Skip to main content

Year Two, Day 84: Believing in Myself

Day 4 of my "Happiness Way".

I had a difficult day.  Many obstacles, or "speed bumps" as I like to call them. In particular, I refer to the difficult passages in my piano student's pieces as speed bumps.

But I had life speed bumps today. Especially in the financial realm. Summer is hard on this piano teacher!

Luckily, I also had the opportunity to spend a good part of the day with my adult children. We had a lovely lunch at Pho Hung, which is a family tradition.  Good food, good conversation, good silliness. And the servers know us well. It is like coming home to family!  I also had a lovely time teaching my neighbors family from Vietnam to speak English yesterday.  It was the high point of my week. So I am not going to let something little like money get  me down. After all, it is only paper!

I am reconditioning my mind to think positively.  I read today about the subconscious in chapter 8: "I Don't Believe in Defeat".  

"An effective method for making your subconscious positive in character is to eliminate certain expressions of thought and speech which we may call the "little negatives." These so-called "little negatives" clutter up the average person's conversation,k and while each one is seemingly unimportant in itself, the total effect of these attitudes it to condition the mind negatively."
The Power of Positive Thinking, Norman Vincent Peale
So today was a good day to really put what I am learning into action. Everytime I felt a "little negative" crop up, whether as a thought or a spoken word, I edited it.  I told the kids what I was doing so they wouldn't think I was crazy, well err...crazier than usual! lol

And something truly wonderful happened.  I spent part of the morning at the doctor's office with my son. He got another CT scan and saw the neurologist to make sure he had healed properly from his concussion. As we sat in the waiting room, he asked to see the book I had been proclaiming about.

He read part of the first chapter. ("Believe in Yourself")

He put it down when the doctor called his name.  But before he went back, he looked at me and said,
"This is a good book, Mom. I'd like to read more!"

Hallelujah!

I am now going to pray that my son become an enthusiastic reader.  My gift to him in life.

As for me, I am praying for a part time job.

I love my piano students.  I love teaching!  But I need something consistent. Many students take vacations.  I have a solid core of regular students who have been with for many years (some over 10 years!), that I will never leave. But students do come and go as other interests grab them.

I see myself in a part time early morning office job. Preferably for a nonprofit agency that provides social services to people in need.

I can then keep my afternoons and evenings free for my stellar students.

And I am going to keep thinking positively until it happens!

Happy Monday! :)

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Year Four, Day 328: Success at Last!! This is What I Do

Hello My Long Lost Friends! Or, perhaps it was I who was lost? And now I think I am beginning to find myself!  Under layers of fat, and self loathing!  How's that for an opening line!  Or perhaps the title of a novel:  Layers of Fat and Self-Loathing! Today I stepped on the scale.  I am weighing myself every morning these days. I was shocked! I told my partner the scale must be broken!  Yesterday I weight 186. Today 185! I have been on a strict intermittent fast for the past 10 weeks. I have officially lost 12 pounds!  And the best news is I think I not only can stick to this way of eating, I am actually beginning to really enjoy it!  And look how far I've come! I've been writing since May 12, 2015.  Over 8 years now!  I know this blog post says Year Four, Day 328, but there have been many pauses in blogging. For instance, when I am not pleased with progress or simply have no words! I was 53 when I first began blogging. I am now 61. I honestly feel better than I did 8 years

Year Four, Day 335: "Crisis Fatigue"

Hello Friends! I have missed you! I have been so utterly exhausted and downright depressed, that I couldn't summon enough energy to even lift my fingers to this computer keyboard to write.  Apparently there is a mental disorder for people going through crises.  Crises such as pandemics, systemic racism, political division, unemployment, police brutality, civil unrest.... It's called "crisis fatigue". When humans are presented with a threat, adrenaline is released to give us quick energy. This is called the "fight or flight syndrome". But when threats are overwhelming, and perceivably continuous, like this year, it overwhelms the system. People can feel numb, depressed, anxious and irritable. Yup. That's me.  I guess I'm quite normal after all! I found an interesting article that describes crisis fatigue, especially in relation to current events.  But it doesn't really address how to take care of ourselves during these unsettling times!

Year Four, Day 247: What Happened in Vegas...

  Expectations can be brutal. Especially when reality dashes them against the rocky shores of our souls. How's that for an opening line? I was so excited about my recent trip to Las Vegas.  I haven't travelled anywhere in so long. I do believe I have been bit by the travel bug.  I want the freedom to go places I have never been, see things I have never seen and experience life as a stellar adventure! My kids are young adults with families of their own.  I have my role as Zma, as Teacher Zita. But I am on a quest to find Zita. She's hidden someone deep inside. Covered in layers. Like an onion. I like the onion analogy. Notice the outermost layer of an onion - dry  and papery. As you peel off layers, the inside is juicy and sweet. I have paid my dues of sacrifice, shame and self deprivation.  What I want now is to embrace the life I have remaining. Have you seen the life pie chart? I don't know where I read this, but it stuck with me.  Draw a circle.  And then divide it i