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Monday, June 16, 2014

HAPPINESS BY LOSING





“For pretty lips, speak words of kindness.
       For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.
       For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.
       For beautiful hair, let a child run their fingers through it once a day.
       For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone.”
 

- Samuel McCord
Samuel McCord here --
When a fella rides the wide, wild country and looks up into the endless depths between the stars, he thinks some odd thoughts --
Take Happiness -- 
but that is just it:
you can't take happiness, can't wrest it from the stubborn fingers of life.
Fact is, Happiness comes in the strangest ways --
Think about the best things in your life.  What would your life be without them?
When it comes to creating more happiness in life, experts usually tell us to ADD more things:
Get a dog -- build a friendship -- add a Gratitude List.
But what about taking things away? 
SUBTRACTION?  Could that make us happier?
Mentally take away a positive thing in your life.  Imagine how your days would be then.
This is rather a Back Door way for boosting happiness. 
 Folks who do this tend to feel an added sense of appreciation for their health, safe neighborhood, support from friends or other things.
To be mindful of the good around you puts your attention on those aspects of your life
and opens your curiosity to what else positive you might be missing right in front of you.
Folks who imagined their life as if they'd never met their romantic partner
say they feel an increase in the satisfaction of that relationship afterwards.
None of us are immune to the poison of going through the motions of our life, pushing through the grind with blinders on --
Not paying much attention to the taste of our food at lunch, the beautiful trees and sky as we walk, or the smiles of children we pass.
 Likewise, it is far too easy to take the good in our life for granted. 

Don't wait until those treasures are taken from you by the changing seasons.
Set fire to the rain ...
the rain that blinds you to the hand holding yours, the love in the eyes of those around you, the music of laughter all around you.
Subtract one good thing. 
Fill your mind with the altered life you would be living, fully feeling the void.  Now, re-focus on the present.  See if you are not smiling.
Oh, and pick up a copy of DEATH IN THE HOUSE OF LIFE will you? 
It will make my partner, Roland, feel better after a 11 hour day of 440 miles of blood runs Sunday.

16 comments:

  1. First thought is my wife of course. Second is my relationship with my Savior. Either of those out of my life and it's a bleak existence...

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  2. Alex:
    Makes you grateful for them both, right?

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  3. Thanks for making me have the feels McCord!;)
    Taking my Wife and kids away, would be beyond devastating. As aggravating as family can be at times there is no replacing the love you hold for them.

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  4. David:
    The least I could do for a fellow Texican. Your wife and children are treasures words cannot describe, right?

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  5. Imagining the alternative is a creative way of illuminating the positive.

    That's also living in the moment, and being aware. I nearly had a heart attack when I saw hubs get into an accident when I was expecting. The experience gave me nightmares.

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  6. Leave it to Samuel McCord to come up with such sensible advice... :-)
    It's too easy to forget the good that we have in the daily struggles for this or that or the other. It's too easy not to pay attention, thinking that what we have will always be there...
    Thanks, Samuel (and Roland!) I think I feel much better tonight... :-)

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  7. What a lovely, poetic post. Even when I'm in a whiny mood, I know that I'm enormously lucky compared to most of humanity, and that I underestimate how much my family and friends care for me.

    May your own blessings multiply, Roland my dear.

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  8. D.G.:
    That was an emotionally vulnerable time for you to see your husband in such dire circumstances!

    Vesper:
    Yes, Sam McCord is a poet at heart. :-)

    Sam and I have both missed you here! I'm glad you feel better tonight.

    Yes, you're right: we have an unwise habit of thinking what we have now is what we will always have.

    Helena:
    Thank you for such a nice blessing. It's easy to have our perception tunnel-visioned by our pains so that we miss our good fortunes. :-)

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  9. Sometimes I wish certain things would change in my life, but then other things would change also. Guess I just have to be satisfied with were I am currently.

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  10. Love, laughter (and books) are my foundations. Without them my world would crumble.
    And take care of Roland please. He is perhaps more important to more people than he realises.

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  11. As usual, I completely agree with EC (above). Can't imagine my life without those elements either. Oh, plus a nice glass of wine or two, and a wedge of ripe blue cheese :)

    Love love love that the poem, Roland! Just beautiful :)

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  12. Beautiful, beautiful post!

    Hugs and chocolate!

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  13. Hello, Roland
    I was delighted to have you come to my blog. We all need the that encouragement from fellow writers.
    It would be a honor to be able to read a Kindle edition of your story 'The Bear with Two Shadows'. Thank you for the kindness.

    I think I spend more time writing emails to my friends than I do writing books, so something has to change with how I use my time.

    Take care and have a good rest of the week.

    Also, Isa. 54:verses 5 and 6, for women who raise their children without their dad. Brave souls indeed!

    Teresa in California
    http://amagicalwhimsy.blogspot.com/

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  14. Hey! Sorry for my typos! I figured I would mess up somewhere. 'You know you should slow down' Jethro Tull came to my mind for myself!
    Ha!

    http://amagicalwhimsy.blogspot.com/

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  15. post script --

    AT&T went belly up yesterday all day. I couldn't reply like I wanted. Rats!!

    Did I write more on my THE STARS BLEED AT MIDNIGHT?

    I did the 4 pages I had initially planned, edited them more than usual --

    AND THEN I SLEPT most of the day!

    Gypsy, my ghost cat, approved.

    Donna:
    To the treasures we now have I guess is one way to live a more serene life. But often it is hard, right?

    Elephant's Child:
    Samuel McCord here, I try to take care of Roland, but he is one stubborn fella.

    My Stetson's off to you, ma'am for caring about him. Much laughter to you always. And may your burdens always be something you can carry with energy to spare.

    Wendy:
    That poem of McCord's occurs in THE STARS BLEED AT MIDNIGHT though I have not reached that portion in my writing of it yet.

    Thanks for caring and writing me as you do. :-)

    Shelly:
    You made my morning with your words. Thanks.

    Teresa:
    I have volumes of the letters of Hemingway, Faulkner, Twain, and Chandler -- all of them moaned that they spent more time writing letters than writing books -- so you are in great company!

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  16. Oh, Teresa:
    I need your email address before I can send you THE BEAR WITH TWO SHADOWS. Hibbs is anxious to meet you! :-)

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