Every issue of Oprah’s Magazine ends with a page called, “what I know for sure.” It got me thinking. If helping you achieve your optimal health potential is our goal, what do I know for sure will help you achieve this. And I continually return to two concepts that I know for sure, without a doubt, with 100% assuredness, and with unwavering certainty. How’s that for being sure!
First I know that I know that I know that your thought life determines the quality of your life. So many people ‘poo-poo’ all this positive thinking mumbo jumbo. But the same people that don’t place value on their thought life happen to be the same people that wake up each and every day to a rather dreary existence. Two things are amazing about your thoughts. First, they are free. Second, they are a choice. Your thoughts don’t choose you. You choose them. Each day when you put your feet on the floor you get to choose how to react and how to think about what life brings to you that day. You get to plant goods seeds at the start of your day. You get to ‘think about and thank about’ what your day may bring. I believe knowing and more importantly, applying, this simple principle can greatly change your life.
The second thing I know for sure is that our purpose during our relatively short time on earth is to serve. What we serve can vary from serving dinner to serving your family to serving your boss to serving on a missionary team to serving a compliment to serving a meal to the homeless to serving a tennis racket. It’s all in the ‘serve.’ And this includes serving yourself too. When we focus outside of what we think, need and feel and place our focus on service to others, our life is immensely better. I’ll give you an example. Joanie C., a patient in our practice over 40 years, once asked an elderly woman if she would like her cart (that she was putting away) while in the parking lot of a grocery store. The elderly woman said thank you and also let Joanie know it was her birthday. Joanie immediately went into her car and got the bouquet of flowers she had just purchased for herself and handed them to this elderly woman and said Happy Birthday. So I ask you, who got more out of this, Joanie or the elderly woman.
Think better thoughts. Serve more. These are two things I know for sure. It’s a simple as that.
Make it a great week.
