Wow! What a concept!

I've attempted to keep myself inspired to be positive in as many ways as possible, one way is a daily email I receive from "Rev Run", from Run DMC (early rap group?) fame. While I had never hear of this guy before, question if he even has a congregation to earn the "Rev", I find some of his emails thought provokingwhich I like. Today's "Daily Word" (as he titles his emails in the subject line), has introduced a concept that I find remarkable.

Here are a couple of quotes that he made:

• "Your attitude, not your achievements--give you happiness."
• "Develop a great attitude. The thoughts in your mind will always be more important than the things in your life".

Wow! These two quotes taken from today's email message are quite powerful. I know there are times I'm really struggling to be positive, to not look at something negatively. Recently some things happened in a way that I was quite sad about. I understood why things were happening the way they were. I didn't quite like the way things were and felt a little sad and forlorn. I had to work really hard to find a positive way to view things. I'd start to feel I was succeeding, but then be sad again, and realize I wasn't quite where I needed to be to view things positively. I was struggling in being able to view things positively. However, I sat and thought to myself, "What am I grateful for today"? I didn't have time to get on the computer and do a 'gratitude entry', but realized I needed to find what I was grateful for that day and voice it in my mind. Once I did, I finally turned the corner, was able to feel happy and positive about the day. It was enlightening to see the power of having gratitude.

When I received the email with the above quotes this morning; I found the thoughts being shared in this email quite novel. I never would have believed these concepts, had I ever heard them. Now I'm starting to. It's amazing the power of our mind, and how much control we DO have over our life and our happiness.

Gratitude Entry: I'm so grateful to the connections I have with various people in my life. Last night I got to spend a delightful evening with a little 2 1/2 year old, visiting his house under the blanket, and holding a sweet little new baby. Spending time with both parents of these two was a joy to me as well. This evening, I went to a viewing for one of my best friend's (33 years of friendship) stepfather. She knows everyone in my family, and I know everyone in hers. We used to go home to each other's houses on weekends in college. While the occassion tonight was sad, it was wonderful to see and visit with all her brothers, their spouses and see how the nieces and nephews have grown. Her daughters embraced me and were so excited at how good I'm looking now. Her oldest daughter, tall and skinny, actually picked me and swung me a tad while hugging me. I left the viewing feeling that I'm so lucky to have another family I sorta feel part of. Maybe it's a family of my heart?? I'm so grateful that my heart is full of so many different families that I can care about, feel a part of and enjoy. How lucky can I get?