Simple Things In Life

Negativity comes naturally for me. I am not an intentionally negative person though. How does this make any sense you ask?

Well for one, I am not a bitter pessimist. I consider myself a logical pessimist. I am not the type that kills peoples hopes and dreams for the sake of doing it. I offer words of warning from life experiences and what I see as more likely to occur.

Like everyone else in the world, I have had my share of disappointments. I have taught myself to expect the worst. Yes, this can be extremely difficult and occasionally painful, but this is the way I have learned to cope. I expect the worst and I am never disappointed. In fact, more often than not I am pleasantly surprised by the results of whatever concern I had.

Its easier for me to be happy about a glass half full when I expect it to to be completely empty or even shattered.

Living a life like this is not for everyone. I don't recommend people try it if they are happy the way they are. It works for me though sometimes it takes its toll. When a series of unfortunate events come one after another and my negative suspicions are proven correct, the way I see the world gets very, very dark.

During these dark times I take little mental brakes. That is not a typo. I literally take mental BRAKES.

I stop.

I'm at work and I feel like I can't take any more so I just stop. Breathe. Then I continue. I'm driving to work and traffic is driving me insane. I keep driving but mentally, I stop my train of thought. I look around the world to see the beauty in all things surrounding us.

You mothers and photographers may know exactly what I am talking about. I find little things that I like to see and just envelope myself in them.

The oversize trailer hauling gigantic rubber tires that are wider than the lane the semi is driving on.
An interesting cloud configuration.
Huge tractors digging up Earth as if they were angry metal dinosaurs.
A lush green tree swaying in the middle of an urban jungle.
A flock of birds changing direction faster than humanly possible.
The little splashes of water that come off the back tire of a car in the freeway after a heavy rain.
The sound of the wind on a big, full tree.
The light of a huge planet shining down upon us as we trample people over a faÇade of a sale at Wal-Mart.

Sorry, sometimes a little bit of that negativity slips through. ;)

As we work through our week and struggle through our daily strife's remember that life is a gift that we must share. The world doesn't revolve around us. We revolve around IT.

Don't pass that red light because you're "in a rush."
Don't cut in front of a slow moving grandmother with a walker just because you can't wait.
Don't yell at the barista just because you were stupid enough to become addicted to caffeine.
Don't treat your kids roughly because they embarrass you at the mall.
Don't ignore them if they are throwing a tantrum annoying everyone else either.
Don't flash your lights at the car in front of you doing 85 mph just because you want to go 86.
Don't make someone do simple tasks for you simply because you are too lazy to learn how to do them on your own.
Take deep breaths, often.
Remind your loved ones of what they mean to you.

Don't wait to feel bad about not getting to say goodbye. Be around more often instead to say Hi.