I am not good at remembering this. My husband is, but for the most part, not me. Sometimes, I have a tendency to let one thing change the course of my day... do you know what I mean? Not necessarily little things, like when someone cuts me off while I'm driving, or is impatient with me when I shop. But things that are a little bit bigger...like when I unintentionally offend someone who is important to me, or when I argue with my mom. These things have a tendency to alter how I feel about my day.
I have definitely gotten better at this over the years -- especially since my husband and I first got together, since he is just a genuinely positive person. The other night, we watched the movie The Secret and I was struck by the notion that so much of life revolves around the concept of positive thinking. My mom, of course, has been telling me all along, as she is such a uniquely optimistic person, as well. But I have most often spent so much time and energy on things that bother me, rather than
thanking God for all of the many blessings in my life.
Case in point: Over the past few months that I have been in school, I have been working on a paper for one of my classes that is worth a quarter of my overall course grade. This paper = a big deal. I worked away at it for many hours, days, sleepless nights. I turned it in, and last week I got it back. I earned a ninety-five percent. And I was upset.
I was so bummed that I didn't get every point that I could. I was even more sad when the comments that my teacher made were in the "good job" realm. My view? Good does not equal great. And so there I was, an 'A' on the biggest assignment of the entire semester, but I was sad! I called my husband and told him how I was feeling, and he was ecstatic for me, because he knew that I had worked so hard on that paper. After I thought about it for a while, I realized that this could be a teachable moment for me. I did my best. And that's all that matters. And so, there's the good in that day -- my takeaway. Something to be proud of. And I didn't let it change my entire day -- in fact, I was happy, and happy to be happy. It was...wonderful.
Being hard on myself has been a trend in my life. Not finding the good in each day has been my downfall. So, I'm making a promise to myself to find that good piece, the beautiful pebble, even in a wash of sand, and hold it tight, smiling because I have found what is important -- I have found that blessing.
How do you find the good in each day? Are you a generally positive person, or do you struggle to let the little things go?
xo,
maria
