Positive Spin Perspective

The year 2012 is fast approaching. Can you believe it is just weeks away? You know, I don’t ever make New Year resolutions. I just never have. This year I think I might, but maybe in a little different way. I am going to challenge myself. I’m calling it my PSP - Positive Spin Perspective - challenge. That’s a mouth full, huh? I’m extending this challenge to all of our AWN fans and ask that you join me in creating a brighter perspective.

Before I go into the challenge let me tell you why I’m doing this. First, I’m sure you can agree that spending energy on the negative or things I can’t control is draining. Practicing gratitude will increase how I feel psychologically and socially. The more I practice gratitude the more negative emotions will decrease. Second, I would like to inspire someone. Just one person would be great. I don’t have to inspire the whole world. If I can inspire one person to think more positively than maybe they can inspire one person and so on.

How will I do this challenge? Simple, I’m going to keep a gratitude journal. I learned about gratitude journals when I took the Spouse Resiliency course at ACS earlier this year. That was the single most enlighting and useful class I’ve ever taken. The goal of the journal is to write down three things every day for which you are grateful. You also write down why you are grateful for them and how you can have this good thing happen again. These things we are grateful for don’t have to be big life or world changing things. Just simple things like having shelter, food, happy kids, etc. The reason for writing down the things we are grateful for is so that we can go back and read them so we are reminded of these good things. Taking time to be grateful isn’t about ignoring the bad things. Practicing gratefulness just helps us focus more attention on the positive.

Brother David Steindl-Rast said, “We have thousands of opportunities every day to be grateful: for having good weather, to have slept well last night, to be able to get up, to be healthy, to have enough to eat…There’s opportunity upon opportunity to be grateful ; that’s what life is.” I think I will write this down and tape it up in every room of my house. Just to remind me.

So, go out and get a notebook or a journal and get ready. Starting January 1, 2012 I’m starting my journal and I want you to start with me. Every week I will try and post something for which I am grateful on Facebook. You can comment on my comment with something for which you are grateful. After all, we have opportunities upon opportunities to recognize our blessings!