Return on Life: The Groundhog Day Lesson

I'm not referring to February 2, celebrated as Groundhog Day each year, but to the 1993 movie starring Bill Murray and Andie McDowell. I had seen it when it first came out, but hadn't actually watched it since. My husband and I happened across it this weekend. All I had really remembered (and frankly, ever heard reference to) was that the movie was about Bill Murray getting stuck living Groundhog Day over and over again in an endless loop. I thought of it as a mindless Bill Murray comedy.

As we watched again this weekend, I realized that I had missed the entire message (or at least not retained it). If you haven't seen this movie for awhile, watch it again. What you'll learn is that the reason Bill was stuck on that same day is that he hadn't learned to care or think about others. Once he did--truly, not just by pretending--he was able to move forward with his life. It was all about how he saw things and what he focused on. The movie illustrates one of the five basic attitudes necessary for increasing your Return on Life--have an attitude of love.

Are you feeling stuck in your life--as if it's the same day over and over again? Watch Groundhog Day, and adopt an attitude of looking at what's right in the world, and how you can make the lives of others better. Just as in the movie, it will propel you to a brighter, sunnier future. It will increase your Return on Life!

Return on Life: Now we have proof of what makes us happier!

A recent Associated Press (AP) article provides proof that doing something for others (including spending money on them) makes us happier than doing the same for ourselves. Researchers at University of British Columbia and Harvard University wanted to build on previous studies (which showed that having more money can increase happiness) by conducting a study looking at whether the way people spent their money made any difference. They found that doing something for others made people happy, which may not surprise you. What could be surprising was the fact that the level of happiness was significantly higher when the individuals in the study did something for others--whether it involved money or time. This effect was noticeable even when small amounts of money or effort were involved.

So, if you want to get more out of life, do something for someone else today, even if you only have resources to begin with something small!

Return on Life: Another way to make it through the cold and snowy winter

This is the time of year that many living in areas that experience winter begin to get weary. Bundling up to stay warm, scraping ice and snow off the car, being extra careful not to fall or have a wreck, etc., etc. It can really wear you out! That is, if you focus on it and think about it.
Now, after reading that last sentence, you may be thinking "well, it's there, right ouside my window. How can I not think about it." The way you do that is that when an ugly thought about the cold, snow, wet, and discomfort comes into your mind, just realize that it's there, and then consciously think about something else. It's really just that simple. You're really just redirecting your attention to something that you feel better thinking about. It takes practice, but it's simple to do. And, as you practice, it gets easier.
I know this because although I've never really had this issue with winter, I've had it with other situations I couldn't change. Once you realize that it's your choice what you think about, the next realization is that you can choose a thought different than your current thought.
That next thought might not be "I love winter" (I don't think it's really helpful to try to fool yourself), but it could simply be "I'm going to read a good book" or "I love my family, they're wonderful". Just think about anything other than the fact that you hate winter. By the way, it also works with other situations you can't change and don't like! You'll be surprised at how much more content you'll be with life over time by practicing at redirecting your thoughts.

Don't be the one to turn lemonade into lemons!

With all the rain we've been having the past few days, I'm reminded of an incident that serves as a perfect example of how we all get caught up in the negative side of things--even unimportant little "happenings".

Any time I park in a parking lot, I leave a few empty spots so that I am a few steps farther from the door. You see, I LOVE ice cream and chocolate but I DON'T love having to buy larger clothes, so this is one of the ways I can offset my intake. I parked that way at our office building one day last fall. As I got out and walked the 40 feet to the door, a gentleman who works in another office of our building was entering at the same time. He said, "You couldn't have parked much farther from the door, could you?" So I responded, "Well, I love ice cream and this way I can eat more". I thought I'd get a laugh from that.

But no. He couldn't give up that easily! His response was, "Well, you'll probably be sorry later when it rains!". I couldn't believe it. As far as I know, I don't melt when I get wet, so I was still happy with my decision. But I didn't say anthing else, because I really didn't want to know how far he would go to cast a negative light on my fitness trick. I din't want his negative attitude to impace my positive one.

Over the next few days, listen to yourself. See if you catch yourself trying to turn others' lemonade back into lemons. If you are, go back to the lemonade--and don't let anyone replace YOUR positive thoughts with negative ones either!

So, how DO you increase your return on life?

Over the past 18 years, I spent a lot of time working on figuring out how to get rid of the "is that all there is" feeling. You may be struggling with that thought right now. It basically comes down to the Three A's: Attitude, Actions, and Alignment.
We'll talk about each of these going forward, but the thought that I wanted to share today is a basic fact that will help you begin to immediately increase your return on life: Your attitude comes from your thoughts. You control your thoughts. Therefore, you control your attitude.
It takes practice, to be able to stop a thought that is not productive for you, but you can learn to do it. As you practice, you'll find that changing your thoughts changes your attitude, which changes your mood, which changes your entire temperament--for the better!
Over the next few posts, we'll talk more about how this works specifically. I welcome YOUR thoughts as you think over mine!