"Look Up at the World, Not Down at Your Feet" by Katharine Giovanni
Last year, as I sat down to write our holiday newsletter, I couldn't seem to focus and nothing seemed right to me. Certainly it shouldn't be this hard to find an inspirational article suitable for this time of year!
Yet I found none.
Instead my mind drifted.
I thought about my children and how much they mean to me. An incredible world is at their fingertips. they only have to reach out and grab it! With the right wind beneath their sails, they will sail far.
I thought about my husband Ron and how he is the wind beneath my own sail. Would I be where I am without his love, support and gentle guidance? No.
I thought about all the great things that happened during the last year, and then I sat here and imagined what I wanted to see happen next year.
Now you might find it interesting to know what I didn't think about.
I didn't think about the negative things that happened to us, although I could have because Ron and I certainly had our fair share of it this year. I also didn't think about the family we lost, nor did I think about the other "stuff" that happened along the way.
Why?
Because sometimes you just have to sit back and smell that coffee. You have to take a deep breath and look at what you have. NOT at what you don't have. I choose to look at the positive. Although I completely understand that the negative is there, I don't have to dwell on it. I tend to look at life as if the glass is half full.
I know I know, you're all sick of the glass analogy. I am too. However, it somehow seems fitting here. Is your life half-full or half empty? Think about it for a moment.
Again you ask -- Why?
Well, put simply if you dwell on the negative, and look at your life as being "half empty" then the negativity will bury you. I actually wrote an article on this last summer.
You see, there is a spiritual principle out there that says what you put your attention to grows. If you dwell on the positive, positive will come back to you and will grow tenfold. However, if you dwell on the negative and see it all around you, then it will slam into your life like a runaway train. So if you are the type of person who tends to think negative all the time then I strongly suggest that you to learn how to duck because negative will start slamming into you fast.
I should know.
Why? Because I've actually " been there done that " to coin an old phrase. You see, once upon a time I was the most negative person on the planet. I was angry, alone, completely miserable and looked at my life as being half-full. In those dark days I'm not even sure if I thought it was 1/2, 1/4 maybe, certainly not half.
When I was living in New York City in my twenties (you don't want to know how many years ago that was! ) I used to walk down the street with my head down. I guess I liked to look at my shoes while I walked. At least that's what I used to tell myself. I literally would walk down the street looking at my shoes as they hit the pavement! True story. Amazing that I never walked into people right? I never window shopped, nor did I see the buildings and people around me as my eyes were always down watching my feet. Although the reason for my being like this is a very long story, the short version is that I was pretty much alone in the world, and incredibly unhappy with my life. I saw the negative in everything and was physically sick and tired most of the time.
When I turned 29, I decided to change my life and tried to look at life in a more positive way. Mostly because I finally became sick and tired of being sick and tired all the time. So I began to purposely look at life differently and tried to see what I had, instead of what I didn't have. I read some inspiring books and tried to go out more. After a few weeks, I started making a few friends and then was introduced to my husband on a beach. My life turned completely around and I started to love life again.
Then a funny thing happened. I began to notice that I didn't look down at my shoes when I walked anymore!! I actually looked around when I walked and held my head up higher! Plus, once I stopped looking at the world through dark glasses, the negative stuff stopped slamming into me and although I ran into the occasional pot hole, life improved. I didn't get sick from every cold bug that walked down the street, and I was not as tired anymore.
So what's my point?
Don't look down at your feet all the time!
Look up at the abundance in your life. Look at what you've accomplished so far! Look at your beautiful kids! Look at your wonderful siblings! Look at your husband/wife and see how incredible they are! Look at how beautiful you are! Look at what you have, NOT what you don't have.
See the joy in the season!
Keep your head held up high and smile!
Smile at the person behind you in the post office just for the fun of it. Let someone with less items go in front of you at the grocery store. Buy a hot cup of coffee for someone who is cold. If you want to have friends, then be a good friend to someone else. If you want prosperity, then be the prosperity for someone less fortunate than you.
BE the joy of the season!!
It doesn't matter what holiday you celebrate, where you celebrate it, or what gifts you get. It's the spirit of the holiday that is the most important.
Peace, Joy, Love. These are the spiritual principles of the holiday season. They really should be the spiritual principles for the entire year.
So open a door for someone with a load of packages in their arm. Tell your parents that you love them. Hug your kids, and give a gift to someone you normally don't give to. Forgive the people who have wronged you. forgive them and let them go for you, not for them.
And most of all, see the abundance that is already in your life!
See what you have already accomplished. You have done a great job!
Now keep going. You can be the person you always wanted to be! You can live your dream. You can have the brass ring! Just reach out and grab it.
Why?
Because the answers to all your questions are already inside of you. You already are a winner. You already are prosperous and abundant.
Look UP at the world and not down at your feet. Look at what you have already done, and then start walking one step at a time. One day at a time. With your head held high.
