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Lamplight positivity

I am counting the good stuff because it is good stuff

Background image from Pixabay.com, by bykst
Background image from Pixabay.com, by bykst

I got this little blank journal on Christmas as one of my stocking stuffers, and last night I labeled each section with something good I wanted to be practicing in 2016. Then I made sloppy little calendars in each section, with the goal of counting all the good stuff I do.

This is one of my strategies for how I’m working on my change in 2016, as I mentioned in my recent post called I left a trail of broken resolutions behind me.

I got plenty of habits I’d rather not have, like eating too much dairy or too much sugar, but I figure focusing on the flip side is going to be beneficial. Actually, focusing on the good stuff is part of how I’ve changed other habits, like quitting sweet coffee and ditching alcohol. Yet for the particular habits that I am working on this year, I have spent more time focusing on what I didn’t want to do versus what I do want to do.

So I made this little logbook to count all the good.

I added these sections:

  • Yoga minutes
  • Meditation minutes
  • Walking minutes
  • Days I don’t have sugar
  • # of vegan meals
  • Days I write

Each of these is a positive thing for me. I’d like to do more of all of these, so I’m going to count what I do. They’re good things, and I want to practice more good things. See, I’ve already got a checkmark for today, just for writing this post. It’s not an awesome post, and I’m honestly not trying to make it one, but it’s authentic. It’s me practicing what I want to be doing.

Yesterday I walked for an hour, which might not seem like much to a lot of people, but it’s a lot for me. I’ve had about 4 years of health problems with my legs, and at one point I could barely walk for more than 10 minutes. Those ten minutes would be painful, and I’d be in pain for the rest of the day, perhaps two. Now I’m able to walk, for up to an hour on a good day, and be relatively okay the next day. The walking’s still painful, but not as much as it used to be, which gives me some hope.

I did 13 minutes of yoga. I mention this only because those are 13 minutes that matter. Five years ago I could do yoga for an hour, and I practiced it regularly. In fact, I once did yoga for 90 days in a row, and I was not a fit person. I was obese, just like I still am, but I was able to practice it with thorough enjoyment. It was a blessing and enriched my life. When my leg problems started, I had to give up yoga because the pain was unbearable. So, for me, being able to do 13 minutes is a treasure.

Everyone’s got things they want to practice because they feel like it’d enrich their lives in some way, but we tend to stop ourselves because we feel like we can’t really do it as well as we want to be able to do it. I have been this way for years, and it’s a habit that I have to break.

Treasure these moments of what you consider to be good, count each one, and seize every chance you have of doing more. Not because you have to or because someone else expects you to, but because you want to do it.

Every minute counts.

By J. Parrish Lewis

J. Parrish Lewis was born and raised in Maryland. In his youth there, he and his brother had many adventures in the dogwood forests near his home. His nostalgia for these adventures has strongly influenced his characters, their relationships, and their perspective on the world they inhabit. He moved to California’s coast to earn his degree in communications and now lives with his family in the San Joaquin Valley. Lewis is profoundly deaf and uses American Sign Language to communicate. He enjoys hazelnut coffee, captioned movies, and walking his dog.

2 replies on “I am counting the good stuff because it is good stuff”

The school system had us take a Gallup personality test to determine our top 5 personality traits. I’m happy to report that my top 5 are as follows: Communication, Empathy, Harmony, Positivity and Woo (I really like to woo people with my positivity). Anyone who knows me or has worked with me knows that this test has correctly identified my personality. In today’s world where every night one only hears the bad news, I continue to believe that here is good in the world and if you try, you can find a silver lining to every dark cloud. I’m happy to hear that you are trying to give up any negative vibes for those positive ions. May you find peace and good health in 2016.

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