Elizabeth September 3rd, 2010
This canvas was created by Stephanie of Geezees, for the very awesome Megan Duerksen (who also took the photo above).
There is a post that has been sitting in the back of my mind, half-written, for a large part of this year. I’m not sure why I haven’t been able to put it into words for anyone else to read yet, but when I came across the little verse above something just clicked and said, “here you go! I did it for you!”
Those words up there describe pretty closely the change in attitude that I’ve noticed in myself this year. It definitely wasn’t a conscious decision to start being more positive; in fact, I’ve always considered myself to be a pretty positive person. At the same time I’m really sensitive, and I’m a thinker, so I’ve always tended to consider the pros and cons of any situation.
And perhaps I’ve gone looking for the what could go wrong? of situations more often than I needed to.
Out of nowhere, my brain has begun to reject pointless negativity that I hear from people around me. It’s not even conscious – I’ve just stopped letting it settle into my thoughts. I’m not looking for fault in people or situations quite as often, but nor am I ignoring fault where it exists. Meaningless criticism of people or ideas exhausts me now so my mind has developed a filter that stops them at the gate.
Clever little brain!
It seems to me that a lot of energy gets wasted on negativity when it’s not constructive. I’m not trying to be Pollyanna and pretend that life is perfect, but I do think that I’ve had a healthy adjustment of perspective. I have freedom, I have a terrific family, quality friendships and a special person to share my life with. I have enough to eat and enough money for the necessities (and extra for shoes!) and a job that makes me laugh and cry. There is also plenty of room for growth, and that’s exciting too.
I know that it’s still important to look critically at the world around us, and to a degree we need to concentrate on the negatives to provide impetus for change. That’s constructive and healthy and I know I’ll be doing it for the rest of my life. I guess I’m just learning to realise that the good things in life deserve the same amount of real estate in my thoughts.
All I know for sure is that by focusing on what is good what works and what is within my power, the negative aspects just don’t seem to matter quite as much. They’re still there, but they don’t feel as overwhelming as they might have otherwise been.
What I’m learning is not blind optimism, it’s balance. Perspective. And those words up there helped me to put some shape to the changes I’ve been noticing in myself.
Happy Friday, everyone <3
