How to Find Beauty amidst the Crap


January is National Thank-You Month.

Living life from a place of gratitude is much better than living life from a place of gloom and lack don't you think? Sure there are things going on in the world that can make us feel gloomy and even fearful. But we also have a lot to be thankful for.

What would happen if we rewrote the way we think about the bad stuff that has happened in our individual lives? Instead of being stuck in the mire of what has happened
what if we repainted it with the colour of thankfulness.

For instance -
  1. My sister Joyce passed away from Ovarian Cancer. Her last words to me were the most powerful I have ever received. "Don't let fear stop you from doing something you really want to do." In her death she gave me a gift. I am grateful for that gift because those words changed my life.
  2. My childhood is not one that I would wish on anyone nor want to repeat. But I dealt with it and because I dealt with it I now have these wonderful gifts. The gift of empathy. The desire to protect the innocent. The desire to share as I am now with the hope of helping someone else. When I sing or act I can access pieces of me that I didn't know exist. I am an open book.
  3. The pains and losses of my adult life - without going into detail -  wasn't always easy, We all have those times. But those losses and painful memories have made me a better singer. A better writer. A better person.

I can look back and say I am thankful because I am in this wonderful place mentally as a direct result of these events. I have grown as a person, an entertainer, friend, and mother. That's a good thing.

I could and have looked at my past as the stumbling block in my career. Had this not happened and that not happened I would have been able to pursue my dream at the right age. The normal age. A young person's age. That I wouldn't have the fences around me that I have to deal with on a daily basis because of my age. My life simply didn't allow me to do it though. I felt regret over it. For years. But I choose to reshape it. All of those years prepared me for my life now. For where I am now. For who I am now. I am grateful for it all and I'm ready to dive in to whatever life has in store for me. It may be different than what I dreamed of as a little girl but it is perfect for me.

You see its not that you forget or cover your past with roses. But its that you become grateful for what you have learned from it and in that way I believe you set yourself up for good things to come. It isn't easy to do and it takes time to get there but it is I believe the right choice to make. Because in the end our attitude makes all the difference in the world. We can live in a dark room of gloom and regret or we can turn the light on and be thankful. I choose to live in light. How about you?