Choices

This is Your Brain On Joy book by Dr. Earl Henslin

I want to say that my husband’s action changed everything, but that’s kind of a blame thing.

            Honestly – every day that we wake up is different from the one before, isn’t it? We live in a state of change all the time. Every breath we take is different from the one before. Some things we have no control over. There is one thing we all do have. Choices.

            Joy is not something that comes and goes. It is something we choose.  How we respond to anything is our choice.

            I’m not saying that tragic things that happen should evoke joy. But what if we choose to look at the situation in a different way? These situations that we think encumber us can be opportunities to travel uncommon paths…to reach out… to find our true original joyous, happy and free selves.

            “We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts we make the world.” Buddha.

              “If we start out thinking suicide is always wrong and should always be prevented, there must've been something someone (a loved one) could/should have done to prevent it, i.e. "helpful interventions." That way of thinking fails to consider that the person considering suicide may be of sound mind and making the decision for reasons other than escape… and fails to consider concepts like self-determination.” Dr. Michael Carleson  

            I love what David said on Well Happy Peaceful.com. “Being mindful of each bite that we take of this life, may you savor each one with complete understanding and acceptance.”

            I urge anyone who suffers to search within. I am curious. I want to know how to be a friend to me. That surely starts with the way I think. When I can’t figure something out, or if I’m stuck in my thinking, I reach out. There is no “I” in team.

            Over the years I’ve taken many paths to dispel negative thinking: doctors, psychologists, psychiatrists, psychics, witches, ministers, churches. (By the way –change consultants whenever you’ve outgrown one, or if the sessions aren’t working for you. This is about you. Not them.)

            In July of 2019, I started visiting Rev. Trevor Wry MDiv, founder of Inflow Health Systems.

            “Tall and lean as a towering pine, Trevor leads me into a room where a padded table takes up most of the small, close space. Soothing fragrance of tea tree oil lingers in the air. More like a blanket, the lighting is warm and softly comforting. With shoulders slumped from weight that I can barely carry, I sit in a chair and clasp my sweaty hands together. My heart pounds.”

 – excerpt from Beyond The Dark

            At that first visit, I asked Trevor how to build barriers against negativity. By the second session, I wanted to know how to tear down walls. That’s what I’ve been doing ever since. Barriers build resistance.

            “What you resist persists.” – Conversations With God – Neale Donald Walsch

            It gets easier. I promise. My loved one made a choice. I respect that. I’ve made mine. I choose joy and love.