There has been a media blitz about how great our Governor is as he is about to be recalled. The TV ads and mailings are slick and made me think maybe Governor Walker is not so good. But today reality set in. I got a call from a friend who is in the hospital, talked with another person whose cancer has returned and a friend who has been suffering pain for a long time. What they all have in common is that they are low income African Americans women who struggle with health care cost. I also took a friend, low income white male, with a mental illness to get some needed furniture and ran into a bureaucratic nightmare. My illusions about Governor Walker quickly disappeared. He has raised taxes on low income person and cut back on health insurance benefits.
Also today I heard on Public Radio a woman talk about how we need to find joy and fulfillment in life right now not when something happens, when we get a job, get married or lose weight. She had a mantra something like: “Be the thoughts of joy now that you want to see in the future”. It reminded me of Gandhi’s quote: “My Life is my message. You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”
So with all the news about friends facing illness and confusion I am seeking and finding joy in my daily life. It was even more difficult to do this today since we had our first major snowfall and I have a cold.
However, I did find looking for joy in the moment worked a little, even on this day. I am not talking about “thinking positive” or something like that. It is more like living in the present moment and seeing my thoughts of joy in what is happening in the present.
Seeing the thoughts of joy in the present is not deceptive, base on half truths, like the perception the Governor is trying to create.
Walker’s perception is in the media and out there. But thoughts of joy is not something out there but in us. Thoughts of joy are in us and can be lived in the present.
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