HAPPINESS IS A CHOICE!

Some people ask me why always on the bright side

When there's so much going on down the other side

It's like I live in a bubble with no trouble

And problems don't exist

I chuckle and tell them that ain't the case at all

It goes way back to the time when I was very small

Not in mind but size and age my papa use to say

You can always look at the negative

But you should always live in the positive

So I try everyday to live that way

-stevie wonder

"positivity"

i was in the worst mood ever as i was driving into work this morning:

cursing the rain. cursing the dumb volvo in front of me who saw fit to use her brake while in the middle of every intersection. cursing the biker who was trying to squeeze onto the BU bridge and not get hit by all of us trying to drive in our respective lanes, when clearly there is a HUGE sidewalk right next to us that was actually built so she wouldn't have to squeeze onto the treacherous bridge. cursing the dumb pedestrians for running across the road when it was a green light and making all 6 cars slam on our brakes so as to avoid a messy collision and making all of us miss the green light. cursing the selfish girl who couldn't possibly wait her turn at the 4 way stop and i was inches from hitting her and really wished i had!

see i told you, i was in a bad mood.

then somewhere along the way my summertime mantra came into my head and it wouldn't go away and i knew it was time to readjust my thinking.

HAPPINESS IS A CHOICE

there is still a lot of day left today. and i still have my agency. so it's time to get positive... especially about the things i cannot change. and i feel empowered just saying that. i often think that my agency has to do with the big stuff-- you know, who i marry, where i live-- but the most finite decisions are just as equally important (if not more so) as the big ones... and probably have a more profound effect on my growth than the bigger ones. how one chooses to look at a situation, react to a negative moment or deal with someone who is less than fun to deal with has a lot to do with the bigger choices we make than we'd like to think.

and the greatest thing about relying on the Atonement to heal, comfort and give understanding... is that the choice to be happy feels less like a choice and more like every day thinking. and when i can get myself to that point on a consistent basis i truly believe that those bigger choices will become easier to make.

so i think for the rest of the day i am going to put stevie wonder on and BLAST positivity throughout my car; laughing at the stupid drivers and pedestrians and choosing to enjoy driving in the rain.

gonna be a good day!