Some random thoughts about being happy. Blog 700

This is the 700's post on my blog --- I am sending this to a few extra folks on my contact list.... hope you are well and happy... and Thank You.   bonny

Some random thoughts about being happy.  

1.      Count blessings.  The first year I came to Thailand, I could barely walk up and down the road not alone do the yoga poses.   Now, I am not doing them perfectly, but every day I am getting better. The teacher in the first year wanted perfection and did not make me feel welcome as a student.   The current teacher respects my effort and gives me tasks that stretch my ability daily, but knows that I am my own critic and encourages.  There is a right balance in adjusting the pose and encouraging me to keep going.  One great blessing is that I am developing discernment and recognizing that it is not all me.  Now, when I pull in my core, it is behind my stomach and maybe not as noticeable to the observer, but I know it is moving and someday, there will not be as much stomach and the observer will also notice.    I am grateful that I have had to opportunity to push through my “I can’t” and come to “I will be a swimmer”. Everything is a life lesson.

2.     Surround yourselves with positive people.  I just cannot spend much time with people who look at their shoes - negative or dark or are stuck in the distant past.  There is only so many hours that you can spend looking at was or might have been without missing what is.   I can’t spend time with people who want to talk politics or other things they know little about or who just can’t say anything good.   When I go out to eat, I look at the menu at the front of the restaurant and look for people who smile and when I sit down, I hope they are upbeat, optimistic, encouraging and fun to be around even if I am only at the next table.     

3. Look for the little things that make you smile. When you are present in your own life, you see things: A beautiful flower, a child hearing a joke and laughing uncontrolled, the patterns on the sidewalk, the smell of leaves burning that reminds you of your childhood …nothing big or earth shaking.  This is the sugar of life that makes some of the frowns easier to live with.

 4. Say  "it’s all good" when things go wrong.  Last week, I had something to eat that just was not meant for my body.  Before I could get off the bike and into the house and bathroom, my body said… I have keep this in me too long and it is coming out .. ready or not.   I was a mess, the house was a mess, etc.. but I was grateful I made it that far.. and that I was not totally out of it and feeling ill so I could clean up.  When I sat for my evening tea… I thought .. it is all good.  The bad stuff is out, I am clean as a whistle, there is a laundry… I have clean clothes.. and tomorrow is another day.  And for anyone reading who might say .. can’t believe she wrote that… I say. Why not or now you have a visual - shit happens!!!!!....and it’s all good.

5. Help someone for absolutely no reason.  When I sit in a restaurant and someone next to me shares a little of their life and we have a good conversation.  I pay the bill and say…someday, Pay It Forward.    100-200 Bhat  ($3-$6) is small change compared to the companionship and the wonderful people I am meeting. 

 6. Read or listen to positive materials:  We only get Fox News from the US on the tele – so I watch at 17 min before the hour in the morning for the home weather.   I have an ITune library of talks on meditation, Dharma, etc. that can make my ears smile. And  I have a few YOUtubes that make me roll on the floor.  I get the home paper and read the front page and Rex Morgan... what more do I need.

7. Do things that bring joy. Swimming is bringing me great joy.  I love teacher Fred.  We are enjoying the process.  When the Thai pool monitor said to him, she talks a great deal,  I said, I am going to try not to talk so much. Fred says why, she doesn’t have to listen or what makes you think she was being critical, maybe she enjoys your energy.    It is so wonderful to be with people who are grounded, happy, living the life they want.  He is such a model for me as well as an excellent swimming and yoga teacher.  I am going on a search for more Fred’s and I will try never to take the first opinion or settle for what I get.   I am my own best friend and I enjoy me.

I love to ride in the country.  I like looking at the flowers and watching the kids.  I will always have to clean the litter box but I can do it with joy because the animals give me joy and I love them.

 8.  "Please" and "Thank you."   I want everyone who does anything for me to know that I do not take it for grant it. Thank you.  I don’t think you can overuse Thank You.  Thank you for caring about how I am doing or Thank you for saving me a seat.  It is all good.

 It is time to let go of some folks that have been in my life for a long time.  I have held on to the connection long after they have let go.  We put effort into cultivating friends, but not as much at supporting and maintaining friendships.  For some that I have held on to but have not maintained contact with me, it is time to say Thank you.. good speed to you and move on.    

Coming to Thailand is the best litmus test to find out who cares about my life. I am 76 yrs old traveling alone half way around the world... most don't know how am I doing.   I am glad for the opportunity to shift the grain and toss the shaft.  Better to have a small amount of good grain than a box of fluff with no substance.  And it is all good.

9. Choose to be happy.  You can actually make the decision to think about how you think and decide to think happy thoughts instead of negative ones.  My meditation, yoga, and swimming have taught me that I am in charge of my thinking.  So I choose to be happy, I am the architects of my life and a positive attitude changes how I perceive the world.   And it is all good.