
Years ago my children were in a play which was written and directed by Duncan Wells called "The Invisible Morrison Jeffery." There is one part of the play where the girls had to start singing "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive" by Harold Arlen with lyrics by Johnny Mercer. I was thinking about this song and I think day sixteen, since we are half way there, can do just that 'Accentuate the Positive."
I think that this is a good philosophy to live by. It is so easy to put a spotlight on things that go wrong or haven't gone right in your life. I am sure that there are millions of little details that you could say even number of bad experiences or wrong choices. Here is the thing. When you only focus on the negative things in your life it is EASY to pick out everything that is not right. Or just the way that you wish it could be. Maybe you job is not where you want to be, maybe your relationships have fallen apart and you are down on love or partnership, who knows maybe you made bad or poor decisions that now have you incarcerated. These are not permanent things. You will wake up tomorrow and time will keep moving. You can not make up for 'lost time.' In fact the only time that you are guaranteed is your time right now. There will be no "take-backsies."
So instead of spending your time thinking about all that has gone wrong, why not focus your time on all that has gone right. First of all, reading this post is a great step. It will give you something to think about and I promise you, if you click on the song title and listen to the song, you will be in a better mood. If you keep the song in your heart, it will help you re-focus on positive things in your life. I promise you, you are not alone. No one, and I mean no one, has been born on this planet that hasn't had to face some adversity. Everyone faces something; a challenge or some road block. It is how they choose to navigate those road blocks and challenges which determines the direction that they are going. It is not rocket science.
So where do you start if you have no starting line? Try accentuating all of the positive in your life. For me, it is easy, My Love, my children, my cat and my family, in that order. I think about all of the support that I receive from everyone, and I am grateful for all of it. I think about the renewed relationships and how close and happy My Love is reconnecting a broken connection. I think about how even the smallest successes make my days easier. Like today, My Love and I went to this event where you take all of your personal papers/documents and they shred it all for you, at no cost. It is something that is put on annually by our local government. Success. I don't have to shred ALL of that paper and now it is gone and disposed of properly. It took no time but saved us a lot of time.
Pat yourself on the back more often. Be your own cheerleader, and be a cheerleader for others as well. Surround yourself with things that make you feel good and things that level you out. Smile even when you don't feel like it. Be silly. Be Kind and spread Joy.
In case you are like me and are terrible at lyrics, here are the lyrics.
Song Lyrics for "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive"
You've got to accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between
You've got to spread joy up to the maximum
Bring gloom down to the minimum
Have faith or pandemonium
Liable to walk upon the scene
To illustrate his last remark
Jonah in the whale, Noah in the ark
What did they do
Just when everything looked so dark
Man, they said we better, accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between
No, do not mess with Mister In-Between
Do you hear me?
Oh, listen to me children and-a you will hear
About the elininatin' of the negative
And the accent on the positive
And gather 'round me children if you're willin'
And sit tight while I start reviewin'
The attitude of doin' right
You've gotta accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between
You've got to spread joy up to the maximum
Bring gloom, down to the minimum
Otherwise pandemonium
Liable to walk upon the scene
To illustrate my last remark
Jonah in the whale, Noah in the ark
What did they say
Say when everything looked so dark
Man, they said we better accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between
No, don't mess with Mister In-Between
Songwriters: Johnny Mercer / Harold Arlen
I think that this is a good philosophy to live by. It is so easy to put a spotlight on things that go wrong or haven't gone right in your life. I am sure that there are millions of little details that you could say even number of bad experiences or wrong choices. Here is the thing. When you only focus on the negative things in your life it is EASY to pick out everything that is not right. Or just the way that you wish it could be. Maybe you job is not where you want to be, maybe your relationships have fallen apart and you are down on love or partnership, who knows maybe you made bad or poor decisions that now have you incarcerated. These are not permanent things. You will wake up tomorrow and time will keep moving. You can not make up for 'lost time.' In fact the only time that you are guaranteed is your time right now. There will be no "take-backsies."
So instead of spending your time thinking about all that has gone wrong, why not focus your time on all that has gone right. First of all, reading this post is a great step. It will give you something to think about and I promise you, if you click on the song title and listen to the song, you will be in a better mood. If you keep the song in your heart, it will help you re-focus on positive things in your life. I promise you, you are not alone. No one, and I mean no one, has been born on this planet that hasn't had to face some adversity. Everyone faces something; a challenge or some road block. It is how they choose to navigate those road blocks and challenges which determines the direction that they are going. It is not rocket science.
So where do you start if you have no starting line? Try accentuating all of the positive in your life. For me, it is easy, My Love, my children, my cat and my family, in that order. I think about all of the support that I receive from everyone, and I am grateful for all of it. I think about the renewed relationships and how close and happy My Love is reconnecting a broken connection. I think about how even the smallest successes make my days easier. Like today, My Love and I went to this event where you take all of your personal papers/documents and they shred it all for you, at no cost. It is something that is put on annually by our local government. Success. I don't have to shred ALL of that paper and now it is gone and disposed of properly. It took no time but saved us a lot of time.
Pat yourself on the back more often. Be your own cheerleader, and be a cheerleader for others as well. Surround yourself with things that make you feel good and things that level you out. Smile even when you don't feel like it. Be silly. Be Kind and spread Joy.
In case you are like me and are terrible at lyrics, here are the lyrics.
Song Lyrics for "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive"
You've got to accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between
You've got to spread joy up to the maximum
Bring gloom down to the minimum
Have faith or pandemonium
Liable to walk upon the scene
To illustrate his last remark
Jonah in the whale, Noah in the ark
What did they do
Just when everything looked so dark
Man, they said we better, accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between
No, do not mess with Mister In-Between
Do you hear me?
Oh, listen to me children and-a you will hear
About the elininatin' of the negative
And the accent on the positive
And gather 'round me children if you're willin'
And sit tight while I start reviewin'
The attitude of doin' right
You've gotta accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between
You've got to spread joy up to the maximum
Bring gloom, down to the minimum
Otherwise pandemonium
Liable to walk upon the scene
To illustrate my last remark
Jonah in the whale, Noah in the ark
What did they say
Say when everything looked so dark
Man, they said we better accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between
No, don't mess with Mister In-Between
Songwriters: Johnny Mercer / Harold Arlen