Thanks for the bad things?

Yes, I know there are a few intrinsic “bad” things! And there are circumstances that we choose to label “bad.” Like the car insurance going up, or a really awful hair day. And there are some clouds that don’t seem to have any silver linings, like illness or bankrupcy, though they later turn out to have some important lessons for us.

So let’s change the word “bad” to “challenging.” This shifts our mental state to one in which we are not defeated, but inspired. Like a health challenge that leads to a new appreciation of our life!

So we could give thanks for the sometimes overwhelming headlines in the news. They can inspire us to know more about others and to take positive action to do what we can to make the world a better place.

We could give thanks for the people in our lives who don’t like us or what we do. We can learn valuable lessons from them about ourselves and how to understand better why we do what we do, as well as why they might feel the way they do.

We could give thanks to rough times with our partners, family members, co-workers. Through these times we can learn how to love more fully (and even to forgive!)

We could give thanks for all the tiny day-to-day aggravations. They can teach us skills for coping and for being a good person (even when we don’t feel like it).

And if you are feeling more like your glass is half empty rather than half full, you could be grateful you have a glass and be grateful that you are able to handle it!

Skewed Gratitude?

I’m feeling grateful for stuff that never happened! I spilled the hot chocolate all over the counter. At least it didn’t go into the silverware drawer. And there was the leaking roof in August. At least it was only half the roof and half the cost. And that breast cancer diagnosis…at least it wasn’t a […]

Paraprosdokians?!

It’s playing with words again (from my previous life as an English teacher!) Paraprosdokians are figures of speech with abrupt changes of direction at the end, phrases that intentionally lead us down the garden path, then suddenly end with an unexpected twist. (Standup comics love them as did Winston Churchill!) So..see which ones you like […]

Nature is my/our teacher!

Mother Nature is an effective teacher when we’re willing to learn. By observing her cycles we come to understand how life dances within us. The tide teaches the power of ebbing and flowing, the moon that of waxing and waning. Both show that the expression of fullness and lessening are two parts of one movement. […]

Got broken agreements?

I’ve noticed that for many of us much of our stress is not coming from too much to do, but from broken agreements with ourselves. We want things done, but don’t want to do them. When we tell ourselves we ought to do something, and we don’t do it, we suffer the slings and arrows […]

Want to change someone?

Have you ever wished/ prayed/exhorted/ pleaded for someone to change? “If only he would get a job.” “If only she would start exercising.” “If only they would let me help them change.” But what if we would only let the people around us be who they are and love them unconditionally like we often say […]

Things aren’t always what they seem…

A story is told… Two traveling angels stopped to spend the night in the home of a wealthy family. The family was rude and refused to let the angels stay in the guest room. Instead the angels were given a space in the cold basement. As they made their bed on the hard floor, the […]

Ask a different question

Sometimes we can find a breakthrough by examining our problem from a different angle…by posing a new question. Consider this past challenge that took place at a Houston airport. Management asked passengers to share their biggest complaint, and the overwhelming response was the wait time for luggage at the baggage carousels, sometimes 30 minutes. So […]

Feel handicapped, do you?

Do you feel handicapped in some way? Too old? Too young? Too short? Physically limited? Mentally short-changed? What about an elderly Grandma Moses who started painting in her 70’s? What about Greta Thundy, the 15 year old who is the face of the climate change issue? What about being born with no arms or legs […]

Diagnosis vs. Prognosis

Believe one, but question the other! I just finished reading Scott Adams’ (creator of the Dilbert cartoons) book, How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big. He was once diagnosed with an incurable hand condition that would have forced him to stop creating Dilbert cartoons. Literally NO ONE had EVER cured themselves of […]