Tuesday, November 18, 2014

what we see depends solely on what we look for.

tired of seeing your weight or faults every time you look in the mirror? look for the opposite. want to see good in someone? look for good qualities. dreading going into work on monday mornings [or any other day]? celebrate the good parts of your job, and cling to them. if you look for crap, you'll find crap, but if you look for beauty, beauty is what you will find.

you see, when you start looking for the good in the people around you, recognizing the good in your job, and in life, period, you become more grateful, and "gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. it turns what we have into enough, and more" [melody beattie].

thanksgiving comes once a year, but thanks-living can happen every day.

Saturday, November 8, 2014

you can get through anything.

i know this because i can, and if i can, you can.

i feel discouraged today for the second time in a long time, and when i started to reflect on why i was feeling this when i woke up this morning [there is a time and a place for that], i was reminded of this simple yet profound truth: sometimes when we feel discouraged, it just means that we could really use some sleep.

let's face it; life can be exhausting. some of us have draining jobs, long commutes, and an early alarm clock. others of us have children who demand our attention every second, or relationships that do the same. we're sleep deprived people. so much in fact that we're still talking about the hour of it that we gained last weekend; it's like we need the 'fall back' to 'spring forward'. [see what i did there?].

when you're lacking sleep, little things like a broken washer and dryer can seem like a mountain [of laundry], which then turns into frustration when your good friend siri isn't of any help when you ask her where the nearest laundromat is, and thinks it's funny to point you in the direction of vacant store fronts, or better yet, local dry cleaners, when all you're really in need of is clean underwear and not a pressed suit. not im'pressed', siri, not impressed.

but in all SIRIousness, [sorry, couldn't resist] there are more pressing issues in life than busted appliances, and like some of you, i'm feeling those today, too. but here's the thing - the same principle applies here, too - sleep more, lose less sleep.

it's a catch 22, really. getting proper sleep can help us function, make wise decisions, and worry less, but the very things that we blow out of proportion because we're sleep deprived are often the things that cause us to lose the most sleep at night.

feeling discouraged today? sleep it off.