Friday 01 July 2011 - don't mess with mr inbetween

Why do we focus on the bad so much? If you think about it, and are really really really honest with yourself, the majority of our days are spend "in the good!"
We wake up alive (always a good start) get to work alive (regardless of the attempts of other motorists), we don't get fired (regardless of our own attempts), we have fun with friends or surfing the net, we go home again, we eat food that doesn't kill us, we have hot baths, we go to bed in a bed that's soft and fluffy, or close enough. All in all, very good things!

But let us break a nail, or burn our lunch or get yelled at by our fat, pompous boss (who was okay yesterday but today, oooh, today he sucks!), ding the car or find out we've run out of beetroots for supper, and what meal can exist with beetroot, and suddenly, for us THE WHOLE DAY IS RUINED!!

I think somewhere along the line, probably the first day after we're born, we come to expect that good things will happen to us as a matter of course. We deserve them, the bright and sunny and heartwarming. And we expect them so much that we begin to not even notice them or feel grateful for them. They're "supposed to happen" so why bother?

Right up until something bad happens. Then it's war! It's panic stations! It's Ohmigod why should I carry on living?! *Wail wail wail* We forget that we are also just as entitled to the bad stuff as we are the sugar candy moments! It's just that, you know, the bad stuff, is icky and we'd rather it happened to someone else, like that guy over there! *points to you*

Now seriously bad things do happen. War, deaths, famine and Celine Dion, and those can have their own blog. But in general the bad things that happen to us are seldom life threatening and are, at worst, just fantastically annoying.

I think the best way to counter all this is to remember to be grateful for all the good little things we have. The "everyday things". If you do then when the bad and woeful things hit, you at least have a sense of perspective. You know your WHOLE life isn't ruined by something small and petty that just irked you.

So how about today you try focus on, and really NOTICE the positive? Like that annoying song from long ago (that no one but me knows because everyone else listens to the exact same music and never bothers to try different things):-

"You've got to accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
And latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between (He has a dodgy smile and sweaty hands...)"

Now go do it already!!