The hills are alive….with the sound of music. If you’ve ever heard those lyrics, you know they’re from the classic favorite movie, The Sound of Music. My daughter, Erin, was cast as Maria, which was an extraordinary experience for her. As a proud mother, I was able to travel to Springfield, Missouri, to see her in the beautiful Springfield Little Theatre to perform 9 out of her 15 performances. Now let me just tell you what happened when I heard the songs sung nine different times. For weeks, they wouldn’t leave my brain! I’d wake up in the night and the song would be going through my head, Do, a deer, a female deer, Re, a drop of golden sun…, etc. I’d wake up in the morning singing, “These are a few of my favorite things!” It was like a jingle from a commercial that would not go away! You know what I mean, an annoying jingle like “Liberty, Liberty, Liberty.....Liberty.”
Now don’t get me wrong. I loved all the songs! But they were downloaded into my soul and they kept coming out when I least expected it. Even when I sent my daughter a text one day I asked her, “What will my day be like…I wonder.” (Another line from a song in the play.) Anyway, it went on for weeks. It made me think that what we put in our minds is going to automatically come out. It reminds me of the scripture, “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.”
Think about what you watch on television, read in books, listen to on the radio or podcasts. If you watch and listen long enough, they’ll be rooted inside you. In light of that, negative people usually feed upon negative materials. (Remember the saying, “Garbage in, garbage out”?) My stepfather watches CNN at least ten hours a day, so, you can imagine the negative news that comes out of his mouth on a daily basis.
What kind of people do you hang around with? If you listen to negative people, you will be infected with that toxic negative spirit. So be careful what you take in on a daily basis. Spend time listening to people who are positive, encouraging, and inspirational.
There's a sad sort of clanking from the clock in the hall and the bells in the steeple, too. And up in the nursery an absurd little bird Is popping up to say Cuckoo! Cuckoo! Cuckoo! Regretfully they tell us, but firmly they compel us, to say goodbye to you.
Sorry, it’s still in my head.
Desi
The Attitude Adjuster
Your Stress Less Coach