Talk about what you love

Talk about what you love and keep quiet about what you don’t.
~Quote from Liberal Arts movie

I heard this tonight and thought it was profound. So many of us (myself included) are negative and choose to focus on what we hate rather than what we love. I found that in the past couple years that I was consumed with negativity and only since quitting work and staying home with my boys and having the freedom to do what I want each day have I started to turn around. Attention fuels anger, bitterness and resentment whereas neglect shrinks it.

So tonight, in the spirit of holiday and celebration, I will give attention to the things I love:

• My boys – all of them: Stephen, Brandon, and Holden: I love them all beyond words and I love the way they love me back. I am a lucky woman to have such handsome, thoughtful, funny, and loving men in my everyday life.
• My house – in the past five years, this has become our home. It is already filled with many happy memories and will continue to fill up with even more as the boys grow up.
• Reading – as long as I live there will always books and authors to discover that I come to love. There will be profound quotes and inspiring characters and unbelievable plots. There are many I have already discovered, but so many more waiting for me. 
• Writing – it is amazing that I am able to look back on my thoughts from years ago and remember a piece of me I had since forgotten about. I am glad I have chronicled the past five years of my life on this blog. I marvel that before they were written down, these were just thoughts in my head and I am thankful I wrote them down before they disappeared.
• Jigsaw puzzles – there is something so invigorating about cranking up my iPod and singing aloud to my favorite songs while quickly piecing together a Charles Wysocki. If you haven’t done it yet, I don’t expect you to relate. Perhaps you should give it a whirl. You won’t be sorry.
• Baths – such a calm place to read a book or just sit and stir around the bubbles. I think part of what makes baths so peaceful is the ordeal it is to get out of there. Somehow, when you’re in the bathtub, everything outside of it can wait until you’ve drained the water.
• Long walks – the combination of the fresh outdoor air and the aloneness that you can spend just emptying your mind is pretty amazing. It works on runs, too, but sometimes the huffing and puffing can distract you. 

A younger me would have added some material possessions here – jeans or boots perhaps. Maybe even sweater vests or slacks if you caught me at the right time. But this thirty-something me just doesn’t seem to give a shit about any of that like I used to. How I spend my time has replaced how I spend my money on my importance scale.

What do you love? Talk about it, write it down. Remember that when you find yourself focused on what you hate.