I am not afraid to admit that sometimes I take myself too seriously.
And when I do…its not a good thing. Yes, there are a lot of serious things in life. Work, health, the caring for others, doing good. These are serious things…but we don’t have to be so caught up in the seriousness that we lose the joy.
This is what happens to me when I lose perspective. When I forget that I can only control the actions I take, the spirit in which I take them, and the knowledge I acquire in which to affect them. Fortunately, since I come from a long line of serious, and worrisome folks, I recognized many years ago my tendency to over-think and to worry.
This is why I invest time every day in reading and prayer. To clear ME out of the way. To center myself and be thankful. This doesn’t make me mentally bullet-proof, but it keeps me in a good frame of mind most of the time. We can always choose, in any situation what stance we will take. There is no earthly thing or situation which of itself is either good or bad. All things possess both sides.
Here is a great perspective from my reading today:
“And most of all, I will laugh at myself. For man is most comical when he takes himself too seriously. Never will I fall into this trap of the mind. For though I be nature’s greatest miracle am I not still a mere grain tossed about by the winds of time? Do I truly know whence I came or whither I am bound? Will my concern for this day not seem foolish ten years hence? Why should I permit the petty happenings of today disturb me? What can take place before this sun sets which will not seem insignificant in the rivers of the centuries?”-Og Mandino, The Greatest Salesman
Now THAT is a perspective to live by.
