Tag Archives: Summer

Attitude Adjustment: Mountains And Molehills

August 13, 2011 – 1:30 pm
Molehill in East Bohemia (Krtiny)

Molehills via Wikipedia

Morning is my favorite time of the day.  There is something special about the energy of a beginning.  That is what morning is to me, a beginning.  A few days ago I did what I normally do to start my day.  I walked into the kitchen and opened the blinds on the windows that look out onto my patio.  I enjoy watching the world around me wake up.  That morning the azure sky shimmered with a vibrancy that authors write about when they want to convey happiness and joy.

I looked to the sky, slumped my shoulders and groaned.  “Ugh!”

I could not focus on the beauty of the day.  All I could see was the precursor to more extreme heat.  Another day with a temperature above 100 degrees was in the making.   I looked at the sky longing to see anything that could remotely resemble a rain cloud, but it was not to be that morning.  In my mind I grumbled.

“I can’t stand this heat.”

“When will it end.”

I continued to bemoan the weather as I turned my attention to breakfast.  More random thoughts flew through my mind.

“A break from this heat would be wonderful.”

“Maybe I can arrange a long weekend to California?”

“Many people went to bed last night who did not wake up this morning.  They would have loved to have endured the heat to be able to see another day.”

I did not expect that last thought, but it got my attention.  Those words stopped the chatter in my mind and made me pause.  I reflected on the truth of what I had just heard. In an instant my aggravation shifted to appreciation.  I had been given another day.  A day that I could spend complaining about the heat and other annoyances, or a day that I could enjoy and use to make a positive difference.

Of course there are things that we should be irritated by.   Things that we will want or need to argue or fight for, but much of what we encounter as we go through a day is small stuff.  Stuff that really does not matter.  Stuff that is not worth our time and energy.

“Making a mountain out of a molehill” is a saying used when we make more out of something than we should.  Are you making more out of something than you should?  Are you making a mountain out of a molehill?

We all have the ability to decide whether to make a big deal out of the small stuff, or to simply let it pass.  Life is precious.  Let’s not waste it on the small stuff.

“I had the blues because I had no shoes until upon the street, I met a man who had no feet.” – Denis Waitley

Blessings.

See.  Live.  Enjoy.

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Estimated Time Of Arrival

August 4, 2010 – 4:03 pm

August is here and many of us are scrambling to try to get in one last trip before the summer ends.  We have booked flights, made hotel reservations and located our passport. Now all that is left is to pack and head to the airport.  The excitement is building.  We can’t wait to get to our destination, but most of us would rather skip the airport piece of the process.  The long lines at check-in and the undressing and redressing at security leave a lot to be desired.  It’s unfortunate that, “Beam me up Scottie,” is not a transportation option right now.

Most of us who travel on a regular basis know that trips can involve a bit of hassle. Even with the best preparation trips don’t always go as planned.  Sometimes our flight is delayed.  Other times we make unexpected stops, or have to change our routing.  And sometimes we just plain miss our flight.  I confess.  I have missed a flight or two in my life.  And when the unexpected (and usually the unwanted) happened, trying to get where I thought I needed to be when I thought I needed to be there was challenging.  But when it was all said and done, the interruption was not the end of the world, even if I didn’t make it to my destination on my original time schedule.

Lets face it.  Detours are a part of life.  Since we can’t always avoid them, we may as well look for the opportunities in them and enjoy them as much as possible.  Sometimes taking a detour or getting lost on the way gets us where we need to be at the right time, or leads us to a better destination than where we originally planned to go to.  Sometimes a detour leads us to our dream destination, even if we don’t recognize it at first glance.

So the next time your travel plans (or your life plans) are rearranged by unforeseen and perhaps unwanted circumstances, try to take it in stride and see what opportunity may be present.  Finding the positive in unwanted changes sometimes requires more than a quick glance, but digging deep and looking below the surface can often unearth hidden treasure.

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