Inspired by all my recent introspection, and Carey’s comment on my last post, and Gretchen Rubin’s Happiness Manifesto, and a creeping sense of global economic doom, I’m performing a bit of personal affirmation today with a list of Ten Things I Believe.
- Normal life is extraordinary.
- We are all capable of magic; it’s important to perform some every day.
- True creativity starts with optimism and a willingness to fail.
- The act of listening is not instinctual; it’s an art.
- Everything that ever happens to you, happens right now. Pay attention.
- Money is no more the root of all evil than religion is.
- Generally speaking, you get what you expect from people.
- Being yourself is the easiest way to fill your life up with people you love.
- This cliche is true: Laughing is the best medicine.
- A beautiful spirit is irresistible.
What do you believe?
Okay – I take this as a challenge. I’ll work on this and get back to you. Hmmm……
j,
Here’s 10 back at you (not necessarily my top ten, but off the cuff thoughts):
c
1. Doing the same thing over and over again will result in the same outcome, no matter how much you want it to come out different (are you listening Republicans?)
2. Knowledge is the mother of invention, curiosity is the father and serendipity is the weird uncle. (I don’t know where that came from!)
3. Blood really is thicker than water.
4. People have, for the most part, good intentions.
5. Don’t sweat the small stuff.
6. I don’t believe in Karma, but I do believe that if you do good things, good things seem to come back your way.
7. The only afterlife is the memory of one’s life left behind after one is gone, good or bad.
8. Recently learned: Receiving graciously and delightfully, is a form of giving. Do both with intensity and sincerity, without expectations.
9. Shit happens. Learn from it and move on.
10. Life is wonderful. Live it. Enjoy it.
poeticgrin, i hope you’ll write them here. i’m really curious what people come up with.
cmw, great list! 5 and 9 are definitely related, but 9 is poetry, baby!
Beautiful. I wish I could clearly define in a list exactly what I believe, but I delve more into the side of how I feel about certain things. The best, and scariest, part of this is that feelings can change easily, and in my case, abruptly. So, for the last day and a half, I’ve been trying to write the list, but I came back to it just now, and feel completely different about the first two on the list.
I’ll get it eventually, I’m sure.
–B.R.
BR, Maybe it’s a good thing. Your questioning your beliefs. The world could use a lot more of people willing to do that!