What will you emphasize today?
Do you ever feel as if summer is a mixed bag? The list of highs is sometimes set off by the list of lows?
As for me, I adore the extra family time, and being barefoot is my absolute most favorite thing. The long days are amazing, the summer fruit makes me happy all over, and the pool time is just the best. I'm thrilled not to be at the demand of a school schedule, and I love the freedom to discover my own adventures.
But still, I tire of the heat.
I miss an ocean breeze. My husband, who has lived in Atlanta his entire life, tells me he's still not used to the humidity, so I'm not optimistic that I'll adjust. I think thunderstorms are dreadful (though I appreciate the cool aftermath), and the college football season still feels too far away. I am tired of managing my toes. (If you had my feet, you'd be over it too!)
I could extend my list of pros/cons another 15 items, but you get the point; there's plenty of material to give any day a positive or a negative spin.
If it's this easy to manufacture complaints during ice cream season, ANY day can be a challenge! If you're like me, chances are you have the same quandary. The question is what do you want to emphasize.
Do you look at what's working or what's not? Do you see the light or focus on the dark? Do you attend to the positive or the negative?
Where will you focus? What will you decide to emphasize?
Even when circumstances are terrible, we are each given a choice on how we want to live. We get to decide our attitude.
I've loved one particular lyric from "Emphasis" by Sleeping at Last which reminds me of this principle:
Death is a cold, blindfolded kiss. It is the finger pressed upon our lips. It puts an unwanted emphasis On how we should have lived.
Maybe today - at least for part of the day - we should all focus on the light.