Questions to ask yourself about this day

Welcome the day! What are you going to do today?  What am I going to do today? There are so many people in the world, this country, this county, this city, this street....how is each person choosing to spend this day?We are each so unique in our thinking, our wants, our needs, our habits.  It is fascinating how each of us choose to spend this precious time.We each have, musts, needs, want tos, automatics.   What are yours? What is important to each of us, what springs to mind is yours alone.  Are we relishing this day?  Or seeing it as another day to get through? How do we make it a day we love that we had?  Even with the difficult circumstances of the Covid-19 lurking around us, how do we find peace, serenity and joy in this day?A challenge for each one of us....and different for each one of us.  Relish and enjoy the fact that you have this challenge.

How I spent my day

I am writing this while outside, bundled up, with the sun pouring down and a cool breeze occasionally occurring.  Nice.

A glorious day.  I slept late.  Stayed in bed ,reading, writing, meditating and alittle sleep.  Then an hours swim, and ready for the day!  I am getting accustomed to this life of doing what feels right, and just what I want to do. The restriction of staying home forces me to do this.  The restriction also forces me to examine my habits and rules about use of car and seeing friends.  My thoughts continually wander toward where to go?  Who to see for lunch?  It is fascinating to see how ingrained my habits of doing are…..

Ive received some positive, encouraging notes from various sources these past few days.  .  The content has varied from:  things you can do  to stay positive; the number of cases and fatalities lessening in China and Japan; this pandemic is just what the world needed to reorder itself…it had gotten totally out of control in terms of how living, how treating eachother, how being in the world.

 Everyone, from  governments, businesses, individuals, are being forced to create new ways to be…in order to take care of everyone and everything.   It will be fascinating to see what happens in the next months.

So, where is my thinking right now? What do I want to do to this evening?  I want to cook a good dinner, enjoy time with Kenneth in front of the fireplace, talk with my children, watch a documentery or mystery, read, and look forward to tomorrow. 

And I want to review my gratitude list, which is quite long.

My thinking: Questions I asked about my day

I am a strong believer in the adage  “we teach what we need to learn.  Essentially this blog is really Notes to Myself.  AS the book was, as my work has been.  Techniques and questions I have found useful I throughout my career, I put into book form.  Now, I am using my current thinking to possibly jog yours.  I hope this is useful!

As I write I am reminding myself of what I already know…and what anyone reading this already knows too.  I need to be reminded, as I think many of us do.  Reminded that we are unique beings, with unique physical characteristics, mental capabilities, spiritual components and our very own, special thoughts. 

Not only are we unique, but we are constantly given choices to be who we want to be…do what we want to do…create what we want to create.  We each benefit from being reminded that it is us alone who determine how we live each day. 

How do you want to live this day?  A private decision, that fits with who you are on a given day.  You may want to

Sleep all day

Watch movies all day

Read a terrific book

Exercise for a long/or short time

Make something

Call someone

Write something

Cook something

Do chores

Do nothing

Work, work, work.

I am writing this as Coronavirus has us quarantined and nestled in our homes, with essentially no contact with others other than by phone and computers.

A friend just emailed a wonderful suggestion of us each writing our thoughts, what we are doing etc, down each day, for our children/grandchildren.  How each of us is experiencing this pandemic is unique and what a great idea to write it down for generations to come.  Great idea.  You may want to do it.

For me, today has been a glorious day:  Slept late, ate breakfast with Kenneth, watched the news, wrote, swam for an hour, wrote some more and talked with my daughter and son on the phone.  Now to walk outside a bit, prepare a St Patricks dinner plate for an elderly neighbor,  read, write, watch an old movie One Flew Over The Cookoos Nest, and enjoy dinner with Kenneth. For me, a great day.

How do you make your day and eve wonderful? 

Questions to ask Yourself: How do I spend this day?

6 days of quarantine.  In home, with partner, Kenneth(90 years old),3 dogs and one cat.  I just heard from a friend, we may be in for at least four more months of this. Ive worked, exercised, been inside and outside, played with the dog, read, wrote, and took a nap.  Soon dinner prep and a quiet time with Kenneth and the dogs and cat.

What thoughts go whirring around in my head as a result of what is going on?

An invisible cloud of concern over the Corona virus, its impact on each of us, but even worse, on those less fortunate and those around the world we don’t even know about…nor can imagine the levels of despair, illness and death.  This invisible cloud follows me around, wherever I go, whatever I do, right now.  Maybe it will turn into blue sky any minute.

Kenneth suggested this pandemic/ world crisis might increase peoples’ faith and/ or religion.  When we look at faith it really is changing our fear into believing in good…peace, assurance, gratitude and love(as Thomas Hora, Existential Metapsychiatry holds real).  We change our thinking to thinking reality of good and temporariness, rather than fear.

 Some things for us to ask ourselves…

What am I thinking that is causing me to feel…..? 

Could I be thinking something different? 

How am I living today? 

What do I want to do with this gift of today?

How do I want to be thinking?

Maybe time to write in my Thinking journal.

What about you?

This imposed quarantine with the Coronavirus has really forced us to:

Look at our thinking

Look at our ways of doing things

Look at our habits

Look at how we spend our days

And forced us to make changes….

In how we work

In how and where we spend our time

In the amount of time we spend with others

Quarantine has forced us to live within our homes, with our families. Period.  Yes, we can talk on the phone, use the internet and computers, read books.  But few of us are accustomed to this much togetherness only with family. 

Much of our lives are spent in relationship with others outside of family…whether at work, commuting, exercising, shopping, volunteering…we are with others…communicating in many different ways.

Or we are using our phones, Ipads etc while in the company of others.

Maybe this FORCED time at home and with families is just what we needed to help us realize what is most important….our families, communicating, being together without distractions of friends, community projects, driving somewhere.

Being at HOME is a huge adjustment.  Something to think about…

how it is impacting each of us?

how we want to benefit from this time?

As we study history of the ages, we see plagues, wars, death, destruction, disasters of all kinds. This Coronavirus seems to be the “thing” of 2020. 

How do we accept this is our challenge given to us by the universe?  How do we count our blessings and do the best we can?

We think…we listen, to ourselves and others.  We are kind and loving to all.  

I am self quarantined

I am self quarantined,  being in that age group that should be.  I have been home since last Tuesday.  I am facing my habit of getting in the car daily.....and going someplace!  My need to get away from my home(which I love) is a habit I want to break.  Now, because of the Corona virus, it has become a “have to” break.

All this does travel back to my thinking(as it says in the book I wrote THINK... About Your THINKING. Now I must face my proclivity to do rather than be...to think rather than do...

It is interesting to me how often my thinking reverts to “going someplace”.  I am now consciously move my thinking to going someplace in my thinking.  Not moving places, but moving mentally.  Actually, it is quite interesting to watch.

I am blessed with not having the “worry habit”, so I don’t move to fear thinking. My thinking moves to asking myself questions....what do I want to read, learn,watch, think about?  How do I want to spend today. This afternoon, this minute?  

When I ask myself that question, wonderful options(and some stinky ones) appear....and I get to choose.

Try it.  How do you WANT to spend the next hour?  See what happens as you ask and respond.  Enjoy yourself.  

Unusual Times

Many people I know, and people who are reading THINK... About Your Thinking have been contacting  me saying....

“This is a good time to read the book.... and think about my thinking.”

This Corona virus  pandemic has created unprecedented and difficult times for our health, the economy, etc.   Wise  people are listening and taking the advice of experts: stay clean constantly, stay away from others, be careful, eat healthy, drink water often.  We all hear specific things, from the experts, we can do to not get the virus, contain the virus, and continue to live healthy lives.

Thinking, how and what we think, plays a huge part in how we spend our days.  Observe your thinking....what are you thinking?  What emotions exist?  What are you doing?  What are you focusing on?  How often do your thoughts focus on the Corona virus? Fear? 

Yes, this is a very difficult and concerning time.  It is important you take the precautions suggested.  After that, how do you have a positive, enjoyable and productive day?

I encourage you to think about your thinking.... enjoy each moment by taking time for yourself and things/people important to you.

Thinking about the Corona virus

The Corona Virus is to be respected and avoided.  

How much time are you THINKING about the Corona virus?  How much time are you watching tv updates,reading newspaper articles, emails and texts,talking about it with friends, relatives and acquaintances?  

Might be something you want to think about...or do?

How do you want to be spending your thinking time?  

Over the past weeks, I have heard various reactions to the Corona Virus Pandemic:

“I will take the suggested precautions, and go about my life.”  The pandemic is taken objectively and seriously, but life goes on.

“Oh my God!  What are we going to do?”  This pandemic has consumed them...

“Oh well, what will be, will be.  I’ve had a nice life....something will take me, Corona virus or whatever.”    The pandemic/quarantine/etc are this next thing...they aregoing about business as always!

Which are you?  

Hopefully you are aware, taking precautions, and going on with life.  Fear is a block to enjoying each day, being responsible and loving Life and others.

Be responsible, be kind, be loving.