I don’t think anyone that knows me even a little bit will be surprised when I confess I’m a list-maker. I’m a planner. I’m a “Type A” personality through and through (except the “angered easily” bit I see on all the comparison charts, that part isn’t me).
I get overwhelmed fairly easily, probably because my brain is constantly thinking about everything it possibly can. In an attempt to counteract this, I make lists.
I have ‘to-do’ lists at work and at home, I have ‘big-picture’ lists (like… think about the future lists), I have ‘random thought’ lists (where do you think these blog posts come from?). I keep my lists on sticky notes, in notebooks, on my phone, in my wallet. It’s like organized chaos. They’re everywhere.
The other day I was having a conversation with a friend and it got me thinking about a list I was making a few months ago: the ‘what’s wrong’ list. Which got me thinking about how often we dwell on this particular list and how detrimental that is to our ‘what’s right’ list.
But so many of us are guilty of living in that negative list. Obsessing over the bad things that are happening in our lives, the things that make us feel down. It’s the easy option, so why not?
Um, because it’s unhealthy and just plain no fun?
We are in control of our happiness. Sure, there are things in this world, sad things and bad things, that we have no control over but we are in control of our reactions to those things and we can still choose happiness.
So here’s my ‘happiness’ list. My ‘what’s right’ list.
- I serve a faithful God who knows me by name and cares about me.
- He put the most amazing, loving man in my life at a time when we both needed each other.
- I have supportive and wonderful family and friends to lean on.
- My critters are happy and healthy and everyday I’m getting closer to reuniting everyone.
Hopefully it’s obvious this isn’t a comprehensive list (some things need to remain private, after all) but it’s a great start. I think our ‘happiness’ lists are much more important, and far outweigh our ‘what’s wrong’ lists if we are strong enough to focus on them.
“Happiness is a choice, not a result. Nothing will make you happy until you choose to be happy. No person will make you happy unless you decide to be happy. Your happiness will not come to you. It can only come from you.”
-Ralph Marston
