Perfect Poise, Perfect Life
Bring your body into balance and revolutionise your life
By Noel Kingsley
Publisher Hodder Mobius
AVAILABLE HERE
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Choose your experience
So what are your plans for the weekend? Are you going skydiving, hill walking, snorkeling in a turquoise bay, painting the living room, clearing out the garage or just relaxing in the unseasonably warm air of our May Bank Holiday? I've got no plans as such other than visiting an exhibition of photography that I meant to get to mid week, a walk in the country on Sunday and a haircut. Exciting uh?
For me, I try and take pleasure in whatever I'm doing, and difficult as it may seem to find any pleasure whatsoever in clearing a pile of papers, (which I've successfully consigned either to the appropriate file or the bin this morning), there is reward, contentment and satisfaction to be found depending on our attitude. Mine is, if you're going to do a job, then you may as well smile and find some aspect of satisfaction about it as it's simply the choice of mind that governs it. It's all about how you think.
So whether it's skydiving or drain clearing, hill walking or scrubbing the back step, shining the chrome on your vintage Porsche or buffing up the scuffs on your worn out shoes, it really doesn't matter, as life is all about 'doing' and 'experiencing' and whether it's doing one thing or doing another, we just may as well smile.
But you might say that there is a great deal more to smile about if you're sailing in the Riviera than if you're scrubbing the 'surf' marks off your bath, but this is not always the case. If you go to any beach on the sun-drenched coast of the Mediterranean or any other beach in the world, you'll find some people smiling....because that's what they do, and you'll find other people arguing, shouting, crying and just being bored,.....because that's what they 'do'.
I remember as a late teenager, I wanted to go to the USA to start a new life. I was glum at home during one of those teenage phases. It was one very insightful and wise older person, namely my Dad who said, if you're glum here, you are just going to take your glumness with you, wherever you go. There is no escape being 'you' as you take 'you' wherever you go. Hm, I thought. Reluctantly I saw the point of view. So I thought, if I'm going to be glum, I may as well do it at home where I've got my parents to do some cooking for me and I don't need to worry about a roof over my head for a wee while longer. I got wise.
If you're going to be glum, there's one or two things you just must not do and those are, stand up straight, look into the distance, take a deep breath and make yourself smile. Because if you do that, you're certainly going to lose your glumness pretty quick and get happy.
How you hold yourself and how you think have a huge impact on how you feel. If you get a lot of joy out of being depressed, then continue in that vein, but if you'd rather be happy, it really doesn't matter what you're doing as it's your approach to life that makes the difference. I get a lot of joy out of polishing my shoes...they look great. I like to clear the pile of papers on the side of my desk into the bin.....my desk is tidy and I don't need to read them any more. I like clearing the drain......it's a job satisfactorily done and the place won't smell with overflowing water. I like cleaning the bath...it shines when it's done. Put it simply....I like. And it doesn't matter what we do....we can choose 'to like' or not. And for me, I'd rather be happy in my existence here on earth rather than not, as it's not only me that experiences my own existence but also everyone else I come in contact with, I'd hate it if I contaminated people with some sort of negativity and bad feeling. No, what we all want is to feel good.
So whatever you're doing this weekend, be it traditionally exciting and fulfilling such as playing your favourite sport, or doing a long overdue chore......smile. Turn the chore into a pleasure. And guess what.....you're likely to feel happy about it. As the Buddha said, "There is no road to happiness. Happiness is the way to go."
Have a great weekend whatever you're doing. :-)
