Lives, Get One

Daily Prompt
Mad Libs

Turn to your co-workers, kids, Facebook friends, family — anyone who’s accessible — and ask them to suggest an article, an adjective, and a noun. There’s your post title! Now write.

For today’s prompt I didn’t need to look very far for my inspiration. The picture below is strategically on my wall at work.

It makes visitors, and the occasional new employee laugh, but those who have spent anytime with me, or know me at all, know there is no truer testament about me.

Spend any time at all with me, and you will soon realize I am not the most sympathetic, compassionate person when it comes to whiney people. In fact, I don’t tolerate whining at all. Now, I am by NO means, a cold hearted, uncompassionate, unfeeling human being. I just can’t stand to hear people whimper on about how unfair life is.

I know I owe this personality trait to my upbringing. Growing up, whining was not tolerated in my home. Being raised, by two strong, independent, and feisty, Southern ladies, my mother and my Grandmother, I knew better then to moan and gripe over something that didn’t go my way.  My sister and I were taught, that life is hard, and sometimes plans change, things happen, and people are going to upset you. You deal with it, and move on.

Life is hard. Life is unfair. Life is a daily struggle sometimes. But life is also what I make it. If I spend my time sitting around complaining and grumbling about how I hate my job, how lazy my co-workers are, how unfair it is that my neighbor has been married 4 times and I have yet to find the right man, and despite all the exercise and dieting I have done, I am still not a size 2, I am missing out on life.

I want to live each day to the fullest. Yes, some days are not going to live up to my standards, but that’s ok.  I get another shot at it tomorrow. The time we waste whining takes away from experiencing all the good life has to offer.

I am not a huge Oprah fan, but years ago, I watched an interview with her in which she said that each night before she went to bed she wrote down three things she was thankful for.  What a utterly brilliant idea! Soon, I started writing my own blessings down each day.  Some days are easy, and I want to write more then three. Other days are a struggle and I literally write down I am thankful for the breath I just took. It is at these times I like to go back and look back at the times the blessings were overflowing.

Yes, life is a struggle. But we chose each and every day how we are going to live it. There are dark days and some scary times, but don’t spend so much time dwelling on them, that you miss out on life and the wonderful, exciting stuff that comes after the crappy stuff! If you want a wide green field, you are gonna have to stand a few rain storms to make it grow and keep it green.