Today was a spill-your-green-smoothie-in-the-bathroom kind of day. Traffic was backed up to a standstill when I only had seven minutes left to get to my destination. A clean-your-house and then the dog-throws-up-kind-of-day. My elderly dad didn’t want a big pear I brought him because he already had an orange. Go figure.
Back when I only had a couple decades of life behind me, I used to think mishaps early in the day meant the whole day was doomed. The universe is ending people. Today is going to be a TOTAL disaster. I used to get a wee bit dramatic, wanting to advance to the next day please.
I’m not like that anymore.
Black and white thinking is destructive.
When we label days good or bad, our feelings follow. We don’t give credit to the complex or the nuance. We miss the richness of life when we only see in extremes. We forget to respect what we don’t know or what could change.
I've learned to laugh at the mishaps and give more of my attention to what I love. Today was warm and full of sunshine. Sydney and Riley played with friends in the creek in their bathing suits—in FEBRUARY. We took a family walk with the dogs and as my husband and I talked, our girls--several steps ahead of us--decided to hold hands.
The next time your day is going down the drain, stop yourself before you start looking for signs to support your case. Instead of taking your mind on a scavenger hunt for the negative, consider that life is just a beautiful mix of gray.
Have a question or comment for me? Email me at SandraB@MacaroniKid.com
Sandra Bilbray is a nationally published writer, positive human, and publisher of Asheville Macaroni Kid. She lives in Asheville with her husband, twin girls and two dogs.
