Pollyanna’s Reality

The past few months I’ve been beginning my Facebook day with a post that says “God is Good!”  Today I’m thankful for…”

The thanks range from coffee (every.single.day), my husband, or walking with a friend.  Some of my friends have commented in a variety of ways; mostly positive. 

I have to admit that it hasn’t been easy to find something I’m thankful for every day; which is MY purpose for the whole exercise.  Sure, I’m VERY blessed.  We have a house, two cars, healthy kids and grand kids, my husband is employed and life is pretty darn good.

But let’s face it, reality reminds us every day about all the negatives we have to overcome.  The toilet still plugs, the laundry still piles up, the dog or the baby throws up.  Sleepless nights make working days drag by.  Children fail classes, we have to constantly re-arrange an over-booked calendar and the darn car needs gas again.  Groceries get more and more expensive, my husband (or kid or myself) broke another dish, and we stub our toe letting the cat out at night.  And the list goes on and on and…

So, I am trying every day to think of one good thing about the day.  I have rules, but they’re not hard and fast. 

• I have to think of at least one thing every day I’m thankful for.
• It cannot ALWAYS be coffee (although, trust me, at 6 AM I am ALWAYS thankful for coffee).
• I will make every attempt not to be snarky or mean-spirited (For instance, I can’t say I’m thankful that your kid is not my kid).
• It may be funny, but it should have some truth to it as well.
• It may (or may not) be directed at a specific person.

It’s not as easy as you think.  So I start off in the morning and sometimes I can be thankful for something very easily.  And some other mornings (many, in fact) I’ve woken up wrong or my head/back/neck hurts or the alarm doesn’t go off or… and then I REALLY have to think of what I’m thankful for. 

• I’m thankful that my husband has a job.  I’m not thankful that he has an hour commute or that he’s sometimes in a bad mood.  Or that he has to work weekends.  Or that the pager sometimes messes up our plans.
• I’m thankful that my sons haven’t been injured in sports.  I’m thankful the ER doesn't know our family by name.  I’m thankful that I buy a lot of band-aids but don’t use very many.
• I’m thankful that there’s a paycheck every two weeks that covers our expenses.  I’m not thankful that no matter how hard I try, there are always more expenses than money.
• I’m thankful that I can work at home and have very flexible employers.
• I’m thankful that I have friends who bring me gifts when I’m having a bad day. 

What do you have to be thankful for?  Think about it the next time you’re plunging the toilet or changing a diaper.  Try and find one good point about that negative thing that is really stressing you out.  It doesn’t make everything perfect or even close.  But you might find that you’ll be thankful for more than you realize.