Parental Wisdom
Today I am grateful for a day off and for kindred spirits like my friend Jill. I am also grateful for some words of wisdom I heard from my mom growing up. She was fond of telling her brood of children "If you can't say something good, don't say anything at all." She would say it when we were being mean to one another, or if she caught us complaining about a teacher or someone else. It really is sound advice.
Fewer apologies needed, less guilt to unload, if I stick to that simple mantra.
So thanks Mom! But I have also realized more recently that this mantra of "If you can't say something good, don't say anything at all," applies to me and how I talk to myself. Here is where gratitude comes in. If I am focused on gratitude, on what is going well, I feel so much better. If I focus on what isn't going well, the couple of things that have caused me to get my undies in a bundle, then I tend to start feeling sorry for myself and my self-talk isn't very nice. Even if I go down the road of self-pity, if I can get back to gratitude, the trip is short and I get back on the right route.
Another good reason to stick with an attitude of gratitude. :-)
Fewer apologies needed, less guilt to unload, if I stick to that simple mantra.
So thanks Mom! But I have also realized more recently that this mantra of "If you can't say something good, don't say anything at all," applies to me and how I talk to myself. Here is where gratitude comes in. If I am focused on gratitude, on what is going well, I feel so much better. If I focus on what isn't going well, the couple of things that have caused me to get my undies in a bundle, then I tend to start feeling sorry for myself and my self-talk isn't very nice. Even if I go down the road of self-pity, if I can get back to gratitude, the trip is short and I get back on the right route.
Another good reason to stick with an attitude of gratitude. :-)
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