Keep Your Head Up

How are you doing?

I'm doing ok. I'm visiting my parents for a few days.

My dad broke his hip and I came to help him.

I guess this is going to be a somewhat personal post.

Hope you don't mind.

My dad's always so positive, jovial, fun to be around. 

That's what he's known for. He is always on the go, 

working and riding motorcycles on the weekends.

It's been over a week since he fell off a ladder and got

injured. A week of not being able to get out of bed. A

week of pain. A week of not being able to sleep. 

I'm starting to see the frustration getting to him 

and its hard. I feel bad. I can fetch him coffee and serve

him lunch but there's only so much I can do for his spirit.

I see him trying to stay positive, look at the bright side

and all of that. But I know he's just ready to be normal

again and get back to work. I just keep reminding him

that every day is that much closer to normal. It is hard to

see your daddy laid up though. All this time I thought

nothing could hurt my daddy!

Coming back to my hometown is always nice.

It will always be home.

But after a while, you start to remember why you left.

Some of the people I grew up with are still in

the same place in their life that they were when I left.

The thing about small towns is people like to talk.

And most of it is negative gossip about other people.

The rumors around here are always flowing.

Gossip is natural, I get it. Everyone does it. That's fine.

But if your whole mission in life is to constantly point

out everyone else's flaws and focus on the negative aspects

of other people, that's sad. It's truly sad. I feel sorry that you

cannot hold your head up high enough to see the good in people.

We all know people like this and it's easy to get caught

up in the bashing. It's easy for your mind to lower itself

to that level when you're around them.

Since I am someone on a mission to live my life positively,

I'm going to make a better effort at avoiding these situations.

I'm not promising never to voice opinions about other people,

like I said, that's human nature and it's not a bad thing. But I will

not allow my mind to stay stuck in those negative thoughts. If I

have a problem with someone, I will also take a moment to identify

positive things about them. I will also do this the next time I

find myself in a conversation where a negative light is being shone

on another person. Instead of getting sucked into it, I hope to have

the conscience to pull out of the moment and switch it around.

Who knows, maybe doing this will influence that Negative Nancy

to change the way they speak about others.

This kind of goes along with my Positive Living post.

We need more good in this world and we only have control over

one person, ourselves. Let it start with you.