The Company You Keep
I generally start my day with a moment of reflecting on the positives. My mantra is a mix of what I have and what I want. A bit of Gratitude + 'The Secret' + Karma. The internal conversation goes something like ; "I'm thankful for waking up in a warm bed, this beautiful mining outside my window, my health, my children's health and happiness, meaningful work that I enjoy, living in a place like Tasmania, the love of a kind and honest man, friends who care for me, more than enough money for all my needs, the opportunity to travel, and so on.... Sometimes I get distracted after two or three
The examples on my list of blessings vary day to day, some are how I feel, some are wishful thinking, some are covering all bases - that's what I mean by Gratitude + Karma + 'The Secret' I'll leave you to work out which is which.
After this moment of 'wake up and think about the positives' I invariably check social media. I lhave developed a somewhat vicarious interest in seeing what my friends (friends, acquaintances, random people, total strangers...) have been doing or thinking about while I slept, I catch up on any breaking news stories and read social comment on topics of local and global frustration. I share, retweet, like, briefly comment, and I read e-cards.
E-cards are my virtual equivalent to those little cards in boxes - pick one for the day - or open the book at any page and there's your daily message, or post-it notes on the mirror.
When you post an e-card I read it.
There are e-cards for everything and every type of person, situation, and event, the virtual world equivalent of Hallmark Cards . There are long e-cards for missing someone, losing someone, liking someone, hating someone. E-cards that are funny, sad, political, racist, sexist, religious, and if you are a dog or cat lover the possibilities are infinite.
So what do I do with this daily wisdom? I save the images to re-use repost share again when the moment seems right - when the e-card reflects how I feel or a thought that I have or when the words sow a seed for a blog post.
"In life it's not where you go but who you travel with".
i use the travel analogy in my "About Me" introduction on my web page. I think often about the company I keep who I keep close who I walk away from who comes and goes. There are a number of pertinent e-cards, sayings about friendships and relationships along the lines of people for all seasons.
Some people weather the storms with us some people create the storms and we get caught up in the maelstrom. Some people are our safe harbour. Who we choose to travel with can be the difference between a positive experience and a chaotic and challenging one. All travel though, teaches us about ourselves.
Confused by my travel and weather analogies and metaphors?
In life the people we choose to surround ourselves with - the relationships we engage in - all are a reflection of us. There is some truth in the old adage my mother used to remind me of "people judge you by the company you keep". We are though, our own greatest critic. We can sometimes judge ourselves by using our relationships as a mirror reflecting our image or our perceived value back to us.
Think about your friends, your relationship, your social dynamics and ask yourself "why do I like this person?" " why do I choose to be in their company?" " what do I see of myself reflected in them?" "What do I learn about myself from this relationship?"
One of the challenges people often talk with me about is how to let go of friendships and relationships.
Many of us have experienced toxic friendships as well as negative relationships. Young people today are particularly vulnerable to toxic friendships through use of social media. "Just 'unfriend them'" parents say. "Ignore them". Well how many adults struggle to do this! Recently I was asked again "but what happens if I 'unfriend' the person, will they know?" Intelligent professional woman worried about the consequences of not being 'friends' on Facebook with a person she was not actually friends (in the true sense of the word) with anyway.
The use of Social Media and how we represent ourselves in the virtual - which has become the real -world is a subject for further conversation another time. In the meantime think about the company you keep and who you choose to surround yourself with on a daily basis.
You might not be able to change some things in your life but you can change the company you keep - the people you choose to travel on life's journey with.
KarenPS~
