Thursday, April 23rd, 2009
Have you ever noticed that we have a tendency to gravitate towards the negative news, to what is wrong in the world, to lists of complaints? And when we find ourselves in a world of plenty wrong, we ramp it up even more? There has always been plenty wrong, and as I discovered while writing an essay in high school, we seem to forget past pain and remember the good times. So the past seems not quite as bad as the present, perpetually.
Though we’ve had tough times during the last 40 years, we have forgotten much of it, perhaps out of some protective built-in psychological system. I’m not going to list all those times when things were undesirable, that would not be productive.
Have you heard of the movement called, A Complaint Free World? A minister started it a while back and it has grown to the point that almost 6 million people have asked for the purple bracelets to wear to remind themselves to not complain. And now there is a book of the same name. It isn’t religious, just common sense. Our personal world changes in a big way just by focusing on eliminating this one thing. It isn’t easy. Last year Dawn and I wore those purple bracelets for months, trying to make it for the prescribed 20 days.
The way it works: The first step is to become aware of how much you are actually complaining. When you find yourself complaining you move the bracelet to your other wrist. (Or you could use a rubber band) The second step is to prevent yourself from complaining, and try to do it consecutively for 20 days. After that, you have built a habit that will immeasurably improve your life. For more information click on the book below.
So much of our bad moods, grumblings, and sadness is because we are directing our attention to what we don’t want, instead of what we do want. Focusing on what we do want tends to bring more of what we want—things, events and people—into our lives. That’s because we notice what was there all the time. We didn’t see because we were looking for those things we don’t like, finding what offends us, what we fear.
The markets seem to be settling in and building a base. We had a terrific March. Let’s begin looking for the positive signs and good news that is all around us. The great majority of companies out there are run by good, decent Americans. They get no attention, no press. But just watch them.
We are also developing a new seminar for clients and non-clients. We would love to have your feedback on what topics you would like to learn about.
Some possible: Resetting your portfolio
Prosperity Academy (Comprehensive financial health)
Money Map
Tags: complaining, news
Posted in Blog Posts, Uncategorized
