isn’t often these days where you get to personally experience the kindness of strangers. Unfortunately for me, I have become very cynical towards people and have come to expect rude, inappropriate or indifferent behavior. I do not have much faith that people would act to help someone even if they were obviously in trouble. Now, before I go any further, I admit that I am far from perfect but I have made an honest attempt over the course of the last several years to treat people the way that I would want to be treated. Am I always successful in this endeavor? Not at all. But I like to believe that I am making a positive change in this area.

Today we were at the Danbury Mall where my daughter was getting a second hole pierced in each ear. Even after the piercing, she told us with a smile on her face that it hadn’t hurt and she was pretty surprised at that. However, as soon as she stood up, my wife saw that something wasn’t right. My daughter’s eyes had glazed over, she couldn’t speak, her knees began to buckle and she passed out. She and the woman working at the store gently lowered her to the ground and began asking if she was ok.

As this was happening,  a couple of strangers came over to see if she was ok. They were kind, considerate and spoke to my daughter as if they had always known her.

After several minutes I asked Hope if she wanted to try and stand up. She said yes and I helped her get to her feet. We walked out of the store I looked to my right and knew immediately that having her get up so quickly had been a mistake. She had the glazed look again and was mumbling incoherently. At that point she passed out again. Not that I wasn’t worried before, but I was really concerned now thinking that something was really wrong.

Security arrived and I asked them to call paramedics so she could be checked out by medical professionals. Once again, several people stopped and asked if there was anything they could do. They spoke with my daughter and asked if my wife and I were ok. A gentleman soon saw what was happening and identified himself as an EMT.

I think that I can assume that he either worked for a living as an EMT or as a volunteer in a local fire department in the area, but the fact remains that he did not have to stop to see what was going on, but he did. Those 5-6 other people who stopped to see what they could do to help didn’t have to, but they did. The EMT spoke to my daughter and waited until the fire department arrived to take over. As he was walking away, he seemed genuinely surprised when I stopped him, shook his hand and thanked him for taking the time to make sure that Hope was ok. Soon after that, the EMT’s arrived, did what they had to do, and told us that Hope would be ok.

My whole point in relating this story to you is that I am thankful that we still have people who care enough when they see someone in distress to stop and see if they can help. Of course it could have been the fact that she was 14 years old, but once again, they chose to stop to see what they could do to help. The concern was genuine and I genuinely appreciated their assistance. After the professionals arrived and they began to drift away, I made it a point to thank each of these strangers for doing what has unfortunately become behavior that can not be expected. That in itself is truly saddening. My sadness lies in the fact that it seems that people are so fearful these days (of so many things), that although they may want to help when it is needed, their fear does not let them.

I know that it may seem trivial, but it was heartening to have these total strangers approach us to ask if they could help. My faith in humanity has been restored, if only for a day.