The Magical Mystery Tour Of Life: A Moment With Bill Reflection

I happened recently to have read the book SUCCEEDING WHEN YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO FAIL by Brafman. A big difference in how well one copes with unfortunate circumstances is in how small or big one thinks the "change the things I can" circle is compared with the "things I cannot change" circle.

You shine like a diamond, crisscrossing musical trails, carry on my friend.

Great hub! You have been to the abyss but survived and now you find life precious. I love life also. It was Henry David Thoreau who said, "Most men live lives of quiet desperation." And it is true. So many are dead inside-no spark, so bitter that they cannot enjoy life. Your article is a wake-up call to these people. Hope they read it and take heed.

You always have a great message to us readers or to other writers and so much enjoyed learning from your hubs.

Hi Bill,

Your creativity is endless and such a joy to read with a very important message too. It is all about choices and paths to take. We have all made good and bad ones. it is ironic you talk about color and vibrancy. I have always thought of myself no matter how bad things have been, and they have been bad, in terms of bright colors not wishy-washy pale ones. Some black and white but no grey unlike you know who! LOL Thanks Bill for your encouraging words. it never fails to impress me by the way how suitable the photo of Bev is to many different captions -love it so much!

You described the fact that you were dead once, just like the dead people that you see today. To open your eyes, and it is earthshaking, shows what you had been missing all those years. To be reborn, to see what was in front of you all those years, to embrace LIFE once again is a great feat. You did it, and I am proud of you. The nice thing is, that you pay your joy forward, again and again. To awaken life again in another is the best reward that life has to offer. Yes, Mr.Holland, you are a MAN, and even better, a damn good MAN.

Ha ha LOL You are funny, billybuc.

It really is a fantastic hub.

OH billybuc this was fantastic.

Had to press all the buttons except funny.

Although I am sure , knowing you, that there's a little humour in there too.

Very, very encouraging hub. Thank you.

What a pleasure it is, Bill, to read your positive exhortations about viewing and living life in a positive way. Your philosophy is my philosophy and it has guided my life and sundry careers for more decades than any reasonable person could expect. Yes, indeed, I AM older than soil! May you continue to remind us, my friend, of the importance of a positive attitude and humor in one's life.

Hi, Bill,

Quite an enthusiastic hub and response from the readers!

My Mother used to say, "Always smile when you are out in public. They will wonder what you have just done, or what

are you about to do?"

Good advice, I have followed.

Have a great weekend.

DJ.

Hi Bill,

You know I how I feel and had just written on the same subject before you published this one! I see that a lot of writers seem to be on the same wave-length in publishing on the same topics at times, in synch.

I am catching up here on HP, as I stopped in to see my little one with the broken wing last night on my way home from work, and she is healing just fine! So smiles all around this day.

I did not get in until so very late, and my eyes were so heavy, I had to just go on to bed.

Thanks for another great write here.

Hugs, Faith Reaper

I totally agree with you on how people themselves make their lives happy ones.

I certainly think it will be more than one :)

This is an excellent reminder to those who read and take heed, we have a CHOICE in our happiness. You are wise and very helpful with your hubs.

Bill,

Your words and insights are contagious in all the right ways. Much enjoyed. Voted WAY UP!

Best to you my friend,

Kim

Bill,

There is this beautiful quote in the Veda, the Hindu Scriptures: If the world we live in was not beautiful why would gods come and live with people.

You perceptions reflects the same spirit.

Me again Bill. Rereading your article reminded me of something R.D. Laing wrote in "The Politics of Experience"-------"But what we think is less than what we know; what we know is less than what we love; what we love is so much less than what there is. And to that precise extent we are so much less than what we are" Have a great weekend my friend.

Once again my friend Right On----Believe it or not I still have and listen to my Leo Buscaglia tapes. Yes tapes not CDs. As he said he was shocked to learn that he had the copyright on "Love" go figure. Both my wife and I have learned to smell the roses. For sure I still get upset with things and go off on my political and societal rants more than some would like. That too is me though. I can do that and still enjoy hiking in the mountains or sitting on the front porch at the farm with a tall glass of ice tea and just watch the world go by.

Aloha, Bill!

I definitely want to be that Jimmy Stewart character in "It's a Wonderful Life!"

Thank you for the surprise in the mirror this morning, a wake up call that both elevates and motivates.

Reading billybuc is damn good medicine for complacency and zombieism.

With that, I wish you a zesty weekend and take you full circle--

Aloha, Bill!

~Joe

Billy, I so needed to read this today! Thank you for gently pushing me back onto the path this morning. Sometimes things can really get you down to the point where you can't see the way back up; or worse yet, you don't really feel like looking for it. Somehow the heaviness of the despair is comforting, for awhile. Comes a time you know you need a leg up, or a helping hand out of the shadows! Thanks for the reminder, my friend ;) Pearl

Voted Up++++

Fortunately I have never ventured down the road of liquid in a bottle but I sure wish I could stay out of the candy box - or the chocolate box. I guess we all have our vices but learning to deal with them is probably the best way.

I am a people watcher and it is something I love to do and you are so right Billy. I see those same dead people, walking our streets everyday! This serves as a really good reminder for all of us, who sometimes don't always appreciate the hand we have been dealt. For today, and for all the days in front of me, I hope I shall embrace my life and go forth and live them to the full. Thank you Billy.

remember the white Rabbit and the dormouse....

Great message and very interesting way of sharing it Bill!

Mark

Awesome Hub. One of the best. Thanks for the advice. You are so right. We are here for such a short time and that time flies by quickly.

This is all my own perspective and I've expressed it all at many occasions and in many ways, but I've never expressed it so well nor have I ever read it expressed so well as you've done here, Billy! It's clear, powerful, readable and one just has to be nodding, if not saying out loud - "YES! YES!" all through reading it. How sad that so many folks fail to see the joy and beauty simply in being alive and having the opportunities that come with every day one is! You're so right that they are 'dead' in their oblivion, sadly. Those who do see it, see it wherever they are, whatever they have and do. It's not a result of external 'things' or 'good luck'. It's just THERE for the having and embracing. But one must choose to LOOK, see it and respond to it. Seems like a no-brainer, but apparently, blindness can prevail. But maybe knowing it and proclaiming it can spread it!! Maybe it's as infectious as the negativity seems to be. If one contributes nothing else but spreading realistic optimism, it's a big contribution! Whoo-hoo!

Too bad there's no "Excellent" accolade among the others. This would get it, for sure. As it is, I'll click all the ones there are that fit, Bill! Bravo! Bravo!

You know i have been writing on hubpages for three years and i am a completely different person. When i first started it was me me me..poor me. I have learned so much. I read stories that chills my inner being, then i read something like this and can appreciate life so much more. No one wants to read gloom and doom, come out from among them i say. Negativity brings me down, so to stay positive is my goal. I loved reading this piece. You continue to inspire so much more forgetting about SEO'S..When you write from within i am blessed. Thank you...

This is so beautiful! I took a look at this earlier, but didn't comment at that time.

I don't like the "Sad Sack Bed and Breakfast". If I am going to go through a rough patch, I want to do my best to be positive, because staying down in the depths just makes everything feel much worse than it already is. I love your attitude, Bill.

Thanks for sharing this with us. I am bookmarking this, and it will be one of those pieces I will read when I need a boost.

Have a great night- it's almost the weekend!

~ Kathryn

Bill- I love all of your hubs, but this is definitely one of your best. Powerful message that hopefully everyone will learn from. I'm guilty of letting life's issues get to me but I try to snap myself out of it, because like you said, we don't get a second chance or an "oops". This is it. We have to make our own happiness or before we know it, we'll be saying goodbye to our family and friends, wishing for that one last chance that will never come. Thanks for the reminder. We can never have too many of those!

Your friend,

Liz

Hi Bill,

We have so much to be thankful for. It all has to do with our attitude. The only statement I don't agree with is when you refer to solitude as sludge. I had an experience while in Memphis. I shared a taxi with three woman. They couldn't believe I was on my own. One woman asked me you mean don't even have one friend who could come with you. I said no. I told her I travel by myself and I always meet nice people. In my mind I thought, but not you. One person I did have the privilege to meet was our own Deborah Brooks. She is a sweet lady with a big heart.

Take care

“I see dead people.” I shouldn’t laugh, but that one was pretty good. Actually, I loved all of your captions. And no, many people don’t know what they have; they only see what they don’t have. Free will is a tantalizing thing…if only more of us realized how we could put it to better use rather than carrying it around in our pockets, gathering lint. Very inspirational, Billy, and very true. Ahhhh…those candies never tasted so sweet. Sometimes I taste them...other times, not. :-)

You are so right, Bill It is about choice. We all have our albatross---it can drag us down or spur us on for sure..

One chance..that's it...so we grab on to the good stuff and run with it.

Thanks for sharing this, as usual, it is filled with brain food.

Many hugs and Angels are on the way tonight ps Shared

Hi Bill. Life is a roller coaster and I have no time to pity myself when things don't go well. We all have ups and downs in life, the glass is either half full or half empty, I prefer to choose half full. Thanks for the reminder and inspiration.

Bill, I voted for you, but wish they had an "inspiring" button! It's so true. When I was going through a terrible time once, someone looked me in the eye and said, "how can you be standing here so confident and not shaking in your boots. you should be weary and crying to your friends." Well this old bird isn't going to fly the coop anytime soon. I've lived long enough to understand the "small" stuff is just that. And it no longer takes priority over anything that matters in my life today.

I'm glad that you found the love of your life. She seems like a nice person.

Lol Billy. You are so real. thanks for including me in that group. I am proud. I like the imagery here. "You can make a typhoon out of a glass of water, or you can drink that life-giving nectar and go forth with a new mission." We are the only ones who decide. yep. Is that Bev in the picture? That photo is stunning!

Hi Bill. Your usual tip top hub today. It reminded me of the old joke, where a speaker was engaged to give a talk on the fight against lethargy, but nobody turned up. We really do have to take it by the horns and shake it. None of us know what awaits us round the corner.

Graham.

I enjoyed your inspirational hub. Yesterday I shopped at Walmart and came away both saddened and uplifted. So much pain in full view yet I have been so blessed. Enjoy today Billy. It's the first day of the rest of your life.

We all have our good days and bad days; it's important to remember that sadness is an emotion and not a reflection of reality. I used to judge my life based on how I felt at the time, but thankfully I've learned that when I feel sad it's only a feeling. This too shall pass and brighter days are ahead. It seems that most people focus on their aggravations and sadness, and think that if only this or that happens they will finally be truly happy. But happiness comes from within, so you can be living out in the street and know true joy and peace or you could be the sunning out on the deck of your yacht and be tortured inside.

I'm glad you're still here, my friend!

You have a great knack for writing inspirational hubs, Bill! There is so much joy in this hub, even though there is a description of hardship, too. Reading your article is a great way to start my day.

'Personal candy shop and damn, I gotta tell ya, those candies have never tasted so sweet.'

Oh yes that personal candy shop and oh how I agree with you in that they have never tasted so sweet.

I have nothing to add to this precious message you share as I would simply be Little Miss Echo!!!

We are a mixed bunch and we all cope in various ways ;I personally have no time to feel sorry for myself I am too busy living a life that I now experience as a whole person ; a spirit that will never again be locked away.

Thank you again Billy for your wise words and remember to share is to care and you certainly do.

I wish you both a great day and lots of love.

Eddy.

I love the creativity you've incorporated into this very important message. Your joy comes through loud and clear. I've always loved this picture of Bev. I can just imagine her lifting her face to the sun, with eyes closed and drinking in the fresh scents of Mother Nature. What is better than that? Well, lots I suppose, but you get my point.

Quote The Beatles to me and you will always have my attention.:)

It took years but I finally managed to jump off the pity train; an express train to nowhere. Yes, we have the ability to decide. How liberating is that? Very. The only regret: I didn't do it sooner. Oh sorry. That was pity, wasn't it?

There is so much truth here. I can relate to your experiences when growing up. I was also the shy, quiet little girl and labeled as smart too. Many people label others who do well in school as nerds. Well, I guess that made me a nerd. Lol. So what right? If I really cared, would I be posting it here for the entire world to read? I always enjoy listening to you on video.

'Nuff said! Pretty near perfect! Thank you, Bill!

"And therein lies the secret….we can choose." Bill, thank God for your re-birth. This was great motivational reading. Voted Up!

I did not realize but but but -- I have been needing more inspiration and less teaching from my Rabbi. This piece has got my juices flowing and a bit of a palpation in my heart (do not worry I am healthy)

You damned well read all my mail and decided what I needed today.

I have had doctors say I am clinically depressed and I have all the medicine in the very top out of the way shelf to prove it. Buddy it is not pretty. But what I have learned to do, is lift up that left foot - sometimes with both hands, and drag that right foot up in front. And then I love myself for trying. And then I spend that love on someone worse off. And then by the end of the day,,,,,+++ well we all got love and that is the Bill Holland goal.

Muchas Gracias me Mi Amigo

First off than you Bill, I am now listening to The Magical Mystery Tour (love The Beatles-always have and are in my iTunes) and this really was so uplifting, but then again wouldn't expect anything less from you. Here is wishing you a glorious day now!