Pollyanna's glad game

My Aunt Judy once told me that there came a point in her marriage that she prayed for trials in she and her husbands lives since trials make you stronger. Soon after, her husband (a pilot) got in a plane wreck. He survived, but it was definitely a trial, and they grew from it and became stronger in their marriage.

Though I understand the principle, I'm waaaay too chicken to ask for trials, because 1) I don't like trials, tests, or hardships and 2) I like to play things safe and would rather have a life of boring same ol' same ol' rather than an exciting life filled with unexpected challenges and possible horrors.

So even though I've never prayed for challenges/trials to test our marriage or lives, it seems we've been loaded with them nonetheless.

Sometimes I feel like all I do is complain, worry, fret, stress, and plead. My faith waxes and wanes according to my stress tolerance. I wonder what we've done to deserve the mole hill of bad luck that appears to be forming into a mountain right before my eyes as each day passes. I go over the things we should be doing to see if we're leaving something out, and thus "asking for trouble". I go over the things we could possibly do to cast out the demons of bad luck. Will all that's happened to us over the last few months (things I've blogged about and things I haven't), it becomes easy to feel negative about life, get a little blue, wish to go back to easier times (man, I was naive to feel that a college final looming over my head was "stress"), and wish for sleep to come until the good times roll again.

As my little family has mucked along in the quicksand of bad luck, I've realized that focusing on all the negative in our lives has gotten me nowhere. Clinging to this negativity is like clinging to a blade of pampas grass to pull myself out of the quicksand. It's not strong enough to pull me out. It'll break, and just before it does, my hand will slip on it and it will slice my hand open in paper-cut fashion, as pampas grass always does. I've decided that if it's a strong branch I'm looking for, I'd better change my outlook on life and cling to any positive aspects of each negative that kicks us in the rear.

Pollyanna! If you've never seen that movie, why in the world not!!!?? It's a classic Disney. Pollyanna had a game called the glad game that she'd play to distract you from feeling down or grumpy. I'm going to play the glad game with things that I could otherwise choose to view as bad luck.

I'm getting old(er).
I'm glad I'm aging since older women make better lovers.

I'm older than Hyrum.
I'm glad I'm older than Hyrum because wisdom comes with age, so I'll always be smarter than Hyrum! Don't dispute me on this, Hyrum. If momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy. :)

I'm getting grey hair.
I'm glad I'm finding grey hairs since the silver sparkles against my brown hair and makes my hair shiny, which is much more interesting than just plain dark brown hair.

My kids have been sick almost nonstop this winter and spring.
I'm glad my kids will now be immune to about 40 strains of viruses since that's about how many times they've been sick these last couple of seasons.

Business is down. Way down.
I'm glad business will be improving since when you're down, there's only one way you can go...up!

We're stuck in a tiny apartment with 7 people and no idea of when our house remodel will be complete.
I'm glad we get this chance to bond so closely. The family that crams together, stays together, right?

I'm finding it difficult to lose the baby weight.
I'm glad I have plenty of food to eat and I don't have to scavenge from a dump like the people I saw on TV.

I have wretched carpal tunnel syndrome that makes it painful to do yard work, fix my hair, apply make-up, hold kids and sleep.
I'm glad I have carpal tunnel as an excuse to not blow dry or curl/straighten my hair because over the last couple of years it's been too painful to fix my hair, so over that time of letting my hair air dry the majority of the time and not styling it or using any hair products, my hair has become the healthiest it's ever been and has more than quadrupled in thickness, and I'm getting compliments on my hair all the time, when that rarely happened previously. I can wear a pony-tail for the first time in my life without it looking spindly and pathetic. I'm also glad that my morning routine is so short because of the lack of styling. I wouldn't have the time for it anyway.

Well, I feel better now. The sun is starting to shine, metaphorically and out my window. I have my little family and that's all that matters. My hair will continue to grey, my waistline will never return to a pre-baby size, business will wax and wane, and life will go on. The only thing that won't change is my love of my family, and their love for me. I'm so grateful for each of my kids and a loving husband who tells me I'm the best friend he could ever have and that he can't stand to be away from me because he misses me so much. Ahhh. Eat your heart out Edward and Bella!

Speaking of Twilight, I listened to the book on Hyrum's phone while I walked in the mornings and all the gaps and strangeness in the movie were filled and explained. I really enjoyed the book, though I was surprised at her use of profanity and sensuality. A good book nonetheless, and now I enjoy the movie much more. We even decided to buy it. For anyone who saw the movie before reading the book, you'll understand why the movie was a little strange to me. I'm glad I saw the movie first though because I think I'd be a little disappointed in the movie if I'd read the book first. The problem now is, I'm anxious to read the next book but the movie's not out yet!! What to do...