Gommy was reading up on what some of the smart people of history had to say and came across a quote from Gandhi. He said that we must be the change we want to see in the world. What that means is that when people are rude, grumpy, disagreeable or just downright mean....you must resist the urge to mirror that unpleasant behavior. It is hard to do.......because the human impulse is to react. We don't have the ability to change how someone behaves....but we do have the ability to modify how we react to them. But remember also that no one can hurt your feelings without your permission. Another very potent quote that the author and poet Maya Angelou said and that everyone should remember is: "People will forget what you have said and they will forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel."
There are people who come across our path in life that leave a mark forever on our hearts. Do you ever wonder why that is? Gommy thinks they are put in our path to teach us lessons. If we learn from them......we have done what we were meant to do. If we ignore that tug at our heart or conscience.....we will have to keep having the lessons over and over. Einstein said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome....If the person makes you feel something very strongly and you wish you could be more like them because they are kind or compassionate.....try to take from them that element and try it on for yourself. You can build yourself some mighty good character that way.
Then there is a quote that Gommy doesn't know who to give credit for but really touches home and heart, for me anyway. It is: "Don't cry because it ended. Smile because it happened." That one makes Gommy think of my two children who died. Terry and Tiffany were a magical gift to Gommy and even though the pain of losing them is almost unbearable.....the pain was worth the pleasure and happiness they gave Gommy for the 17 and 22 years they were here with Gommy. You cannot have the extreme happiness someone or something gives you without the opposite pain. It is law. The law of opposites......The yin and yang of life. Yin and Yang is depicted by that circle which has white and black with a white spot in the black swirl and a black spot in the white swirl. The symbol shows the circle as the whole and the black and white as the opposites of how things work. The spots of the opposing colors in the solid colors show that nothing is all black or white. Life is all about opposites....winter to summer....man to woman....happiness to sadness, honor to dishonor, wealth to poverty..... and on and on. But life is not all one or the other or we would no longer exist. If there were only women in the world the species would eventually end. If there were only winter.....we would die off because our food source could not grow any longer....or someone who is honest may at one time in their life have been dishonest i.e. even a little white lie? You see the reasoning in Yin and Yang now?
And believe it or not....Dr. Seuss (yes the author of childrens' books) was pretty deep himself. One of his quotes is: "Be who you are and say what you feel because people that mind don't matter and those that matter don't mind." That is pretty thought provoking. If we have to change the way we are to make other people feel comfortable, then we don't have a real relationship with that person to begin with. Being who you are is important as long as you are comfortable with being who you are....Is that too convoluted??? What Gommy means is you should be the best you can be and as long as you are comfortable with that.... you don't have to concern yourself with how other people see you. Living up to anothers values is too tiresome and can get you into all sorts of problems i.e. living above your means because someone may think you aren't 'all that' if you can't buy this doo-dad or that doo-dad. Then you find yourself worrying about how to pay for the 'doo-dad' that you didn't really want or need in the first place....get it? Just be you and be happy being you and you will be a happier you.....Toodle oooooo ((*.*)) Gommy
