It's not so bad.

I've written about negative attitudes before. It's easy to get bogged down in the little annoyances that seem to ruin your day. I completely get that and am frequently heard to be making exasperated grunts and groans (super attractive trait, I know). But for most of us, it really, really isn't that bad. Based on a facebook comment I made last week, a lot of you agree.

Left home late. Didn't eat enough breakfast. Had to wait on the longest line of cars ever to pull into my parking garage. Got out of the car and I drop the coffee and it spills everywhere. But, I have a home to leave and a job to go to. I have plenty of food in my fridge. I have a functional, safe car. My coffee landed on the ground, and not me or my clothes. I'm saying (writing) this out loud to remind myself (and any other whiny babies such as myself) that my problems, well, aren't.

I make it a point to try to be thankful, grateful, for the small blessings I experience each day. The above comment was posted in attempt to shake myself out of a funk. A decent number (I dunno, 1?) of you "liked" that, so you either agree with the sentiment, or were grateful for a reminder. Or both.

Funny thing, though. People like the idea, but quickly forget it. Later that day, or the next, I saw a comment by one person who liked my comment that was decidedly and unnecessarily negative. And it wasn't a huge complaint. Something small, about how annoying something was.

Ruminating on how annoying this is, how unfair that is, how put upon you are by work, or--and I'm just spitballing a random idea here--the person in the pedestrian crosswalk in the Publix parking lot who looks right at you while you're stopped in your car waiting for them to get out of the way, but doesn't even pretend to hurry up to get out of your way, much less give a wave of acknowledgment... Where was I? Oh, yeah. None of it exactly elevates your mood, does it? And, if you want to put a Christian spin on it (well, I'm about to, so if you don't, sorry 'bout your luck), I'd even guess that it's counterproductive to how God calls us to live, and certainly contrary to the attitudes that were modeled for us by this guy that lived a while back and wore robes and raised the dead and stuff--I think his name was Jesus?

I saw something recently that said, and I'm paraphrasing, that "fair" is a word used by a person who simply wants what someone else has. Sorry, I don't recall where I saw that, but it struck a chord. Apparently, it isn't stated that we all have an unalienable right to have everything exactly the same as anyone else who has cool stuff, or a great job or house or smokin' girlfriend or whatever. Sucks. I know.

As they say, life's tough. Get a helmet. 

For those of you who are church-goers, the season of Lent starts in about a month, on Ash Wednesday (Friday, February 13). If you've ever been interested in "giving something up" for Lent, maybe this year you can try to give up a defeatist, negative attitude in favor of a more positive one and focusing on your many blessings.

For those of you who aren't church-goers, but like where my brain is at, maybe you can try it any ol' way. Make a conscious effort to think of something positive when you're in a sour mood. It isn't always easy, but you'll find in time that it really does help you feel better. Maybe you don't become Miss Mary Sunshine dancing on a rainbow, but if it helps you feel a little better, why wouldn't you? Because when you get right down to it, it's not so bad.

So, tell me: what do you do to get rid of a sour mood (besides reading my pontifications and boring weekend stories and musings, of course)?