Focusing on an Attitue of Gratitude

I know that it’s late and that Thanksgiving is over, but seeing as I was sick through the weekend – I figure that I got a little extra time….and really, who needs an excuse to be thankful, REALLY???

Recently, I read this…

and it really struck me.

Only shortly after reading it (while I was feeling like death warmed over and stuck at home alone left to care for two children, the 11 yr old, who was sick and the 2 yr old, who was not sick…..I know, poor me!) Xandra dumped a bag of popcorn – by accident – all over the kitchen floor.

This flashed back into my thoughts and I realized that I had a choice as to how I was going to view this situation.

I could be SO annoyed and angry that she did this and that now I had to clean a huge mess when I was already feeling cruddy and the baby was just getting into everything and spreading mess everywhere and everything hurts, especially to move and this required a lot of moving and bending and extreme head ache-y-ness and my mood could have just spiraled down so that I ended up feeling even worse than I already did. If I was feeling particularly bad, I could grouch loudly at Xandra and make her feel even worse than she already did…maybe I could even make her cry….see it could just be an all round amazing situation…..

Or, I could realize that it really wasn’t that big of a deal and not only did I get to spend some extra time with my daughter, but we were in no hurry and had tons of time to clean the mess up AND….I got a clean floor out of it all.

I CHOOSE to grab a hold of the second option and felt a lot better than if I had gone with Option A.

I’ve found myself over the past couple of days with time to think and seeing as life has drastically slowed down for me this week – what with me being sick and all – I’ve had lots of time to think about this whole “attitude of gratitude” thing.

It is amazing what can happen when you choose to focus on the positive in any situation.

Siah poked a pencil into my BRAND NEW LEATHER OTTOMAN…13 times ….and I wanted to cry. I called Jon, and whimpered quietly into the phone. After I got off the phone, I thought to myself, “Really, what is the good in this situation?” it took a bit of thinking, and what I came up with was that now it’s had it’s first “child wounding” and unless you really look for the holes, you can’t see it and well, really in the grand scheme of things it’s not the hugest deal AND I got to talk to Siah a bit more about treating things with respect (“being nice” – in 2 year old language).

I could have been angry and yelled at him and been annoyed for the rest of the day, but I choose to focus on the positive and not to dwell on the negative. It was amazing.

I have caught myself multiple times feeling grouchy and annoyed that I feel SO CRAPPY, but instead of wallowing in my own personal dimension of hell, I’ve focused on the fact that I’m having a quiet week. I’ve stepped off the crazy train of life and have been able to cocoon inside my home and rest. I’m able to rest…..that right there is amazing. Aside from the feeling crappy part, oh, and the part where I still have 4 kids and 80 million loads of laundry to conquer and a kitchen that never seems to stop spitting out dirty dishes and……okay, I’m getting carried away again……aside from all of that stuff, it feels almost like a little vacation.

I am choosing to slow down, take it easy, rest, relax, heal…. I’m not pushing past it all and valiantly forcing onward. I’m being selfish and not sharing any of the these germs with anyone else, if I can help it.

I LOVE that in the middle of this rough week, that I can still smile and be thankful…..for everything…..even if some things require a little more thought to see the positive within the situation.

What are you thankful for today?