Success...One Day At A Time

Everything Is Palsy-ble - But Only If It Makes You Feel Good

After my scary appearance two weeks ago due to my Bell's Palsy 'episode' - I am practically back to normal.

Of course - I KNEW that I would be one of the 50% who go back to normal within the first month!

A little bit of application of what I have been learning about creating the life I REALLY want helped, of course.

And THAT'S a major key to YOUR (continuing) happiness and success.

YOU should be aiming to create the life that YOU want.

Not the life that other people tell you that you SHOULD be aspiring to.

Not the life that YOU believe that you SHOULD be aiming for.

Nope.

Just the life that makes you feel, well, GOOD!

One of the biggest lessons I've learned - especially over the last few months - is that I am in sole control of how I REACT to other people and events.

I can let the latest scaremongering about the (remote) possibility of being sued for creating mp3 files ruin my day - or I can just get on with what I was doing anyway.

(Which - generally at the moment is watching the Wimbledon Tennis Tournament with my feet up whilst the landscapers toil away in 90 degree heat in my garden!)

I can let the latest moan about whatever a member of my family has or hasn't done make me mad - or I can just let them get on with it and not let the negative talk infect MY thoughts.

It's easy to REACT to other people and situations.

It's so much more difficult to be in CONTROL of what YOU are thinking, doing, and behaving - irrespective of what other people are saying or doing.

The challenge for YOU is to get into your own little 'world' of focusing on what YOU really want for YOURSELF - because, after all - nobody else understands what makes YOU really happy.

Of course - the situation you are currently in might not inspire any particular good-feelings for you.

But I bet that you can LEARN something about what makes you HAPPY by being there!

It's easy to wish your life away - to another job, another relationship, another card paid off, a long-term holiday.

Yet - unless you find something to be happy about NOW - right this moment - then all you are going to do is get more of the same.

Two hours of feeling sorry for yourself at work will NEVER result in you getting a better, more challenging role - that I can guarantee.

The people that make the most of their lives aren't always the ones who drive fast cars, have a massive house with a swimming pool and tennis court.

Quite often - these people are working 100-hour weeks - mortgaged up to their eyeballs - trying to project an image of affluence to other people.

Yet inside - they are literally wasting their lives away.

Happiness (and ultimately success - however you define it) is only the result of a continual process of feeling GOOD about who you are, what you are doing, and why you are doing it.

THAT certainly can't be measured in numbers, property, or awards.

Yet - it's THE most powerful and inspiring thing there is.

YOU can't expect to be happy in your FUTURE when you constantly sit in a place of MISERY now.

Life doesn't work like that.

That's why you can't feel miserable or angry if you are SMILING (properly).

Try it - and you'll see what I mean!

Me - I've just got both sides of MY smile back - and, after having some weeks with only one side of it - I'm glad that, because of that, I can SEE for myself how feeling good about yourself NOW absolutely impacts on how good YOU will feel about yourself in the FUTURE.

Now - back to feeling good about myself!

Why I Keep Winking At My Mother-In-Law

On Tuesday last week I woke up to find that the left half of my tongue felt strange...you know - like when you drink something too hot and burn it?

Well...I couldn't taste anything either.

Strange.

Even stranger was when I woke up last Wednesday and the left side of my lips felt like I had just returned from the dentist - tingly and almost numb.

My left eye also felt blurry and my left ear ached - and so a trip to the doctors for me!

Turns out that I've got 'Bell's Palsy' (my dad, bless him, went around telling everyone that I had cerebal palsy - which is a trillion times more serious!) - you may have heard of it.

Basically - one of the nerves from the brain to face STOPS...they're not sure why - mabye because of infection (well...my glands did come up the next day).

This then means that the muscles on that side of the face DROP and you lose most of the feeling on that side of your face.

Not serious. 50% of cases go back to normal within a month. 99% of people go back to normal within 6 months.

It's just a little uncomfortable and awkward.

Slurping coffee in Starbucks certainly gets me noticed...and my mother-in-law thought that I was winking at her because I can't blink my left eye properly!

Not only that - ANY form of focused eye contact - ie whilst driving, working at my computer, watching TV for longer periods - makes my eye water and itch - as if I've got permanent hay-fever.

I also have some fun-and-games trying to say words that have 'F', 'B', or 'P' in them!

I've resorted to covering my left up whilst I am on my computer just so that I am able to squeeze a little more time out of it... (don't laugh!)...

Yes...I know I look a 'state'...Lesley told me that I should pull the window blind down when I'm working so that the neighbours don't think that I'm practicing being in some dodgy pirate panto!

By about 4pm I need to spend some time with my eyes shut to 'rest' them.

All good fun - I can tell you!

It's certainly changed the way I use my day - that's for sure.

I've suddenly had to become an audio (as opposed to visual) learner. Good job I bought an Ipod a few weeks ago!

So far in the last week I've listened to 17 CDs-worth of spoken-word audio stuff about Spirituality and personal development!

I still manage my daily stroll on the beach to give my eye some fresh air.

The lessons I've learned from this?

- Don't take what is normal for granted
- Look upon it as a challenge to still 'get things done' when you aren't able to do things in the way you usually do
- You may scare young children with your crooked facial expressions!
- As Michael Caine said on a chat show once - I am always looking to "Use The Difficulty" to my advantage to find ways of doing stuff

Thinking about it - these sorts of lessons can be applied by YOU whenever YOU maybe feeling a little under pressure or your situation has changed.

To be honest - this is more of an inconvenience than anything else...and, of course - I WILL be in that first 50% that go back to normal within the first month.

So...my apologies if I don't write too much over the next few weeks (what do you mean I haven't anyway?)...but I'll try my best to give you a continuing positive slant on my 'interesting' life.

And...just for you - here's a picture that I've just taken of myself giving you one of my crooked smiles...

To give you an idea of what my smile SHOULD look like - just cover over the right side of the picture!

And...no - my chin isn't inflamed - I've been growing my 'double chin' by natural means involving too much food and not much exercise!

So...WHATEVER happens to YOU today - make the MOST of what you DO have going for you!

It's usually a LOT more than you think!