A Survival Kit for 2017

Written by Tony Mussari, Sr.
Edited by Kitch Loftus-Mussari
Copyright 2016
Mussari-Loftus Associates
The Face of America Project

The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in. Morrie Schwartz

“As we begin the New Year, none of us has to be reminded about the alarming state of affairs in our nation and our world. Those of us who are blessed with children and grandchildren worry about their future, their safety and the contentiousness that has become a way of life for so many people who are alienated, frightened and alone.” Those words were written in our blog on January 1, 2016. I think most people would agree that not much has changed in 365 days.

Rather than provide a litany of the negative obstacles we will face in the New Year, Kitch and I decided to focus our attention on some of the positive things we can do to make life more enjoyable. What follows here is a number of insights from people we think will enhance our lives and bring us peace and joy.

Resolve to Be Happy

Your success and happiness lies in you. Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties. Helen Keller

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds in its publication Gulls and Man documents the fact that seagulls are resourceful, inquisitive and intelligent. Seagulls symbolize friendship, freedom, community, cooperation and effective communication.

In his celebrated book, Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Richard Bach wrote these insightful words:

We can lift ourselves out of ignorance, we can find ourselves as creatures of excellence and intelligence and skill.

Every problem has a gift for you in its hands.

If your happiness depends on what someone else does, I guess you do have a problem.

Anton Chekhov gave us this advice in his book The Seagull:

I understand that in our work – doesn’t matter whether it’s acting or writing – what’s important isn’t fame or glamour, none of the things I used to dream about, it’s the ability to endure.

Change Your Habits

Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. Albert Einstein,

These three words provide a roadmap for success. They were applied with great effectiveness by Nick Pokoluk, the author of Scourge of the Ages: Glycation, and Diabetes, Cancer, Heart Disease, Alzheimer’s and Aging.

The American Cancer Society estimates that 1.68 million Americans will be diagnosed with some form of cancer this year.

The majority of all cancers are not inherited. Two out of every three cancers are lifestyle related. We need to spend more time examining and talking about lifestyle and environmental causes of cancer.

According to Nick, the three pillars of health and longevity are: diet, physical activity and mind body attitudes.

If we learn these fundamental principles, and we pay close attention to what we eat, how we exercise and what we put in our mind, we can live a longer, healthier, happier life.

Og Mandino knew a great deal about breaking bad habits. He was a successful speaker and author who was inducted into the National Speakers Association Speaker Hall of Fame.

Good habits are the key to all success. Bad habits are the unlocked door to failure.

Mind Over Matter

When I was a youngster, I often heard these three words. Recently I found a poem that captures the essence of the gift my mother wanted her three children to have:

May Light always surround you;
Hope kindle and rebound you.

May your Hurts turn to Healing;
Your Heart embrace Feeling.
May Wounds become Wisdom;
Every Kindness a Prism.
May Laughter infect you;
Your Passion resurrect you.
May Goodness inspire
your Deepest Desires.
Through all that you Reach For,
May your arms Never Tire.
D. Simone

Think Positive

The Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Ellen Goodman helped us to better understand how we can approach the New Year with a positive attitude.

We spend January 1st walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives…not looking for flaws, but for potential.

William Arthur Ward is recognized as one of America’s most inspirational authors. I like to think of him as the father of positive thinking. His advice is captured is a special way in this poem:

Another fresh new year is here . . .
To banish worry, doubt, and fear,
To love and laugh and give!

This bright new year is given me
To live each day with zest . . .
To daily grow and try to be
My highest and my best!

I have the opportunity
Once more to right some wrongs,
To pray for peace, to plant a tree,
And sing more joyful songs!

Make Good Choices

In the end, life is about the choices. No one makes it through life with without scars. In 2017, Kitch and I will follow the advice contained in these pearls of wisdom:

Celebrate what you want to see more of. Tom Peters

One resolution I have made, and try always to keep, is this — To rise above the little things. John Burroughs

I am what I am today because of the choices I made yesterday. Stephen R. Covey,

Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man. Benjamin Franklin

Hope
Smiles from the threshold of the year to come,
Whispering ‘it will be happier’… Alfred Tennyson

Peace and Unconditional Love

In 1955, Jill Jackson Miller and Sy Miller wrote a song that became an American classic, Let There Be Peace on Earth. During an interview, Jill Jackson Miller said she wrote the song after she discovered the “the life-saving joy of God’s peace and unconditional love.”

The lyrics of the beautiful song capture those priceless treasures, and they teach us how “to give out love, and to let it come in”:

Let there be peace on earth
And let it begin with me.

Let there be peace on earth
The peace that was meant to be.
With God as our Father
Brothers all are we.
Let me walk with my brother
In perfect harmony.

Let peace begin with me
Let this be the moment now.
With every step I take
Let this be my solemn vow.
To take each moment
And live each moment
With peace eternally.
Let there be peace on earth,
And let it begin with me.

(child)
Let there be peace on earth

And let it begin with me.
Let there be peace on earth
The peace that was meant to be.
With God as our Father
Brothers all are we.
Let me walk with my brother
In perfect harmony.

Let peace begin with me
Let this be the moment now.
With every step I take
Let this be my solemn vow.
To take each moment
And live each moment
In peace eternally.
Let there be peace on earth
And let it begin with me.

We hope 2017 will be a year peace, happiness, love and good health for you and the people you love.

Happy New Year and God Bless America.

Please provide feedback to:
tony.mussari@gmail.com