By Fred Cavaiani
Happy New Year. We begin 2018. Yes, there is much unnecessary tension in the world. But it is a new year. At the beginning of each year hope and optimism seem to be always with us. It is important to make hope and optimism part of our inner attitude toward life. To do this it becomes important to understand what things we can do to make this happen. The biggest mistake most people make is to believe that what is happening outside of us is what determines how we think and feel. Whoever is in charge of politics and whatever is portrayed to us on the news media does not have to determine our happiness or hope. So much of this is momentary fluff which can be enlarged into making us believe that life can be miserable in 2018. The truth: It is our inner attitude and viewpoint about the purpose of our life that brings meaning and hope to the present moment.
How do you discover the purpose of your life? How does one remain positive when what is happening around us seems tension filled and negative? Is happiness defined by what is happening outside of us? Of course not! Happiness is a by product of an inner attitude that is grounded in quiet reflection and an inner attitude of consistently showing love and compassion toward others in action and in thoughts.
To live daily in some quiet reflection forces us to go deeper within ourselves and experience what our true values are. Life is meant to be lived with inner silence in our life. It helps us to have a deeper experience of God and a deeper experience of our own personal self. It means that we will be changing for the better. This change can be difficult when we are used to condemning others and being judgmental politically, socially, and spiritually towards other people and other countries and towards everyone who sees things differently than we do. This is why we need a lot of time for meditative reflection and a lot of effort made to be kind and compassionate toward others. These two principles are simple but so hard to do. Have you ever been around people who are positive and compassionate and attentive compassionate listeners to you? 2018 needs reflective and compassionate people. Every person can become a reflective and compassionate person. But this will not happen by telling people in a condemning manner what they should be doing. It will happen by being a reflective and compassionate person for your own personal self. Doing this frees you to bring the wisdom and love of a compassionate God to everyone by your positive and gentle attitude and willingness not to be condemning and judgmental towards others.
Life is really very simple. We simply complicate things because we are afraid to be simple. In 2018, be simple by taking daily time to be quiet and reflective and consistently making the effort to be loving and caring towards everyone. It will allow you to have a positive 2018. It will also allow you to live in the present moment with more meaning because the present moment is always the time to be quietly reflective and lovingly compassionate. It is what makes us fully alive in love and keeps us in a profound connection with the Source of everything. Be grateful. Be reflective. Be loving. It will allow you to genuinely enjoy life.
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Fred Cavaiani is a licensed marriage & family therapist and psychotherapist with a private practice in Troy. He is the founder of Marriage Growth Center, a consultant for the Detroit Medical Center, and Henry Ford Medical Center. He conducts numerous programs for groups throughout Southeastern Michigan he is also on staff at Capuchin Retreat Center in Washington, MI. His column in the Legal News runs every other week. He can be reached at 248-362-3340. His e-mail address is: Fredcavi@yahoo.com and his website is fredthecounselor.com.
Published: Thu, Jan 04, 2018
