My song today is ‘I Feel Fine’. This song was written by John Lennon (credited to Lennon and McCartney) and released in 1964 by the Beatles as the A-side of their eighth British single. The song has one of the earliest uses of guitar feedback in popular music.
‘I Feel Fine’ was the first Beatles’ single to be released almost concurrently in the US and the UK. The single reached the top of the British charts on 12 December 1964, displacing the Rolling Stones’ ‘Little Red Rooster’. In Canada, the song also reached Number 1. The song topped the US ‘Billboard Hot 100’ chart for three weeks in late 1964, and early 1965, ‘Cash Box’ magazine ranked ‘I Feel Fine’ as being the 19th biggest US hit of 1965. ‘I Feel Fine’ was the sixth single by the Beatles to hit Number 1 on the ‘Billboard Hot 100’ chart in a calendar year (1964); an all-time record.
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I was living in Canada when the Beatles released this record in 1964, and it was still a popular song after I returned to West Yorkshire two years later.
I remember once reading when I was a Probation Officer serving in Huddersfield, that the very first thought that a person has in their mind when they step out of bed on a morning remains in their mind all day, and is responsible for the very first feeling of their day which they experience. It is also reflected in their very first act of the day. Why this is an important philosophy to bear in mind, is because we usually start off our day as we mean to go on and end our day as we started it.
The most important of all lessons regarding one’s behaviour is never to forget that our overall behaviour pattern is comprised of what we think, what we feel and what we do (in that sequential order). Consequently, ‘when we think bad, we feel bad and we invariably do bad’. Conversely, ‘when we think good, we feel good and we invariably do good’. We determine our prevailing mood pattern and influence our hope, health, happiness, emotions, and action BY HOW WE THINK!
Before our feet touch the floor on a morning as we get out of bed, we have already set our mood for the day we have yet to live. If you do not believe me, give it a trial run over the coming fortnight. On week one, let your first thought be a negative thought as soon as you wake up like 'What a miserable day it is', and on week two, let your first thought be ‘I feel fine’. Observe the huge difference in the quality of the day that each opposing thought brings you. It also helps when you have your first positive thought of your day if you simultaneously breathe deeply and smile broadly. These three simultaneous actions, trigger a set of other automatic positive reactions in the body such as correct body posture, suppleness of muscles, and a reduction of stress hormone. It will also put a bounce in your step and cheerfulness into a more open heart.
Most people fail to realise that we engage in self-talk all day long and fail to understand that what we tell ourselves governs not only our beliefs but the type of behaviour we ultimately display.
I have been doing this for over forty years now and it always works for me. And, if I am able to genuinely feel fine with three body cancers to cope with (one blood cancer being of a terminal order), I am sure that most of you can also.
Love and peace Bill xxx