attitude is everything

I used to spend hours on end stalking my friends on Facebook. I'd look at photos, read status updates, see what everyone was up to ... You know, the usual time sucking activities.

Today, I find myself using it less and less.

I'm not sure if it is just my group of friends, but there are just too many complainers on Facebook.

If it's not one thing, it's another ...

This weather is the worst!

I had such a bad day today!

My kid is screaming through her nap!

I can't believe how terrible my family is!

I'm ready for this pregnancy to be over!

I hate my life!

Why can't I get a break?

Seriously. At one time or another, these are the things that show up on my newsfeed.

Now, I have been known to complain as much as the next person (who hasn't?), but I've come to a profound realization since birthing my child over a year ago ...

Yes, life can be hard (difficult, stressful, maddening at times), but it is seriously what you make of it. If you make the conscious choice to focus on the negative, that is what you will always see. It will cloud your vision. It will infiltrate your memory ...

But, if you choose to find the good in every situation (the so-called silver lining), a bad day can seem not-so-terrible ... And maybe even like a small triumph!

Another blogger, whom I love to read each day, has summed this very notion up perfectly in two posts about her daughter. Here are the links for one and two, because they are so good. I highly recommend them!

They just go to show that, as a mother, I can enjoy my time with my child (or my life, if you're looking at the "bigger picture") for what it is. I can take the good with the bad, but strive to focus on the good of every situation.

Sure, Malcolm is a rowdy toddler ... He gets in to anything and everything. He makes a mess to conquer all messes. But it is up to me to decide if I want to look at that mess as a negative thing (My house is in shambles!) or a positive one (My son is so industrious!).

The question here is: How do I want to perceive my world?

It really is up to me.

I, for one, am making the conscious choice to look at each day through a positive filter. There are no do-overs. Before I know it, my baby will be a grown man and I will be wishing to live these moments all over again ... So I have to be sure to enjoy them right now.

Constant negativity on my Facebook feed be damned.