Happy 2010..!!

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Doesn't it seem like just the other day everyone was all in a flap about Y2K?  How could that possibly be ten years ago?  A whole decade, gone in a snap, though all things considered, maybe it was a decade we should be glad is over.

It was a decade of being Bushwhacked; a global economy in tatters; endless war; terrorism escalating and rife with hatred; our beautiful planet pillaged and plundered in the name of Greed.  It's enough to make a person despair, and to wonder:  where will it all end?  Where will we all end?

Then, just when I think we're doomed as a species, there are reminders of goodness, of greatness, of miracles even, and I can't help feeling positive again, and hopeful that maybe, just maybe, things might get better.

Negativity is a black hole that sucks life-affirming joy out of the world.  The only counter is to fight for all you're worth to deflect it with a positive attitude.  Stay away from negative people, sift through the dire warnings from the media and don't succumb to the temptation to believe everything you see or hear.  For every bad thing, look for the good, no matter how small.  Hold your spirit tight and don't allow it to be pulled into the depths of that soul-destroying black hole.

Here are some positive things I've thought about today, the last day of 2009:

• The hushed silence of a new snowfall
• Ozzy's unconditional love for his Mom (that would be me)
  
• My husband's unending support while I type away on The Novel, encouraging me even when I'm convinced my book is total crap
• A man who risks his life leaping over 4 seats to stop a lunatic from blowing up a plane
• A mother and newborn who die on Christmas Eve, then miraculously come back to life
• A belly laugh, complete with streaming tears and a runny nose, from something my BFF has told me over the phone
  
• Pizza, hot from the oven, with a cold Corona
• Lemon meringue pie
• The love of a good man
  
• Chocolate chip cookies, warm and gooey
• Winning the NaNo challenge in November
  
• People, all over the world, who help others less fortunate
• Babies, both human and animal, who know each and every day is a wonder of discovery and adventure
• The Summer sun sparkling on the Bay of Naples
• The Scottish Highlands, green and ageless and breath-taking
• My new, beautiful and yummy dining table and chairs
• A pair of Blackbirds (partners for life), and a family of tiny, cheerful Robins who live in our garden

There's no doubt, being human, that I will have my joy-sucking moments in the year to come, but I will also try to find, and savor, more of the positive ones.  Being a firm believer in 'what you cast out returns to you three-fold', I'm going to work hard to smile often, listen more, try to find the good in Life, and resist that black hole for all I'm worth.

"Although we cannot choose what happens to us, we can choose how we respond"

Epictetus