Painting by Belynda Wilson Thomas
Find a group of people who challenge and inspire you, spend a lot of time with them, and it will change your life forever. Amy Poehler
Today is Blue Monday, the third Monday after New Year’s. We might be looking in the mirror and we still don’t look like we want to look. What if we never look like the fantasy we have in our minds? What if we need to learn to love ourselves, warts and all? That doesn’t mean we can’t improve, but the closer we hold the magnifying glass to ourselves the more imperfections we will see. Do we need to stand further from the mirror and magnifying glass? What if we are healthy and attractive for our age and stage in life, we can do what we want, we can be a blessing to our family, and we can live a good, long, and healthy life?
What if we work as hard as we can, we get some success, but it is never the fame and fortune we dreamed of? We can retire comfortably, live wherever we want, take vacations with our family, and see the sights of the world. We don’t have to be rich to do these things, we may have to manage our money well which is of course what we should have done all of our lives, and how some people have become rich.
Most of us live pretty rich lives if we think about it. We can afford to buy some of the finest mattresses so we too can sleep like millionaires and even billionaires. We can afford transportation that takes us where we want to go, perhaps our transportation is not as lavish, but it gets us there. If we stand on the same beach or mountain top, in the end, does it matter if one trip was first class and the other economy? Sometimes more fun is had at the family/economy resort than at the more expensive resort.
Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant. Robert Louis Stevenson
Does fun come with a price tag? We can put one on it and say – that’s not for us. Being part of a group is fun but we often think I can’t join a group, it’s only for serious… We should join groups because we meet like-minded people who also struggle to call themselves… When we have hobbies, interests, or aspirations we can feel alone in our pursuit of them. Being part of a group helps us to realize everyone struggles, it is part of growth, but we are no longer alone in our struggle.
I gave a test speech for a Toastmaster’s contest yesterday, which means the contestants had to evaluate a speech and I gave the speech they evaluated. My daughter said, “On a Sunday, I would have said no.” On Saturday I went to my writer’s group, and my family said, “Why is it always on Saturday, I wouldn’t go.”
If everything we want to do needs to be convenient we will never do it. Life isn’t about convenience, it’s about getting involved, being a part of something greater than ourselves, being encouraged, and encouraging others.
If today is Blue Monday for any of us, maybe we need to look at our life, see what’s missing, and see how we could add something to our life. Joining a group or volunteering with like-minded people might be an excellent place to start. An animal shelter might need a dog walker, food banks might need volunteers, or other organizations might be looking for members or volunteers. Sometimes when we want something we need to find a way to give. Give a compliment to someone, encourage someone, or call someone we haven’t spoken to in a while. If we reach out and touch someone, and make a difference to someone, we might find we make a difference to ourselves.
Individual commitment to a group effort – that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work. Vince Lombardy
Working together, tiny stars light the universe. That’s the power of teamwork. Unknown
Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and you will help them become what they are capable of becoming. Goethe
Thank you for reading this post. I hope you enjoyed it. I hope you will come back and read some more. Have a blessed day filled with gratitude, joy, and love.
