~Barbara Johnson
What a story! I just loved that little boy's answer. Where did he get such a positive outlook? Probably from his parents! Children may not always turn out exactly like their parents, but for the most part, they do! My first thought when reading that was, I bet his mother had already had an encouraging talk with him. Poor boy, I didn't give him much credit did I? :) However, that was my first thought! This mother was training her child (Proverbs 22:6) to be positive!
Don’t you just love being around positive people? I do! I love happy people. Now, let us not confuse the party people with the positive people. I am not talking about the loud, “I’m here, ready to have a good time, and be the life of the party” type of people. (Very sorry, if you are one of them!) I am interested in talking about people that are positive everyday of their lives! I am talking about the people that are happy before the party, even if it means blowing up one hundred balloons, baking dozens of cupcakes and barely having anytime to get dressed. I am talking about the people that love their life even when it is not all fun and parties. People that are passionate about their sometimes boring, sometimes chaotic, sometimes backwards life. The people that feel fortunate, grateful and blessed.
The other day when talking to my cousin, I was telling her how weird it is to look back at certain times in my life, like birthdays, weddings and family reunions and feel a twinge of sadness. Almost, like I missed some very special moments. Moments that should have been filled with happy memories, but they were not, because of my disposition and the relationship that I was in. Thinking about those days now, seems like it was a completely different life and I was a completely different person. I can find myself starting to look back and think, wow, I wasted a decade of my life being unhappy. 10 years of my life that I will never get back! However, instead of dwelling on the negative, I find myself feeling grateful to have learned so much.
If I had not gone through what I did, I would not be the person that I am today. Those times were tough and I fell down many times, but I kept getting up because I knew that better days were ahead. I survived, because of prayer and positivity! Our situations vary and our circumstances can sometimes seem bleak, but a positive outlook can make all of the difference. I truly believe that! My life got happier once I started looking at my life, my future, and my circumstances through rose-colored lenses.
We are human and life can be painful some days. I believe that it is okay to give ourselves a mourning period. It is okay to vent to our friends and even tell God, we do not understand why “this” is happening to us, as we ask him for strength, but then, enough is enough. We must get up and get on with our life, because this world has too much to offer.
My mom was always one of those happy people! She was like a happy little bird chirping in the morning and singing her songs, telling us, “Rise and shine. It’s a beautiful day!” Although, I didn’t always understand her happiness and my response was usually "Mom, seriously?!" Now I am going through the same thing with our kids! Yesterday, my hubby and I were joking with our son and he was so serious! He never even cracked a smile, but I kept joking and laughing, because I know that even if he does not appreciate it now, in a few years he will. Then this morning, I walked into the girls' bedrooms singing, "Good morning! It's a lovely daaaaay!" Both of the girls groaned, complained, and gave me grumpy looks. It made me think of my mom!
Kids are going to be grumpy. Kids are going to find something to complain about, but as their parents, we are going to continue to give them all the reasons that they should look forward to their life. To their day. To whatever comes next!
Much like that little boy’s mother did in the story above. That way when our children become adults, they understand that bad things may sometimes happen to good people, but positive people never let the bad things keep them down!
