#262: Sometimes Positive Is Not Enough

Although it may take practice, it is fairly easy to become an upbeat person, relatively mellow, slow to become annoyed and encouraged by the positive aspects of problems.

But what happens when being positive is not enough? When sadness and loneliness struggle to envelope us? When thoughts of relatives who have passed on and friends who are far away strike us? What do we do then?

For me, tonight, after dinner I watered the lawn and thought of how much pleasure my father derived from such a simple task. There's always something serene about waterfalls and the oceans and even a spray of water from a hose. He said such an activity de-stressed him.

Then I had to re-sew a loose button and thought of all the mending my mother did for us over the years and how happy she was to do it.

After that a section of floor where one of the dogs is paper trained had to be cleaned. For some reason it made me recall cleaning up after my closest female friend's cat that was sick one time while I was kitty sitting.

In the background has been soft radio music that reminds me of my best male friend with whom I whiled away many hours listening to music, playing chess and having wide-ranging conversations in front of his wood burning stove when we lived closer to each other.

Tonight I have also had happy memories of my grandparents and uncles and sister, wondered what my aunt Alice was doing in Indiana, realized it was too late to call and considered where to treat my brother to lunch Sunday since I missed his celebration last night due to my back cramps.

I believe being positive is fairly easy. So is being optimistic. But I believe, too, that we have to occasionally give in to our memories and let them guide us back from the feelings of sadness and loneliness that occasionally grab us.

Yes, sometimes simply being positive is not enough. Those times we need to embrace our memories and happy thoughts and realize they, too, are part of life's ebbs and flows.

But, maybe being grounded in a positive mental outlook on life is what helps make such feelings not last long and drives us to eventually feel better about ourselves and our situations.