Thankful Thinking

I don't make New Year’s resolutions! I live each day focusing on being healthy, looking for joy and happiness and sharing excitement about whatever the day may bring. All days don't bring positives I know but if I can't prevent the negative I find a way to live with it. Regardless of what the day brings be thankful that you are awake and aware and able to cope and deal with the day. If life hands you lemons I find a way to make lemonade.

A few years ago when faced with health issues of someone dear to me as well as my own health I came to realize that each day is a gift. Every day is a vacation day to be enjoyed to the fullest. There are no bad days. If you get the day it is a good day so find the good, even if you have to search for it, and don't dwell on the negative. I cringe when I hear someone say, I am having a bad day, especially a young person. If you wake up in the morning it is a good day. Re-frame your thinking and find the good in whatever surrounds you.

Small details are what I search for in my relationships with other people. If you watch you can pick up on what is important to others and give those small gifts back to them creating a win/win for both of you. I have a wonderful friend whose parents are estranged. He is like a ping pong ball that is battered back and forth between them, suffering conditional love from both sides. The problem is they each want something different and when he pleases one he displeases the other. He is always in a state of being out of favor with one or the other of his parents.

In realizing the dilemma this conflict creates in my friend I can offer the constant love and acceptance he needs from the people around him. Though I can't replace his parents and eliminate the conflict they create. What I can do is offer constant love, regardless of what he does or doesn't do. There is never any doubt about the strength of our relationship. What I do is so simple and brings me such joy; I simply tell him I love him at every opportunity. I send him emails ending with I love you. I give him small reminders of how important he is in our life at every opportunity. Sometimes the gift is nothing more than a cutting from a plant to root, but it is always done just for him because he is loved. Such small gifts have built a relationship that cannot be broken.

Be vigilant with the people around you. Watch for the things that you can do to make them happy. This will create happiness for both of you.