I just had an ah-ha - one of those moments of enlightenment that serves as proof that I've successfully modified the way I think and see in recent years.

This morning my husband sat at the kitchen table slurping his cereal milk. Slurp, slurp, slurp...every 5 seconds. I can't stand noisy eating practices. He knows it.

I thought back to my previous marriage and how I would have handled it. I would have huffed and puffed, sighed in exasperation, made a speech about rude people who eat noisily, gotten myself in an anxious tizzy and tried to convince the world of why MY way of eating cereal was better.

Would the energy I would have expended made one iota of difference in the cereal slurper's actions? Nope. Would it have set me on a pissy mood day and possibly created a tiny crack in my thoughts that would allow more negatively tainted energy in? Yep. Would it have made the slurper want to shoot some negative energy my way? Probably.

The law of attraction says that you attract more of what you're thinking and saying. It's a law. You can't mess with it. Don't even bother trying.

I got up and walked out of the kitchen. No more cereal/mouth sounds. Peace.

I'm laughing now. It's a silly thing, but boy, does it drive the point home.

The world DOES revolve around me...the world doesn't revolve around me - both are simultaneously true. I had a choice to experience the slurping any way I chose AND no one in the world gives a hoot about what I think of slurping. Ah, life's great dichotomies.

My response to the cereal slurper is an amusing example of something much bigger for me. My ultimate intention or mission is to live in a peaceful home...and contribute in some way to a peaceful world. I intend to start my day off on a positive, peaceful note because the early hours when I first get up often set the stage for all the words I write, all the thoughts I think, and all the actions I perform that day.

I bet you never knew a bowl of cereal could have such a profound impact on helping to contribute to world peace. It can.

All good things start with one inspired intention, one small action, one kind word.

I have no control over others. I'm always in control by choosing to shift the direction of MY thoughts, words, and actions.

Now, go have some CHEERios to celebrate with me.

And mind your manners.

Copyright 2005, Ann Zuccardy, All rights reserved.

Ann Zuccardy

Simmer two decades of professional writing experience with a dash of creative, independent spirit, blend together with love and imagination and bake slowly. That's what Ann Zuccardy did when she launched Vermont Shortbread Company back in 1996.

Ann altered a traditional Scottish shortbread recipe to produce a slightly moister version of this age-old favorite. The result: one-of-a-kind, melt-in-your-mouth Vermont Shortbread that hints of old-world authenticity even as it pleases the American soft-cookie-loving palate.

Surrender to the ecstacy that is Vermont Shortbread... crumbles of cookie goodness bursting with creamery butter that will more than satisfy your yen for "a little something" with your afternoon tea.

When Ann's not in her bakery inventing new shortbread flavors, she bakes with words. Ann enjoys a long and successful career as a freelance writer covering a buffet of topics from high tech software documentation to copywriting and food writing.