If you hang with critical people, you will learn to criticize. If you hang with happy people, you will learn about happiness. Choose your company and you choose what you want from life. If you are serious about changing your life, you will have to get serious about changing your surroundings.
The measure of your personal effectiveness is determined by how much you are able to live in the present moment. The key to happiness and contentment is in your focusing on the present – not the past or the future.
Do you know of anybody who has been putting off being happy until sometime in the future? The point here is that NONE of us has a guarantee that we will be here tomorrow. This moment is all you have.
You have the choice, moment by moment, to really live and allow yourself to be touched by life. The easiest way to start enjoying life again is to take action, get involved and participate. Do Something!
B
I have a few positive friends and relatives.
My husband passed away 7 years ago, after a long illness (married 40 yrs.) We were truly in love.
After retiring 2 yrs. ago. I try and do the best I can around the house. I felt very proud of myself hiring people the first year into retirement. That was for the big jobs around the house. One of my good friends is friendly with a couple (I went to high school with all of them). When we get together to socialize and the wife …of the couple…is very critical of what I do in my personal life and of other people. She is just really uptight and full of doom. I find this very negative, but her husband is very friendly and funny…as he was in high school.
I am in good health for 68 years old and do a lot of the work around my house that I can. I know my limits.
The point is, I don’t have many friends…how much should I put up with, as far as negative people go?
Thanks, Mary Francis and I do look forward to your You Tube videos. (And by the way, you look lovely.)
Mary Francis
You are a very positive sounding lady and that’s why it’s hard for you to be around negative people. You ask how much you should “put up with”? You can’t change her so the only thing you can change is your response. Either you enjoy the company of the others in the group and let her be or you don’t hang with the group – only you can decide on this. As a healthy lady I would look to make some more friends so I didn’t feel as if I had to do anything that I didn’t want to do. Step out of your comfort zone and try some new things, that way you will meet some new people. Thanks for the compliments. I’m like everyone else and need that positive energy so thanks for making my day. Mary Francis
B
On the flip side of this, I went to visit a good friend who has been very ill for years. The last time that I visited her was around Christmas. She had been using a walker or a wheel chair to get around and looked very sickly for the last 5 years. Well, pleasant surprise, she looked absolutely calm, healthy and was not using any cane, walker or wheel chair to get around. She had retired and had completely calmed down and took care of herself. That really made my day. We had a lot of laughs.
I am feeling so positive in my own life after this visit.