Happy ‘Taughts’ for New Beginnings

Jane Jenkins Herlong

January 16, 2021

Excerpt from Rhinestones on My Flip-Flops

My daughter, Caroline, loved watching Peter Pan when she was a little girl. She was glued to the television and loved every minute of the animated movie. After watching the movie, she pretended to fly around the house just like Peter Pan.

On one occasion, I was upset over something, and my sweet Caroline, always a tender child, was very sensitive to my feelings. Her sweet face turned toward mine and her big brown eyes looked at me. She said, “Momma, tink happy taughts. Momma! Tink happy taughts!” she repeated. Then she said something I will never forget: “Momma if you tink happy taughts, den you will fly like Peter Pan!”

My sweet little toddler was giving me her solution to handling problems. Caroline understood that Peter Pan could fly when he thought about happy things.

Caroline reminded me that if we think positive thoughts we can soar above our troubles. We will see difficult issues from another viewpoint and handle life’s challenges with a different perspective. Happy thoughts will give us altitude for a new attitude.

You will be inspired by the wisdom in the following poem. How do you look at your life?

Worst Day Ever?

by Chanie Gorkin

Today was the absolute worst day ever
And don’t try to convince me that
There’s something good in every day
Because, when you take a closer look,
The world is a pretty evil place.
Even if
Some goodness does shine through once in a while
Satisfaction and happiness don’t last.
And it’s not true that
It’s all in the mind and heart
Because
True happiness can be attained
Only if one’s surrounding are good
It’s not true that good exists
I’m that sure you can agree that
The reality
Creates
My attitude
It’s all beyond my control
And you’ll never in a million years hear me say
Today was a very good day.
Now, read it from bottom to top, the other way,
And see what I really feel about my day.

So as we look to new beginnings, remember the power of having a positive outlook on life.

Chanie Gorkin, native of Brooklyn, New York, was 17 when she entered her poem into a poetry contest. The poem, inspired by Talmudic teachings, subsequently went viral.

Jane Jenkins Herlong

Jane Jenkins Herlong is a Southern humorist, Sirius XM comedian, member of the Speaker Hall of Fame, and the best-selling author of four books. Jane travels the country sharing her sweet tea wisdom and Southern fried humor. For information on how to contact Jane for speaking engagements or to purchase her books, CD’s or MP3’s, visit www.janeherlong.com

Jane Jenkins Herlong

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