Find It!

This last week I taught a lesson about my recovery “tool box”. It’s a metaphorical concept that helps me be ready for the problems that will eventually come my way. I can try to predict the mishaps and junk that I will encounter, but there are no guarantees. So I do what I can to have things in place to help set me back on track when the waves come. You know, that whole rise up thing!

Sometimes I overthink stuff. Usually the things that bring me back to focus are simple. This past week I had plenty of opportunities to knock me off course. You may remember last week that I was going out of town to pick up a friend from the airport. Well, weather being weather their flight was delayed so I wound up spending an extra 6 hours waiting. Yuck, right? No. I sat at a Starbucks and drank several cups of Sumatra (God’s coffee for those of you keeping track) then went to dinner then came back to Starbucks for more coffee. Not too bad, but here’s the cool thing, a friend came and visited me and we got to catch up for an hour or so while I waited. Simple.

As I went through my week I got caught up in the chaos of life. Stress and “whatnot” will always find its way in. But I kept looking for the little things to offset the big stuff. Unexpected joy kept sneaking up on me. I found out that I get an extra hockey game in a couple of weeks! I found out that I get to ride the Zamboni at a Kings game for my birthday. I ran into my friend Liam (and his awesome Mommy too) at a community event. I was given ticket to see Trans Siberian Orchestra. Things are out there, I just need to not focus on the negatives and just find the good.

Christmas season is upon us. Your schedule will probably get more hectic before it gets better. Work will get stressful as the end of the year approaches. Sadness over lost relationships will get magnified. I can’t promise that nothing will upset you. But I can promise that there is something good or uplifting out there for each of us. We need to go out and find it. It will help us to

–Rise Up!!