Positives
Hey there,
This weekend we celebrated Christmas for the second time. My oldest nephews came back from visiting their mom so we had a Christmas celebration with them. Nothing quite brings me the same joy as being an aunt. Gosh I love those little people - the spirits they have and the men they are growing into.
Before we celebrated Christmas my one nephew had a swim meet. It was so cute to watch those little kids in the pool. And my nephew was cracking me up after each time he swam. He would come over to my brother (his dad) and tell him how he did. One time he said "I dropped five seconds. (Meaning he swam 5 seconds faster than the last time he did that race.) I'm not satisfied. I can do better than that." Ha. I guess he has only competed in a few meets - maybe a handful - so any improvement is great. But he in that moment wasn't feeling that way about it. While he competed his older brother was watching with us. It was fun to joke with him again. As his parents have been going through a divorce he has like most kids retreated into himself. But on Saturday his funny spirit was showing through again as he created things and joked with us. And I also got to see my sort of niece compete in the match as well. I say sort of niece because she is the daughter of my brothers girlfriend. She is a cool girl. And it was a lot of fun to have her and her mom with us for Christmas round two or second Christmas or whatever you want to call it.
We had planned on taking our yearly family photo at 2nd Christmas but Saturday morning my sister woke up puking so no picture. Who knows when we will be able to take it. Unexpectedly her husband and baby briefly stopped by. It is always fun to see them. And they got to share in some of the laughter and love of Christmas round two. Washington even got to help me open some presents though he doesn't quite get the point of presents yet and just wants to chew on the wrapping paper on or off the box.
Overall it was an uplifting weekend of time with my family and a few moments with a couple friends from church. And as always it was what my soul needed.
My spirit needs those times when the positives are so clear that I can't ignore them. Not only can life get scary but I am very good at seeing the negative. Anything that is even a little bad or frustrating is something that my mind easily clings to and that quickly turns a lot of days into bad days. To try to combat that I have been trying a new thing in the new year. It is inspired in part by something a dear friend told me a few years ago. She told me to look for the positive in everyday. Maybe it's only one thing and it's a small thing like you got your favorite coffee that morning but that is still one good thing that kept the day from being all bad. She told me this when I was on dialysis which made me think life is a lot better for me now so I am sure I can come up with more than one positive for each day. So I have been writing down at least three positives from the day at the end of everyday. It helps me to see the day as good. And when I am thinking about that during the day it helps the negatives not feel so overwhelming. I am one of those people who still uses a paper planner so I write them in there. I am looking forward to seeing all the days full at the end of the year with positive things.
And one of the big positives from doing this is I have already noticed that my attitude at work has changed. My attitude towards certain people has changed because I am not dwelling on the things that irk me but instead I have been consciously setting my mind here - "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things." Phil 4:8
I'd highly encourage you to do the same if you don't already - it will help you have a great week.
This weekend we celebrated Christmas for the second time. My oldest nephews came back from visiting their mom so we had a Christmas celebration with them. Nothing quite brings me the same joy as being an aunt. Gosh I love those little people - the spirits they have and the men they are growing into.
Before we celebrated Christmas my one nephew had a swim meet. It was so cute to watch those little kids in the pool. And my nephew was cracking me up after each time he swam. He would come over to my brother (his dad) and tell him how he did. One time he said "I dropped five seconds. (Meaning he swam 5 seconds faster than the last time he did that race.) I'm not satisfied. I can do better than that." Ha. I guess he has only competed in a few meets - maybe a handful - so any improvement is great. But he in that moment wasn't feeling that way about it. While he competed his older brother was watching with us. It was fun to joke with him again. As his parents have been going through a divorce he has like most kids retreated into himself. But on Saturday his funny spirit was showing through again as he created things and joked with us. And I also got to see my sort of niece compete in the match as well. I say sort of niece because she is the daughter of my brothers girlfriend. She is a cool girl. And it was a lot of fun to have her and her mom with us for Christmas round two or second Christmas or whatever you want to call it.
We had planned on taking our yearly family photo at 2nd Christmas but Saturday morning my sister woke up puking so no picture. Who knows when we will be able to take it. Unexpectedly her husband and baby briefly stopped by. It is always fun to see them. And they got to share in some of the laughter and love of Christmas round two. Washington even got to help me open some presents though he doesn't quite get the point of presents yet and just wants to chew on the wrapping paper on or off the box.
Overall it was an uplifting weekend of time with my family and a few moments with a couple friends from church. And as always it was what my soul needed.
My spirit needs those times when the positives are so clear that I can't ignore them. Not only can life get scary but I am very good at seeing the negative. Anything that is even a little bad or frustrating is something that my mind easily clings to and that quickly turns a lot of days into bad days. To try to combat that I have been trying a new thing in the new year. It is inspired in part by something a dear friend told me a few years ago. She told me to look for the positive in everyday. Maybe it's only one thing and it's a small thing like you got your favorite coffee that morning but that is still one good thing that kept the day from being all bad. She told me this when I was on dialysis which made me think life is a lot better for me now so I am sure I can come up with more than one positive for each day. So I have been writing down at least three positives from the day at the end of everyday. It helps me to see the day as good. And when I am thinking about that during the day it helps the negatives not feel so overwhelming. I am one of those people who still uses a paper planner so I write them in there. I am looking forward to seeing all the days full at the end of the year with positive things.
And one of the big positives from doing this is I have already noticed that my attitude at work has changed. My attitude towards certain people has changed because I am not dwelling on the things that irk me but instead I have been consciously setting my mind here - "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things." Phil 4:8
I'd highly encourage you to do the same if you don't already - it will help you have a great week.
Comments
Post a Comment