Vacation state of mind, why is it we have a different mindset when we are on vacation or going to a festival? Why don’t those mindsets carry over to everyday life?
One thing is we have been programmed to believe everyday life is not as extraordinary as these special times, that they offer an escape from the default world. That mindset traps you into only experiencing little slivers of what the world could and can be like.
Truth is we make our own world by the choices we make. We decide how we feel about this or that and we determine the responses to outside stimuli. Ever hear of the saying no one can make you feel bad? Well it’s true, you choose how you're going to feel. You say yeah right, I was having a good day till that jerk cut me off in traffic. I was happy till I found out so and so was talking about me. How you view this action determines your reaction. I’ve been driving in traffic for about ten years now to and from my job, most days I idle along for 30 to 40 minutes to cover 8 to 10 miles. So I have developed a kind of Zen traffic mode. It just doesn't bother me anymore. In fact a lot of times I crack up at some of the things I see. Gossip is also another one of those, it’s all in how you look at it. You can get upset or you can see it as it is, that someone else is speaking of you for something is lacking in them. I don’t internalize it anymore. I’m not living my life for other people. I’m living it for me. So my concern is; Am I happy? Am I doing what I feel is good and moving me toward a place I want to be? Once you develop the habit of a positive mind set it’s really pretty easy to maintain.
The problem is we are just responding to our environment they way we are taught. While I won’t go into this deeply right now, it’s safe to say most of the things we are taught about how to act and to do things, are from the cookie cutter mentality. Now, while that paradigm may have worked in the past, we are growing beyond those borders now. Individuality is not a bad thing. Look at some of the greatest people of the past, the visionaries and innovators and leaders. They stepped up or out of the box, they left the confines of the cookie cutter because they wanted better.
You ever notice that person that always seems happy no matter what's falling apart? Ever notice that person that’s never happy no matter how good their life seems? You can see a homeless person laughing and a millionaire movie star crying. The difference is not the amount of money or their job or their location, it’s where they are in their mind. You're only ever as happy as you think you can be. It’s all mind set, don’t believe me try it. Next time you’re laying out on the beach on vacation having a great time think about how much money you’ve spent to get there, think about all your bills, think about all the work not getting done because you're there on the beach…..wait where did your happiness go? It didn’t go anywhere, nothing changed but your thinking. If this can be true this way then you know it works the other way as well. I once knew a guy who was a plumber who whistled while cleaning out stopped up toilets. I said how come you're so happy and you're doing such a horrid job, he just laughed and said “Cause this ain’t in my house. What a mess!” and just laughed some more.
We fill out life with things to try to improve our environment to make us happy. We are taught to be happy you must acquire stuff. Then we live in a cluttered home that we spend lots of time cleaning and consolidating, we get storage for stuff we don’t have room for. At some point it will click. Think back to that vacation. Your only belongings were in the luggage you packed. You didn’t have to have ALL your Stuff to be happy on vacation. It is the experience, it’s the view, it’s spending it with those you love. It’s about living in the moment and not worrying about stuff.
You can take this “Vacation State of Mind with you everywhere you go. Look at the trees or a sunset near where you live. Look at the things that are in your environment that aren't anywhere else. Reconnect with exploring and just enjoying being….
Re-blogged from 2013
Tribal Hawk
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