Friday, November 14, 2008

Negitive List VS the Positive List

Another week has gone by and I don't know what I did with it! Chris came home from his 6 month Army training and is with us now. They will stay until Christmas. I will cherish the time I have left with my little grandson. He is son darn cute. Chris' parents came up for the weekend and we had fun celebrating Ethan's 1st birthday. Lots of food and fun times!
Rachel and I went to Redmond on Monday night. Tuesday I had a great time at lunch with my old FLC co-workers. (and no that doesn't mean they are OLD!) I mentioned something to them that I have learned. We all have a mental list of all the things we don't like or that drive us crazy about our spouse or even a friend. I call it the negative list. There is also a list of all the things we love about them. We as a people, tend to dwell too much on the negative list. The things that drive us crazy or that we hate. We need to be more positive and dwell on the good list. It makes life much more enjoyable. If you dwell on the negative list you can become bitter, angry and cynical. It just isn't healthy and it rips apart relationships.

I am convinced that daily enticements are placed in front of us to help us grow and see what we will choose. Will we choose best or better, anger or happiness, the good list or the negative list. I see people making these choices all the time. When you are driving and someone cuts you off. Do you get angry at the person or do say a pray for the person who seems to be having a bad day driving? When a child spills milk all over the floor, do you get mad and criticize the child or can you laugh and say oh well accidents happen. I have been working on the positive side of things for years. Sometimes I am better at it then at other times, but I can promise this: If you work on being positive, gentle, loving and forgiving, you will become a better person. The world needs more people who are tolerant, patient, loving and forgiving. One person can make a difference but if a lot of us try this, I believe we can change the world one life at a time. Start with yours, I am.

3 comments:

Sandra said...

I am a believer in looking for the positives in our lives. Being grateful I believe allows the spirit to be with us. When I am looking at all the negatives I am not being grateful. Each night before I go to bed I try and record in my journal things that happened to me that are positive. Take care! Sandra I like your blog. You go girl!

Super Angie Супер Энджи said...

Amen sista! :)

I once had a ward member remind me that we are all children of our heavenly father and he loves us all--even her roudy kids during sacrament meeting. Whoa! That really hit me. I sure hope people think about that when my kids are being roudy.

Unknown said...

Grace, You are so right. We all can make this choice, and in fact this is the only thing we DO have control of in our lives... we may not control what other people do, but we can control what our response to them will be... If we choose to respond in a peaceful, calm manner, and look at things in a positive manner, all the better for us and the world!