It Takes a Village to see What’s Good About This
I knew having a kid on my own was going to be challenging at times, and completely worth it. What I didn’t know was how I’d get through the challenges like the doozy of a flu that knocked me down this entire week.
By day 5, I could’ve focus on all the challenges, but that gets me down. And I was already feeling pretty low. Instead, I lay in my bed shivering and sweating (nice image, huh?) and smiling with gratitude thinking of my Village – the village I didn’t realize I had until this week.
One neighbor delivered Tylenol and a health drink, another picked up my son and brought him to school, 2 different friends took my son for play dates and my cousin brought him home. The diner delivered an awesome matzo ball soup that I sucked down like air. And texts, emails and calls from family, old friends and new friends, checking in on me and sending get well wishes. It was all warm and cozy and just the right medicine.
Life surprises us and it’s our choice to receive it with gratitude or anger.
There’s a shift I’m working on: to start with gratitude and wait to see why I’m grateful, as opposed to starting with fury and then humbly shifting to gratitude.
My Grandma used to say “What’s good about this?” about anything. Stuck in the subway, the milk went bad, she needed surgery – there was nothing she couldn’t tackle with the phrase “What’s good about this?”
Gratitude is the buzz word of the day, but Grandma showed us the way 40 years ago. Her words are a great short cut to feeling better, or at least ok, with where you are.
Your workplace is awful, agreed. “What’s good about this?”
- Clarity of what you prefer so now you can go after it
- Motivation to find a new job
- Incentive to take on new responsibilities to make your job palatable
- You fill in the blank
As annoying as it sounds, there’s likely something good going on next to the not so good thing. My flu was NO FUN. My new-found Village is awesome.