Tuesday, September 7, 2010

outlook
















saturday we had a conversation with our daughter after we took the family to see a movie.
it started, how did you like the movie?
the gist:
daughter told us parents everything that happened during the movie experience. all negative.
1. loud person next to her
2. missing a part cuz she had to walk with alex to the bathroom. (i give her that.)
3. alex dropped the popcorn
4. loud person next to her
5- 25. i don't remember.

garrett and i exchange a 'what the heck?' glance.
garret said something to make her laugh really hard. he has perfect timing with stuff like that.
me:
that's lame. i'm sorry. life is easier if you focus on the positive.
she said:
but all the things i said were true.
me:
they are true.

we told her that there will ALWAYS be negative things that happen. every single day. at every single event. at every single thing she has looked forward to, or dreamed about, or planned.
you have to look at things a different way, and find the positive. look at it from a different angle.

**
so it's a nice reminder to me on another level. the same is true when looking around at others and their lives. the grass is always greener... we tend to see others' positives (and our negatives). but everyone has their yellow and brown patches.

*i took these 2 pictures (of the same 2 dishes) after i went to the cupboard for a bowl and found this bowl and plate. the sentence "the kids did the dishes." came to my mind, with a low, disgusted tone. then immediately i thought, "the kids did the dishes" this time with a thankful tone. they are actually at the age where they do help out. i remember many days, weeks, years... where i had no help from them on that level. at least now they are contributing where they can. we can always work on 'technique'. 'will' is what matters most to me.

10 comments:

Connie Miles said...

INSPIRATIONAL!!!

Jill said...

Love it!!! You are so great at seeing the good in everything!!

Jill said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jami Baker said...

Thanks!!! I love this post!!!

Rhonna Farrer said...

a*men sista!
have you been reading my mind? this is JUST perfect. LOVE It!
xo
r

Kimbo said...

3 million cheers for AMY!
Do you remember Mandy Larson (our missionary, from Mesa, AZ) She said she was kind of frowny and negative as a child and when she was about 7 her MOM showed her "Pollyanna". She said it chaged her life. (Can't for the life of me think of how that movie came up in the mission-- HA!) I just remember her great big beautiful smile. . . .all the time. Whenever I was giving a talk at Zone conference, and I was wondering how it was going, I could look at Mandy and she ALWAYS was looking straight at me with that great smile! It always made me feel better.

charisse mask said...

You are awesome Amy! Thanks for being wonderful you. Have fun at Spark. I wish so bad I was there with you.

Clay's gal said...

Hey pretty lady! Just because Garrett and Clay get to see each other everyday doesn't mean we don't need to hang out! We need to get together! P.S Clay thinks the world of your brothers!

Yvette said...

So true! Thinking positively does make such a difference in how you see everything. Sometimes I found if you just can't get there right away M&M's sure help:)

AMBER said...

I love this post Amy. So true! And I miss living by you and your cute family :)