Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Be Thankful

Another thing I have decided is that in all the negative and horribleness of these weeks, I have choices. I may be facing my third week of silence, but I am not going to let it drag me down. Time to chose thankfulness and choose what happiness I have. Focus on the good. Not a pollyanna type of ignore the bad and it will go away, but a simple choice. In this, there is still good, and I can both celebrate and give thanks for the good things in my life.

Today's good things:

Kayla is doing well. In two days, she is mastering long division which stumped her for three years. I love seeing her face as she realizes she CAN do this! I've been called stupid and dumb and "will never learn" (not academically, but other things) so many times myself.... and when I can turn around one child's life and take her from a "I'm just so stupid that I will never get it" to a "I'm a bit behind, but I CAN learn this!" - then I smile. She's stopped calling herself stupid. She and I will both agree that she is, like me, distractable and has trouble focusing, but we're learning skills to compensate for that.

Music. I'm thankful for music and laughter. The kids and I put some music on loud on the way to school and clapped and sang along loudly with it, laughing the whole way.



Rollerblades. I got some for my #2 son which means the whole gang has them now, and we are learning to rollerblade. Being active makes me happy. So, so, so glad the cold has gone! Somehow being active while carrying around an extra 15 pounds of snow wear just is not the same!




Oranges. They are in season, and I love them! I know, doesn't take much to make me happy, does it?

5 comments:

Mozi Esme said...

Well said! I think we all need to take on that attitude, regardless of where we are at...

Angela said...

I think sometimes the act of expressing thankfulness can be very powerful. It's like reaching through the darkness and by faith grabbing onto the hand of God. It doesn't necessarily change our situations, but it changes us.

I'm praying for you, Ellie. May the Lord of peace and hope give you all that you need today.

Rebecca Conduff Aguirre said...

We love oranges! They make me happy, too!

So glad to hear that Kayla is doing so well and I agree, nothing like seeing someone bloom and grow where they thought they couldn't!

Anonymous said...

I am glad you are able to look at things this way. It does help to be thankful. Music certainly does good to our souls.

Karis said...

I got a smile out of the "Pollyanna" reference. I always liked that book. I enjoyed reading about the good things of your life on Tuesday.