positive spin

Little Johnny’s parents were trying to put a positive spin on the quality of not being a quitter; trying to teach him that nonquitters are never forgotten. They told him that we all remember people like Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Edison, Michael Jordon and Albert Schouskie.  Johnny asked, who was Albert Schouskie anyway?  See, he quit and no one remembers him!

The Valedictorian says--"Without laughter, the rough and rocky places on the path might be too painful to bear. Humor not only lightens our load, it also broadens our perspective. To be deadly serious is to suffer tunnel vision. To be able to laugh at yourself clears the vision." Laughter does give us more of a positive spin alright, at least for me it does.

CrazyMarvin who is crazy 73.7% of the time, according to his wife Nellie, says--I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't sooo I'm just damned!

Business executive and former CEO of Pepsi, Indra Nooyi, reminds us to assume the best in others:  "Whatever anybody says or does, assume positive intent. You will be amazed at how your whole approach to a person or problem becomes very different. When you assume negative intent, you're angry. If you take away that anger and assume positive intent, you will be amazed. Your emotional quotient goes up because you are no longer almost random in your response. You don't get defensive. You don’t scream. You are trying to understand and listen because at your basic core we are saying, ‘Maybe they are saying something to me that I'm not hearing.’ Assume positive intent has been a huge piece of advice for me.” It works for me but it is hard for me to do sometimes, but I try real hard! I think I fail sometimes 'cause I'm human! Such is life.

I have the opportunity to be part of a group of guys who drink coffee weekly. They are mostly retired guys from many past occupations. They call it the Weekly Office Meeting. Recently four of us sat at a table and had the best conversation of great meaning; we all have the same backgrounds and thinking in several areas that were similar which produced conversation that was very uplifting to all of us (i.e. a positive spin for sure). A great opportunity to think about the saying—"We always move forward to what we focus on!" That helps to have an enjoyable life, I think. Davy Crockett, king of the wild frontier, said--"Be always sure you're right — then go ahead!"

RickyRick says--"If we want to live an overflowing life rather than an overwhelming life, stop complaining, and start being grateful."  Now that is a positive spin to think about. For me, being grateful does wonders for me. But then again, human nature seems like it wants us not to be grateful but it always wants us to have more a.k.a. complaining. ThePreacherManFromNW-IA says—“The murmurers are ungrateful people. Appreciative men and women have neither the time nor disposition to stop and complain. Gratitude and murmuring never abide in the same heart at the same time."

Six-year old Bobby had strip throat and had to stay home from church. When his family came back from church they were all carrying palm branches—he asked what they were all about—they told him that when Jesus came, the people all throw down palm branches for Jesus to walk on. My luck, the day I missed church Jesus finally came!

What is piddly crap stuff! AverageJoe says, piddly crap stuff is what many people talk about and what many people spend tooo much time thinking about and worrying about that is of little importance. It just isn’t that important! Do we ever spend way too much time on the wrong stuff? Maybe we should change our title to a more positive spin like Wal Mart did (i.e. rebrand our lives). They no longer call their employees security but now call them asset protection! A big well drilling rig pulled up beside me at the stop sign yesterday, and on it was printed in big letters, we are honest and efficient. So there you go! RickyRick says--"Every day when we wake up, we need to remind ourself of what counts and what doesn’t count. Don’t be distracted by things that are insignificant and petty."

Esther of Grace is a writer in Yakama that we have met. We like her writing and I asked her if she would be interested in writing a paragraph each week for It's Saturday and she agreed. I hope you enjoy her writings. Esther of Grace writes--"To be or not to be…offended. A co-worker comes down the hall one morning on her way into work and passes by my office. My door is open, I look up and smile, greeting them with a hello! My co-worker doesn’t look up, and responds with a simple, muffled, “Hey.” ---  I have, in that moment, the decision to be miffed with their less than enthusiastic response, go after them and ask what’s wrong or to take a breath and offer a prayer, a blessing over their day. I’ve chosen both responses over the years, and I’ll tell you, the latter is always the better choice. ---  We are all going through a storm, just coming out of a storm, about to go into a storm, or know someone in a storm. When we choose praying for someone, compassion, and kindness, we will be more inline with who God is calling us to be…in my opinion."

A little boy was reading a cowboy story. A picture shows the cowboy on his horse wearing a white hat surrounded by a great number of bad guys wearing black hats. It looks really bad for the cowboy; it looks like there is no way out for him ; he is doomed, toast. The little boy can’t handle it so he goes to the last pages where there is the cowboy riding his horse into the sunset.  He goes back to the part where the cowboy is surrounded with no way out. He tells the cowboy, don’t worry, it will all turn out great; I know the end of the story.

Evan Esar said--"If a man is poor, he is stupid; if he is rich, he's a crook; if he goes to church, he's a hypocrite; if he stays away, he's a sinner. If he's in politics, he's a grafter; if he takes no interest in politics, he's an unworthy citizen; if he dies young, there was a great future ahead of him; if he lives to a ripe old age, he's a burden to society. The only man who is never criticized is he who has never been born."

Maybe Upgrade Our Plan! Many of the devotions I read talk a lot about being quiet a.k.a. being still. The readings always say that being still is a great investment in our lives. Maybe to sum it up—Results of being quiet is a great mystery; do not try to fathom it; just enjoy it. Personally, being still and quiet is a very positive spin on my life. Soooo I lost one of my ear buds; it had to be in our yard or in our house. We looked for several days with no success; I gave up. A couple of days later I was eating my lunch on our patio and sitting there quietly and saw this little white thing under a bush about twelve feet away. It was my earbud. Crazy. I think I’m going to sit still and be quiet more often!

I like what King Solomon, probably the wisest man that ever lived, says in Proverbs--"Don’t do as the wicked do, and don’t follow the path of evildoers. Don’t even think about it; don’t go that way. Turn away and keep moving" Now that is a pretty good positive spin for me!

Have a FUN day my friends unless you have other plans. (-:

erv

MyDeceasedFriendJean said--Retire from work, but not from life.