Train Time: No. 5

Today, it’s the 5:40 bound for Homewood.

Sometimes, it’s the simple things that elude us.

My wife introduced me to one of her favorite inspirational speakers: Brene Brown, specifically her discussions on Joy.

What I like about speakers like this is that what is spoken about is seldom anything so difficult that you must research and study to understand what’s being said. This is especially true when have the bad habit or thought process being discussed.

The basics here are simple:

An individual, who is so rarely used to experiencing true joy in life -as far as that person understands- that when they do feel real joy begin to enter into their life, they sabotage the process somehow so as to either prevent the joy, or suppress it. This could be because they fear that allowing that much joy will certainly cause the eventual fall to come to be that much harder, so why not contain it. This way, the drop back to “reality” will be far less painful.

In some cases, I believe that this process is somewhat mindless and automatic. It is so because of the years of conditioning that has taught the individual that being down, is where one is supposed to be anyway, so why fight it.

To this I say: Ni!… or: Bah!, depending upon your preference.

I would rather expect joy, even plan for it than expect misery.

Look: if you understand what I am saying here, than somehow, for some reason you and I have spent quite a lot of time training ourselves and being trained to think this way. Turning it around and learning to welcome Joy is going to take just as much mind and spirit exercise as building muscles on our arms -with a lot more rewards at the end.

According to Mrs. Brown, having gratitude is one big way to make this happen.

Practice seeing the positive side of things. Be grateful for every little thing rather than taking so much for granted.

If you woke up this morning, than you were blessed with another day: be grateful, and look for the joy in that moment, and then in the whole day to follow.

The challenge here is that this is not going to come easy at first; it’s going to be a challenge. Keep in mind: we are trying to change possibly a lifetime of negative thinking. It’s not just going to happen over night.