Day 258; The Eagle Has Landed

The Eagle Has Landed

Yesterday, between all of the travel and lecturing, I had the opportunity to connect with one of the most beautiful people on the planet. Her name is Sandra Evers Manly and her day job is with Northrup Grumman as the VP of corporate responsibility. In this job, she is a woman of purpose and she allows that purpose to transform the lives of everyone she meets. I love this woman and the way she changes the world around her.

Whenever I mention her name to someone who knows her, that person lights up and talks about how they now feed the homeless, or volunteer at a community garden. Folks tell me how their job performance has increased because of the skills and love she shares on the job. Everyone should have a colleague like Sandra.

I also had the opportunity yesterday to sit and watch the Homegoing Celebration of Neil Armstrong. When I was still a girl, we believed that  someday man would go to the moon and I can remember the day it happened. On that day, everyone stopped doing what they were doing to pay attention and watch.

According to the folks who loved him, Neil didn’t feel that he deserved the honor of being the first to step on another world, but everyone else knew that he was the one to do it. At the age of 12 he had already built a wind tunnel and knew that he wanted to fly and then fly some more.

When Diana Krull sang Fly me to The Moon, I thought back to the day we all watched Neil and the others take the giant leap for mankind.

Whenever I land anywhere, I call home to tell my folks that I have arrived. They know that they will hear my favorite phrase; “The beagle has landed, I repeat the beagle has landed.”

Neil and Sandra are a lot alike; yes one is a white man and the other is a black woman (I’ll let you figure out which is which,) but both are live out their dreams in epic proportions; Neil went to the moon and in doing so he taught us all to believe, and Sandra enables others to fly as high as possible to be the best they can be.

I got on my third flight of the day and landed for the third time, but it was late, so I sent a text message; The beagle has landed.

Be you, Dream well, Fly high

Bertice Berry, PhD.

Order the book A Year to wellness and start flying TODAY

Day 257; Happiness Can be Learned

Happiness Can Be Learned

Last night I gave a lecture, got on a redeye flight, and then flew back across the country to give another lecture. I should be tired, but I’m too happy to be. Nothing happened to make me happy; I just decided to be that way.

Research on happiness indicates that it really is that easy; it’s making the decision that’s difficult. We have learned to be miserable. We don’t seek sadness, but we choose things that lead us that way.

When we focus and strive for the extrinsic goals of status, money and image, and ignore the real wealth of personal growth, relationships and a sense of community, we are trading a life of happiness for the frustration of chasing our own tail or tale whichever you prefer.

Happiness is a skill that once learned, can help you function better in every area of your life.

·         Find ways to play

·         Get closer to friends and family

·         Do meaningful acts of kindness (okay I guess I didn’t need to write meaningful)

·         Appreciate life, loved ones and everything you can. Actually count your blessings

·         Think happy thoughts

Find the movie Happy and watch with someone who makes you smile(The Happy Movie)

There are more happiness skills but I’m tired, loopy and happy.

Go out today and make yourself happy.

Be you, be well, be happy

Bertice Berry, PhD.

Order the book A Year to Wellness and start your journey TODAY

Day 256; What's Happening Right Now?

Sitting low..

What’s Happening Right Now?

Okay, I’m going to keep this one brief; I’m in a hotel room that has one of those chairs that won’t adjust up. So I’m sitting down low and reaching up to the key board like a character from a Carol Burnett skit. (Go Google it youngsters.)

Anyway, I want you to read this then stop and pay close attention to what’s happening now. Then I want you to think again and see what’s really happening.

After reading this next paragraph, close your eyes (I can hear my mother saying, “I’m not closing my eyes. That’s how you get your pocketbook taken,”) ignore my mom and close them anyway.

When you do think about what is happening right now. Give it about a moment (which by the way is 3 minutes) and then come back to the next paragraph.

Okay, now, what came to your mind? Did you think of what had not been done and what you needed to get back to? Did you think of the argument you had last, or the bill you need to pay?

Obviously, there is much more going on than what came to mind first. We tend to think of the things that are somewhat broken because we want to get better and we want to find solutions.

You have what you need, but you have to get past the everyday stuff of life to get to it.

Now, I’d like you to close your eyes again and see all that is wonderful in your world right now. I’d like you to see the good that always exists right next to everything else.

Imagine the most wonderful solution to your situation and see yourself smiling.

Here’s the thing; life happens, and it is as the young folks say, all good.

So I’m sitting low, thinking high and hoping you can see just how good you have it.

Be you, be well, be the happening.

Bertice Berry, PhD.

Order the book A Year to Wellness and start your journey TODAY

Maintenance just came with a new chair
and now I'm sitting as I imagined

Day 255; The Way You See The World...

...and let it begin with me

The Way You See Things

Yesterday, while reading the book 72 Names of God; Technology for the Soul, by Yehuda Berg, I came to the subject of Global Transformation. In this section we are reminded that peace begins inside the individual.

“Before we can embark on a mission to change the world, we must transform ourselves,” it read. I’d read this many times before, both here and in other text. Then I came upon a passage that shook me to my core;

“That which our eyes witness out in the external world, all the evil, all the wickedness, is but a mirror image reflecting the remains of evil that lay hidden and undetected in our hearts.”

WOW!

I read the passage and then read it again, then I began to see why in a world full of goodness, we chose to see the darkness. I understood why the nightly news reflects the negative and barely touches on the positive and I could see why after 24 hours in an entire day, I sometimes only think of what my children did wrong.

I began to look back at myself and realized how much more work I had to do and was thankful that the year is not over and I still have time to change.

What do you see?

I’ve got an early flight and I’ve decided that I am overjoyed about it. The way I see it, there is much to do and I can make a difference.

I’m starting with me.

How do you see the world?

Be you, be well, See Peace,

Bertice Berry, PhD.

Order teh book A Year to Wellness and start your journey TODAY

Day 254; We're Trying To Do Something Here

No thank-you, I'm trying to do something here.

We’re Trying to Do Something Here

I won’t keep you long. I just wanted to share with you a little mantra that seems to be working for me.

At the end of June I officially became a member of the menopause club. My doctor offered me the magic pill that would start my period again, but I told her that I would be buying a  white pant suit instead.

When the small bursts of heat began to flash at the upper part of my body, I made the logical connection between my thoughts and the heat; when I was angry, frustrated, fearful or worried, I felt the rush. I no longer get those heat burst; I have learned to change my thoughts and my body has responded.

Sounds crazy I know, but start the practice and see what happens for you.

Anyway, what I had been having trouble with is all of the other crazy little things that come along with it. Sometimes I want candy that I’ve never ever liked. Sometimes I want to skip my daily “exercise” routines and sometimes I just can’t write.

Here’s the good news, my little mantra that seems to be working has been working on everything and it’s simply this;

“We’re trying to do something here.”

I say it when I want to go off course, when I want to get angry, when I feel the need to tell folks who have been on my nerves that they are on my nerves. When I feel compelled to tell my children to go swim the English Channel, I tell myself, “We’re trying to do something here.”

When I want to eat something ridiculous, like the Oreo cupcakes my daughter made last night, “We’re trying to do something here.”

It’s a way of reminding yourself that you have a bigger goal; the outcome of which is greater than the momentary pleasure of the temptation to go off course.

Stay on the course of becoming your best.

Soon you will say, I’ve done something here.

Be you, be well, be wonderful.

Bertice Berry, PhD.

Order the book A Year to Wellness and start your journey TODAY

Day 253; Is That My Dream

Is That My Dream

This morning I overslept, but that’s because I was over-tired. I pulled myself out of the dream I had been having. In that dream, I was inside of someone else’s life. “This is not my dream,” I told myself. As soon as I did, I woke up wondering where I was.

It’s a little bit sad when you wake up in your own bed wondering where you are. I expect it to happen when I’m on the road traveling going from one very nice hotel to the next. When I’m at home however, in a room that has been wonderfully sanitized by my sister Christine, I should always know where I am.

I realized that I had been a little shaken by the dream, so I shook myself back into myself and got up to write; which takes me back to the point; are you living in someone else’s dream?

I’ve met so many people who tell me that they are not happy. As they reveal more and more about their unhappiness, it becomes very clear that they are not living their own dreams. They may or may not be living on the income of someone else but the real truth is that they have checked out on their own desires.

Today, I’d like you to take a very difficult look at your own life. Are you living what someone else wants for you, or are you living out what you want for you?

It’s an easy question to ask, but very, very difficult to answer.

You may have to do what I’m about to do; go back to bed and sleep on it.

Be you, be well, be your own dreams.

Bertice Berry, PhD.

Order the book A Year to Wellness and start your journey TODAY

Day 252; Everything You Need

Everything You Need

Yesterday, I spoke with a group of adult students at The Ultimate Medical Academy. They were all getting degrees and certifications in the field they already worked in; healthcare.

Now, I love to learn and I love anyone who takes time out of their busy lives to learn more about their profession; dedicating time and great effort to get better.

One of my favorite quotes came from Dr. Martin Luther King. He said, “Rarely do we find men (and women) who willingly engage in hard solid thinking. There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think.”

Having to think is what keeps folks from pursuing their dreams and striving to be more. I believe that the kind of thinking that King is talking about rewards us with our hearts desires.

Yesterday, while speaking to the students, I went around the room and asked these incredible mentors and leaders, if they had the role of Health Care Ambassador, what would it be.

There answers were amazingly parsimonious and had the ability to meet the needs of any healthcare provider.

One said that he’d be the ambassador of pharmaceutical controls and another said she’d be in charge of diversity. One young man said that he would be the liaison of respect; respect for the patient, the employee and the employer. Someone told me that they would be the ambassador of confidence and someone else said continued learning, while one woman simply said caring.

I smiled and took in the moment because it occurred to me that everything we needed we already possessed.

When you take the time to think, learn and apply the lessons of education you improve yourself, your family, your community and the world we live in.

We have what we need; now go and get it.

Be you, be well, be a thinker.

Bertice Berry, PhD.

Order the book A Year to Wellness and start your journey TODAY