When I Choose Gratitude Over Fear, Am I Giving Reality The Finger?

Optimism is not a dirty word.

I ask you this: Are we being irresponsible global citizens when we turn away from the latest gloom and doom of the current world situation and focus instead on what is good in our own backyard?

Am I selfish when I refuse to engage in conversations about which side is the right side when it comes to the pandemic? Is there something wrong with me when I don’t feel the need to march for my freedom of choice or complain about the latest mandates? Does it make me weak when I set boundaries with people whose primary purpose is to argue their point?

I don’t want to be picketing. I don’t want to be shouting. I don’t want to be fighting. I don’t want to be right or wrong. I don’t want any part in the power struggle within families or in the world in general.

I choose to detach myself from those who see fault in everything without having a full understanding of anything. I detach from those who refuse to open their minds and hearts to curiosity and fail to consider anything outside their own belief systems.

I align with gratitude. I am grateful for another day to live and love; another day of seeing the snow-covered spruce trees in my front yard, of hearing Yesterday for the millionth time, of marveling at the imprint of my boot in the snow, and the sensation of my beloved under the cool duvet.

I’m grateful for laughter and tears, boredom and frustration. I’m gobsmacked by Grannie Smith apples in the middle of winter, and the scarlet of pomegranate seeds that remind me of nature’s state as Goddess.

I am grateful for the twinkly lights in my living room window, and for my emotions. I’m grateful for the ability to fill my cup with things that are positive in my life because my life is all I have in this world and it is my responsibility to look for the good in everything and everyone.

I give thanks for the good experiences and blessings for the painful ones because both fill me with substance. I accept it is not my responsibility to engage with those who choose to see pain and misery everywhere. I wish them well and walk away.

My heart pounds as I out myself as the perpetual optimist (as if optimism has become a dirty word). How dare I be an optimist when people are dying; when our healthcare system is breaking under the weight of the pandemic. How dare I be joyful during this time of global crisis after global crisis? How dare I see beauty in the blue sky, the playful chortle of my cat? How dare I try to point out the good in the world to anyone when I’m not the one mired in the shit of suffering!

Please, don’t misunderstand. I care about the individual. I care about myself and I care about those who I love. Maybe not in a way of caretaking and rescuing; not in a way of complaining, blaming and shaming, or shouting my convictions through a blow horn.

I care by fostering the energy of love, positivity, creativity, and inspiration; by letting myself laugh or cry when the need arises. I care by allowing myself to feel confused and then come to my center again.

It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see. — Henry David Thoreau

It is not in my power to fix anything, but I sure as hell can change the way I think and feel about it.

I do not want to muzzle my positivity because it’s not congruent with the fear in the world right now. I give a wide birth to people who insist on pointing out what is wrong with the world without ever giving credit to what is right. I want to see love, compassion, and joy. The world is NOT broken.

When we operate from a place of optimism and curiosity, we create change in the world. We become present with ourselves, with our children, our partners and parents, our coworkers, and even strangers we pass on the street.

Everyone is nature, everyone is God Everyone is love and light and vibration Look for the good, look for the good Everyone gets mad sometimes and maybe they should Look for the good, look for the good Yeah, look out for all the heroes in your neighborhood Look for the good, look for the good Life sure would be sweeter if everybody would — Jason Mraz: Look For the Good

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