BLOG 224—FIND THE JOY IN YOUR LIFE!

With my words, I hope to throw some oblique light upon your life.
I want to inspire you to see life differently or better. 

*** The joy I am experiencing in life is a marvelous thing!
*** To read past blog posts, go to >> kitsummers.com/blog/
*** Hit by two trucks, one involving a 37-day coma, I remain happy.
*** If you are reading this through Facebook, check out my blog on my website.
*** Thanks, my wife, Beth, for editing and adding to each weekly blog.
*** I will have places to show you and tales to tell.
*** Secrets to unfold and good news!

BE TAKEN AWAY WITH ME
ON WONDERFUL ADVENTURES!

********************
TOPIC FOR THIS WEEK— CHOOSE JOY!
    
Aways, a choice — to find happiness or find sadness.
To go after black and white or go after bright colors.
To choose misery or choose joy.
   
You must always make the right choice.
You can live a life of fear, or you can live a life of love.
Think sad thoughts, and it will affect your future tremendously.
Stay happy and joyful; your life will show just that.
I always try to choose joy over sadness in every situation.
 
Mahatma Gandhi once said >>

Your beliefs become your thoughts.

Your thoughts become your words.

Your words become your actions.

Your actions become your habits.

Your habits become your values.

Your values become your destiny.
 
Joy is a constant choice. You can either choose joy–every moment or not.
Your circumstances don’t determine joy; joy is an overflow of the heart.
It is easy to choose joy when things are going great, right?
But what happens when things are not so good?
What do you do about joy, then?
How do you react to find the joy you are looking for?
 
You could look through the lens of your possibilities. And, if those possibilities are not how you want them to be or thought they would be, it will be tough for you to rise above and live the life you intended to live.
 
I know it is hard to choose joy sometimes. That is something I have driven toward every day, even after the significant accidents I have gone through. I’m not saying I have always been carefree and happy. Sometimes I let my life overwhelm me and take over every part of my being. At times I become cranky, irritable, and exhausted. Does this happen to you, too? I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t say I like this side of me.
 
Ideas to deal with you having joy >>
1–Identify your goal.
People who aren’t self-reflective sometimes make wrong decisions because they don’t really know what they want in the first place.
For example, before switching jobs, ask yourself:
Do I want a different career?
Or do I wish to have another boss?
Make sure to make a decision based on the correct problem.
 
2–Eradicate choices by setting standards.
If you’re trying to buy a digital camera, list the features you’ll use. Therefore, any camera with them is good enough for you; ignore anything fancier. Take control of your actions.
 
3–Don’t worry about finding the “best.”
How good you feel about your decisions is usually more meaningful than how good they are objectively.
 
4–Be aware of tendencies.
You can lead intelligent people to make dumb decisions. For example, We hate to lose more than we like to win, which can result in behavior such as holding on to a lousy stock instead of accepting a loss. We remember vivid examples better than facts, which is why plane crashes stick in our heads more than statistics on air safety.
     
5–Try to take control of your time.
People make poorer choices when in a bad mood or under much stress. When facing a complex decision, use your conscious brain to gather the necessary information and then take a break.
Go for a walk.
Juggle for an hour.
Spend a half hour meditating.
Take a nap.
The idea is to give your unconscious mind time to do its work.
Your decision afterward is likely the right one; think.
 
6–Don’t sweat the small stuff.
When possible, eliminate the need for decisions by specifying rules for yourself.
You do yoga every weekend.
You will need a couple of glasses of wine.
       
7–Do an afterward analysis.
After each decision, ask yourself how you felt afterward, how to do things better next time, and what you did right and wrong.
=====================
To help bring joy to your life,
use the following words as often as you can >> 

Accurate

Exact

Nice

Precise

Right
=====================
 
What new stories are you ready to write?

********************
WORDS TO INSPIRE YOU! >>
Inspirational quotes and motivational sayings have a unique ability to change the way we feel about life and can change our thinking.
 
They are so interesting, challenging, and essential on our path to joy, happiness, and finding ways to inspire ourselves and others.
 
Inspirational quotes and ideas give us a quick and timely burst of wisdom to get our focus back, offering the inspiration needed for the day or occasion.
 
I hope to inspire you with my words.
Words have power.
 
Are you accomplishing what you want before your eventual death?
At any age, you can (and should) make changes to make your life better.
 
How you think and feel about yourself, including your beliefs and expectations about what is possible, determines everything in your life, and it all derives from your quality of thinking.

WHEN YOU IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF YOUR THINKING,
YOU CHANGE THE QUALITY OF YOUR LIFE—SOMETIMES INSTANTLY!

Just as positive words can make someone smile, and a well-timed amusing quote can make someone laugh, your thoughts react to the world in real-time. You have this control!
 
You have complete control over only one thing in the universe — Your Thinking —, and that’s where motivational quotes come in!
 
To keep your motivation, you have to use each day as an opportunity to improve and get closer to your goals. It might sound like a lot of work—and with your busy schedule—next to impossible. But you can do it!

Self-talk is so essential—THINK RIGHT!

    
Motivational words, yes, they’re just words.
But they’re positive words; they will keep you on track.

EVEN IF YOU START LATE, ARE UNCERTAIN,
OR ARE DIFFERENT –
YOU CAN STILL FIND SUCCESS!
Don’t forget that you are only as young as the last time you changed your mind!
Keep your thoughts and self-talk fun and productive, and always reach for more advancement.
 
REMEMBER, VERY LITTLE IS NEEDED TO MAKE A GREAT LIFE.

********************
I HOPE THE FOLLOWING WORDS INSPIRE YOU >>
“The root of joy is gratefulness.” – David Steindl-Rast.
 
“Figure out what fuels your joy, then do lots of that.” – Bob Goff.
 
“Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day. – Henri Nouwen”
 
“Joy is untouched by circumstance.” Anonymous
 
“A joyful heart is the normal result of a heart burning with love.” – Mother Teresa.
 
“Joy is the serious business of Heaven.” – C.S. Lewis
 
“We could never learn to be brave and patient if there were only joy in the world.”- Helen Keller
 
“When the heart is full of joy, it always allows its joy to escape. It is like the fountain in the marketplace; whenever it is full, it runs away in streams, and so soon as it ceases to overflow, you may be quite sure that it has ceased to be full. The only full heart is the overflowing heart.” – Charles Spurgeon
 
“Happiness is caused by things that happen around me, and circumstances will mar it, but joy flows right on through trouble; joy flows on through the dark; joy flows in the night as well as in the day; joy flows all through persecution and opposition.” – Dwight L Moody
 
“It is not Joy that makes us grateful. It is gratitude that makes us joyful.” – Anonymous.
 
“To get the full value of Joy, you must have someone to divide it with” – Mark Twain
 
“Joy is a decision, a courageous one, about how you will respond to life.” Wess Stafford
 
“Joy is the simplest form of gratitude.” – Karl Barth
 
“When our lives are filled with peace, faith, and joy, people will want to know what we have.” – David Jeremiah
 
“Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. To these, I commit my day. If I succeed, I will give thanks. If I fail, I will seek his grace. And then, when this day is done, I will place my head on my pillow and rest.” – Max Lucado
 
“Worry is to joy what a Hoover vacuum cleaner is to dirt: might as well attach your heart to a happiness-sucker and flip the switch.” – Max Lucado
 
“Darkness is not a force; it is merely the absence of light. Observe that the darkness disappears when a light is brought to a dark place. Sadness is similar when joy is brought to suffering; the sadness disappears.”- Jonathan Lockwood Huie
 
“Comparison is the thief of joy.” Theodore Roosevelt

COMPOSE A NOBLE BOOK AND WRITE A BEST-SELLER.
YOU ARE AMAZING—PLAY YOUR PART!

********************
MY DAILY JOTTINGS >>
Each week goes by so quickly, don’t you think?
And time is going faster all the time.
Do you keep track of what you do each day?
Do this for a few weeks, and you will see your time differently.
   
6/4–This morning, I got a message from Cindy Marvel informing me that Steve Mills was found dead in his car; he had been there for some days. I’ve known Steve since 1977, a good friend he was. Steve is the one who developed the juggling pattern called “The Mills Mess.” I know that, in recent years, he had gotten more mixed up and/or crazy. More info on this will come out in the future.
 
Steve was a believer in God.
How could any God allow something like this to happen to a good person?
I will never understand how people can be so enamored with this idea of a God.
If you can educate me on where to find this god, please do.
 
According to the Bible book, the concept of a god makes no sense to me and never has. If you do believe, you must carefully examine precisely what you believe and why you believe it.
 
I need factual proof of any god. People tell me of the bible book, which I have read. Along with good things, people tend to overlook many terrible things in the book. Such as >>
   
2 Chronicles 15:13 “All who would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, were to be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman.”
Who will be the one to kill me for my nonbelief?
 
I saw Steve when he performed at grangefair.com/ in Centre County, PA. Bob Habel, in charge of entertainment,  had booked Steve in. Steve told Bob about my salsa (summerssalsa.com) and had Bob set me a place at the fair where I could sell my salsa. I sold hundreds of salsa while there. I told Bob what happened with Steve; he was pretty sad.
 
Some years ago, I put Bob on my list to receive my email notification about my blog. He said he has enjoyed the read but had yet to write to me about his thoughts—one of the many who read and do not respond. Do you, like Bob, like to read my words but not send me comments? It’s time; I would love to hear from you.
 
Steve had the most sincere joyful laugh I have heard from a human. What a fun guy he was; he will be missed by many. He had some difficult times but found and lived with joy overall.
   
Below is a video of Steve teaching the Mills Mess.   
This was filmed at the old studio of the juggling prop maker and my friend, Brian Dube, also a close friend of Steve.
Here is Brian >> https://www.dube.com/
And Steve explaining and doing the Mills Mess >>
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkcvV9wwYvw&t=31s
 
Beth took us out to dinner this evening—Burger King—which has gotten expensive. The bill for the two of us came to just over twenty-two bucks, and I couldn’t believe it. Thanks for buying, Beth; I will make more eat-at-home meals for us. (From Beth: It was a treat, but I won’t be doing that again.)
 
As you know, we had a surprise harvest of Zucchini. We made some of our friends happy with their new eatable vegetables. Some went to our friend Linda, who volunteers at the senior center, where I will perform again soon.  How do you cook your zucchini?
 
6/5–This week, I will work on placing words here daily about my day-to-day doings. You may not care, but you are reading this right now, and some people like to read my words. Do you keep a daily journal?
 
6/6–There is a build-up of stuff on the inside walls of my water containers, perhaps from the water. I will have to check each thoroughly and clean as I can. We mainly use this rainwater to replenish the rabbit water for the garden. As Beth says, the power and water company is the bane of her existence. Our bill is relatively low each month, but the costs are rising.
 
I got some more bamboo from Nancy’s house; thanks, Nancy. I will be using an eight-foot length to mount the bird feeder on. Like many projects I tackle, I do not know how to achieve the result, but I get there. 

We will make improvements as we move from a smaller (but pleasant) bedroom into one that is twice as big. I am applying a mural on one wall covering the entire wall surface. I could not have gotten this finished without Beth’s help. Thanks, Beth. We are a good team. Currently putting up a wallpaper mural on one of the walls. 

 
I’ve written before; this is the ONE life we live; you must make the most of it! Beth and I know this is the last home we will live in, so we are making it as fabulous as possible.  (From Beth: Who else would buy this colorful house?) I’m hoping you will do the same, live in a place that is much more than a place to lay your head at night.
 
Make your home where you want to be, your paradise on earth. Your home should be your vacation place. Think of places where you have vacationed in the past. Pick out the things that stand out that you loved and enjoyed. Apply these ideas to your home and make it your vacation place.  Here is Kit as a bird feeder >>
Beth planted peach seeds some time ago. Yes, trees grew from the seeds but never did produce fruit. So, I cut each down today and hope they do not grow back. We will get trees to go in the front yard, maybe apple, peach, and pear trees. I will let you know later.

 6/7–I Woke at about 3am, which is typical–up for the day I am. Beth attended the weekly coffee hour in while I was going to Costco to order new spectacles.
     
6/8–Friday comes so quickly each week, don’t you think so? Cleaning up the gardens and also the rabbit hutches. I  never knew rabbits poop so much. Below is he first picking of the cucumbers and an abondance of Zuchini.

Is it time to “make” things happen and live a fuller life?
“Make” a great week for yourself.

******************
YOUR CHALLENGE FOR THE WEEK > >
When was the last time you worked on doing a handstand?
No matter what age you are, find some soft grass and work on standing on your hands.
 
If you can already stand on your hands, work on walking on your hands.
 
If you can already walk on your hands, do a handstand and juggle with your feet.
   
Do something new daily, then keep doing it for the rest of your life.
*******************
NEXT BLOG
The mural is going up on the bedroom wall.
You will see photos and find out more.
*******************