Live Happily Ever After—Day to Day

By Frosty Wooldridge
Snow White discovered her prince, embraced him and kissed him. Prince Charming swept her off her feet and carried the young maiden to the castle to live happily ever after. John Wayne, Clint Eastwood and Steve McQueen captured the desperadoes before riding into the sunset with Marilyn Monroe, Rachel Welch and Sharon Stone.

Russell Crowe, Pierce Brosnan, Bradley Cooper, Ben Affleck and George Clooney swept Angelina Jolie, Beyoncé, Jennifer Lawrence and Scarlet Johannson off their feet to “live happily ever after….”

Whether you follow fairy tales of old or live in this fast-paced, hectic world of the 21st century—you may choose tools to live happily ever after. One note must be added: day-to-day.

While our heroes ride off with their heroines on horses or BMW’s, you must wake up in the morning to deal with that person of the opposite sex. You must deal with his or her foibles. You must skip out the door to work, which in itself may cause you stress, fatigue and irritating people. You must pay a mortgage, credit card bills and parking tickets.

Stress may be the greatest cause of countless diseases afflicting millions of Americans. Heart attacks, anxiety, suicides, obesity and other afflictions find their origins in some kind of stressful situation manifesting in countless numbers of people.

Several items cause stress:
• You fill up your life with too many things.
• Congestion of commitments. No balance in your life.
• Internal expectations to be perfect.
• Latent fears and insecurity revolving around your mind.
• You feel like a victim.
• Bosses pushing you beyond your limits.
In the end, pills of every color, shape and size fail to alleviate stress. Alcohol exacerbates your stress because it temporarily masks it, only to watch it erupt in other areas. Overeating only compounds your emotional turmoil as you grow your girth.
Body, Mind and Spirit
Life evolves with a dance of your body, mind and spirit. By keeping them in balance, you move smoothly through your world. Engage all three daily for optimum results.
First of all, stop hanging on to a stressful condition, situation or memory. Decide to move your mind to other thoughts. Turn frustration into fascination. If you fall, fall forward. Keep your mental, emotional and spiritual gears moving onward.
Second, choose quiet places to soothe your spirit toward your highest and best. A daily swim may be your Zen. A walk down a quiet path after work may be your needed solitude. A game of checkers with a friend may hit the spot.
Third, awaken your personal power to make choices that lead you to a higher truth. That may mean a different job. It may mean different friends that you engage by going to a www.meetup.com website. It’s your choice to make; so make it.
Fourth, you may like your stressful work; so, change your attitude toward your work. Gandhi said, “Be the change you hope for in the world.”
Fifth, as you “busy” through your day, sit back to take a deep breath. Inhale life and exhale spent energy. Be aware of a quiet time at your desk or outdoor job. Think grateful thoughts that yield abundant energy.
Sixth, you constitute the most important person in your life. Invest in your mental, physical and intellectual well-being by taking care of “you” first. With you own internal balance and self-nurturing, you may enjoy your job, spouse, children and friends. Place as much capital into your “you” account as possible to maintain balance in this high-speed world. Practice your joy of living daily, not somewhere in the future.
One famous psychologist said, “What if you acted as if everything is easy?” Such actions and thought processes lead to healthful living.
Two women neighbors talked across a short fence one day with a garden between them. The elderly woman expected an intellectual conversation. The younger lady watched her six-year-old daughter who continually asked her mother over to, “Look at this angleworm mama…come see this bee mama…look at this spider….”
The older lady said, “Doesn’t that drive you crazy?”
The younger woman replied, “I brought this child into the world, so I might as well let her show it to me.”
Look at stress as an opportunity to grow. You can only live happily-ever-after one day at a time.

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