There are some truths that we need to be reminded of over & over. They may be trite truths, but life is so overwhelming that we tend to forget them. "You cannot always control your circumstances, but you can always control your thoughts."
For the past few months I have been very depressed. I have been teaching for over thirty years and as I've mentioned several times, I'm ready to retire. I can't stand doing the same thing year after year after year.
But I am not here to complain; I am here to explain. I can't control my circumstances -- for financial reasons I must continue to teach awhile longer -- I can control my thoughts -- I need to not be so depressed about my situation. And I know that is easier said than done.
My situation is not bad: I receive a handsome salary; my working hours are not long; I am healthy; I have a home, friends, food, shelter. So why am I depressed? Because I have trouble controlling my thoughts. As one man once said, In my life I've had more trouble with myself than with any other human being I know. I know what I should do -- cheer up, buck up, muddle through -- but I am having trouble not being depressed.
Let me interrupt this diatribe with a funny little story told by a colleague. He, like me, has had to teach the same material to class after class year after year. He once thought he'd like to ask his class if they minded if he wore headphones while he lectured them. The headphones would not be the kind of headphones that pipe music into your head -- the headphones would be the kind you wear when you are operating a loud machine -- It cuts out all sound. He can't stand hearing his own voice. He can't stand hearing himself say the same thing over & over & over.
One must see the funny side of things. A bad mood is a form of pollution. You may not be able to control your situation, but you should try hard to control your thoughts. Cheer up. Life could be a lot worse. We could be living in a war torn country where death is a real possibility. We could be living in a country where food is scarce and starvation is a real possibility.
It is only when things get very bad that people look back to what they considered to be bad times & see that actually, life back then was pretty great.
It is hard to control one's thoughts -- sometimes it seems that it is almost harder to control one's thoughts than to control one's circumstances. But one must try to control thoughts: thoughts should be under one's control--circumstances often are not under one's control. A bad mood is a form of pollution. A good mood blesses us & cheers up those around us.
Copyright © 2004 Henry Morgenstein