I'm positive about some negatives...

Okay. Confession time.

I missed a credit card payment.

Do you know how I know?

They have called me four grazillion times in the past seventeen minutes.

Yeah.

I'm not exaggerating!

Seriously!



Two days late on paying a bill this month. Now, here's the thing I've been thinking about....

Why don't I get a call when I HAVE PAID THE BILL ON TIME???!!! HM???

Yeah.

I'm not exaggerating!

Seriously!

I want a phone call from them when I do good.

And it's not just them...

Last night I ask my son to hand me a bag of potato chips. He does. I say, "thank you."

He looks at me for a moment...looks away...and says, "Mom. You could say more than that."

More than "thank you."??

My curiousity is piqued. "What would you like to hear me say?" I ask.

"Outstanding! Good job!" he is animated now, "You know....nice things like that."

"My son," I begin, solemnly, "Words cannot really fully express the profound and deep gratitude I have for your selfless, generous, giving act of handing me some Sunchips. You, Sir...are more than a gentleman and a scholar. You deserve a Nobel prize for peace and selfless acts of random kindness. It is an honor to be served by you and I look so forward to our future times of sharing together."



"Yeah!" he says, "That's better."

Okay.......

look. My credit card issues and chip addictions are not what I want to talk about today. What I've been thinking about is this:

Why is it so easy for some of us (okay....me!) to focus on the negative first?

I say 'first' because my mind goes there [to the negative] first. I want to point out the 'mistake'. In fact, I should probably be working for a credit card company! I have a great phone voice and all. Of course, I would be phoning myself...so that's kinda redundant...BUT!!! I could be making money doing that...so I COULD pay my bill...and therefore NOT have to phone myself!!!! BRILLIANT!!!

(ergh. I need more coffee...you?)

Thought #1 is that I see mistakes and want to point them out. Thought #2 is this: Negatives are funny. Humorous. Let's be brutally honest for a moment. America's Funniest Videos would NOT be that funny if you didn't have cats falling into fishtanks or brides set on fire by unity candles. And don't even get me started on little kids smacking their dads in the you-know-whats, alright?


We laugh at the negatives. We do. It's like we can't help ourselves sometimes.

Laughter is not a bad thing at all.

And negatives do happen.

When I think about this a little more, I believe that part of it is our pride. We're just so relieved that we're not the one on fire (or worse) that we laugh to release that relief.

And, guess what? It's life! Accidents happen. Children make poor batting choices. Cats eat fish. It's like we can't help ourselves...

or can we?

See, here's the thing. Much like a lot of things in life...habits develop when we repeat behavior over and over again.

In college, I was so good at(and used to)using sarcasm, that when I tried to be honestly complimentary, it didn't work out so well.

Case in point: Jill Wright comes into our sorority house wearing a new dress. I say, "That is a great dress, Jill."

She looks at me, horrified, and cries out, "What's wrong with it?"

"Nothing! It's a beautiful dress!"

"There must be something wrong with it! Just say it!"

"I think it's lovely. It really goes with your eyes."

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH MY EYES!!!!?????"

sigh...

It's tough! It's hard to change...but I am trying to be more positive.

And you know what? We need positives. If, for instance, your checking account is NOT full of positives...you cannot pay your credit card on time.

See? I can be taught!

But...

BUT....we can't get rid of the negatives completely. Cars know this. You cannot run a car with a battery that's only positive. It.won't.go.

Think about a negative in your life. Something that is not right. It could be something you've done...something that's happened to you...something going on in the world now...think about it for a moment.

Now...how much time have you spent focusing on that one negative thing? Maybe you've been thinking of it the entire time you've been reading this entry. I dunno. Stop thinking of it for a second.

Okay....think for a moment about something positive...something good. Maybe you've just briefly considered it...

think about it again.

And again.

And....one more time.

Are you smiling? Are you relaxed? Are you eating Sunchips?

You know what?

It's about balance, my friends. You cannot miss your credit cards payments continually any more than you can exist on a diet of Sunchips. Accidents happen...choices are made...and we hope for balance.

At least I do. Especially for that poor cat...

Ooh! Speaking of that, I gotta go! AFV is on! And...my phone is ringing...