While visiting with Stacey, Scott and Otis this past weekend, I had a front row seat into their world of puppy training, which reminded me that at some point in our lives we all have to learn some very basic skills. His newest lesson was being taught to "seek" something after either one of them had hidden an object in the next room. They've worked so diligently in training him to "sit" and are now teaching him to "stay" while they remove themselves from his eyesight, to hide a toy. It reminded me that although we were taught as children and may all still understand the concept, some lessons must be relearned even after we become mature adults. Here was this young dog being taught a simple task, that if you suffer through the bad part, something good will come of it. He had to wait for the command, after being deprived of his toy for just a few short moments, before he was able to seek his reward. How good are we at being patient enough to find something good, when something not-so-good is staring us in the face?
When we are young and carefree (that means not being responsible for providing a roof over anyones head, including our own), we could easily see the good side of things. We are not born with negative thoughts, they are acquired as we grow older...we remain happy for the most part because sadness is kept at bay by our parents. We have the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus, and even the Tooth Fairy leaves us a little $$ when we lose a tooth. Why is it that as we become adults, we are no longer able to find the "good" when the "bad" is smacking us upside the head??? Is our happiness so hidden away, that all we see is the sad. Is it because we find ourselves in such dire situations, that we stop looking for what brought us joy when we were younger? Instead of seeking the positive, we take the path of least resistance and begin to dwell on the negative and complain about the what ails us...we just plain and simply give up.
I believe we have already established that I am not the most patient person in the world. Its something that is an ongoing work-in-progress, and believe it or not, my writing has helped me in ways that I am unable to completely understand. One thing in particular that I have absolutely no patience or tolerance for, is people who spend every waking moment complaining about something. You may think, well aren't you just complaining about complainers...in reality, I'm going to attempt to explain how I deal with negativity in my life and in turn dismiss those folks who happen to have what I like to refer to as the "Eeyore" syndrome. No matter how they look at things, they only see the negative and the positive aspects that might actually exist, are never even on their radar. Don't they know that if you look long and hard enough, every single cloud has a silver lining???
The reality of life is you get what you give, and if negative is what you put out there, then you can be assured it will come right back to bite you in the bottom. When you find yourself in a upside down place, take a moment, or even two if you need it, and if you look very closely, you'll soon find your way to seeing right side up once again.
I like to challenge myself everyday to find even the smallest morsel of good in a not-so-pleasant predicament. Although I have been faced with some pretty intense issues in my time, let me be very clear that today, I'm not exactly talking about life shattering issues, although I believe the concept can be utilized in any situation. I honestly get a bit ticked off at myself when I hear certain words slip past my lips...if I don't like listening to it, I'm certain others are not fond of it either. As a example, it can be something as simple as my frustration with the cool temps this week. After my usual, and oh so predictable rant, I actually have many reasons to be "happy" (yes we are stretching that term here) that it was so very cool outside. Here are just a few:
1) I'm saving a ton of money not running my air conditioner
2) the temps warm up enough during the day that our home stays above 70 so I never have to put the heat on
3) when I get into my car at the end of the work day--it no longer feels like a turkish steam bath...and last but not least
4) I sleep better and longer when I'm all bundled up at night (gee darn, 3 a.m. and I have been missing each other the last few days!!!)
So you see, as much as I groan about the cold, I figure out how the cool temps actually benefit me, and it's all good. I firmly believe, that all chronic complainers out there, have the power to turn the negative into the positive, and I no longer give them the time of day, if they are repeat offenders. I have found myself at times, avoiding them all together, it's actually quite painful to be in the same room as a person who gets more pleasure from complaining than from anything else. They appear to be happy when they can recruit others to complain right along with them. I am beginning to think that there is a growing epidemic of chronic complainers out there, taking over the rest of the world!!!
I do understand that there is a small amount of comfort we all experience when we are allowed to blow off steam every once in a while, and that is certainly healthy in small doses. However, in reality, we all need to relearn the "game" ....it's actually very simple...just be patient, take the time and I promise....no matter how small or insignificant, you will eventually find the good in every single situation. Playing hide and seek can really be fun...just ask Otis!!!
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