When it’s new, it’s pretty. There is so much to learn about it, and there is curiosity to see everything it can do. It’s shiny and full of excitement. It’s something to explore and keep your attention for a while.
Over time, you become bored, and you only care about the features that appeal to you—the ones that are useful to you, that bring you what you want and meet your needs. You don’t really care about the rest of it or any maintenance of the parts you don’t use. You can just let those go. You can let them break, shatter, and fall apart.
While this toy can do hundreds of things, some you may never have taken the time to learn about, you fixate on only the 3 or 4 that you care about. You let it loose its voice, since you didn’t care about what it could say and the sounds it could make. You stop taking care of it, so its no longer shiny and pretty. You focus on the bare minimum you need to do to ensure the few things you want will continue to work.
Eventually, the toy is just broken, shattered in some places, with very little value left to anyone but you, but even that value that is left is not enough for you, so you keep it stored in a dark closet until you need what still works for your own desires.
Leaving nothing left but a broken toy that no one else would want.
I talk a lot about Dreams and Goals – but this question is not apply to that type of dream, but the dreams you have while you sleep.
There are a lot of arguments as the meaning of the images and stories we see while we sleep, some nights you have none, others a lot, and every now and then you have some that just feel so real that you carry the emotions that it triggered throughout your day. Some people claim that they never have dreams, while others can remember and account for all sorts of dreams that they have dreamt.
I, myself, each night, my dreams go from not remembering, to full detail to an overload of emotions to wake up to. I wonder when I have some of these vivid dreams, if there is a meaning to them, if its my subconscious speaking to me, the universe trying to send me a message or another persons thoughts entering my mind to make me reach out. These are a few of the theories that you can find regarding dreams.
I, personally, believe that they are connected to our minds, our emotions, our hidden thoughts and emotions that we are not processing like we should each day. That they are there for our minds to remind us or to test us. To see how something really feels, to focus on what we are neglecting & a way to get a glimpse of what we need to be taking care of that we may not be.
This is not to say that crazy erotic dream that you had about your ex or friend means that you want them back – it could just purely mean that you have connections that you need to look at around you. There could be something reoccurring or out of the normal in these dreams that you should be paying attention to that is trying to get a message through to you & you haven’t been listening to your gut, so your subconscious has found a way to get your attention.
You can look up in several places the meanings of these things. Take Pillows, for example, if you dream about Pillows, it could have something to do with how safe/comfortable you are feeling, the amount of pillows and condition of the pillows can symbolize the safety part of the state of your mind & let you know that you have either found something to make you feel safe again or that you need to find that safety and security again.
Whether you believe dreams have meanings or not – is all up to you – I am curious though if you have ever woken up from a dream that felt so real, that your head and your heart were just confused the rest of the day as to if it was real or just a dream, because those emotions you woke up feeling, those were definitely real emotions triggered in response to whatever that most intense dream was you just woke from.
We all have our stories, we all have what makes us happy, what makes us cry, and what keeps us going. Some people are good at understanding and reading others, knowing what to say or what to do to elicit the emotional response they want from another.
Some do this maliciously, while others are doing it to purely help and connect with another. It can be hard to tell the difference between which is good and which is not. But this is a story for another time. I want to focus on the responses from these things that can be said or done & how they respond to others. Where you can see the world from another person, connect to another person, or just find a view into their world.
I have always been a person for eyes myself. The story that can be shared from one person looking into the eyes of another. You can connect their words to their emotions or even find the truth behind their words. The unspoken words that attach to various emotions can be pick up on by looking into ones eyes.
You can see someones joy, pain, excitement, distant, sadness and so much about them and how they are really doing in a situation. Sometimes you can see someones longing, worry or them wondering off to a place of their imagination or memory.
Its truly amazing to me to know that someone can give you the bravest of smiles & words to match, but be suffering in so much pain or discontent with things, but the fear to let someone into their world, to connect with them on that level and/or the distrust of how another would take what is really going on in their world.
We need to learn to build trust & connection – we shouldn’t need to rely on being able to interpret what story we can read when looking into someones eyes. We should feel safe to share our joys, pains and dreams. We need to find friends we can connect with & not have to hide ourselves behind our smiles & our words, where we can make our eyes connect to the story that they are telling & feel safe to tell the story, the dream, the emotions, and all of the above.
I am sure you are like but you can’t trust everyone, if you have been reading my blog far enough back, you know that I am fully aware that it can be hard to find someone to trust & sometimes, even when you think you have someone you can trust, they turn out to not be the person you had hoped or thought they were. It happens, but we need to not let that stop us from still trying to find those that will support us and connect with us.
Don’t let only your eyes tell your stories that you are too afraid to speak – speaking them will help you find your tribe and those that will support you to find your dreams or even just sit with you until you are ready to get up and try again. They will be there no matter how great the joy or deep the pain.
We live in an every changing world, every day it feels like there is something new that has come up or is changing & we have to pivot & adjust to continue moving forward.
At the same time, we grow, we learn, we change & become the people we were meant to be in most cases. There are those few cases where people choose to stay stagnant and not progress & live within their comfort zone. Which there is nothing wrong with that, to each their own & their own path in life.
We meet people along the way as move and navigate in life. Some are only with us for a short time, others are with us for the majority of our lives. Some around to be our support for life, while others just to help us get to the next fork in the road & learn the lessons we need to transition in the next part of our lives.
Parts of us will always stay same, but other parts, will continue to grow & we will no longer be the same person we once were, even for those who choose to stay stagnant will expierence this change, just in a different way then those that choose to use it to grow.
The question then comes to thought of who is in our lives that we will loose along the way & who is there for entire path – who will enter in and cross paths with us later, while others will go about their paths, never to cross again.
We may not get to choose who we keep & who we loose, but always remember, they were part of your path as you were part of theirs and things are moving for each in a different direction and that is okay.
We are meant to be in groups, in tribes, surrounded by like-minded people. We thrive when we are with those that accept us for us and that we accept for being them. Being the individuals we are meant to be at that moment & loving & accepting our differences & putting together how each of our strengths can help support each other in each of our goals.
When we find these people, we tend to bring each other up & to a level of enjoyment & happiness. We can help each other grow & become more as a group than we ever could alone. This connection that the right group brings can automatically raise your energy levels with little efforts & completely naturally.
When we allow others into our world, it can change everything about our environment & how far we can go. How much we can achieve & how happy the lives are we living. While there are those that can do the opposite, we shouldn’t let them decide for us to be unhappy, we just need to keep looking until we find those that are meant to be in our lives for all the right reasons.
There are some that enter our lives when we are right about 5 years old – that we can pick back up with after time apart, like we were never apart. Your lives can take you many different directions to teach you each the lessons you are meant to learn in your individual lives & bring you back together to help each other learn & grow more. Friends like this are great to have for life. You always know, no matter how far either one of you go, that the other will be there to help pick you back up & dust you off to move onto your next adventure.
You can have several tribes, each with a different purpose & a different purpose you serve to each one. None is more important than the other, just different in their purpose & their energy that they bring to you & you bring to them. Each one is very important in how we mentally and emotionally handle each day. Those in these groups can completely bring us up for the day or completely bring us down, so its important to make sure we keep the correct people with us.
We cannot forget those that I have been told are your Twin Flame or Soulmate – and not in a romantic sense. In a sense of no matter where you are, you will always run into the other & no matter where you go, you will always be able to locate the other. The person whom gives a value to your life that cannot be traded for the world. This person can make you cry, make you smile or just break you down to a point to help you see what is really in front of you & then build you back up.
We are what we surround ourselves with. We need to find our various different tribes & find our true paths & true happiness. Being able to support & help each other grow, brings everyone together & helps each person become more than they ever imagined they could be.
Help Spread Happiness – Act in Service – Act in Support – Be the Light – Bring the Positive
We are amazing as individuals, but we will always be more together & with each other. You can start with a small tribe, with a Friend that has been with almost your entire life or just a friend that you know your life was destined to meet & never be apart from. Friends are the Family we Choose – They build our Chosen Tribes – Some come & go, but always know, your path will take you where you are supposed to be if you are open to allowing it to do so.
We rarely think about the energy and the power behind the words we speak to ourselves and others and how they can impact our lives & those that hear them. We live in a society where it has become more standard to listen to respond verses listen to hear & understand the other person.
We can easily grow apart from the words that are repeated over time and the impact that they can cause to our own well being and the well being of the one that they are being said to.
You can use your words to build yourself or someone up, or you can use them to break yourself down or destroy another. The heartbreak either way is real & can be a long road ahead to reverse.
Two people can be pushed apart by the power behind the words, actions and behaviors of one towards the other. The intention may not be that of a negative or hurtful context, but it can come across as such and eventually break the person down to feeling like they have nothing left. Then it breaks the person doing the pushing when the one they are pushing finds the strength and the will to move on and find a new life, a more positive one then they have been experiencing.
The constant exposure to these types of charged words & behaviors are not only damaging to your mental health, but your physical health as well. It can change how your body handles the day-to-day & make you ill with concerns the doctors cannot find answers to, as its not physical, its mental. Its the negatively powered energy you are being exposed to can act like radiation to your body & slowly inhibit its ability to function normally.
If you are in a position where the people around are using negative powered words constantly, please do not be afraid to make the change and remove or transition the people in your life to limit your exposure to the damaging effects of the energy that you are being exposed to.
Sometimes it has to feel like the world is collapsing around you for you to see the hope, truth & happiness on the other side.
Always speak & act in a positive & happy manner to yourself & others – we already live in such a negative charged world. Be the spark, the change, the hope – be the one that can bring someone out of the darkness they feel.
Remember you are amazing & you are capable of doing great things. Keep your head up & remember that your hardest trials you have already passed, there is nothing you can’t make it through now.
As I write this, as I have many others, my head is always spinning to find the words, the words to release me from my own prison that I have been trapped in, to free myself to get back to whom I was & I know I can be. Don’t feel sorry for me, feel hope for yourself that you are never alone in this world & there is always someone there to save to you in the least expected places.
My world is going to be spinning for a while, but I will be alright, I will get through it all. Just don’t loose faith in me & the things that I am capable of & the fact that I love & appreciate everyone in my life & you are all the reason that I will never fail.
My Five Minutes is over now, I really don’t feel like hitting the snooze button, I will be letting go & moving forward.
I am struggling this morning to find any words for what is going on in my head. The goal of This project is to help me clear my head & maybe give another hope that you can make it another day & that there is more out there for you then you see in front of you at this moment. I understand more deeply then most will ever know how fast that hope can wither away and the need to find it again before all your hope vanishes and nothing is left.
They say the ones that hurt the most spend most of their time trying to make others smile. That their hurt is buried behind laughter and what appears to be joy, so it is missed & we spend a lot of time wondering if we could have done anything differently or paid more attention that could have made that little difference to give that hurt soul a little more hope, a little more joy and maybe one more day to find what they needed to begin healing and still be with us today.
We choose to judge these people that go out of their way to help us, we don’t appreciate what they are doing or the thoughts behind what they are doing or the why that motivates them to do what they are doing. Always looking for an ulterior motive & not the true intention of what they are doing.
They make small gestures to others, just to show that they care & that they are thinking about them. They are patient & always looking for ways to help, to give them something to keep them going and moving forward each day. They get judged that it is not enough or that they just want something in return for the things they do, rather than appreciated.
Everyone is going through something different in their lives, no one is more important than the other. We need to respect, appreciate & smile so others as we will never know what that one thing is that kept them here one more day with us.
Its amazing how one connection can do so much for a person & give them hope – but that connection needs to be sincere & not lost. Trust & honesty, caring & compassion – all done in various forms can create that connection. It is said that it takes 10 positives to correct 1 negatives damage. Be one of those positives that can help someone who is in a negative situation. Find a way to give them hope that there is more out there then what they see in front of them, when their world has given them so much negative to work through. Be that difference.
If you are in a world drowning in negative, don’t be afraid to ask for help seeing the positive or getting into a place where you can clear your head in order to continue to move forward. Always remember that sometimes removing a negative from your life can come with heartbreak, but that heartbreak is only a transition out of your comfort zone & you will be fine, one day at a time.
A little bit ago, people began running around with the mantra “YOLO” this is to stand for “You Only Live Once” – while it sounds good on first sense, its really not a fully optimistic or motivational view for someone to use as a mantra for life.
In reality, we Live Every day & we only Die once. We have developed a fear around we only live once versus realizing that we can choose how we want to live each day & what our goals & each day will be like. I have been told I am an eternal optimist, which in part, is very true. I tend to try to find the good & the hope in everything. I have come to see and experience that there is so much negativity & pessimism in the world, that being optimistic every day, is getting harder and harder.
We, as a society, have the lost the art of being happy, finding happiness & living truly happy with who we are. We live each day, being told what we should be, what should make us happy, listening to others pretend to be who they are not, trying to be something they could never be & they believe its what will “fix” them and make them happy. We make choices based on logic, emotion, and impulse – not always based on what will bring true, long-term happiness. We have been taught to believe that if we do something to make ourselves happy, that it is selfish, that we must be a narcissist to make a choice based only on how happy it will make us.
The concept of a move in our society to claim others as narcissistic because we don’t like them or the choices they make has truly created a downfall of proper recognization of what narcissism disorder really is & has added to the excuse pile of our society as to why they are not happy or making choices to find true happiness. Narcissism is defined as entitled and self-centered, Narcissism in disorder is a person’s over-inflated self over others. This is very different from making choices to find happiness. While a Narcissist will use others, put others down, bring others down, and make claims of being a victim to bring themselves above a level of others – a person making choices for their own happiness or to find their own happiness, is not at the expense of others.
We, in a broad sense of society, have the lost the art of living for the day, living for the moment, finding a piece of happiness each day & building who we feel we are versus who the general population is telling us we are. We live in a current time, where we no longer understand what Love is, what happiness is, how to live a life of no regrets – we have lost all of these things and built them into constructs of what we believe from the outside world what these things are supposed to. We don’t understand how to tell the difference between temporary and long-term happiness.
This current project is not to be pessimistic by any means. I truly believe that you can take one moment out of your day, to find something that has made you happy, truly feel like the worries of the world no longer exist & that hope will always be there & that you can choose your path freely, change your direction & live a life that makes you feel whole. I believe you must identify the issue before you can solve it as well, so looking at the concern of the loss of happiness in this world, is not to bring anyone down, just to let you see that it is there & that change can be made.
The people around you may never know how important they are. There can be vast amounts of time between when you see them, when you can hug them or just sit down & have a meaningful or pointless random fun conversation. They say a smile can hide a lot of things & not everyone can see the real depth of happiness or depression behind one. At the same time, one may never know how a simple message could change the entire direction one’s life is going for that moment.
As I have said before, a smile can be contagious, so can joy & happiness. Even if its just for that moment, with everyday life spinning out of control, that one moment in time can freeze everything & give you a chance to catch up on what is going on, to breathe & be ready for the next moment of trials that you need to get through to build & find the life that truly makes you happy, the life that you truly deserve. A single smile can save a life, having a friend or two in your life that their smiles are just purely contagious can take you out of your troubles faster than anything I have ever experienced.
We choose to live each day, we choose to work past our past & move forward. We choose to hold on & give it one more chance to change where things have been to help put us where we belong. We choose to find those to either support us or take us down. When we find those that we can support & that support us as well, we know we have found a friend of true happiness. A gift in life to help us through each day, to help us get up and make it through & help us see that there is an end to this trial & things will only get better from here.
Then there are those people in our lives that do nothing by make us smile. That the sheer act of receiving a random text from them can make us smile & for someone like me, keep me smiling all day long because that one message brings up immediate memories of goofy joy & happiness. The jokes & the randomness & the just the wanting to be with and around happy people. It always reminds me that there are still people who like to smile & make others smile out there & they truly make each day a life worth living in.
My friends are my family by choice, they always will be. No matter how often we see each other or how long we have known each other. Each of them have value & if you take things back to the first post of this project – I can show you how each one of these people fall into the hierarchy of friendship needs.
I love an appreciate each and every one of my friends – I know without a doubt, if not for them, I would not still be standing from the trials I have been in & continue to go through as I try to find my way to true happiness in this world. I have had friends in my life, that I thought had value, to only learn that they were not there to be a friend, just to use me for their own gain. I am extremely grateful for the ones that here & are true friends.
I will always be here for them & I know that they will always be there for me. This is how you can begin to rediscover the true art of happiness. In the people that you surround yourself with, the ones who can make you smile when it seems the whole world is falling apart.
Make the choice to not continue to let Happiness be a dying art, and take the time to start looking for it in your life & if you don’t see it right away, that’s fine, just remember to keep your eyes open & know it can come from the most unexpected places.
The Thoughts of Mandy 