Attitude Adjustments & Lightening Up

If you wanna be free, be free.

I’m feeling especially good today and for some bizarre reason I took time out of to wonder, why? Then I remembered – I got an attitude adjustment recently from my consultant Gerard. He’s an amazing guy. He has this outlook on life that’s refreshing. He’s totally in the moment and seems to have no inhibitions at all. He’s bold but sensitive. He’s incredibly bright and yet endlessly curious. He’s charming, talented, and handsome. He’s that rare person that everyone feels good being around. I’m considering hiring him as my life coach. Lemme tell you all about him:

Gerard is the most exceptional 5 year old in the world. What we do together is we laugh and be silly and I hold him upside down which makes him giggle hysterically. G thinks I’m fun and what higher praise is there? Gerard is the coolest kid ever and he knows it. He’s so cool he goes by his street name, “G”.  I don’t have a nickname that cool and neither do you.

G went to brunch with me and he eyed that desert table the way I’d eye a hundred dollar bill on the sidewalk.  He did a great job – his mom even said so. He ate all the healthy stuff and then I watched as he licked every bit of frosting off the deserts. I sat amazed and inspired.

What blows me away further are G’s parents – the very best kind of people. They’re genuine, creative, expressive, and passionate. They do this amazing thing – they not only unconditionally loves their children; they also invest in their kids. They play, educate, guide, and they’re really, really, really real. If everyone had parents like G I’d have to find something else to do for a living.

If you had parents like G’s then you’re free to take for granted what the rest of us would kill for. You’d be walking around with your head held high and your world would be full of opportunities. Strangers would be friends you haven’t met yet and rainy days and Mondays would never get you down.

Yeah, I know…it’s tough being a grown up. Some of us lose the imagination and spontaneity of being children and some of us never even got to be kids. What are we supposed to do?

We need to lose our inhibitions. We need to spend time with people who know how to have obscene amounts of fun. The people I love the most can have a good time at the DMV. It’s all about attitude and what you’re hell bent to do. Take the weight of the world off your shoulders and before you put it back on, see if you can maybe chip away at it a bit.

Dance and sing with children. Eat cupcakes. It’s hard to take anything seriously while you’re eating cupcakes.

Hang out with old people who are just too old to worry about anything anymore. Hang out with cancer survivors – those folks know better than to take anything for granted. Listen to Tim McGraw’s “Live Like You Were Dying” and take it to heart. Hug someone who really needs it.

Laugh your ass off with people who know how to be totally in the moment. Do something outrageous. Rebel against everything you were taught about yourself that deep down you know isn’t true. Start a revolution in your own back yard.

Make someone’s day. Flirt with someone who’s plain.

Go be around the dreamers, the misfits and those of us who love unabashedly. Why the hell not?

Jim LaPierre

About Jim LaPierre

Jim LaPierre LCSW CCS is the Executive Director of Higher Ground Services in Brewer, Maine. He is a Recovery Ally, mental health therapist and addictions counselor. He specializes in facilitating recovery (whether from addiction, trauma, depression, anxiety, or past abuse) overcome obstacles, and improve their quality of life. Jim is the cofounder of Sobernow.com an online addiction recovery program that is affordable and provides complete anonymity