Celebrating the Small Things

So, I've been feeling a little blue-ish lately. It seems a lot of what I try to do backfires, doesn't turn out, ends up all wrong. It seems that my girls fight, backtalk and don't mind more frequently than before (they're 5 and 3). I've ruined suppers, made mess upon disasterous mess and have become a disorganized wreck. I'd practically given up trying to do or accomplish anything. I figured things would come back around on their own. They usually do. After a while. Or sometimes a long while. Then I got to thinking. Why wait for things to come around on their own? Why not facilitate the change? Speed things along! But how to do this? The answer came surprisingly quick and was so simple it's silly. I realized that these futiley uncontrollable happenstances, like burning supper, spilling things, tracking mud on the new carpet, the kids not behaving the way that they should, these things were totally my own careless fault! I needed to change. I was a little depressed and since my mood was, well, suckish to say the least, everything I did turned out suckish as well!

After some deep looking-in, I began to see how I could dig myself out of this funk. First, I needed to change my attitude. How? Well, this may read silly, but, to bolster my flagging spirits, I began celebrating even the smallest successes, the tiniest accomplishments. And believe me, I started very small here! For instance, i was standing at the dryer yesterday, folding freshly laundered puppy bedding (it goes in the bottom of his crate) when I suddenly noticed how nicely folded the towels and blankets were, and how, even though none of them are the same size unfolded, I had automatically folded them up to the same size and shape so that they'd stack neatly in the botoom of the closet. And that made me think of the other laundry I'd done: all the clothes that had been ironed and hung up or put away, the sock drawers that were filled with balls of socks and folded scivvies. I am good at laundry! And while that may not be cause enough for fudderwhacking for most people, for me, who was teetering on the brink of despair, it is! Then this evening we were eating at a local restaurant having dinner when a perfect stranger came up and said she just had to compliment me on my beautiful, well-behaved daughters! I almost laid an egg! But, really, since my attitude is better, theirs has been, too.

My celebrating the little things has led to big attitudinal changes, not just in me, but in my family as well. I've found that when I keep a positive outlook and I notice even the little things that i do right, I try harder and take pride in what I do. It's easier to get along with other people, too. I know this may earn me a great big DUH! from a lot of people (or at least from the two other people who read this blog---ha ha!), but it was a real epiphany for me, and a cause for celebration in and of itself. I just wish I could get my head to do the Mad Hatter spin...