Survivor's Blog- October 6, 2012- Being grateful a simple way to stay positive...

Here is what I am grateful for today:

I went to Five Guys ( a wonderful burger joint here in Columbia) to pick up a couple of hamburger's for dinner. I had worked really hard today and just could not face making dinner!! When I walked in the door of the restaurant I smelled this wonderful smell-- fresh hot french fries!!!

As I was standing in line I realized that I had not REALLY smelled french fries for a year. Since June 3, 2011 I had to hold my breath to order food and have them deliver it outside or have Oscar pick it up. The smell of fries was nauseating. I find it ironic that I am a foodie and for the last year food is the most likely thing to send me running for the nearest toilet bowl to throw up in .

So today I am grateful that for once fries smelled just like they should- yummy! Which brings me to my topic for today. How  do you stay positive when your life is no longer your own? How do you resist getting grouchy as hell when people are poking and prodding you constantly? Without sounding like Sally Sunshine, I would like to give you a simple tip that helped me.

Prior to my illness, I was reading " The Secret" by Rhonda Byrne. I loved the concept of the book, the idea that you could "attract" good things to your life. I read a section of the book every time I felt really sick or down, just to bring my spirits up. I am not sure that I ever believed that you could attract good things to you. I just used the book to help me adjust my attitude. One of the things mentioned in " The Secret" is the concept of being grateful. Prior to my illness I would try to be grateful for everything I had. Like most of us, I usually forgot to do so until I picked up the book again.

 

When I got sick I had my husband bring  the book to my hospital room. I decided I would do as the book directed and consciously be grateful for something every morning. So every day I woke up in the hospital I would start my day with " I am grateful for____________". Some days I was just grateful for pain drugs, others for waking up ALIVE. Oddly enough, as I practised faking being grateful, I actually became really grateful and really cognizant of the things feeling blessed and grateful can do for you. Being grateful for the many blessings in my life allowed me to make it through all that time in the hospital.

So today I am grateful for French Fries. How about you?