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A song popped into my head this morning…”My Favorite Things.” How is it that when I think of my favorite things, I feel better? Even thinking about making a list of them causes my heart to soar and puts a smile on my face. So many favorite things involve the senses, or memories, activities or ideas. I could start a list here, but I don’t have all day, and like a friend of mine says, “I smile.” Right now, that’s enough.

Often, after sharing an activity with our granddaughters, we ask them, “What was your favorite part?” It’s fascinating to note how observant they are and what different responses they have. Their spontaneous reactions help me to notice and appreciate far more than I would have by myself. I’m storing up more favorite things for the future.

So when the dog bites, or I’m sad, I remember, and I smile.

Interacting with others is frequently challenging. Not everyone I meet is equally appealing to me. Some rub me the wrong way. Some are so gifted jealousy arises within me. The list goes on. When I notice a negativity of thinking and feeling, I try to discern where it is coming from and I’ve noticed that if I find something to admire or praise in another, my entire world changes.

Even in nature there are things that bug me…mosquitoes for example. But I love watching the swallows swooping and soaring to catch them. Without mosquitoes swallows would be scarce. And blackberries! Sometimes when I am mowing around the edge of our property, they reach out to grab me and scratch me mercilessly. I’m tempted to curse them, but I do admire their tenacity and strong desire to live. I’ve seen them pop up from the tiniest crack in pavement after traveling twenty yards underground. How’s that for overcoming adversity? I could learn something from the blackberries. So, for today, and as often as I can remember, I plan to look for and praise the positive goodness I see. I’ll feel better, I know, and the world will indeed be a better place. I am still challenged to find something positive about slugs, though. Ideas, anyone?

September 6

A satisfying fatigue enfolds me. I guess I could complain and say my back hurts and I’m exhausted after bottling fourteen cases of wine yesterday. But what fun we had! Bud and I and a couple of friends washed, rinsed, sterilized, filled, corked, labeled and boxed 171 bottles of our 2013 wine. Of course some sampling went on to make sure we had just the right blend. Now as I see the wine stacked on the shelves, the tiredness in my body feels good…a job well done. The process starts all over again as we prepare to harvest this year’s grapes. It promises to be an even better vintage. How good it is to see the fruits of our labors. It brings joy to the heart.

September 5

What a shock! Wow! Those mean and ugly thoughts are in me. Unbidden they creep or leap in, seemingly out of nowhere. I can deny that they are there and lose touch with reality or I can act on the words of Ranier Maria Rilke, who wrote, “Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us act, just once, with beauty and courage. Perhaps everything terrible is, in its deepest essence, something helpless that needs our love.” Even those ugly things that are within me are crying for help. So maybe, just once, I can look a those darker parts to see what they are pointing out and embrace them with love and courage to bring about beauty in the world

September 4

I was in a fog this morning, literally. I could see the sun shining through the low layer of clouds and I remembered a time when I was flying for a commuter airline. On returning to our home base, a fog bank had rolled over the airport and we were instructed to hold. Our holding pattern took us over the runway, which we could see clearly from our altitude. Finally, the visibility on the ground improved enough for us to make an approach. “Piece of cake,” we said. We went through the landing checklist and proceeded to line up for the approach, but as we neared the ground, we entered the cloud layer and our forward visibility went to zero. We made a missed approach. “What the…?” we both said. “We could see the runway plainly from above.” Eventually a wind picked up and blew the fog away. We landed—just a little late.

Sometimes the super saturated molecules of my thoughts appear like fog to obscure my path. Negative fragments creep in silently and make me lose my way. And when I try to go forward, it’s impossible. But not to worry, the view from above is perfectly clear.

a foggy morning

I looked at the paper this morning. The headlines are always grim, so I chose instead, to read the article on the bottom half of the front page about a new playground dedicated to two boys who died in the Oso mudslide. The memory of their joy in life will be celebrated every time children play there. It is a heartwarming story.

By avoiding the headline article, I’m not trying to stick my head in the sand and pretend that ugliness does not exist. I’m pragmatic enough to recognize injustice in the world. I just don’t think I need to start every day focused on evil and wring my hands over my helplessness to do anything about it, when, in fact, I am doing something about it. I am choosing to focus on positive, life-giving energy. I think it would be fantastic if we all did that.

Have you ever noticed how when you think negative thoughts your energy sags? I ran the New York City marathon once and in the last few miles my ankle, which had been sprained only a week before the race, began to throb. I limped along, determined to finish. I had no control over my thoughts at that point, but I did notice when I focused on the pain I could barely move. When I fixed my eyes on the finish, I could run. It seemed as though there were two people inside of me. One wanted to throw herself on the ground and cry. The other doggedly pushed on. I didn’t meet my goal of finishing in three and a half hours, but I did finish and in the process learned a valuable lesson of focusing on the positive. I plan to reinforce that lesson every day this month.

September 1, 2014 – day one of doing away with grumbling and accentuating the positive.

First thing this morning, I broke a glass and had an opportunity to practice right away. “Cool,” I said to myself. “Now I have incentive to sweep the floor which it has needed for some time.” With a sparkling, clean floor, I ‘m ready to celebrate the beginning of a new month and the promise of fall. Grapes are smelling sweet, apples getting big and zucchinis have finally slowed down. Life is good. Happy Labor Day!

I don’t know much about blogging. I’ve had an aversion to the word, but it may have some redeeming value after all. I loved the movie, “Julie and Julia” and I could tell that Julie’s commitment to bake and blog had a positive impact on her life. I want that. My novel is finished and safely off to the publisher. I need to embrace something new, a new vision, a new…life.

It occurred to me that a new human life takes nine months of gestation. I could commit to that. I could probably do anything for nine months—even blog. Imagine! What new vision and new life might emerge? It’s exciting.

Drawing from the author of “The Happiness Project” I decided that my blogging should have a theme. Julie became an expert French cuisine chef through her blogging. I want to open my mind and heart to new life and growth. A monthly theme seems best. After all, I know I can do anything for at least a month. But to begin properly I really need to let go of negative attitudes, which are counterproductive to growth. So, for the month of September I plan to give up grumbling and complaining. Or to look at it from another perspective, accentuate the positive.

In my blog I hope to share my journey through the humps and bumps of my daily walk. Since September is for letting go of negative attitudes, one that I plan to let go of right away is my disinclination to follow through. For September, at least, I will follow through on a daily blog.

Please join me on this journey.