Being a 'Positive'

What do you hope to accomplish?

I’ve always thought it was important to be what I considered a 'positive,' not a 'negative.'”

It’s one of those weeks where I pull up this page on my computer and stare. I’ve looked at newspapers I subscribe to for ideas of what to write, but I continue to see an empty page.

It’s not that I don’t have anything on my mind, it’s just the opposite. My brain is overflowing this morning, and I’m just not sure what I want to share.
So the woodpecker doing his art on my porch is distracting me, and I’ve now thrown my cat out of my office – I’m in my office at the house. She normally gets to stay but she keeps licking my leg, and I just can’t handle that today. So of course, she is scratching at the door. Don’t worry cat lovers, she will win; it’s just a matter of time.

My mind whirls from the past to the present and then the future, all at one time. Just coming off Memorial Day Weekend, which is often called Decoration Day, I think about the men and women who have served and still continue to serve this nation, and those who died in action.

I think about the country we have today and wonder how we got here. I think about the debt ceiling, and the two completely different viewpoints about that. The conservative voice says we are overspending (duh) and the liberal voice says an increase in debt ceiling avoids economic disaster (true).

Let’s face it; there is more to it than that, but it’s complicated, and it’s much easier just to scream a viewpoint every time we get to this place again – this place where we are reaching our debt limit.

We’ve gotten really good at speaking from one side of the aisle and avoiding the other side. I just looked at editorials in a daily newspaper and if they are all true, the thinking from half of our nation will lead us to a Holocaust-type ending.
You can choose which side that would be coming from, because both sides are using that kind of language.

The future. That’s the real biggie. At my age, thoughts about the future no longer just include visions of what I hope to accomplish for myself. You start thinking about what you hope to accomplish that will have value after you are gone.
I’ve always thought it was important to be what I considered a “positive,” not a “negative.”

There are people who take more than they give during a lifetime and there are people who give more than they take.

The people who find true value have learned it is far better to be a giver. With the world in the shape it is in today, however, I can’t help but wonder how much difference one person can make. There are so many “negatives” walking around.
Even with that thought, however, I’m reminded of all the wonderful people I know. There is still a world full of good, and that gives me hope.

We can’t solve our problems overnight, but we can solve them. Jesus taught us that true value comes from serving and loving others. If everyone has a heart of love for his or her fellow man, we can make this world a better place. We just need to spend more time listening and less time talking.

Make a vow to be a “positive” today. Give more than you take. if you do that, you have left behind something of value that is eternal. Now, if you will excuse me, I have to let my cat in my office.