The thankfulness perspective

I'm sure I've said this before — life is all how you look  at it.

I am a member of a Facebook group for women whose husbands are in the same career as mine. Many of them are very supportive, while others post their complaints about the career, which can have odd hours.

Tonight, my husband and I had a little time together before I had to go back to work, but he was called into work. I thought, "Typical, he has to go in when we actually have time together." Then I thought, "Well, at least he gets the overtime."

When you start to think about it, pretty much everything that happens to us can be looked at in a good light or a bad light.

We just took our dog to the vet, and it cost more than $100 because she has a yeast infection in her ears. Bad: It cost that much money. Good: We found a solution for the problem, and she can get better.

I have to work tonight, like most Friday nights. Bad: I have to work on a Friday night. Good: I have a job.

I have the consultation about my ganglion cyst on Tuesday. Bad: I have to spend money on another doctor's appointment. Good: I have insurance that will cover most of it, and hopefully the problem can get taken care of.

When I start to look at the bad side of situations, I try to take a step back and think about all I have to be thankful for about that instead. It's not always easy, because sometimes my emotions want to take over and tell me that being negative is more convenient. However, God gave me this life and everything in it can be used for my good. I can learn from situations and appreciate what is happening, because he is in charge and obviously saw fit for these things to happen.

Yes, I am going through a pretty easy time in life right now. But maybe that's just in preparation for a hard period down the road. If I learn these lessons now hopefully I can put them into practice in challenges in the future.