I have to admit, I have probably started a half dozen posts and none came alive as I typed. So that's the reason I'm so late in posting something new. But my dear friend, Leanne, posted something on her blog that got me to thinking about a topic that is so important for the survival of each and every one of us. And even more so during a season that is filled with so much happiness and at the same time, so much sadness.
When my daughter was in college, she wrote a paper about giving kids encouragement and praise to build up their bank account of self-esteem. This was based on a book by Rick Lavoie called "When the Chips Are Down." She and I affectionately refer to the whole concept as "poker chips" and we still have conversations about the necessity to accumulate poker chips. Jack Canfield, the originator of the "Chicken Soup for the Soul" series maintains that it's not just kids who need poker chips. We all do. Just as Leanne mentions in her blog, I no longer watch the news. Do you remember back when one of the local networks would end their newscast on a positive note? Always a story that would make you laugh or sigh a happy "life is good" sigh. They might still do it for all I know. I just think more people need more of that in their lives.
The point I'm trying to make here is this: Is it all that difficult to come up with positive, uplifting things in your everyday life? The law of attraction tells us that what we think is what we draw to us. Whether or not you believe in that (I'd love to hear how it's any different from prayer) it certainly couldn't hurt, right?
Just think about this...you stand in the brightness of a warm sun and it lights you up, energizes you. Conversely, you stand in a dreary, cold rain...how does that make you feel? Don't you do the same thing with your thoughts?
I'm making a conscious decision to think of "feel good" things (or as one of my Texas friends would say, "chicken soup" things) that warm my soul. I'm approaching this like it's an infection...the best possible infection that could be spread. You with me???
Poker image courtesy of http://www.ehow.com/about_4571488_professional-poker-chips.html
3 comments:
Yes, the news is mostly bad and depressing, and yes, I do watch it to keep myself informed on what is going on in the world. NBC Nightly news was running a daily story, at the end of each broadcast, called "Making a Difference". The stories were positive and uplifting and profiled people just trying to do good for one another.
I heartily agree with the law of attraction theory, Peggy. It doesn't mean a person has to bury their head in the sand or run from their troubles, but simply to spend more time dwelling on the positive than the negative. We all have both in our lives. It puzzles me why we tend to let the negative swallow up the positive. I mean, those feelings seem to be so much more overwhelming. If we could just keep things in perspective... True, sometimes the worst does happen, but in an average day it helps to count our blessings. Easy for me to say, I suppose, when, though at 56 I've suffered plenty of heartache, I'm so fortunate in many ways. I may change my tune when "the worst" happens, as it almost inevitably will. Oops, there I go being negative again! Shrug it off...
I tried to think warm thoughts this morning when I stepped outside. It didn't work...froze my butt off anyway
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