Learn to Look for the Positives

I have been debating on what I wanted to talk about next. But a few things happened over this Thanksgiving Holiday that have made me seriously take pause and reflect a bit. Of course Thanksgiving is meant to be a day of thanks. It is meant to be a day to enjoy family and friends. I probably did not take enough time to truly enjoy the day as I should have. Especially in light of some sad news I received two days in a row.

Friday morning I sat down to check email, and the first one I read struck me hard. A very dear friend's husband has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. They have only been married a year. He is only 34 years young.

Then on Saturday we went to have dinner with my former dance teacher and his wife, dear friends. We were told that he has prostate cancer and will be having surgery in December. 

Needless to say, I most certainly stopped to think about everything that I am so blessed to have. My husband and I recently celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary. I am thankful for those 9 years, even if they have not always been perfect. Nothing ever is. If it was, life would probably be pretty boring. I am also thankful that his recent annual tests all came back clear this week.

I am very lucky to have a close knit family. My sister truly is my best friend. I am lucky to be able to talk with them every day, sometimes many times a day. I am also lucky to have my health and am strong and capable. I may have aches and pains and migraine headaches, but that is nothing compared to what others are going through. So when I started to skip out on my workout this morning (legs), I thought about those who don't have the luxury of even being able to workout or knowing that they don't have many more workouts that they can even skip out on. So I pushed on.

I hope that others who might read this will take the time to reflect on all the positives in their lives. Yes, we all have problems and experience snags and snafus in life. The key is to not dwell on those pitfalls, but to remember and be thankful for all the other positives. When you think you can't do something, remember all of those who truly can't, then get up and just do it. You just may surprise yourself!