It's A Fresh Start

The past couple of weeks have been about returning to normal life. The Christmas decorations have been taken down and put away, and after an extended winter break due to sub zero temperatues from the polar vortex, the kids are back in school. 

The focus at my house this new year is on positivity. We have all agreed to look for the good in any given situation, and try to overlook negativity. 

This sounds easy, but it's actually very difficult. For some people more than others. For my son, this is completely natural. He finds the good in practically everything. And I dare say, he is the person in our home who is most at peace. The rest of us have varying degrees of difficulty. 

It's often so much easier to succumb to darkness. To see the half full glass as half empty. To feel hopeless instead of hopeful. To dwell on the bad things that happen in day to day life, rather than focusing on, and being thankful for the plethora of blessings we receive on a daily basis. And I'm not really sure why that is. I believe that to a degree, we condition ourselves to be that way. I think one part of it goes back to that basic tendency to focus on other people and other situations so that we don't have to focus on ourselves. But if we ignore the things that other people are doing, we have more time to think of how we can be better people. 

Since this is a big topic in my hose right now, I hope to write more about it in the days ahead. 

Happy Sunday everyone.