published Sunday, January 22nd, 2012 at 8:24 pm by
Jwginn
“A weird time in which we are alive. We can travel anywhere we want, even to other planets. And for what? To sit day after day, declining in morale and hope.” –Philip Dick, The Man in the High Castle
I dream of standing in front of a crowd and asking the audience, “Would the pessimist in the room please stand up?” (I use the singular in the hopes that the majority of people in attendance are optimists. Is that too much to ask?) As people begin to stand I would proceed to point out in dramatic fashion how amazing it is that those standing were actually able to get up out of their chair on their own accord. I would point out that they were able to get out of bed, get dressed, get in a vehicle, drive, park, walk, sit, stand, etc… I hope you get my point.
There is a drastic shortage of optimism in our world. I would love to simply blame it on the media, the government, the economy, but that falls short of identifying the target. It’s lets ‘you’ and ‘I’ off the hook far too easily.
I have met with a handful of people in the past month who have commented with great anxiety that they’re in a rut and will never get out. I usually respond with tremendous compassion and balance it with advice and hope. However, I sat with guy and it’s been the same song and dance for two years. He’s given up and the sad thing is that he has not even tried to fight. During our last go round in a moment of extreme frustration I looked him in the eye and I finally said, “Stop! You’re whining. You can walk, eat, move, jump, run, dance, shout, and you choose to mope. Helen Keller could not see, hear, or talk and she made a difference. Rick Hansen was in a wheelchair and he took that chair across the country with the strength of his own hands. What’s your excuse?” It was not my most empathetic moment but it addresses a crucial issue – Choice!
You have a choice to be optimistic or not. You have a choice to be happy or not. You have a choice to change or not. Now I do not want to diminish those who are legitimately battling depression. There are those who have chemical imbalances, or who are facing tremendous loss. It is understandable that all of us may go through times of incredible pain. Even the ancients in their wisdom recognized that “there is a time to laugh and a time to cry.”
I have begun battling the potential of negativity by starting each day with a ‘thankful list’ – It is my way of keeping my focus on the things that I am grateful for. I should mention that I am battling a cold and sinus funk today and have not felt like doing a whole lot but sleep and sleep some more. A few weeks ago I would have excused myself from writing and I’m sure everyone would have understood. So here I am underneath the blankets with my eyes closed typing this blog post. So today even though I feel awful, I am thankful. Even though, I have gone from the bed to the couch to the bed and back to the couch again, I am thankful. Here are the things I wrote that I was thankful for this morning:
- Juju’s hugs (my daughter)
- Ability to read and gain new insights
- The laughter of my two boy’s in the next room playing legos and creating imaginary worlds.
- Sweet Jenny who is incredibly patient with me.
- Kind words from friends
Those were just the first five. Even if you are the most positive person you know – I would challenge you to make a gratitude list daily and keep it in a journal. I assure you that once you begin to take account of all that you have surrounding you that is good, it will be hard to stay blue. It starts with you – Make the change.
It was thirty-some years ago but I remember it like yesterday. We were living in a small fishing village in the province of Newfoundland. It was getting close to Christmas and I was taking a trip with my family into the city to do some last minute shopping.
