Smile Though Your Heart Is Aching

If I have learned anything through two severe accidents (one where I broke my neck at 15 causing me to become a quadriplegic, and the other an auto accident that took ten years of hospitalization, surgery and therapy) it is the power of a smile.  There is no situation tyoo bleak or night too dark that they can't be brightened with a little smile.  It's just plain good medicine.

Try it!  The next time things become difficult and your lat natural inclination is smiling-do it anyway.  Force the corners of your mouth up and you will find they aren't the only thing that is elevated.  For reasons you cannot explain that little change will bring about a big change in your heart.  You will begin to see joy in your frustration, and happiness in your gloom.  What's more, others will enjoy your company all the more if you can just find a way to wear a smile, and, lets face it the last thing any of us needs when we are down is to be alone.

It's not groundbreaking, it's not the discovery of our day, but it is pertinent and it does work.  So smile more and worry less, let the clouds part and the sun through, focus on the glad and forget about the sad.  Smile though your heart is aching, When there are clouds in the sky, you'll get by.

YOU'LL FIND THAT LIFE IS STILL WORTHWHILE,

IF YOU JUST SMILE.

-NAT KING COLE

Declare Your Independence From The Weather

With all of the illnesses I see around me I can't help thinking of my Dad's approach to matters of Health. Throughout my life I have seen my father with every conceivable symptom for flus, colds, viruses, etc. And no matter how bad the cough or how sore the throat, he always says he's fine-that he will not allow an illness to dictate the course of his life and that he is "declaring his independence from the weather!"

Every time the illnesses made their rounds, I got to see an example of real-life mind over matter. My Dad refused to let his surroundings dictate the direction of his life. I saw him get lots of symptoms, but I never saw him get sick. He didn't mind so it didn't matter. This wasn't always easy. I saw many days when he would be on the brink of getting ill enough that nature wouldn't allow him to push through, and every time his mind kept his body in check.

The same principle applies as we work to have healthy lives. There are a lot of outside influences that work to direct our lives. Just like my father had to decide whether he was going to give in to the illnesses trying to consume his body, we have to decide if we are going to give in to the illnesses that try to consume our minds, spirits, and lives. The good news is that we can prevail. There is not enough negativity, adversity or frustration in the world to overcome the incredible power of your own human spirit. You do however have to decide. Are you going to be acted upon, or are you going to act. So, let the storms come, for it matters little once you have declared your independence from the weather.

WHAT WE THINK DETERMINES WHAT HAPPENS TO US, SO IF WE WANT TO CHANGE OUR LIVES, WE NEED TO STRETCH OUR MINDS -DR. WAYNE DYER

My Best Day So Far

Every day each of us is asked one question more than any other. Whether at home , at work, or in your community, over and over we hear someone ask, "How's your day?" A great man once taught me that how you choose to answer that question can often dictate how your day goes. While a student at Brigham Young University, I had the opportunity to take a few classes from George Durrant. George is not only an excellent teacher, he is also an accomplished author and while I was his student, he wrote a book called "My Best Day So Far." The main premise of the book and his "Big Idea," was that every time someone asked you how your day was, you would reply, "My Best Day So Far," and that reply could change your day.

It wasn't a ground breaking idea, or one that made all the papers, but what was amazing about the concept was the way the man lived by it. In all the four years I was at BYU every time I saw Professor Durrant on campus I would call out, "How's your day?" to which he always replied, "My Best Day So Far!" The man never missed. Over and over I asked and over and over I received the same response, "My Best Day So Far!"

The idea worked. I know every day I saw him didn't start out as his best day, but hearing his own affirmation made it so. You could see it on his face it always carried a smile, it was always filled with joy. What's more, is it started to rub off on me. His best day's began to bleed into mine making them my best so far, and motivating me to give his positive plug a chance in my life. I must admit that I have not been as diligent as George Durrant in my replies, but when I tell myself and others that my day is my best so far, it becomes so.

Let's then each of us move forward with the motivation to make this day and every day our best one yet, even if they just begin our best in the will of our heart. So, "How's your day?......."

OUR BEST DAY'S ARE BEFORE US, SO LONG AS WE WILL WATCH THEM COME -JASON HALL