For those of you that have read my blog from the beginning, you know I am pretty candid with my posts - ups, downs, battles, and everything in between. Over the last couple years I got stuck in a warp of negativity, which I struggled with and so I vowed at the beginning of 2013 to start anew and six months into the year, things have been positively great! Or this quote by John Barrymore says it best: "Happiness often sneaks in through a door you didn't know you left open."
Since I've stopped looking at the negative aspects or things that were happening in my life or the lack of and started looking at them as blessings and life lessons, my focus has changed into a more positive one and it radiates out. When I was younger I would take the time to meditate and visualize my life, but I stopped for a long time and just recently started and it has made a difference in how I feel and respond. When I sense negativity either in a discussion or something else, I try to change the focus and I'm not going to lie and say that it is happiness every single day as it is hard - it's not easy to stay happy every day, but the difference it makes is amazing. I believe that my life is happy, that it is the life I want and no one else is responsible for that, but me. And it is radiating out to every aspect of my life, I'm eating healthier, I'm feeling better, and somehow when something goes wrong within moments it works itself out.
I have two examples to share:
First, my parents took the kids on a Friday night and typically the hubs and I would go out to eat and run to Target (without the kids, yes that is a treat), but lately I felt like we have been in a rut, so I decided to create a scavenger hunt. I sent him a clue to initiate the game, he accepted the challenge and so I sent the first clue, however, after working 8 hours in the sun and out of town, by the time he was ready to come home, his eagerness for the game was gone. I planned four clues throughout various places, my brother had come to the house and was waiting to take me to the final location, which at the last minute I had to scrap it all. I typically would have been upset over the whole thing and a little of me was a bit disappointed, but the hubby called and told me how tired he was and how sorry he felt and I told him not to worry, so instead of feeling disappointed and angry, I let it go. We would do dinner and just see how the evening goes. Well, it was a fantastic evening - we went to dinner, had drinks, laughed so hard, went to an art showing and then went to the wine bar before ending our night. It was a great evening and one of the best date nights we've had in a long time. And even though I went to a lot of work planning the scavenger hunt and could have gotten upset over him bailing out at the last minute, I chose not to get upset and not to make a fuss about it....I chose to be happy to just have the opportunity for an evening out with my spouse and it made all the difference.
Second example, just this past weekend, the hubby's truck was overheating....well after inspection, the radiator needed replaced and we didn't have the cash to get a new one and I knew we would have to wait til payday, but I didn't freak out, I didn't panic. I simply said it will all work out and the next day, we got a check for the amount we needed. And granted it was for a project the hubby worked on several weeks ago, so we knew the money was coming, but we didn't know when to expect it, but it came just when we needed it most.
And I know that there are some that don't buy into the whole positive outlook thing, but this is my journey - I'm not asking anyone else to change their behavior or their thought process. I decided that I needed to change my outlook because I was growing numb. I've also noticed that I'm attracting happy people around me. I'm genuinely a quiet person and enjoy silence, however, I find lately when I'm around people before too long we are laughing and having a great time. And what I've realized is that negative thoughts force me to look at the negative things in life, which is a vicious cycle because the more you focus on the negative things in life, the unhappier you become and you just get stuck in this cycle of repeated negativity. Then before too long, nothing is enjoyable, nothing is funny, nothing is beautiful, and you become numb. Numb to life and critical to everyone.
There are a million possibilities at my door and I'm open to them all and to me, that is exciting!
"When people feel beautiful, they act in beautiful ways. Your awareness of beauty impacts others to see the world around them in the same way." - Wayne Dyer
"Remember at all times that what you think and what you do affects other people." Wayne Dyer
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