Staff writer
I have had some hard days recently. Blown out tires, dryer that went caput, children with injuries, unmanageable farm chores, and deadlines, deadlines, deadlines have all combined to make me feel plain worn out. However, I have a way of dealing with life’s misery. It involves thinking along the lines of a song, “My Favorite Things,” from the musical Sound of Music.
Instead of thinking of “Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens,” I think about the good things happening in life right now. And it gives me the strength to go on.
My good list includes lunch with my husband at the reservoir and watching the waves, seagulls, and a pelican. The smiles of my children, a good song on the radio, time spent in prayer, and stealing time to read a good book make my “favorite things” list.
One of my best pick-me-ups has to be riding around the farm on the diesel tractor with my husband. Silly as it may be, when all else seems to be going wrong, powering around the property on the tractor is awesome, it fills me with hope for the future, and an appreciation for all the hard work we have already done.
We live in a day and age when there seem to be a lot of things going wrong, aimless government, senseless death, financial stress on many levels, yet if we think hard enough, there are some good “favorite things” to channel positive energy from.
I thoroughly enjoyed watching and photographing fourth-graders recently at Marion Central Park as they experienced nature during EnviroFest. As adults, I think it is especially important to find positive things to focus on, so that our children see that they too, have a good future to look forward to.
Many of the things that cause us quandary in our lives are also those we should be thankful for, like vehicles, jobs, relationships, and money. There is no easy way to deal with the bad things that come up from time to time, except to remember that the pendulum has to swing the other way, this too shall pass, and at least once a year, Julie Andrews and “The Sound of Music” will be on regular television programming.
Just thinking about raindrops on roses makes me feel better. Life is a balancing act and maybe bad days just make me a little more thankful for the good ones.