New strategy

It seems that I have adopted the policy "If you can't say anything nice..." My week has been less cluttered by complaints, but I'm not sure if it's because my new complaint-free ideology has started to sink in or because I've just been unusually quiet the last week or so. Stress has been high (remember that whole can't-have-a-baby-and-now-we're-broke predicament I described?), and my usual strategy for that is to hunker down and work my way through it. As a result, I've been more focused on the big picture and have been less bothered by the day-to-day trivialities that usually occupy my complaints.

Though I have been complaining less, I can't say that my attitude has improved much. But I guess that's like a smoker saying that, gee, these past two weeks of running haven't done much to improve my fitness. I know it will take some time, and I know that simply eliminating complaints won't be enough. But it will be a start.

It has been suggested that I should do more than focus on reducing negativity. That instead of making myself an empty vessel and waiting for the flood of optimism and good humor to fill me (because it's just been waiting to get in), that I should find ways to fill myself with more positive thoughts.

Looking for the positive has been an exercise in futility in the past. Friends have tried this tactic many times, and I slam down every "what about...?" with a crushing dose of unfiltered reality. For me, looking for the positive in most situations has been akin to saying, "This homelessness is not so bad. I mean, you've only been robbed twice this week -- that's an all-time low -- and you were first in line at the soup kitchen last night." Not much consolation.

But I guess it's all in the spirit of the blog. Maybe focusing on the positive enough will drown out the negative. Or maybe it's just working two sides of the same problem (diet and exercise). I will become the Stuart Smalley of my life.

In that spirit, I will start listing three things each day that make me happy. It could be something about my life or myself, or it could just be something that I like and that makes me laugh.

1. My cat and I had a most productive cuddle session.




2. I found out that I have a free pass to a swanky (expensive) fundraising dinner because I'm on the board.


3. I discovered this song (which was most apropos):