I'm working on some essays, not quite ready to publish, about rural life, etc. and I'm browsing blogs like crazy to get a feel for what bloggers blog about. I came across an interesting idea, a "meme" to write about. I found it on A Spiritual Journey Through Life who got it from GoGo on a Page who got it from Beansprout who got it from Step away from the cake ...and the links go on but I followed them far enough to understand what the "tag" part is about. I'm such a noob at this, I don't know anyone to tap and say, "tag, you're it." So if you have actually found this blog and read this far, please consider yourself tagged, if you wish.
This is how it works:
1. Find the nearest book.
2. Name the book & the author.
3. Turn to page 123.
4. Go to the fifth sentence on the page. Copy out the next three sentences and post to your blog.
5. Tag three more folks.
You Can Be Happy No Matter What
Subchapter heading: Happiness Lies In The Present Moment
Excessive thinking about your past and your problems will convince you that you do, in fact, have good reasons to be upset and unhappy. But you don't want to be unhappy. And your past is over. It is a harmless memory, carried through time, through your own thinking. It was real then, but it isn't now.
[Some of those sentences were so short, let's cheat and finish the paragraph] You can learn from your past, but it is a mistake to continually go into your past or overanalyze life in a search for happiness. If this worked, you'd be happy already!
****************
I purchased this book nearly ten years ago and, typically for me, it languished in one of my many TBR piles until we moved. When it was time to start unpacking, I grabbed a random box of books and this one jumped out at me. With all the hassles and sadness of the last year, I know I have had a bad habit of doing exactly what is described above. Isn't it interesting how a book will come into your life, or in this case, reclaim your attention, just when you need it? This one was propping up the laptop which has been overheating and shutting down, in an effort to allow more air to circulate to the fans underneath. Thus it was "the nearest book." I think I'll be up late reading tonight.
I grew up on a farm in west central Minnesota, a mile from the nearest town of 300 people. We visited my mother's sister in Minneapolis often and, in my mind, urban life made my rural existence pale by comparison. I could hardly wait to graduate and leave small town life behind.
Fast forward thirty-five years. College, office jobs, marriage, the usual; except no children (by chance, not by choice). My husband's job layoff and subsequent heart attack turned our lives upside down. We found, without his income, we could no longer afford our city lifestyle. At the same time my mother, now 86, still lived on the family farm but had reached a point where she could no longer live there alone. We solved both problems by moving back home in December of 2006.
I envision this blog as a chronicle of our adaptation to rural life, as well as a home for my thoughts, opinions, memoirs, and maybe even recipes.
~January 15, 2007
Sunday, January 21, 2007
You Can Be Happy No Matter What
Posted by Barb T. at 5:13 PM
4 comments:
I love when you pick up a random book after having it for so long, and, like you said, it's the exact right time for you to find it. Those lines are beautiful. Thanks so much for the link; can't wait to follow along on your journey :)
Thanks for your comment on my blog, Barb. I am so glad you enjoyed the meme. And I am glad to have found your site. Where your life has led you sounds really interesting. I love the country and often dream about living surrounding by nature. So, I will enjoy reading your stories!
Love,
JTL
xxx
PS. A good book and quote you found as well. Always live in the present is such great advice.
I had a friend who used to organize her books by "Feeling." No lie. She had a "Happy" section, a "Sad" section, and even a "Horny" section. That's where her smut novels went, of course.
I couldn't do that. Sometimes it depends on your mood and the point of life you're at. My feelings for one book could change as easily as my moods do.
P.S. Welcome to the blogosphere!
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