Parkplatz-Karma

Ich habe bei mir beobachtet, dass mein Parkplatz-Glück davon abhängig zu sein scheint, wie meine allgemeine Stimmungslage in den letzten Wochen gewesen ist. Je zufriedener und erfüllter ich mich in meinem Leben fühle, desto leichter finde ich auch in den vollsten Straßen tolle Parkplätze.

Da, wo ich jetzt lebe, braucht man kein Parkplatz-Glück. Hier ist reichlich Platz vorhanden. Für alles. Die Malls haben riesige Parkplätze, die niemals auch nur zum Drittel gefüllt sind, selbst zu Weihnachten. Man ist hier schrecklich verwöhnt, was das angeht. Andrew jammert z.B. schon Stunden bevor wir losfahren, wenn unser Zielort in der nahe gelegenen Stadt liegt. Es ist eine Großstadt, aber kommt mit dem schon nahe. Im Zentrum muss man daher manchmal tatsächlich ein paar Minuten nach einem Parkplatz suchen. Und dann liegt er auch nicht direkt vor der Eingangstür sondern etwas weiter entfernt. Das ist oft schon richtig stressig für ihn.

Aber ich will ja nicht über ihn lästern. Ich selber bin jetzt nach vier Jahren, die ich hier lebe, auch schon sehr verwöhnt. Wenn ich z. B. meinen wöchentlichen Einkauf bei Walmart mache und nicht einen der Parkplätze gleich am Eingang kriege und dann 10 Meter weiter laufen muss als normalerweise, bekomme ich auch schon schlechte Laune.

Jaja, so sind die Menschen.

Aber worüber ich eigentlich heute schreiben wollte, ist mein Parkplatz-Karma in Berlin. In dieser Stadt ist ein gutes Parkplatz-Karma einfach unbezahlbar. Besonders, wenn man mit Mietwagen in wenigen Tagen so viele Verabredungen wie möglich abklappern will.

Faith Moves Mountains

Sometimes I'm afraid. I look at my salary and wonder how to get along when I am old without ever having saved money for retirement. Whenever I think that I could lose my job here in the US my throat feels tight because I would lose my health insurance, too. My worries grow when I imagine all the horrible scenarios that could happen. But I believe in the power of self-fulfilling prophecy, especially when it`s about fears. That's why I'm always looking for ways to replace my fears with trust.

When I worry I am usually worried about money. As long as I lived in Germany I didn`t think much about that topic. I felt quite safe. As a bookseller and then as a secretary I surely didn`t earn very much, but it was enough for everything I needed. I knew that my retirement money wouldn`t be much, but that didn`t bother me. I would indeed be poor, but even then I would somehow get by because the German system would take care of my basic needs.

Multiple Personalities

Are people with the multiple personality disorder proof of men's ability to shape the body only by thoughts? And how come that I can't do it, too?

I haven't met people with multiple personalities yet (I guess that people with schizophrenia or bipolar disorders don't count, though it sometimes feels as if these people host completely different personalities, too). I know this disease only from thrillers where imaginative authors used the drama of these poor people to their stories' advantage.

I'm reading a book that focuses on the healing of poor eyesight. In it, people with multiple personality disorders are used as an example of the fact that the different personalities that share the same body can also have different visual acuities.

Mind Over Matter: Can You Get a Seat in Business Class Just by Thinking About It?

Our thoughts create reality. I know that but I keep forgetting it. But if I remember that, I have an astonishing ability to change circumstances.

There is a simple little trick to inwardly prepare for unpleasant situations because sometimes we think we can't avoid those situations. Maybe you think that it is your duty to regularly meet your family even though some of them are often very crabby. Or maybe you are willing to suffer from back pain on long intercontinental flights because you know that without these trips you wouldn't be able to see new countries. Or maybe you are afraid of tests but since they are very important for your career you are willing to take them anyway.

These are all situations that are uncomfortable for us but often we decide to go through them anyway because they are important to us. But how can we make these kinds of situations easier?

What My Big Buttocks Can Reveal about Me

Our body is often only a reflection and not the cause of the feelings that we experience. My weight was a perfect symbol of all my feelings I carried with me since early childhood. I always had the impression that I was somehow wrong and I never felt I was part of something. I was always isolated. The more I struggled to fit in, the heavier I became. It was only when I began to tackle my inner conflicts directly and solve them, instead of making myself "fit" through diets, that I found a way to permanently lose weight.

The Misogynist Milk Drinker

In my day job, I work with a guy who often used the Half & Half and then complained as soon as it was empty (instead of replacing the empty box with a new one). Every time he did that I got upset. Actually, just thinking about it made me upset. But the funny thing is that others in my office didn’t seem to be bothered by his behavior at all. It was just me.

In  my last post I wrote about how my judgmental thinking causes all my emotions and how changing my thinking can change my feelings. That's why I took a close look at my thoughts about this colleague of mine. I noticed that there was a lot of negative thinking involved. His behavior bothered me because I thought that he is lazy and is lacking any respect for women. The way I understood his behavior was that he seemed to expect that the women in the office were supposed to fill the fridge with fresh Half & Half.

Not a trick question: What differentiates a squirrel from a seagull?

My answer: It depends on how we look at it.

On December 1st, 2014, it was unusually warm after we had a big snowstorm with very cold temperatures the week before. I took my lunch out and sat for half an hour outside on a bench. One of these large but extremely cute gray North American squirrels came up to me. It clearly hoped to get some food from me. It circled me once and then jumped on my bench and sniffed my pocketbook extensively. I was blown away. This animal looked soooooo cute with its bushy tail, little nose, tiny beady eyes, and his funny way of moving, half walking and half hopping. SIMPLY ADORABLE, I thought. And besides, it had been a long time since a squirrel had been so close to me. You see them here everywhere, but they are almost always very shy. However, this one wasn`t.

What are YOUR feelings bringing into your life?

Your thoughts and feelings attract things and events that fit to them. If you are worried, that feeling will invite situations that make you even more worried. But if you manage to stay calm and serene, these feelings will attract things that conform with these feelings.

What happens if I react to a crisis with poise and confidence?

Do you hate exercising? Then don't do it!

Everything in my life boils down to how I feel. If I feel good, I am full of optimism, energy, and ideas. If I feel sad, frustrated, alone, inferior, etc., the opposite is the case. It's logical, isn't it? That is the reason why I am so interested in finding methods (and then actually applying them) that help me to get over my lows. But I also want to make sure that I get rid of the thought patterns that made me feel so bad in the first place.

And that is exactly the reason why I do not exercise anymore.

What is my real age?

Two weeks ago, early in the morning, I stood in semi-darkness in front of our bedroom mirror and got dressed. I saw my face in the reflection and was surprised about what I noticed. I immediately went to Andrew who was in the bathroom and asked if he noticed how tired and old I looked this morning. I was wondering out loud if an oncoming cold was the reason for my tired looking face.

Andrew stared at me aghast. By the look on his face I could tell that he did not find that I had changed. I came to the conclusion that I had apparently reached the age where a woman might look old and tired in the morning.

Interesting, I thought, and how nice that I didn't care much. For I look now, in my 40s, much better than I did in my mid-twenties. At least I think so. Although I had no wrinkles in my twenties, I was already very overweight, which got even worse later on.