"There's always something beautiful to be experienced wherever you are. Right now, look around and select beauty as your focus." –Wayne Dyer
“Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy.” –Anne Frank
It's one thing for a rich and famous man like Wayne Dyer to recommend focusing on beauty. He lives on the island of Maui in the state of Hawaii, and can afford to surround himself with beauty anytime. It's quite another thing for a little girl to write about beauty and happiness in a diary that she isn't sure anyone will ever read, while hiding from the Nazis during World War II. Both of these people have expressed a very important concept that was so well expressed in the Desiderata: "With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world."
Those of us who are able to get outside, or at least look out the window are blessed, because we have plenty of chances to see natural beauty, if we will only pay attention. The deep blue sky, fluffy white clouds, golden sunshine, fresh green grass, and colorful flowers in a garden are only some of the many beautiful things we can focus on. There is beauty in humans, as well, and not just the kind they focus on in the fashion magazines. A smile and caring eyes in a friendly face are beautiful. Hands that have been of service are beautiful, as well.
There are beautiful sounds, too: the laughter and chatter of happy children or of people gathered together for a meal, church bells, birdsong, the rustling of leaves and tall grasses in the wind, or your favorite music.
Right now, you may be angry, grief-stricken, or worried. You may be feeling bitter, fearful, or full of regret. The world may not seem very beautiful to you now, but it is up to you to find the beauty in the world and focus on it. Viktor E. Frankl, a Holocaust survivor, learned a lot about creating happiness while forced to work in Nazi concentration camps. He wrote, "Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."
Those of you who are reading this right now have access to a computer. If you own it, you have the means to surround yourself with as many beautiful images as you desire. Go to Google and type in "flowers" or "green grass" or anything else you would like to see. You can even type in "beautiful images slideshow." You can create your own slide show of images to view whenever you need a pick-me-up, or you can place beautiful images in your screen saver. If you don't own the computer you are using, go, right now, to Google and just select some images to view. Think of your precious time on the computer as your opportunity to surround yourself with beauty.
When you spend even a few minutes a day looking at something beautiful or listening to beautiful sounds, you will find your mood lifting, and you can think more creatively. When you get into the habit of focusing on beauty wherever you go throughout the day, you begin to find happy little surprises waiting for you each day. When you pay attention to the beautiful things as you encounter them, it is easier to recall what you have seen or heard later. In the dead of night when you are alone in your room, your memories of beauty can be a great comfort. :-)
No comments:
Post a Comment