Tag Archives: attitude

One Thing

16 Jul

So many lists these days.

17 things to say to your daughter
12 things to explore with your son
5 things never to say to your daughter
7.5 ways to raise a son
10 life hacks to make things easier
14 things your kids should know before they’re teenagers
11 parenting FAILS
30 ways to have more energy

Too many lists.

I have one thing I want my kids to keep safe and keep always as they grow up through this crazy, overwhelming and amazing world we call life.

A sense of humor.

Not at the expense of others but for the well-being and sanity of others and themselves. Don’t take life too seriously. Don’t worry their hearts about the things they can’t control. Find a way to smile. Find the healthy memory in what seems like a miserable or sad situation and make a lighter heart.

Joy is something we can control no matter what we are going through. We can determine whether we mope or grumble through any given day. I’m not saying they shouldn’t ever be sad or mad or throw a fit, I’m just hoping that their humor finds a way through and lifts them up and out.

I see signs of their great humors now. They deliver lines to me that make them seem smarter than I ever was or will be (not in a smart mouth way, just their pure and light perspective).

It makes me feel so great knowing they get it — without a list to follow.

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Catch More Than We Drop

11 May

I’m tired of the negative taking away from the positive. It seems no matter how many wonderful moments that happen on any given day, the one or two awful ones are the ones that get all the energy and determine whether it’s labeled a good or bad day. From now on, I will try to remember:

We catch more baseballs than we drop or miss.
This is something I tell Nate all the time when he gets discouraged for not making a catch or has a bad play (usually after a series of good plays). We were throwing the baseball one day and his attitude changed when a few popped out of his glove after he thought he made the catch. “I keep missing them,” he slumped. After that, I started counting his catches. “How about that one, buddy? Didn’t miss that one,” I reinforced. I got up to 24 before he missed or dropped one. Why should that one cancel out all the others? No way. Unacceptable.

Running at a slower pace than yesterday is still running.
Man, do I get down when I don’t cover as much distance as I did in a previous 30-minute run. Ridiculous. I’m out there, right? I’m not giving up. I’m running and doing something I never thought I’d do. Pushing myself and succeeding just by doing. The comparing comes from my competitive side. It is a strong spirit to reason with but I try. I feel being competitive with myself is a good thing. It keeps me trying to improve and limits my inclination to settle. When I feel the negativity creeping in, I focus on turning it to a positive (better time), instead of just realizing that just doing it is a positive. That deserves praise too.

Millions of correctly typed keys are greater than a few wrong ones.
I go along each day and do my job the right way. I fulfill requests and meet needs, often giving more than the person asked for. I get a ton of thank you emails and messages of praise. But then, I make a mistake. That’s it. All the days of performing as I should are wiped clean. Now, I beat myself up and essentially start over in the “days without a mistake” tally. Why? If your job is not life or death, like so many are not, this should not be mood-changer. I need to remember all the things I carried out without a typo or missed step. I’m not saying I shouldn’t care about the mistake, I just shouldn’t let it dictate how I feel about my contributions.

There are so many more moments that make us label a good day a bad one. Flat tire. Frustration with another person/work. Burned grilled cheese. Whatever. One moment in the day of many determines how we score the points. When I was staying at home with the kids, I used to speak in percentages when Andrew would ask me how the day was. It helped me keep things in perspective. “80 percent was great. 18 percent was a struggle. Two percent was wine time so that doesn’t count.” Whatever gets us through, trying to remember that we catch more than we drop.

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What You Make of It

9 Nov

When life gives you lemons, you:

a) Painstakingly hand squeeze each lemon to the last drop, removing seeds and pulp one by one and counting each grain of sugar used.

b) Chuck Norris style kick those little yellow b’s into smithereens in a room you don’t have to clean up.

c) Gently squeeze each sun shiny fruit like a hug from a child, smiling and happily humming the whole time. Sit outside and sip, anyone?

d) Buy some Sweet Tea Vodka so you can chop those things up and add a splash and a slice.

e) Hand the lemons to someone else who needs them and will be very grateful for the opportunity to make something with them.

f) Patiently wait for the lemon to ripen, use it to help flavor a delicious celebratory meal and then plant a seed and wait for a tree to grow.

g) No thanks. I prefer Crystal Light.

h) Have an allergic reaction that needs medical attention.

So many ways to treat a sour situation. Thankful for no citrus allergies.

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Total ‘Tude Change

26 Oct

I was feeling pretty blah over these past few weeks but after some yoga, a long, uninterrupted shower and two powdered donuts I have a whole new outlook!

I really don’t know what was making me feel so yuck.  I think it may have been because I wasn’t going to the Y to workout because I was having a pain in my chest and thought I had pulled a muscle or something.  That lead to me feeling sleepy during the day (even sometimes falling asleep for seconds at a time while I tried to play blocks or puzzles with the kids) and I also felt really cranky.  I had zero patience when it came to dealing with tantrums or non-listening little girls.  It’s amazing how much I’ve come to depend on exercising and how great I feel after getting my workout fix.

It’s not even like I go to the Y every day.  I only go like 3 to 4 times a week but those times hold me over and keep my moods/feelings in check.  I was thinking about how much it will stink when I have to choose between my workouts and work!  I feel so spoiled and blessed to be able to do this and I hope I wouldn’t quit going once I started working again – it’s just you know how that can be – it can be hard to fit it all in and if I’m working away from the kids then the last thing I’m going to want to do is be away from them even longer so I can listen to my MP3, read People magazine, watch pointless talk shows and burn a few calories on the treadmill!  I shouldn’t worry about that now though – I’ll worry about that when the time comes – right now I just know how much I need my visits to the gym.  I will never let a pulled muscle or pain come between us again!

 

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