“You choose to be happy.” Those words rang from the lips of my grandmother. A lot. Fact was, I wasn’t choosing happiness when she said them. I was a gloomy Gus highschooler, as I imagine many highschoolers are. Just trying to find my way. In fact, there was a period in high school when I tried to overdose on aspirin. Looking back, I realize it was a cry for attention, thank goodness, but the pain was real at the time. Perhaps journaling made the difference to convince me to put on my rose colored glasses. I remember, one day in particular, journaling about joy I had seen in my 9 year old cousin, Ashley, and how grateful I was that I hadn’t taken my life a few days before. That if I had, I would have missed out on hearing her laughter and seeing the joy that emanated from her. I made a decision then and there to look for the joy in everything. This decision has served me well.
I have a positive attitude. Is the glass half full? No!!! The glass has so much potential to be bigger and fuller than it is! The glass isn’t even getting started yet.
My children don’t say, “I can’t do that.” They say, “I can’t do that, yet.” I wrote a song with them that we love to sing called “The Power of Yet”…
It’s the power of yet, baby
It’s the power of what may be
It’s the power of all the good things and the new things that may be
It’s the power of yet
(Hat’s off to Salt-N-Pepa)
At dinner instead of saying traditional prayers, we pray in our own way. We all go around and say our high of the day, low of the day, and something we’re grateful for. We do this because I am afraid of the suicide rates in our world, and I personally know what gratitude can do to reduce them.
So why does this all matter? Well, it matters because my rose colored glasses have worked for me all my adult life and I want to encourage you to get a pair! I’m incredibly blessed. I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me. And I’m not afraid to try new things. I’m not afraid to travel the world and speak in front of large crowds or consult to CEOs. I know CEOs put on their pants the same way I do. My house is spacious. My pantry full. But I’m not afraid of seeming silly to others when I wash out my glass bottles and fill them with water or when I save my used clorox wipes and nuke them in the microwave because they can be used for outdoor cleaning too. I remember my humble roots every day. I was born to a teenage mother and drug dealer father. Before I moved in with my grandparents, I went to school many days without breakfast because we couldn’t afford it. I have horrible ugly bunions because I wore shoes too small in my youth. One of my favorite memories is of my mother stuffing a paper bag so full it was ripping because we were at a church rummage sale, and she was buying us clothes for the year. $5 per bag. She was optimistic! The bag wasn’t yet full. My little arms could carry more.
I am positive because postivity has worked for me. My dreams continue to come true every day. Yes, I’ve worked hard, I got a full scholarship to college for my grades and then used it to work ahead and get my Masters, all the while working full time to pay for rent and food. Yes, I work as hard as anyone I know.
Except one person.
I don’t work as hard as my dad. Now that’s a hard worker. You’ll be happy to hear he’s a good guy now. He’s changed his ways, but he hasn’t changed his closed mindset. He has a can’t-do mindset. He calls himself a realist. He barely makes ends meet. He doesn’t eat more than one meal a day. He works 80 hours a week without sleeping much, day job and night job. And he still can’t make it all work for him. He takes jobs that end up costing him money, or makes decisions that don’t make sense to me. I love him big time, and he has taught me that my rose colored glasses are ok. Not because he says they are ok (he thinks I’m crazy), but because I can see that they are working. I can see the difference between my growth mindset and his. Guess what, Dad? I’m a realist too.
* Post note:
My dad taught me to see things from a different perspective. He pushes me to look beyond the glasses at the tip of my nose. I feel like I have a perspective that others have not seen.
My mom says she was 20, but do the math Mom, do the math. She was 19 and both parents were HS drop outs. They split when I was small, TG! She went back to school, got her GED and then went to college around the same time I did. She graduated and is now a VP of Finance. She taught me to never give up and it’s never too late to start something new.
MintROI 