IS YOUR ATTITUDE IN CHECK?

It's pre-shower this morning and already my mind is going in a million different directions.  I was thinking about my attitude today.  In the last few years I've noticed my attitude changing (for the better).  I'm more tolerant of people, not so quick in my judgements, and in general, I'm a happier person than I've ever been before.

Have you ever noticed that a lot of people live in the past?  They like to dwell on the misfortunes that life has dealt them.  I realize that people need to vent or grieve, or just talk about their feelings, but there is point where enough is enough.  You can't be dwelling on the fact that you're car broke down in 1999 (twice), your cat ran away, and you spilled grape juice on your favorite white shirt.  Should you still be complaining about it 12 years later, and expect people to sympathize with you?  Unless you're over the age of 80 and suffering from Dementia or Alzheimer's, or are just clearly delusional you can't expect that to happen.  I think that we as humans should embrace every experience we are given.  We all go through hard things in life, yes, some are harder than others, but we go through these things for a reason.  We can either "choose" to be miserable, or we can "choose" to move forward. 

I realize that it is not as cut and dry as this.  Obviously somethings are harder than others to endure.  The loss of a loved one, the breakdown of a relationship, the loss of a job.  All of these things are tough.  The thing is, you'll get through it.  You can either try and ignore it, you can complain about it for the rest of your life, or you can just deal with it.  The choice is yours.

Now I haven't gotten where I am today without a few hardships.  Specifically, the loss of my son.  It devastated me.  I experienced a whirlwind of emotions.  It was a chore to get up in the morning.  I wondered "Why Me"?  What did I do to deserve this?  Some days I thought that the pain would never end.  And I was right.  It doesn't go away.  Yet at the same time, it doesn't hurt quite as badly as the days pass by.  Grief doesn't have a set number of days.  They say the "average" is a year.  Its been almost two years since this horrible day, and truth be told, I still grieve.  I still wonder what he would be like, I still cry (although not on an hourly basis anymore), and I still think about him every day.  The point of the story is, I could let this destroy my future, or, I could choose to embrace this experience, and truly live.  It still astounds me how one little life could have such an impact on me.  I now live my life to make him proud.  I choose to see the world as a happy place and look for the blessings in the unexpected circumstances.  But most of all.... I have made the choice to live each day to its fullest.  To be a little kinder.  To try a little harder.  My life is filled with so many blessings that I never before saw, all of this is how I came to "Think in Pink".