Choose

Today has really not been my day.  Not that I'm especially fond of most Mondays anyway...which means that I'm like the majority of people, I suppose.  I have spent most of the day with a headache, a little frustrated, and a little nervous.  After all, Dixie is spending the night at the vet after her "female surgery" - which is a story in itself...but I'm not going to go there.  My son is in Huntsville amid the tornado warnings that seem to be blanketing the South and Midwest today.  Then there are the little things...like Riley's fascination with chewing up my throw rug in the kitchen and the fact that Big Dave is not happy unless he is sleeping to something heinous on TV...that just hit somewhere between "makes me want to roll my eyes" and "being snippy."

I hate severe weather.  Not that I'm one of those people who cannot function normally if the Doppler radar is picking up something that could go awry...I'm not.   I used to not really be weather-scared at all, in fact.  But let a little tornado wipe out a lot of Tuscaloosa, Alabama with your baby girl sitting in a second story apartment by herself...have her lose a sweet sorority sister that you knew and see the aftermath of the damage...and you'll tend to pay closer attention from that point forward.

I know I do.

And here we are again.  Tornados everywhere and me calling my son every few minutes to make sure that everything is copasetic in Huntsville.  I'm quite certain he appreciates my loving concern.

And all of the (mildly obsessive) texts and calls.

While he's studying for finals (that were postponed today...which made him happy).

Yet while I whine and complain about how everything isn't perfect in my life, I'm awfully grateful for what is going right.  I wallowed in the negative for awhile today and then made a choice.  I decided to choose to not focus on all of that.  There's too much right amid all of the wrong.

There's a lot to be happy about today.  That the project with the invitations has been picked up and my dining room table is clear and they seem happy with how it turned out.  That the workout tonight was great and my hair was completely wet (which is oddly enough, my goal every time).  That my Dixie was wagging her tail and doing okay according to the vet tech when I called to check on her this afternoon.  That I wore a pair of workout pants to the gym tonight that are horribly out of style...but that happens when you don't wear something for five years because you can't...and you don't care now that you can.  That I have new clothes in my closet due to the kindness of a friend and I'm passing some of my outgrown clothes on to another friend who might be able to use them.

I am on vacation part of next week and part of the one after that, and I'll be visiting relatives.  Getting out of my routine is a bit dangerous...but it is also greatly needed.  The weather is warming up and our lettuce that Farmer Big Dave planted weeks ago is quite delicious.  I've been eating it since Friday.  That Publix has "buy one-get one free"on fruit bowls this week and the variety of it from the blackberries and strawberries I'd been buying has been lovely.  That payday is in two days and I'll have the temporary feeling that I have some money.  Yeah, that'll pass quickly.  Always does.  But still...

There are people who love me, folks who inspire me, and others who teach me things I need to know.  I like to think that I'm returning that right back to others like some kind of cosmic trading post that seems to make me really happy and constantly grateful.

In this world there are strawberry cupcakes (that I can't eat...but I know that they are there), roses on the bushes of everyone's yard here in Montgomery/Pike Road, and the knowledge that if I stay faithful with the diet and exercise that the weight will eventually give it up and I'll keep being inspired to stay at it in a healthy cycle.  I'm headed to a fun "Ladies Day Out" on Saturday and I'm looking forward to getting back to my Sunday School class on Sunday.

See?  Lots to be excited about.  To look forward to.  To motivate me to quit the whining.  I choose happy.  May as well.

I realize that there are times when we are behind inconsiderate drivers (happened all day today)...and times when we are that person (that happened at a red light when I was looking at the Doppler radar and missed the fact that other cars in front of me were moving.)

And the lady behind me didn't even blow the horn or flip me off.  I consider that a bit of grace at its finest.  Who knows?  Maybe she was checking out her phone too.

But if we spend all of our time yelling at people for being moronic, we're wasting a lot of energy that could be spent in a more constructive manner.  I don't know doing what particularly...but it sounds good.

Although I'll still yell occasionally.  Because I just must.  And because people around here cannot drive.

Tomorrow is another day.  I don't know what will happen as I move from this moment to then...if I'll spend the night tonight hoping that everything will turn out okay as the storms blow outside or if it will be one of those that I sleep through and wake to be surprised that I did. Hard to tell at this point.

I do know that there will be opportunities to choose to focus on what is annoying, trying my patience and not what I'd like to see...or the opportunity to choose to focus on what is surprising, lovely, and just a simple reminder of how awesome life can be.

It's really all up to me.

And to you.

In the words of Charlie Daniels - who is a smarter man than I ever knew prior to social media - and who I admire very much..."let's make the day count."  We can, you know.  We really can.

Choose.

Even when you want to just curl up in the fetal position on the couch.  Be grateful for the couch.

Even when someone has treated you amazingly unfairly and you'd like to slap them into next week.  Be grateful that you are smart enough to know your worth and that you have the strength to slap them (if not the intestinal fortitude).

Even when things look ominous and you are completely out of control and you are afraid and angry and uninspired.  Be grateful that God is in control.

Even when you want to just yell at the world and remain grumpy all day.  Be grateful that you have the freedom of speech to have an opinion and freedom of choice to be yourself.

Choose.

But choose well.

Life's too short to be grumpy all day.  Plus, Grumpy Cat really has the corner on that market, yes?

Yes.