How to Find the Beauty + Is It Worthwhile? + I Need to Pay More Attention

Good Morning from New Glasgow, Prince Edward Island

"Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us, or we find it not." — Ralph Waldo Emerson.

I hope you had a great week and are preparing for a lovely weekend. 

Time for a cuppa. 

PEI Covid BIG News. 

I started thinking about all the emotions associated with the unknown.  

This past week local press alerted us there was to be an announcement from the government. So naturally, this started many discussions amongst the populace. 

We all waited to hear the plans.  Would there be a relaxing of the straight-jacketed manner in which we lived the last 16 months? Or more of the same? I, for one, am happy to have done so. The numbers speak for themselves. 

Their announcement sharing a path forward was crystal clear. Well done. 

I am sure many tourism operators feel there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Not all will be happy with the direction. 

But I believe this a releasing of the straps, if you will. 

In many ways, Covid guidance given by the government had a lot to do with our physical restrictions. Interesting how it affected our mental states as well.

Some businesses won’t survive. Lack of resources to sustain the next few years of recovery, perhaps but more importantly, a lack of thinking with a positive mindset. 

Hard to get the ring and fight the battle if you think you are going to lose.  

“To lose patience is to lose the battle.” —Mahatma Gandhi.

Employees’ families are affected by economic insecurity, and business owners take on this anxiety as well.

If we can adapt and adventure, we can thrive. That while leadership in uncharted territory requires both learning and loss, once we realize that the losses won’t kill us, they can teach us. And mostly, we will learn that to thrive off the map in an exciting and rapidly changing world means learning to let go, learn as we go and keep going no matter what. ~ Tod Bolsinger.

The stress of the unknown will compounded to the degree we do or don’t take responsibility. 

Take responsibility, and it becomes positive stress. Don’t, and it feeds our natural negative bias. 

I always felt the word perseverance should have been my middle name.  Interestingly enough, it has a lot of the same letters as preserve. 

preserve (v.)

late 14c., preserven, "keep safe or free from harm," also "act so as to insure that something does not occur," from Anglo-French preservare, Old French preserver, Medieval Latin preservare "keep, preserve," all from Late Latin praeservare "guard beforehand," from Latin prae "before" (see pre-) + servare "to keep safe" (from PIE root *ser- (1) "to protect").

From early 15c. as "maintain, keep in a certain quality, state or condition." Of fruit, etc., "prevent from spoiling by use of preservative substances," 1570s; of organic bodies, "keep in existence or alive," from 1610s. Related: Preserved; preserver; preserving.

perseverance (n.)

mid-14c., perseveraunce "will or ability to persevere, tenacity," from Old French perseverance "persistence, endurance" (12c., Modern French persévérance) and directly from Latin perseverantia "steadfastness, constancy," from perseverant- past-participle stem of perseverare "continue steadfastly" (see persevere). From late 14c. as "quality or state of continuing or enduring."

Practicing gratitude when life is hard; takes perseverance.

I have read a few books by Dr. Robert Emmon, The Little Book of Gratitude and Thanks: How Practicing Gratitude Can Make You Happier. 

“Gratitude empowers us to take charge of our emotional lives and, as a consequence, our bodies reap the benefits.” ― Robert Emmons.

But doing so has been proven through decades of research has proven the benefits. 

• It improves our mental health;
• It improves our physical health;
• It reduces the levels of perceived stress;
• It improves our overall life satisfaction;
• It strengthens our relationships with other people.

The wonderful thing about being human is I have the power to take control over my behaviour, my environment, my relationships, and my habits. 

And happiness doesn’t simply happen.

Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom. ~ Viktor Frankl

Finding happiness in the middle of the storm can be difficult. 

Those who live by faith have a sense of security through the trust and hope we have. 

“Happiness is the experience of joy, contentment, or positive well-being, combined with a sense that one’s life is good, meaningful, and worthwhile”. Sonya Lybomirsky

“Since, according to me, your life is going to be a gradual process of becoming kinder and more loving: Hurry up. Speed it along. Start right now. There’s a confusion in each of us, a sickness, really: selfishness. But there’s also a cure. So be a good and proactive and even somewhat desperate patient on your own behalf — seek out the most efficacious anti-selfishness medicines, energetically, for the rest of your life.” George Saunders's Advice to Graduates

June 5th is the birthday of a living virtuoso, Martha Argerich. An 80-year-old pianist phenom. 

If you don’t know who she is, watch this explanation below. 

All I can think of is no sheet music. 80 years old. And WOW. 

I’ve enjoyed your company this week. Thank you. Will I see you next weekend? I sure hope so. 

With love from Prince Edward Island, 

Bruce + Millie

ps. Your Morning Smile...

I was dismayed this afternoon when my wife told me my 6-year-old son wasn't actually mine. She then said I need to pay more attention at school pick up.