[Originally posted November 25th 2009]
Well here we are entering the holiday season. It seems like it was just a few days ago that I was making a list of things to accomplish in the coming new year…this year.
We can rub elbows with the great conversations happening in every third grade class around the country about the Mayflower and this land’s native peoples. We can send positive energy to the gabillions (or should that be gobble-ions) of innocent turkeys that are being invited to dinner but may not like the menu offerings. I like to look at this time to reflect on what has happened in the recent history of my life and give respectful thanks that I am still truckin’.
Lets face it, the world around us is filled with too many horrors to mention and too many joys to ever reasonably catalog. I imagine things, as the universe goes, as a perfectly objective observer. Balanced in the paramount exercise of yin and yang. Good and bad. Vanilla and its antithesis, Double Chocolate with Chocolate Chunks.
So, walk with me a minute here. I had just responded to a forum post on VoiceoverUniverse, and it got me ‘a thinkin’. With that analogy, it bodes well for our insignificant lil’ human lives. We can comfortably assume that the forces of fate, karmic or divine intervention are not conspiring against us with a shrewd master plan of unfathomable consequence. Nope, you just happened to be in just the right spot at just the right time to enable that bird to just happen to poop on your head. Poop happens, right?
It does…and sometimes it don’t.
So, if there is this relative balance of good and ill in our lives, we can in effect get the option to effectively choose which of the two we grant permission to occupy the most mental real estate. If the idea of the universe being a casual, objective observer to the comedy of our lives has any merit, then we are given license to shape our own life. free from mystical mishmash or swami salami. Now, I believe in free spiritual thought and don’t want to step on anyone’s toes or beliefs so before you get your halo in a bunch just hear me out. We be hypothetical-izin’ here.
So, we can choose what we focus on in our lives and what we give credence to. This is a great time to reflect on this year’s journey so far and elevate our successes, no matter how small.
Perhaps you just had an audition and you did your absolute best. It doesn’t matter if you booked the job, you went out there and did your best. Elevate that aspect of the event. Maybe you performed at a gig and noticed that seomebody in the audience was mc’groovin’ to the music. Even if they were the only person there in the club, you touched them…and spoke to them. A victory. Maybe you just heard a favorite tune on the radio. Or are reading a really great book. Or you son or daughter just laughed at a terrible joke you told. Win.
Simple examples, I know. It doesn’t matter how large or small, but if we take the time to review and amplify our positivity and our successes we can only benefit. It is more time focusing on positive events, which breeds positive energy. By course of action it is less time focusing or dwelling on negative events, which is typically counterproductive. Celebrate successes wherever they hide. It is true that there are some who can find more to celebrate and certainly those who can find less. There is no comparative competition with anyone but yourself.
So this week and as we move into the new year, take a moment every so often to reflect on what you have experienced that has brought you joy, accomplished a positive act (professional or personal) or simply made you or someone else smile and resonate emotionally. We all benefit.
Now, maybe its just all that turkey talking. I know, its not Thanksgiving yet (or as I call it, “that-spot-on-the-couch-is-mine-after-dinner-day”), but today I had lunch at Boston Market for a test run and did pretty well for myself
[pats belly]
Remember, a warm up is always good before any strenuous activity…om nom nom.
-Crisden
www.seancrisden.com