Get Your Vision Board Iphone/Ipod App and start moving toward your dreams today! Books by this Author I’ll Push You Steer: The Definitive Guide to Stumbling Through Life with Blinder Blind "driver" and cancer survivor help you put a laugh in your heart and a bounce in your step and teach you how to get out of your rut and into your new groove In This Best Selling inspirational book!   The Kama Sutra of Storytelling Who else wants to make $$$ Mastering the skill so powerful ... so compelling ... so scintillating...that your pulse will quicken and your heart will beat faster?   Feature Articles: - In Defense of Maurice Clarett... Click here for more >>

What is it about being human that makes it so easy for us to find fault instead of favor?

Here's what I mean.

It is so easy to get caught up in what is wrong with our lives.
Have you ever complained to a restaurant manager about a snotty server, cold food or bad service? Legitimate complaints, perhaps, but how did you react? Were you calm and reasonable, or loud and blustery?

Did you know that a misprint in a schedule ruined two people's lives forever? According to one tourist, it's true. A vacationer waved his arms around in rage and bellowed because he could not go to an area attraction on the day he had planned. The schedule wasn't perfect, and he could not go on the day he planned. He screamed that this travesty had ruined not only his vacation, but his life and the life of his daughter.

How sad that such a minor thing took on the volume of a mountain. How terrible that he let such a slight change of plans ruin what could be a wonderful Ozark vacation. How tragic that the man is teaching his daughter that life is supposed to be smooth and perfect.

One of my favorite sayings is "Life is what happens when you make other plans." How true! We all know that life isn't perfect and that it isn't going to go smoothly. We all get upset sometimes when we hit a stumbling block, and being reasonable when we're upset isn't always easy, but it is possible.

My observation is that when we get upset beyond all proportion, it is because we are not paying attention to the good things in life. I'm not talking about huge but unlikely good things like winning the lottery, but about the little day-to-day sources of joy and laughter.

Here in the midst of life not being easy, the roosters started singing at 4 AM, thereby deepening my belief that the one with the defective internal clock has corrupted the other. I laughed at them and - ineffectively - told them to be quiet and go back to bed. When I fell asleep I had this wonderfully elaborate dream that will make a page-turner of a story.

The dog woke me out of that dream, urgently needing to relieve herself. As I staggered half-asleep down the hill with her, I enjoyed a decoratively cloud-strewn sky.

While waiting . . . and waiting to hear back from a publisher about my novel, I got a couple of ideas for articles. Meanwhile, I am finding homes for contest-losing stories and finding ways to encourage people to write.

In the midst of life not being as smooth as a calm sea, I delight in the beauty of the Ozarks. I am so grateful to live here, in a little house in woods, close to family. I gave up the convenience of public transportation that allowed me to go when and where I needed to go, but I do not miss the city.

I have friends who are like family to me living in other parts of the country. As much as I miss our times together, I am so grateful that we are still close. We keep our friendship alive and healthy despite the miles between us.

In the midst of setbacks and delays, I am grateful for the ability to find comedy in my daily life. Watching two chickens try to get through an opening big enough for one makes me laugh no matter how often I see it. Watching Molly play with her leash never fails to crack me up. The daily occurrence of watching my two cats jockey for position on my lap, common though it is, has not lost its charm.

I know that a lot of what happens to me is out of my control. But how I respond to life is completely my choice.

My wish for all of my readers is that you become increasingly aware of the little blessings that grace each day.