Ruminate or Marinate?

worry-never-robs-tomorrow-of-its-sorrow-it-only-saps-today-of-its-joy.-leo-buscaglia

It is so easy to worry, especially today.

Uncertainty promotes fear which feeds worry.

Worries are imaginary friends (and I call them friends because we do seem to spend a lot of time with them).

When we ruminate in worry, we rob our soul of joy.

Worry and hope/faith are two sides of the same coin, and we can choose which one to focus on.

Neither our hopes/dreams or our worries/fears have happened, so they both don’t exist. We just give power to them by virtue of our thoughts and emotions.

So we can choose.

We can stop ruminating in worry, and instead marinate in dreams and positive visions for the future.

It really is that simple.

But simple ain’t EASY.

We need to put in some work, to train our minds to focus on hope rather than fear, it doesn’t come naturally.

Get busy working/marinating today, create that habit of doing so and it will become easier.

And the future will taste all the more delicious for us doing so.

Happy Thursday!

-Dr. Lindeman

Peace

This past weekend , my family and I had a wonderful trip to Folly Beach, South Carolina.

We breathed the ocean air in deep and enjoyed connection with each other.

In the meantime, mayhem was erupting (with cause).

I know I am privileged. I know my family is too. I do work hard, and we try to teach our children about viewing the world through others’ lenses as well. And I cannot imagine the amount of pain, and fear that a large portion of our population are feeling (and have been feeling for decades).

I am also afraid of the extremism that exists today. White, black, left, right, anti-(fill in the blank), pro-(fill in the blank), stay home bc of covid, re-open, etc. The divisions are real and very polarizing.

I believe the answers lie in empathy. We can have our own viewpoints but we should try to understand others as well. We can “stand our ground” but we also must try to see the other territory. If we can promote love, compassion and try for some understanding, the world will be more peaceful.

So try to do that a bit today. Have some conversations with others who don’t feel the way you do. Try to see their side. I can almost guarantee, they will have some valid points, just as much as I can guarantee you will as well.

Spread some love today. Promote peace.

Happy Tuesday

-Dr Lindeman

Your view/your future

This is an excerpt from the book: “Stumbling on Happiness” by Daniel Gilbert.

Good book so far.

The point I want to make form the Shakespeare quote is that we need to create our own happiness.

We can “borrow” goals and visions from others, but ultimately, we need to steer our own ship.

Just because you see some successes make others happy, they may not make you feel the same.

Find what lights you up, and work toward doing more of that :-).

-Happy Monday!

Dr Lindeman

Multiple choices

In any given situation, we always have choices.

In situations of adversity or success, we will always have options, and depending on how we choose, the results can easily flip the situation on its head (adversity—>success, success—>adversity).

Situations never define us, it’s how we react to them that creates who we are, and sets the stage for our future.

We can achieve a victory and then stop practicing. We can obtain the amazing job, and therefore become complacent in learning. We can lose 20 lbs and then decide we can stop exercising.

All of these successful situations are wonderful, but the decisions after the achievement can create a more negative future.

Likewise, we can lose the race, and decide to train harder. We can fail an exam and decide to study more. We can find ourselves in quarantine, and decide to create paths to a better future with our time.

Even when things ‘royally suck’, it’s truly how we react to them that matters most.

We are NEVER victims of our circumstance. We are only truly victims of how we react to them.

You always have options…Choose wisely my friends!

Happy Wednesday!

-Dr Lindeman

Drive your own car, Captain!

When you are driving down the highway, do you pull up next to the person driving in the next lane and try to figure out how they are driving?

Where are their hands positioned?

Are their windows down?

What temperature do they keep their air conditioning at?

What sort of music are they listening to?

Of course not!

You need to worry about how you drove your own vehicle.

The point is, no one can drive/walk/live your life except you! So why do we compare ourselves to others?

We should definitely learn from other’s mistakes and successes, sure, but ultimately we need to be at the helm of our own lives.

Get driving, because only YOU can take YOU to where YOU want to go!

Happy driving (might I suggest jamming to this song by The Surfaces? Just a suggestion, feel free to skip it, Captain 👨‍✈️)

Have a glorious Wednesday!

-Dr Lindeman

Your smile changes the world

Especially fitting during these times.

Your smile can change the world! It can light up someone’s day, it can push away the dark.

Just make sure you are using that gift and not letting it go dormant.

Complacency kills.

We need to arm ourselves with more positivity and more light in order to push back the dark.

So 😀😁😆😂🤣🙂😍 all you can today 🙂

The path to excellence?

“There is no golden road to excellence; excellence is the golden road. Until you start down this road you will never get there.”-Jim Afremow “A Champions’s mind”.

It’s the manner in which you try to achieve your potential that defines you as a champion, not medals, titles or accolades.