Below, at the close of this post, you will find one of today's gifts from the Zaadz Quotes service. It's a great reminder for me today! This is a time of year when I have a hard time staying upbeat; Christmas "cheer" (of every variety) seems to have a paradoxical effect on me, and I know I am not alone in that (see the Christmas kitteh photo below, in yesterday's post!).
Yet I do strongly believe that we humans have some control over our responses and attitudes to, and in the midst of, difficult emotional situations... We know that different people respond different ways to all kinds of inner and outer events, from full-blow catastrophes, to problems at work, to an aversion to Jingle Bells and Christmas decorations. We pity (or even dislike) those who respond by feeling sorry for themselves, don't we? And we admire those who respond by bringing a maximum of positive spin and energy to every situation. Sometimes I fall into the feeling-sorry-for-myself category... but what I really want is to embody the always-positive category.
My hero and role model is Teresa Loch, the Psychology Department Office Manager at Avila University. She works two jobs that don't pay very much, she supports her two kids, she has difficult stuff happen in her life all the time, but she is ALWAYS POSITIVE. I have never seen her when she was not totally there for others, for anyone who needed her help, or for anyone who needed a smile or a kind word. Sometimes we call her "Teresa of Avila," after our patron saint, and for good reason... she displays the spiritual strength of a genuine saint. I want to be like Teresa!
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"Are you polluting the world or cleaning up the mess? You are responsible for your inner space; nobody else is, just as you are responsible for the planet. As within, so without: If humans clear inner pollution, then they will also cease to create outer pollution."
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