A Little R and R

I am inclined to (as my brother would say) be an optomistic pessimist. I admire those who can see things in a positive way even when it seems like the world is falling apart around them. I myself struggle to do the same. So, over the summer, I did some reading on positive thinking and living. The books and articles said some of the same things. Here are two of the main ideas:

• To create better thought patterns , think positively. (DUH!)
• If you are an over-thinker (name ten women or men who are not and I'll mail you a cheque for the difference) make a plan - and then do something about it - however small. This is supposed to help you move through negative thinking because you are not allowing your mind to go over details that you cannot control.

I have my own theory of how to get through the tough spots of life. I call it the R/R technique. This is allowing yourself to create a mix of ranting (about the negative- such as the way people just pull into the driveway at school without pulling through to let other people by) and raving (about the positive - such as how well my experiment with the tone chime choir went today when I played the melody on the digital piano and the group played the chords. It sounded soo sooo good!) Doing both will get the negativity out of your system and then you can be all calm and happy-like.

Now for the practical experiment. Does the R/R technique work?? To test this, I shall be my own lab rat. I'll ask myself questions and then run around to the other chair and answer them. [My questions are in bold. My answers will be regular print. You'll have to forgive me if I am a little out of breath as I answer them.] And then just for fun, I'll mix in the other two techniques and completely skew the results.

What would you like to rave about that happened this week?
Spending time with my kids in the vehicle was a favorite part of the week. There's something about sitting side by side that is conducive to open conversation. I was let into a little of their life with various conversations about their summers and the things that they learned. For that I felt very priveleged.

What is something you would like to change about this week?
The fact that there was so much internal and external pressure on everyone this week. I recognize that the beginning of the school year looks like that, but still, there must be a way to steer around it. I guess if I knew that everyone was happy and loved being where they were, I'd feel better.



What are you proud of yourself for doing this week?
I handed in my resume for a job that I am not even sure I qualify for. Even more surprising is that they have called me in for an interview.

What would you like to rant about?
I hate it when people are so intent on their own agenda that they don't bother to look around and see how other people are affected by it. Observing selfishness in others makes my blood boil. I could summarize it in a very general way about alot of the things that bugged me this week: "Clean up your own mess. Stop making it everyone else's responsibility to run around after you with the dust pan of life".


What's something you are looking forward to?
I am looking forward to watching the tree change color out in the field. I noticed it especially tonight as I was painting the fence. I want to take a picture of it every day from now until the fall is over to document it. I think it is fascinating. And I'm sure there's a life lesson in there somewhere.



What's something that you can plan for and take a small step toward today?
I plan to de-stress tonight. To do that, I am making a pot of tea because. I hear it's anti-oxidants are a proven stress defuser.

Hmm...what do you think? Did it work? Well, when the results are tabulated, I'll let you know....maybe we need to find another lab rat to compare results. Any volunteers?