Hey! How are you? Good, how are you?

Everyone has said this to someone. "Hey, how are you? Good, how are you? When was the last time you meant what you said? This is a case of "automatic responder".  "Bill - Hey Joe! Joe - Good how are you?" 

What the hell? It's like we aren't even listening anymore. It's become so business and go go go go go go happy we don't stop and think what we just said. By the way, that conversation happens to me at least twice a week. I have completely stopped asking others how they are. I just say "Hi". And if they say hey Erik how are you? I just say "Good thanks". 

This isn't because I'm trying to be a smart ass, (maybe) but it almost doesn't seem to matter. No one even notices if I don't ask them how they are doing. So here is a test you can try.

TEST: Next time someone asks you, Hey Billy how are you? You stop them and say something completely unexpected. "Well, things aren't going so well. I seem to have contracted some sort of rash. It itches a lot and now its starting to puss. Do you have any good recommendations on some medication I could pick up?

Although this would probably get them to walk away.  They may just stop and think for a bit. Also, it's hilarious!

"One should count each day a separate life."

-seneca

Self-Created Suffering

"I think to a large extent, whether you suffer depends on how you respond to a given situation. For example, say that you find out that someone is speaking badly of you behind your back. If you react to this knowledge that someone is speaking badly of you, this negativity, with a feeling of hurt or anger, then you yourself destroy your own peace of mind. Your pain is your own reacting in a negative way, let the slander pass by your as if it was a silent wind passing behind your ears, you protect yourself from that feeling of hurt, that feeling of agony. So, although you may not always be able to avoid difficult situations,  you can modify the extent to which you suffer by how your choose to respond to the situation." 

This was a passage in the book about the Dalai Lama. It was about how we create suffering ourselves. The book is called The Art of Happiness. 

So far so good!

Don't be afraid to do what you want!

This can be taken in many different ways. For instance, I was just talking to one of my good friends today that I haven't spoken to in a few months (long overdue). 

It got me thinking that although I'm fairly young; Life goes by quickly.

I tend to think about others before myself. Which I'm told is good but the problem is sometimes it gets in the way of what I want to do and how I think. I don't always decide for myself, I decide what to do based on what others want.  

The past month I've been trying to teach myself to say "NO" more often. Not to be mean but to decide what "I" want to do instead of just saying yes because I feel bad. 

So far so good! But definitely hard to get used to.  

Practice makes perfect

I recently got to follow a photographer and learn on location. 

It was great! Very informative and it was the way I enjoy learning... through doing. 

Adam Queen is a great photographer who lives in the Columbus area.

Check out his site!

http://www.adamqueenimages.com/

http://adamqueenimages.blogspot.com/

Slow Dance

This poem is wonderful. I have this posted at home and at work. I try to read it a few times a week. I won't explain to much. You can take it however you would like. It really puts things in perspective. 

Enjoy

SLOW DANCE

Have you ever watched kids 
On a merry-go-round? 
Or listened to the rain 
Slapping on the ground? 
Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight? 
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night? 
You'd better slow down. 
Don't dance so fast. 
Time is short. 
The music won't last.

Do you run through each day 
On the fly? 
When you ask "How are you?" 
Do you hear the reply? 
When the day is done 
Do you lie in your bed 
With the next hundred chores 
Running through your head? 
You'd better slow down 
Don't dance so fast. 
Time is short. 
The music won't last.

Ever told your child, 
We'll do it tomorrow? 
And in your haste, 
Not see his sorrow? 
Ever lost touch, 
Let a good friendship die 
Cause you never had time 
To call and say "Hi"? 
You'd better slow down. 
Don't dance so fast. 
Time is short. 
The music won't last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere 
You miss half the fun of getting there. 
When you worry and hurry through your day, 
It is like an unopened gift.... 
Thrown away. 
Life is not a race. 
Do take it slower 
Hear the music 
Before the song is over.

Tell a stranger he or she is beautiful

A couple months ago I bought a book called Astonish Yourself! It's great. The concept is to go through different experiments of everyday life. 

One of them is called "Tell a stranger he or she is beautiful".  The point is that not only do you feel a sense of change and discomfort but you may have just made that strangers day??

What do you have to lose? As to what happen after you have done this we will never know unless you try. 

"You will find out for yourself. But if the response is in most cases a shrug of the shoulders, this at least testifies to a deplorable decay in social fabric."

Have fun!