Who Will Cry When You Die\?: Life Lessons From The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari pdfdrive com

69.
Be More than Your Moods
For much of my life, I believed my thoughts were beyond my control. They just
entered my mind automatically and did whatever they wished to do. Even worse,
I believed that I was my thoughts. Thankfully, I discovered that nothing could be
further from the truth. We are not our thoughts. Instead, we are the thinkers of
our thoughts. We are the creators of the thoughts that flow through our minds
and, given this fact, we can change our thoughts if we choose to do so.
This seemingly obvious insight was an epiphany for me. I soon became far
more aware of the thoughts I allowed into my mind and the inner dialogue that
takes place within every one of us every waking hour of every living day. I
began to pay complete attention to the quality of my thoughts. This awareness
was the first step to changing them. Over a matter of months, I trained my mind
to focus only on positive, inspiring and enlightening thoughts. And in doing so, I
saw the outer circumstances of my life change.
Just as you are not your thoughts, you are not your moods. You are the
creator of the moods you experience, moods that you can change in a single
instant. If you choose to do so, you can feel peace in a moment of stress, joy in a
time of sadness and energy during a time of fatigue.

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70.
Savor the Simple Stuff
No one gets to take his possessions with him when he dies. I have yet to see a
moving van following a hearse to a funeral. At the end of the day, the only thing
we can take with us are our memories of all those great life experiences that add
meaning to our lives. Given this, I would rather spend my days doing things that
will leave me happy memories than collecting possessions.
I have discovered that my best memories come from life’s simplest things.
The day my daughter Bianca learned to walk, my son Colby’s first Christmas
concert (where he spent more time waving to his proud dad in the audience than
singing the assigned song), the day our family played soccer in the rain and the
evening we barbequed hot dogs under the full harvest moon.
Dale Carnegie wrote, “One of the most tragic things I know about human
nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some
magical rose garden over the horizon instead of enjoying the roses that are
blooming outside our windows today.” Have the wisdom to savor the simple
things. The wonderful memories that they bring will add more value to your life
than any of the material toys we spend so much life energy pursuing. As Emma
Goldman noted, “I’d rather have roses on my table than diamonds on my neck.”

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