Blog: Looking at an Event in your Life...

It is so easy to look at an event and see it as bad, or negative, what you missed, what you didn't get, how you fell short, etc.  But let's also try to look at the same event and see what you got, gained, learned, experienced, what was good.  It's another way of looking to see if the glass is empty of full.  I remember telling my son many years ago.  Every single day, you have the ability to look at that day and say it was a good one or a bad one.  Why not choose to make it a good one.  So much easier said than done.  I wish that I could apply these words of wisdom to myself every day, but of course I do not.  

What I can often do though is instead of looking at the day as an up- hill climb, I can feel that it was an uphill climb and kind of study it and let it linger.  In other words, I really feel the day.  Then I take a deep breath, and start to turn it around.  What did I learn?  Did I learn that hard work doesn't always pay off?  Did I learn that life isn't always fair?  Did I learn that I don't always get what I want?  Yes, to all those things.  Maybe I even decide this is a day that a good pout is in order.  Maybe I realize that this is a day that I need to nurture myself, have a treat, cuddle with my favorite souls-including a pet.  So, I do what I can to help me get my feeling of self-worth back.  Realize that it wasn't all my fault, that sometimes I do need a lesson or two.

Then after feeling the sadness or darkness, it's time to take a deep breath, appreciate the “humanness” in me, find something to appreciate, even if it's the color or softness of a fabric. I then think of the good things in my life, not necessarily accomplishments, although those are nice.  Sometimes I think of how grateful I am I have skin that encloses my body, legs that work, eyes that see.  It is so easy to take these things for granted, but believe me, if we didn't have them, we would surely finding ourselves wishing for them.  Then, for me, it is easy to begin to feel a smile coming over me.  Gratitude-Appreciation, both wonderful things that help one get through a day.  These are the things that get me through an up-hill day.