The Little Things

Good morning, friends,
  So today is Sunday. I didn't post anything yesterday because I wasn't home hardly at all. But it was a good day. Spent with good friends, good food, and outside in the sunshine. Today is another beautiful day and I'm going to talk about what I thought about yesterday.
   Last night I went out to the comedy club with my husband and we saw a great show. It was hilarious as always...never disappoints. However, one of the topics was 2012 and the supposed apocolypse that will happen then. I know this is a shaky topic. Some people are annoyed by the hype surrounding this supposed end of the world. Others are believers, others are skeptics or non-believers. Regardless, it was interesting that the comedian brought this up last night because I've been thinking a lot about this lately. Working out in my head what makes the most sense to me.
  
    The little things in life...those are what matters, right? Sometimes moreso than the big things? While I was at a friends house yesterday, my kids were playing outside, her and I were just talking and watching movies together, she made us breakfast which was delicious, and it was just good. Lately, the temperature here in Texas has been very appealing. (We only get a few weeks in between summer and fall and then winter and spring where the weather is neither too hot or too cold but just perfect.) I've been driving with my windows down, the wind rushing through my hair, hand hanging out the side to feel it even more. I'm seeing Pumpkins at the pumpkin patch, mums, gerbera daisies, and signs for fall festivals all over the place. Now, I'm someone who is significantly affected by the weather. My mood that is. When the sun is shining, whether it's hot or cold or perfect outside, I'm a happy girl. When the sun is hiding behind the clouds, I feel sleepy and unmotivated to do much of anything. I'm not unhappy on rainy days, but just not as pumped to face the day head on.
   Anyway, what I'm trying to get at is have you ever wondered what the difference is between those who have a positive outlook on life and those who have a very negative one? Why is it that two people can see things so differently? It's called perception. Perception is directly linked to our attitudes. You attitude is how you choose to perceive things and then react to them. Regardless, attitude is a choice. We either choose to be positive and happy and find goodness where we look. Or we choose to be negative and miserable and find bad in everything we see. So would it be safe to say that the difference between the two kinds of people are their choices? I understand for some people, it may be more difficult to make the choice to be happy. Say for those who are surrounded by negativity. They have negative friends, live in a negative place, have a negative job, etc. But I love the saying, You are who you surround yourself with. Imagine how much different your life would be if you had friends who were positive and uplifting and you had a job you loved and you lived in a neighborhood where you loved to be. Surrounding yourself with good things will in turn make your life good.
    I have this thing. I suppose it's a self-preservation mechanism. I can't have friends who bring me down. I can't have these friends in my daily life, on facebook or anywhere. I can't have friends who every time I talk to them, it's all drama. There's always something bad going on in their life. Or there's always someone else who screwed them over. I can't hang with people like that. I can't hang with people who can't see that they are the only common denominator in their abundance of problems. I can't hang with friends on facebook who constantly have negative posts....something bad happened, again, people are liars, being tired of whatever, and blah, blah, blah. I just wish people would choose to consume their lives with good things rather than bad. I wish others would choose to focus on all they have rather than what they don't have. I'm sure I can take my own advice here sometimes. I get it. Sometimes we all like to just wallow in our own despair. Give ourselves a little pity party. But then you've gotta get up and get over it. Move on. We can't change our past, but we can control our future by deciding how we're going to deal with it.
   I choose to find the little things in life that warm my heart. Beautiful things are everywhere. Sunshine, flowers, art, music, people, friends, family. While I understand that we have so much bad in this world, I truly, from the bottom of my heart, completely believe, that there is still WAYYYY more beauty and goodness in this world than there is bad. The sad thing is that you have to look a little further and a little harder to find it. We are so consumed by all the bad in this world because of the media and movies and TV and whatever else. But look beyond all that and you'll see so much good. I love going people watching. I love seeing things that put me in awe. This is a huge world. Larger than most of us can comprehend most of the time. I think the good in this world is like water on the earth...still the majority.
   This is why I can't believe in the end of the world. Perhaps metaphorically, like the end of the world as we know it. But definitely not the end. How can so much that is good and beautiful and that brings happiness to the world go to waste? All BS aside, we have it so good. Not everyone, but a lot of us. And I've found that there are people all over this world with much less than I have who are happier and more fulfilled than I am. That's amazing to me. It's all about perception.
    So, since my blog's purpose is to help others, to uplift them and motivate and encourage them, I would like to encourage you all to do one thing. Focus on the little things in life. Find beauty and happiness wherever you look and in whoever you're with. Surround yourself with positivity and you'll quickly see your life changing...you'll quickly see yourself being happier.