Monday thoughts…

Years ago I took a course.  It was based on the book Positive Mental Attitude by Napoleon Hill.  It was one of those pivotal books for me, going one direction and turning toward another.  I guess up until that point I hadn’t realized that I had a choice in the matter.  Days were either good or bad it seemed.  I didn’t understand that while I could not always change my circumstances, I could indeed change how I perceived them and what my attitude was toward the situation at hand. There are always two points of view, two sides to a situation.  From one perspective things may appear entirely different than from another.  The view isn’t always a choice between good and bad. Sometimes our choice is just to purpose to see things in a better light.

A positive approach to life energizes us and…it is contagious.  After the defeating blow his team took in last year’s Super Bowl, Peyton Manning could have left the locker room with his head down refusing to speak to anyone and quickly get on the bus.  Instead, he paused and signed the autographs that were being asked of him.  Years from now, many will not remember who won NFL Super Bowl XLVIII but, those who waited outside the Bronco’s locker room will remember a man who, despite everything going on within him at that moment, paused to be kind and respectful to those who had patiently waited for a moment of his time.

Tuesday thoughts…

The onset of autumn is a wonderful thing.  That occasional chilly day gives us new appreciation for the warm ones that sneak back in before winter.  Upon my daughter’s recent return home from the library, she remarked how different forty degrees feels in February versus how it feels in October.  In February, it is like a heatwave but in the fall it chills one to the bone. Rolling the car window down while driving in February on a forty-something day is refreshing but is something that would make me shiver on a 42-degree day in the autumn.  Perspective.  

Our frame of mind greatly impacts how we see the world around us.  The choice we continually must make to see things in a positive light or the possible default to let negativity prevail (as Peyton Manning chose NOT to do en route back to the bus on Superbowl Sunday ) impacts not only us but those who live with us, are friends to us, and who encounter us as they move through their day.

Wednesday thoughts…

My daughter’s Chemistry book gave a definition of potential that intrigued me.  Potential energy is energy that is stored up, just waiting to be used.  The author went on to tell her textbook reading students that they have much potential! Don’t you just love that?!  Sometimes it just takes someone telling us so.  And on that note I will tell you in my words what the author told her readers.  If no one has ever told you that you have great potential, I am telling you right now that you do!

I am an avid fan of movie quotes.  At the moment, the line from Pretty Woman’s Vivian comes to mind:

Vivian: “We think you got a lot of potential, Kit de Luca.”

Kit: “You do? You think I got potential?”

Vivian: “Oh yeah, and don’t let anyone tell you different. Okay?”

So let’s go and take that stored up energy and devote it to something we are passionate about…a cause, our family, changing a habit, getting out of debt, de-cluttering our home…  We have great potential and are each fully capable of accomplishing most anything we set our mind to.

Thursday thoughts:

It takes so little effort to be positive.  It is a simple choice between speaking/writing something that encourages or discourages.  Facebook status posts give us us a plethora of examples to contemplate.  I want to be known as one who chose to be uplifting.  Bambi’s Thumper gave me one of my best quotes to live by, “If you can’t say something nice… don’t say nothing at all.”  It isn’t just that I want to impact others in my words but that every word and thought I have ultimately plays into whether or not I have a good day.

The age old glass half empty/half full rings truth.  We have enough stimulus that comes our way each day to knock the wind out of our sails.  If we don’t breathe life back into our moments, we become those people that nothing ever seems to please.  We miss the joy that is always there if we are looking for it and life moves ahead just way too quickly to do that.

Friday thoughts:

Well, I had this nifty finale all written up and poof…off it went into the oblivion of the computer and no clicking of the “undo” button will bring it back.  So, I am now swallowing down those words I just wrote of keeping a positive attitude and a good perspective.  The desire to be frustrated is almost overwhelming about right now.  How apropos! I was writing about the fact that my three words this week all revolved around a choice to be made.  So, here I am choosing to ponder out the window at the glorious autumn color and bright sunshine in hopes that this rewrite is now better than what I wrote before and, in doing so, laughing off the irritation of the once again white page before me.

I had to make other choices this week, harder ones…walking away from two different encounters with wonderful people and choosing to like my life again instead of comparing it to theirs.  Funny, prior to each, I had walked out the door here quite pleased but the challenge of comparison overtook me and I found myself discouraged.  Gratefully, I didn’t muddle there too long.  We all have different journeys.  Instead of giving more merit to the envy I was feeling, I am choosing to ask myself questions of why I liked aspects of things I saw in each of their lives and do those things warrant pursuit in my own life. I love the choices of life.  We don’t get to play out every scenario.  We make a choice and we press on.  That choice may be life changing or it simply could be fleeting one that impacts only the moment but spurs us on in a day in the life well lived.