Choices

Yesterday I was spending some time with the man I visit in an area nursing home. He was reading to me from a large print Readers Digest. One of the pages he found had this on it:

‘Can a poor person really learn to be as optimistic as a millionaire?’

Answer – ‘Absolutely. Try this simple exercise: For the next three days, notice and write down five good things happening in your world. It might be that the trees are especially beautiful this spring day, or that your child’s teacher told you that your kid has really nice manners. After three days, you’ll see that good things are part of a pattern in your life. You’ll notice more good things, and that perpetuates the pattern. This will make you more optimistic.

Simple, but profound. It was a great segway to begin an important brief conversation with him. The circumstances we’re presented aren’t what make us who we are or what direction we travel. It’s the choices we make and how we choose to live our lives. Yesterday my friend in the nursing home chose to tell me how much he enjoyed time with his son. He chose to look out his window and notice the squirrel hanging upside down from his bird feeder.

Today I’m choosing to smile at people I meet, to appreciate what I have and all those who make my world special. I’m choosing to have a super duper great day! I hope you do too!