Think Positive

To have an effect on the way a day turns out is no small achievement.

Years ago my young son got into trouble when he stubbornly refused to clean his room.  It was wall-to-wall shmutz.  As he continued to defiantly oppose the prospect of cleaning the room, shaking his head defiantly, he was punished.

Later that day, when he was out playing, he tripped, fell and skinned both knees.  He cried at the sight of the jagged skin and blood.  The pain was made infinitely worse by the horrid look of his mangled knees.

We dressed the leg after cleansing it and then applied an anti-bacterial ointment.  Afterward, he went out to play, much more carefully now and with noticeably less agility.

By mid-afternoon, this seven-year-old had lost his two Ninja Turtle action figures, merely a few hours old.  Together we launched a search mission but met with no success.

After these episodes, my son entertained himself with crayons and abundant imagination.  He played in the kitchen with them the long afternoon. At dinnertime he was positively beaming when I gave him his plastic turtle figures, which I had found on the front lawn.

To anyone but a kid such a day would’ve been devastating.

Compare:

>Having a “tiff’ with our friend or spouse

>Banging our fingers on the door or breaking a fingernail.

>Losing our ring somewhere near the kitchen counter.

What I have personally witnessed such a day would bring many to their knees in despair.  And we all know that the potential for things to go wrong is enormous.

When we get up in the morning Jewish tradition tells us to say the following prayer:

My God.

The soul You have given me is pure, for You created it. You formed it and You made it live within me. You watch over it daily. One day, you will take it from me and bring it to everlasting life.

God and God of my fathers, as long as this soul is within me I will declare that You are the master of all deeds, the ruler of all creatures and the Lord of every living soul.

Blessed are you Lord, who brings life to the lifeless, exhausted body.

Perhaps one the greatest human achievements is to allow the 10 wonderful things that happen to us every day, to outweigh the one negative event.