Positive Thoughts

I have a friend who has this amazing capacity to see beauty in places where most of us fail to look - the ice covered trees, a table setting, snow covered yards.  It is something I've admired about her for a long time and have recently been reminded how important her gift is to me.

So, I'm borrowing from a tradition I've seen on a number of blogs and other sites, and am committing to a themed, weekly Friday post that I'm calling Positive Thoughts.  Mine will serve as an intentional moment to create and share a positive thought - not a quote from someone else, but a challenge I've given myself to turn off my judgment and problem solving skills and turn my thoughts toward appreciation.

Today I am appreciating these last four weeks at home. 

I've been home recovering from surgey, but I've gained far more than a healthy body. 

I've learned to meditate. 

I've taken the time to stop and consider who I am. 

I've prayed. 

I've read - a lot! 

I've started exercising.

I've started this blog. 

This was just in the time I had to focus on me.  How many women, working or at home, get the opportunity to be alone, to explore themselves, to appreciate themselves, to work on themselves?  I've been given a gift!

I've also enjoyed this slower pace of life.  These were weeks where I could really be "in the moment" with my children.  We have not been running from one thing to the next.  We've not been running late for the bus.  We've not been yelling, dawdling, chasing, or pushing.

We've read lots of books together. 

We've played together. 

We've danced together (with the help of Wii's Just Dance 2).

We've created together. 

We've healed together.

I realize that I could have viewed this time off as a burden or something to mourn.  I certainly expected I would be bored, antsy, anxious to return to the normalcy of my life.  I praise God for the attitude and intentionality with which I've lived this time.  May the bump's in your life be viewed as opportunities!