What Condition Is Your Condition In?

Have you ever had one of those times in life when something all of a sudden keeps popping up that you haven’t heard or thought of in years?

Of course, we all have at one time or another. Sometimes it’s a fond remembrance, while at other times it may be about one of the low lights in your life. Then, there are other times when something resurfaces that begs a question of us.

Such was the case in point this past week. The prerequisite thing that you should know is that I stopped listening to the “oldies” a long time ago for a number of reasons. Mostly because I firmly believe that my best days are still ahead of me… Not somewhere back there in yester-year. No “Old Time” lemonade for this dude.

Last Saturday evening due to a lack of televised boxing and not being quite ready to put my head on the pillow for the night, I found myself channel surfing of all things. I clicked on the movie The Big Lebowski and quickly found myself listening to the back ground lyrics of Kenny Rogers singing “I just checked in to see what condition my condition was in…” I instantly thought to myself, wow… that’s one I haven’t heard for a long time. Then I proceeded to surf on.

I next encountered a listing for a movie entitled “Fast” with Billie Bob Thornton and Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) which I had never watched before. When I clicked on the movie, I suddenly found myself again listening to Kenny Rogers singing “I just checked in to see what condition my condition was in…”

You should also know that I’m not one who is inclined to believe in coincidences, so when I heard Kenny Rogers for the second time it clearly got my attention… and it got me thinking about the state of condition that my life is in. From a general perspective I could say that “life is good” and I know that I have been very blessed. However, the longer that I contemplated what condition my condition was in, the more I became aware of things that needed to change in my life, as well as other things that needed to improve going forward.

At this juncture, my question for you my valued reader is… “What condition is your condition in?” What is the current state of your life? While I know that your life is hectic (and whose isn’t?) and that you probably stay quite busy being busy, when was the last time that you actually took the time to take a long hard look at yourself and at your life?

If you’ve ever been in a twelve step program of any kind or know someone that has, one of the primary steps centers around taking a fierce moral inventory of yourself. While it not a comfortable thing to do, it is the honest thing to do. So, I would ask you to be brutally honest with yourself… about yourself, by honestly answering the following questions:

What is it that you are procrastinating in doing? Why?

What is it that you are avoiding at all cost? Why?

What is the one thing that absolutely has to change in your life?

Why hasn’t it?

What are the consequences if it doesn’t?

Do you simply want to get through life any old which way that you can? Or do you really want to enjoy your life and the journey through life that you are already on?

If you want something more for your life, then you really do need to answer the question “What condition is your condition in”? And then you will also need to ask yourself one more question, which is… What condition to do you want your condition to be in?

Copyright © 2013 Developing Forward | Thomas H. Swank, CBC | All Rights Reserved.

A Picture Of Happiness

As you travel about the streets of your town, would the average passer by’s first impression be that you are “A Picture of Happiness”?

I sincerely hope that they do, because how you carry and then present yourself to the world really amounts to nothing more that your own outward projection of how you actually feel about yourself on the inside. When was the last time that you took the opportunity to examine your attitude about “self”?

Are you happy with the person that you have become over time? Are you truly happy with your life? What about your career? Undoubtedly, your life is not perfect. Take heart… no one else’s is either. Everything doesn’t have to be picture perfect in your life in order for you to be happy.

Having and living a happy life is entirely about being comfortable in your own skin and allowing yourself to simply be “free to be me”. When you view yourself and your life from this perspective, it shouldn’t be hard at all to be happy.

Sadly however, research indicates that 2 out of every 3 American’s are not happy with the very lives that they were free to create for themselves. When you stop and consider that the divorce rate is nearly 50% and is according to experts rising, clearly there are a lot of unhappy people across the breadth of the U.S as well as globally.

So, here are some thoughts and tips that can help you and those whom you meet along the road of life to live a bit happier:

Decide To Be Happy Again. Struggle, adversity and tragedy are a fact and a part of life. As Robert Schuller of the Crystal Cathedral has said for many years “Bad things happen to good people.” Just because you’ve experienced some bad things in your life… It doesn’t make you a bad person. You deserve to be happy, so choose to be happy starting today.

Appreciate What You Do Have. So many people spend their lives focusing on what they don’t have and much like the old analogy, they trip over dollars to pick up pennies, instead of learning to appreciate what they already have. In the end life isn’t about having everything, rather it’s learning to make the best of everything.

Live Your Dream. There is many a story book or movie that begins “Once upon a time…” and ends with “And they lived happily ever after.” You have the capacity to imagine, to dream and then create the life that you want to live. The trick is to learn how to be happy in the here and now, in order to be able to live happy in the ever after.

Be Happy On Your Own. It’s not the responsibility of other people to make you happy, nor you them. Rather it’s your responsibility to make yourself happy. After all, you’re the only one that actually knows what you want. When you learn how to be happy on your own, you’ll be far more prepared to be happy when the opportunity finally comes to share your life with that special someone.

Have Respect For Yourself. As your mom told you time and again when you were growing up, you have to give respect in order to get respect. Part of living a happy life is based in the beliefs and values that you hold, along with your ability to set appropriate boundaries for yourself and the others who you choose to make part of your life. Have enough respect for yourself to turn and walk away from anything or anyone that isn’t serving you well, growing you forward or contributing to your wholeness, health and happiness.

Lastly, take a moment to think back to a time when an attractive woman or a handsome man entered the room where you happened to be. Now think about what it was that you noticed about them. While it may have been their outward attractiveness and attire that first got your attention, what you actually observed was the radiance of their outward projection of their inner beauty, self-confidence and happiness with self.

I read somewhere that people are prettiest when they’re “happy”… and I would agree. A perky happy attitude and a cheerful smile are far more beautiful than anything you can buy at the cosmetic counter.

Copyright © 2013 Developing Forward | Thomas H. Swank, CBC | All Rights Reserved.