I have always been an optimist. Hubby frequently refers to me as Pollyanna (and I call him Eeyore LOL). One of my guilty pleasures is actually a subscription to O magazine. Yes, a subscription, not just covert readings in doctors offices (although I confess that that was where I caught the bug). Now, given my work schedule, you have to realize that I may be the last person in America to have never actually watched The Oprah Winfrey Show (nor Dr. Oz), but I have, since "The Color Purple" come to admire her spirit and her life. And I SO relate to that big wagon full of fat that keeps coming and going!
This morning I had a moment to read, and I caught "In Praise of Rose-Colored Glasses" by Martha Beck. http://www.oprah.com/spirit/Reduce-Your-Suffering-How-to-Have-a-Positive-Outlook-On-Life
She quotes poet Jack Gilbert: "We must have the stubbornness to accept our gladness in the ruthless furnace of this world."
Well. Wow. I think that quote alone is going to keep me pondering for a while. It actually fits my life philosophy very well, which up until now I might have been summarized: "Life stinks but you can still laugh at it." Or some ruder version thereof that may have also included laughing at other people (oops).
There is a section of the article outlining the idea that it only takes 90 seconds to process the initial stress of a negative feeling. Not that those feelings don't return, they do, but if you let it flow, ride it out, and let it go, it's gone. Again, something that I inherently FEEL. I do much better when I have time to process things for a minute, or ninety seconds if you insist. I am that person who has cloudbursts of emotion: A moment of temper, a storm of weeping, a burst of exuberance. Now that we don't have tragedy upon hysteria based on yet more bad news (for at least one week at least) pouring out of our world's "furnace", I am feeling more balanced. And now, I want to go back to stubbornly accepting gladness. I want Pollyanna back, and I think I can key in on finding her most of the time.
It's really all already in the Bible : "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning."
DeeDee
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