A Positively Wonderful Idea

A very nice man I know and consider a friend, who I have noticed is always happy and kind to others, keeps a wrinkly, folded, worn piece of paper in his wallet. On this piece of paper is 4 or 5 statements that say something about him and his life. Something he has accomplished; an award he has received; a talent he has; or just something he is thankful for. He pulls out this piece of paper whenever he needs to be reminded of who he is and how special and blessed he is.

Yesterday I was called in to work to do a case and he was there to assist the doctor. The doctor and anesthesiologist in the room were begging him to tell them his recipe for his famous and delicious barbeque. He does make a really good barbeque... a lot of people in this area take BBQing extremely serious. He kept telling them no. So they began to tease him and they tried to guess different ingredients but to no avail... John would not spill his secret. He then asked me to get in his wallet and pull out that piece of paper and read it to everyone in the room. So, I did. One of the statements on the paper said something to the tune of,

"John has received an award for his famous "sweet papa John's barbeque"..." but in more elaborate, detailed words. No WAY was he sharing his secret recipe that is loved by many.

What an awesome idea, I thought. Keep a little piece of paper in your wallet or purse that reminds you of who you are and what makes you happy. To often we dwell on the things we don't have. We worry about challenges we may need to face. We stress constantly over little things that, in the end, really aren't going to warrant such attention. We put ourselves down. Critique our mistakes and constantly tell ourselves we can't do something or we don't have the ability to accomplish a certain task... or maybe, we're not good enough.

The truth is we can do anything we set our minds to. We are good enough. We are all given certain talents and abilities that can benefit the lives of others and especially benefit our own lives. Being positive makes all the difference. Focusing on what we already have and being thankful for it makes all the difference.

Write it down. Write down your talents. your blessings, those things in your life that make you truly happy. Read it every day. Remind yourself who you are.