Growing Up

I think that part of growing up is reassessing how we feel about things ever so often. But I have to admit that I don't want to do that! I worked hard forming the opinions I have and I don't want to have to work that hard again. Besides, what if I realized that I feel differently now? Would that mean I was wrong to feel the way I felt before or to hold the opinions I held before? Who wants to be wrong? Not me. So I have tended to be lazy and just keep going through life with the same old preconceived notions I've had for decades. Just don't want to upset the old apple cart.

The problem with that is that you miss out on a lot of good! One example I can think of right now, because of a very wonderful experience I had today, is my comfort level with small children. I have for decades said that I am allergic to kids! Sometimes people laugh. Sometimes people look at me like I'm some sort of demon. I've even had people want to argue with me about it. I've been asked how I could possibly hate children. I never said I hated them. I just said I'm not comfortable around them. We all have preferences. Some people aren't comfortable around dogs but I love them. I don't accuse them of being dog haters. It's just what you're comfortable with.

But in thinking about the whole issue of being uncomfortable with something, like small children or dogs or whatever example you want to plug in here, I find that I'm actually now able to find joy and find good in things that I used to want no part of. But that came with a change of perspective and I guess with just becoming more comfortable in my skin and more at ease with the world around me.

Finding that new perspective wasn't nearly as hard a job as finding the old one was. The old perspectives were labor intensive. I had to do a lot of thinking and stewing and analyzing to get to them. I find that my perspectives on life and on the world around me are changing drastically and in very wonderful positive ways because I am letting go and I am accepting. I am letting go of old anger and negative thoughts about things. And I'm accepting a new normal. That was then and this is now and I'm no longer willing to let yesterday screw up my today. And no more stewing and analyzing. Too much work! I'm going to focus on the good stuff and let the rest go, just in case it IS true that what you focus your attention on is what expands in your life. I want the good stuff to expand and the "bad" stuff to shrink. Girls just wanna have fun, ya know??? Life should be fun! Look for the fun!

Finding Good in Winter Weather

OK, here's another area where I have, for years, been very much a grouch! I've hated snow!!!! It messes up traffic, keeps me from getting to work, keeps me from getting outside or to the store when I need to. Such a nuisance! Whenever I would wake up and see snow outside, I would just groan and go back to bed, then lay around depressed until it was gone! Just like I did with the holidays, I threw away precious days of my life because I couldn't see any good. Now that I'm trying a new perspective, I'm looking for good in snow. And today I definitely have the opportunity to do that! :)

The snow we have right now is beautiful fluffy snow. It's the kind that makes everything look like a Christmas card. It's actually really breathtaking. This morning I took Bossy outside to do his business and everything that I see every day has an entirely different look and feel! It's like a whole different, magical kind of world just right outside my door right where the noisy traffic usually is. If I can't find anything else good about snow, that's enough right by itself! The traffic goes away for a while! LOL!

Using my new digital camera, I took some pictures of the view of my yard as it looks now. It's interesting, it's the very same yard, and yet it's so different. I think life is like that. It's the very same life, it just looks different sometimes. I think life is always changing and we can either bitch about the changes or we can look for good in them and enjoy the hell out of 'em. I think I'll choose the latter.  So right now, I'm going to bundle up and take my new camera up to the river and take some more pics. Here's what I've taken of my yard so far! More to come!

Note: I've added some more pics to the slideshow. I had an awesome time walking up to the river and taking pictures of the beauty I saw along the way. Hope you enjoy them!

Looking for good through the eyes of a camera

I recently was given a digital camera and have been having a blast taking pictures with it. The wonderful person who gave me the camera told me she had read my blog and we talked about it some. Then I thought about maybe it would be cool to use my new camera to look for good. And today I figured out that I can post pictures in my blog! I didn't know that! LOL! It takes me a while to figure things out sometimes.

I've attached with this post a slideshow of photos I took with my old film camera last summer. It was a handmade puppet parade. It was awesome and taking the pics that day peaked my interest in photography. I really think little things like this parade are the things that put life in your life. Without them, we just exist. And the great thing was that the parade was free!!! Even I can afford that. See there, something else good!

Looking For the Good in the Holidays

I'm the first one to admit that I have, for many years now, been kind of a scrooge. The holiday season was just a nuisance to me. My schedule for my cleaning business became insane because everybody wanted their house cleaned right before Christmas. Traffic was insane. You couldn't even go to the store for anything because it was so crowded with Christmas shoppers. I hated having to deal with my family. I hated having to spend money I didn't have to buy presents for people I didn't see all year. It all was just overwhelming and I decided after my mother died that I wasn't going to participate in any of it any more. So every year when Christmas came around, I just tuned it out and waited for it to be over with and I was grouchy for the whole month of December. I said that January 2 was my favorite day of the year because then the holiday crap was over with for another year. I threw away all those holiday seasons because I couldn't make myself feel what you're "supposed" to feel.

But this year, I've started a new tradition. I decided that I was going to choose which parts of the holidays I do enjoy and participate in those and skip the others. I love the lights and the decorations. So I put up my tree and decorated it. And for the first time in decades, I actually felt a little creative and I ended up doing the tree in all blue and silver. It's beautiful, if I do say so myself, and I'm really enjoying it. I dressed my car up like a reindeer. It's gotten me a lot of laughs. I have given some intangible gifts to people that I hope will stay with them much longer than anything I could have wrapped up in a box. And I guess, in a way, this blog is my gift to whoever is out there reading it.

There is the saying that Jesus is the reason for the season, and I have thought about Jesus a lot this year, though probably not in the traditional sense. Keeping with my theme of looking for the good, I've thought about all the principles that Jesus taught that, if we'll just believe them and apply them in our lives, will bring lots and lots of good into our lives. He taught that what we ask for in prayer, which I interpret to mean what we focus our thoughts on, we will receive...if we believe we will receive it. In other words, we get what we expect to get.

So this year I have actually enjoyed the Christmas season because I haven't put any attention on the parts of it that are stressful for me. I haven't tried to force Christmas to be anything in particular. I haven't tried to force myself to feel anything in particular. I haven't let myself feel sad because of what I "don't" have. I haven't tried to re-create any feelings or re-live any experiences that I've had in the past. I've stayed in the now moment and I've only put my attention on the parts of Christmas that bring me joy and pleasure now. And as I've looked for good in the holidays, the most amazing thing has happened! I found it!!! Wow! I might be on to something here!!!

Happy Holidays to everyone! A little late I guess. Sorry!!! :D btw, that really is my Christmas tree! Blue balls and all! LOL!