Thursday, February 21, 2013

Week One of Lent: Stand Up Straight

It's hard to change your thought patterns.  Particularly when the universe hears your expressed resolve, chuckles to itself, and decides to gain some amusement at your expense.  So the first day of Lent was an epically lousy day, and the next day, Thursday - Valentine's Day, in fact - was even worse. The details aren't particularly important, but it's noteworthy that a perfect storm of ickiness, hot button issues, and other people's problems collided in a fantastically spectacular mess on my doorstep during the 48-hour period immediately following my stated decision to deliberately court POSITIVE THOUGHTS.

That tinny, echoing sound you hear in the background is the universe laughing at me.

So, not sure just how positive I was in those first couple of days, but I think - I hope - that my thoughts were at least more positive in relation to what they would have been if I hadn't chosen to observe Lent in that fashion.  So, minor success?  Maybe?

The following days were better, though.  It has helped tremendously that there has actually been a moment or two during the past week when verifiable blue sky and sunshine could be seen here in gray ol' wintery Spokane.

And this sounds corny, but it helps to smile more, too.  That can, however, prompt some interesting reactions, like when you greet your sleepy, groggy, just-woke-up-on-the-wrong-side-of-the-bed child with a big grin and a cheery "Good morning! I'm so glad to see you!" and he looks at you like the STRANGER DANGER alarm is going off in his brain and says, "What's wrong with you?  You're, like, all smiley and stuff."  Guess my morning persona needs a bit of work...

Random positive quotes and affirmations have also helped.  This morning, for example, I read a quote from Maya Angelou.  She'd posted it on her facebook page a couple of weeks ago, but I just found it today.  Wonderful layers of both literal and figurative meaning here: "Stand up straight and realize who you are, that you tower over your circumstances.  You are a child of God.  Stand up straight."  Yes, ma'am!

2 comments:

  1. The Moment One Definitely Commits, Then Providence Moves Too! Scottish explorer W.H. Murray

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