The other day, driving away from our home on a dark and frosty morning, softly from the back seat I heard my daughter Navy say:
"I love the frost. It makes everything sparkle."
It was such a light hearted and positive observation and it stuck with me as I went about my day.
Later on, weather observations came up again, this time, from the adults I encountered:
"Isn't this weather just dreadful?"
"Ugh, its so miserable out"
"This weather is so depressing".
Understandably, as adults, an icy morning does present more for us to work around. Slippery road conditions, loads of layers for our littles, more time spent commuting, etc.
But the reality is this:
It was dark.
It was cold.
There was frost on the ground.
“How does it help…to make troubles heavier by bemoaning them?”
Seneca
Children don't have the memorized emotions of their past to colour neutral circumstances as negative. As adults, we do. But I think its so freeing to ask ourselves, 'do my memorized emotions about this topic SERVE ME?'.
Does it help to lament the weather, something we cannot control? Is it helpful to grumble and complain about the roads, the extra bundling & the terrible drivers?
Instead, can we try to look for the sparkle in each circumstance?
The weather won't change in the moment. But our attitude toward it can.
"We are often more frightened than we are hurt;
and we suffer more in imagination than reality".
Seneca
The work of mindfulness includes ensuring our mind is a kind and helpful place to be. Outward circumstances are what they are. But whether our engagement with those circumstances becomes a playground or a battlefield in our own mind....that choice is entirely up to us.
I encourage you to look for the sparkle wherever possible. Watch how it reflects light on your present circumstances and be delighted when it illuminates other areas in your life as well.
PRACTICE
NOTICE | ASK | LOOK
This week, when you find yourself grumbling about something, notice the negative emotion it's creating in your body.
Ask yourself, does grumbling about this serve me in any way? Do I feel better or worse when I do it?
If you would rather feel better, regardless of the present circumstance, look for the sparkle. Is there something about this circumstance that is positive? Can you focus on it? Can it serve as an anchor for you to empower yourself versus disempower yourself?
This is the kind the struggle in life we have complete control over and can eliminate if we choose to manage our thinking. ♥︎
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