After a day of getting a lot of calls from family and friends and hearing all the gripes and complaints, I realized just how much time is spent on the negative - thinking about it, talking about it. It becomes a major force in our lives. Now sure, if you lose your job it's going to weigh heavily on you. Perfectly normal. But we seem to latch onto ALL the negative...
Someone cut me off on the road, someone bumped their cart into mine in the grocery story, someone cut in line in front of me ... and on and on. Okay, yes, it happens ... but come on, that's nothing to focus on. Negative begets negative. I think we should be like the old song ... "you gotta accent the positive, eliminate the negative, hang on to the affirmative..."
I've reverted back to old habits. When my children were young and in school, they'd jump in the car at the end of the school day and bitch a blue streak about all the stresses of their day. I'd let them get it out and when they started to cycle around back to the beginning, I'd interrupt with "okay, now tell me something good that happened."
Nowadays I'm trying that technique with adults. Let's face it, if our minds are focused on the positive, we're happier, healthier and a LOT more pleasant to be around. Positive lifts us up. Negative drags us down. And given the choice, who wouldn't want to have more smiles and less frowns?
I have a lot to be grateful for and a lot to smile about. For example, I'm able to sit on my patio, watch the sun rise and NOT have to turn on the fan because it's a nice pleasant morning. Without the fan I can hear the birds and insects, the leaves of the oak tree rustle slightly in the tiny breeze and even the drip of water that plunks off the eaves and hits the patio. My honey man is sitting beside me, chuckling over something he's read in the morning paper and he made me the best cup of coffee on the planet. Definitely things to smile about:)
So, today, I'm asking all the folks in my life to tell me one thing that's positive about their lives. Today is share a smile day in my world. I hope it is for you, too!
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