Looking for the good.

Today I was reminded of this lesson...always looking for the good. In this article that I read, it talked about why looking for the good is so important. He says it better than I do, so I will share part of the article with you. It starts out with a couple looking for a new home, as they went around the neighborhood to talk to people about it, this is what they found.
"One woman they spoke to said of the school her children were attending: " This is the most incredible place! The principal is a wonderful and good man; the teachers are well qualified, kind, and friendly. I am so pleased that our children can attend this wonderful school. You'll love it here!
A different woman said of her children's school: "It's a terrible place. The principal is self-absorbed; the teachers are unqualified, rude, and unfriendly. If I could afford to move out of this area, I'd do it in a heartbeat!"
The interesting thing was that both women were speaking about the same principle, the same teachers, and the same school.
Have you ever noticed that people can usually find whatever they are looking for? Look hard enough, and you can discover both good and bad in almost anyone and anything.
We have a choice. We can seek for the bad in others. Or we can make peace and work to extend to others the understanding, fairness, and forgiveness we so desperately desire for ourselves. It is our choice; for whatever we seek, that we will certainly find."   ~ Dieter F. Uchtdorf   http://lds.org/ensign/2011/03/looking-for-the-good?lang=eng&query=March+2011+Ensign+Dieter+F.+Uchtdorf+talk+Looking+Good

I loved this, so true! Wouldn't we all be a lot happier in life, if we looked for the good instead of the bad? I have done both, and I have to admit ...looking for the bad is not a happy place to be. I do believe it is our choice and after reading this again today, I am recommitting myself to strive harder each day to look for the good! Yes, that is a much brighter way of life. If you haven't done it...try it!

"Optimism is the foundation of courage "  ~Nicholas Murray Butler

"The optimist sees the rose and not its thorns; the pessimist stares at the thorns, oblivious of the rose" ~Kahlil Gibran

"Optimism is the foundation of courage"   ~ Nicholas Murray Butler

Another true hero!

Today was a rough day, my back has been bad the last few days but this morning it was worse. It has been a long time since I have been in that much pain and worried about my back. The pain was so bad that it made me sick to my stomach. I didn't get up or do anything till 11:30 a.m. Finally Amy and the girls took me to my chiropractor, who helped me get the pain under control. So instead of sharing any more of my day, I wanted to leave you with this inspirational information about a pianist called Paul Cardall. It was something I needed to read tonight, so I would stop feeling so sorry for myself. You can go on line and listen to his music too, he is amazing!  Good night dear friends.

BACKGROUND SUMMARY

Four-time Billboard charting recording artist and award winning pianist, speaker, and author Paul Cardall has entertained sold out audiences and inspired people worldwide with twelve studio albums and various published writings.

Born with a severe congenital heart defect (single ventricle or half of a functioning heart), Cardall was given only days to live but defied medical expectations, enduring a series of surgeries and illnesses throughout his lifetime.

As a teenager, after the tragic loss of a friend, Cardall found comfort in music and would later established himself as an international-bestselling pianist.

In August 2008 Cardall was suffering severe heart failure and was told by medical professionals he needed a heart transplant or would slowly grow weaker and die. While facing an unknown future, his younger brother Brian, one of the rising stars in the scientific world unexpectedly passed away.

Cardall records on his blog, "If you were told you only had a week, a month, or a year to live, what would you change? This perspective empowers you and I to understand what really matters in this world. If we change, if we improve, there is a rippling effect of love and strength, which has the power to change our family, community, and so on..."
After waiting 385 days on the transplant list, doctors found a heart and surgeons performed a miraculous surgery.

Paul Cardall has a unique perspective on life. His optimistic message combined with powerful instrumental music inspires people and gives them courage, strength, hope, and faith in understanding how to live a more fulfilling and peaceful life. http://mytricuspidatresia.blogspot.com/

 

"Paul Cardall had end-stage heart failure. We talked about options. There were no easy options. He could choose to live or choose to die. The latter would be easier. He chose life, not passively, but vigorously, with the kind of energy that left me asking what I had been doing with my own life.” -Angela T. Yemtan, M.D., Director Adult Congenital Heart Program Intermountain Region

"It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop. "  ~ Confucius

"When the world says, "Give up,"
Hope whispers, 'Try it one more time."  ~ Unknown

"When you feel like giving up, remember why you held on for so long in the first place."  ~ Unknown

A date to remember

Today as I opened up the news on my computer, I was surprised to see that it had been 15 years since the Oklahoma City bombing. I was impressed with what the mayor Mick Cornett said at the ceremony today...

Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett said the day of the bombing is recalled with reverence, "not because we can't forget but because we choose to remember.

"We have chosen strength, we have chosen optimism, we have chosen freedom, we have chosen to move forward together with a level of unity that is unmatched in any American city,"

By TIM TALLEY 

I loved their mission statement, how powerful!  Yes, the human spirit is amazing. Hope this was inspiring to you as it was to me today. Remember we always have a CHOICE!

"It is inevitable that some defeat will enter even the most victorious life. The human spirit is never finished when it is defeated...it is finished when it surrenders."  ~ Ben Stein

"Time is not measured by the passing of the years but by what one does, what one feels, and what one achieves."  ~ Jawahalal Nehru

"Man never made any material as resilient as the human spirit."  ~ Ben Williams

Be Thankful

I was tired last night and when I went back today, to look at my blog I was disappointed on my writing abilities. I should have gone back a third time and proof read it last night, but I didn't. So tonight I am thankful that you guys like me even if I am not the world's best writer. I read this poem today and really like the idea of looking at our lives in a different way and realizing what our blessings really are!

I had high hopes in getting out Thanksgiving day cards to many of you but since I was down with the flu for over 2 weeks...that didn't happen. But I do want to personally thank you for being my family and my friends. You mean the world to me and truly make my life better by being in it. So just imagine you read this from a very classy homemade card! :) Good night!

Be thankful that you don't already have
everything you desire.
If you did, what would there be
to look forward to?

Be thankful when you don't know something,
for it gives you the opportunity to learn.

Be thankful for the difficult times.
During those times you grow.

Be thankful for your limitations,
Because they give you opportunities for improvement.

Be thankful for each new challenge,
Because it will build your strength and character.

Be thankful for your mistakes, They will teach you valuable lessons. Be thankful when you're tired and weary,
Because it means you've made an effort.
It's easy to be thankful for the good things.

A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who are also thankful for the setbacks.
Gratitude can turn a negative into a positive.
Find a way to be thankful for your troubles, and they will become your blessings.

Unknown

Optimism!

I read this article that was interviewing Michael J. Fox about his life and dealing with Parkinson's Disease. It interested me, because my mom had Parkinson's too. I found his attitude to be refreshing and a wonderful reminder to me... to make each day count and to be optimistic.

How do you think you helped yourself accept the diagnosis?

I think it is humility and saying "I can't negotiate this. I can't use who I am in the world to get out from under this." Humility is always a good thing. It's always a good thing to be humbled by circumstances so you can then come from a sincere place to try to deal with them.

Once I started to calm everything down, it was just living with the diagnosis and then allowing myself to accept and educate myself about it. I [spoke] to doctors and scientists, and then also concentrated on my family and realized that I didn't have to fear the effect on them. I kind of projected all my worries onto them and thought they must have the same doubts or the same concerns that I had--without giving them a chance to tell me how they really felt. And when I did, they were great. I mean, [my wife] Tracy was unbelievable. But my first assumption was who'd want to deal with this if they didn't have to?

How do you stay so optimistic?

Well, because the world is just so full of possibilities. I was in Mexico a couple of years ago, and we were hiking on a trail on the Yucatan Peninsula. We had a guide, and he showed us this tree on one side of the path that had this red sap. And he said, "If you see this sap, this tree, don't touch it because it'll burn you. It's really caustic and it's acidic and it'll burn your flesh." And then we walked a little bit further down the trail, and there was a tree on the other side that was a black tree and had a black tar. And he said, "This tar heals burns."

And I just thought, well, that's the world—for everything that'll burn you, there's something that'll heal your burns. So I just stay on that side of the path.

I see possibilities in everything. For everything that's taken away, something of greater value has been given. As big as my problems are, as big as Parkinson's is, for example, it can't take up that much space in a world that has so much capacity for good stuff. It just doesn't. I just don't let it take up that much room.

Do you think one can always be both optimistic and realistic?

Absolutely.

Aren't they sometimes at odds?

No, I don't think so. I mean, I think it's okay, obviously, to acknowledge obstacles and setbacks and problems and issues. But as long as you're dealing with the truth, you're in good shape. I find as long as I acknowledge the truth of something, then that's it. I know what it is and then I can operate. But if I overestimate the downside of something or the challenge of something and I get too obsessed about the difficulty of it, then I don't leave enough room to be open to the upside, the possibility.

So I think you definitely have to acknowledge the fact of something. If something isn't a movable object, then you have to start thinking about getting around it. But you can't do that until you acknowledge it and take its full measure and understand its true weight.

Where do you most often find happiness?

In my family, in being with my wife and my kids. If at any moment of stress or tension or whatever I could close my eyes and be anywhere, it'd be with them. That's just never ending. I just get so much joy from my family.

What inspires you?

I think just every new day, just waking up. I wake up curious every day and every day I'm surprised by something. And if I can just recognize that surprise every day and say, "Oh, that's a new thing, that's a new gift that I got today that I didn't even know about yesterday," it keeps me going. It keeps me more than going. It keeps me enthusiastic and grateful.

"Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.” ~Winston Churchill

" For myself I am an optimist- it does not seem to be much use being anything else" ~ Winston Churchill

"One of the things I learned the hard way was that it doesn't pay to get discouraged. Keeping busy and making optimism a way of life can restore your faith in yourself." ~ Unknown

I hope you enjoyed the article! Good night dear friends!