Bewildered? Switch Gears!

Years ago, I watched an interview with Maya Angelou, one of my all-time favorite people – stunningly beautiful, immensely talented, unbelievably courageous, simply amazing woman, fighter, poetess, and larger-than-life personality. Maya Angelou was known as a gracious hostess who would welcome hordes of people to her house. She was asked whether she had, at any time, encountered an unpleasant guest, or someone she disliked, and how she dealt with such a person. She said (I can’t quote verbatim, but this is the gist of it), –“I can’t abide negativity in people. If I meet a negative person, I feel as if hair is being pulled from my head. I try not to come too close to them and walk away quickly, even if they are guests in my house.”

Maya Angelou’s sage advice is to realize that life throws things to us which we cannot control. As Zelig Pliskin once said, “Facts just are.” It is our choice not to be affected by those events in a negative way.

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If you are confused and bewildered – we all are sometimes, you are not alone! – Zelig Pliskin suggests this easy exercise:

“Now in your inner mind, tell yourself, ‘Every time I begin to worry, I will immediately think of something to be grateful for.’ Repeat this enough times until you feel that your inner mind will automatically go into gratitude mode as soon as it’s aware that it’s in worry mode.”

Bewildered? Switch gears, Beautiful People! Do your homework: recall and relive a joyful experience when you felt calm and relaxed. Are you grateful to have had this experience?

The next Lasting Joy club meeting is on Tuesday, February 27th, and we are working on offering remote access to all of you who want to join in. More details will be provided soon.

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Choose to be happy today!

Today’s word prompt is BEWILDERED  https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/bewildered/

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koolkosherkitchen

I am a semi-retired educator. I love to cook and I love to write. I am trying to combine these two for no other purpose but to share some of my old favorite recipes, as well as some new inventions, and to exchange food ideas and opinions. Kosher food is just like any other food - fun to create and fun to experiment with, especially if you get kids involved! My book is found on amazon.com/author/koolkosherkitchen.

8 thoughts on “Bewildered? Switch Gears!”

    1. Dear Chris, take it from someone who has “been there, done that” with dad, may he rest in peace, and not from a distance, but physically and literally, 24/7, you need all the emotional strength you can master. And emotional strength is like any other strength, it needs exercising. You build your muscles strength by exercising, and you do the same with emotional strength. My prayers are with you and your mom! 😻

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      1. Thank you, Dolly, for your kind support. It is draining and I had got to the point where I dreaded the phone ringing, so I knew I had to take some time out. I let my husband deal with the calls for a week and things have settled down a bit.

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      2. I know all about “dreading the phone ringing” 24/7, dear Chris! Time out is a great idea, and you are blessed by having a supportive husband who is able to take on answering phone calls. My heart and my blessings go out to you, dear friend!

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