a change in attitude is better than taking pills

I wrote in an earlier blog about my epiphany - the "light bulb" moment that changed my life.

Reflecting on that event I have come to a number of conclusions:

• being positive made me feel better about myself
• feeling better about myself got me to start exercising and feeling healthier
• i started performing better at work
• i took up hobbies that I had been putting off, ignoring, not doing anything about: photography, blogging, writing, starting my own businesses
• this made me feel even better about myself
• which made me see the world in a different, less dark, light
• which in turn made me happy

This is only one man's experience but I think that the lesson is don't put off to tomorrow all those dreams and plans that you have left in the "ideas to be acted on one day" cupboard.

There is no downside, only upside.

It beats wasting time in front of the TV.

And it feels great to feel great.

Creativity

All my life I was jealous of creative people. Creative people were those who wrote or played beautiful music, painted, sculpted, penned books or poetry, made movies.

It never occurred to me that photography was just as creative, just as much an art. Anyone could take a photo, right? Just point and click and bingo, a picture. So how in heaven's name could that be creative?

Well, the answer to that question is obvious if you take the time to look at the photographs being published by photographers, both professional and amateur. Visit Fotopedia and see how people see the world thrrough the lens of a camera. The images are breathtaking, awesome, beautiful, inspiring.

Photography most definitely is an art. Perhaps we all have an element of creativity in us, we simply have to look for it.

Shocked, stunned, and not a little bit amazed...

I had an epiphany!

I actually had to look up the word in the dictionary to confirm that "an epiphany" is what I had actually experienced.

Basically it is an emotional/pyschological kick in the head resulting in an "awakening" of sorts.

Without delving into the details, in the middle of a conversation with my boss it dawned on me that I was a "glass half empty" person, and it shocked me!

At 54, it occurred to me that I had spent the vast majority of my life believing the worst. If I knew someone was talking about me then it has to be a bad thing. If I caught a cold then it had to be the beginnings of pneumonia. Chest pains, rather than being caused by stressed muscles, were an indication of a soon-to-be heart attack.

Life is simply too short to waste. Yes it throws out constant challenges. Yes many of the people in the world are struggling, hungry, under siege from illness, war, and financial hardship. And yes maybe smiling won't contribute to a solution to these challenges.

Bit it won't harm! And in a best case scenario it might actually help us all think more clearly about how to solve some of our real or perceived problems.

Laughter really is the best medicine. Smiling and being positive in the face of adversity can help. And maybe, just maybe, the problem we face, or think we face, is not quite as large or dark as we think.