Discouragement and overwhelm seem to chase me. Yesterday I wasn’t well, and although the sun was shining, I spent the day inside recovering. This morning I woke up, still tired, but no longer sick. I opened the drapes in anticipation, only to discover that it was raining with gray skies as far as I could see. I sat down at the kitchen table glumly looking outside.
Nick was being his usual cheerful self this morning and as Arden brought him into the kitchen, he said, “Good Morning Mom, you all better? I ok!”
Today we are packing up to begin our trip back home tomorrow, so after breakfast, Arden gave him some dessert to finish up. Nick’s face was full of wonder. He said, “What I got? I got dessert? You see this?” Dessert after breakfast! What could be better?
He dug right in and in no time the plate was empty. As I watched I realized that Nick finds pleasure instead of discouragement in his circumstances. He didn’t mention the negative experiences of yesterday, instead noticing that both of us were well today and he got dessert. It is a good day.
Although he required assistance from the time he woke up this morning for bathing and dressing, he was able to feed himself the unexpected treat.
It takes discipline to stem the tide of negative thoughts that easily crowd our minds. It takes much more effort to see the positive, to find the silver lining, to appreciate the fresh air that is blowing when the rain shower has stopped. I know I’ve spent years working to create the habit of positive thought first, rather than going negative immediately. Clearly, I’ve been successful to a great degree and I’ll always keep trying to improve.
Improve. Daily. I think that is the path to a better and more fulfilling life. My temptation in some difficult circumstances has often been to give up and say this is just too difficult. And sometimes that’s what happens. But only for a while and then I engage once again to do my best. Observing Nick enjoying his life is a great reminder.
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