Look on The Bright Side

I have a t-shirt hanging in my closet that I pull out to wear every once in awhile. This morning, as I dragged myself out of bed and tried to mentally prepare myself to spend yet more hours in my classroom that I am not getting paid for (on a Saturday, no less!), I threw on this particular shirt without thinking about the message.

Then, later, as I was driving around running errands, I realized that I needed to take the advice on my own shirt. You can usually find good or great things in your life to focus on, right? 

I was talking with a friend recently about the old Disney movie, Pollyanna. If you haven't seen this sugary-sweet gem, you really should. Anyway, in the movie, there is a little girl who finds herself in less-than-ideal circumstances. But she always looks on the bright side by playing "The Glad Game". She finds something positive about everything in her life. 

This reminded me of a time that one of my mission companions and I played a version of "The Glad Game" on a particularly difficult day. We took turns and came up with things like "I'm glad no one will let us in their house because I need more exercise..." or "I'm glad our schizophrenic investigator hasn't attacked us yet..."

Yeah, sometimes it's a stretch to find something to be "glad" about.

Here are the things I have come up with today to help me stay on The Bright Side:
So, maybe I want to lose a few...dozen...pounds and I will never in this lifetime be considered "skinny" -  I'm glad I am healthy and can walk and run and dance...
So, maybe I have no husband or kids of my own -
I'm glad I have nieces and nephews who think the sun rises and sets at my command... and I'm glad that I never have to worry about the toilet seat being up unexpectedly...
So, maybe I don't get paid a lot in my job -
I'm glad I get to eat...
So I live in my parent's basement -
I'm glad I don't have to live in a cardboard box under a viaduct...
So, maybe I work a lot of overtime that I never get paid for -
I'm glad I have the freedom in the summer to work in bare feet with music blasting away...
So, maybe my washing machine is spin-cycle-challenged -
I'm glad I'm not pounding my clothes on a rock...come to think of it, I'm glad I HAVE clothes...

That's how it's done. Now YOU try it....