Positive Situational Focusing

OK, so occasionally I'm going to put on my academic hat and apply what I know from science to my own life. So there's a very important concept called "positive situational focusing" which is a fancy term for responding to any situation, I mean ANY situation, by focusing on what's positive about it. Studies have shown that people who develop and use this skill are happier, healthier and live longer than people who don't. Makes sense if you think about it...when you're grouchy and being a Captain Dark Cloud, your body listens to all that anger and frustration and produces lots of chemicals that do bad things to your cells. Conversely, if you try to respond to each situation (even though it's tough by any measure) by looking for the positives, even if they're hard to find, your body listens to that too...and produces good chemicals that do good things to help you heal and stay well.

So here's the application. I'm sitting in a very tiny waiting area today with my fellow "radiation partners" and for the first time since I started 3 days ago, everyone is talkative. Actually when I walked in...one of the ladies said that they had just been talking about me..that they had seen me yesterday and really liked that I was dressed up...loved my scarf and makeup and felt uplifted that I looked good. Who knew right?

So anyhoo, we started talking. The girl who goes just before me is about 27 with a 20 month old baby, who had to move in with her mom, so she could get through treatment. She drives 45 min each day to get radiated. The other guy in treatment is about 45 years old and lives just outside of Champagne, IL, so he and his wife are actually renting a small apartment on campus for the whole summer...as he is getting radiation now, but will then go into chemotherapy starting mid-June. When they asked where I live...it was REALLY hard to tell them I lived a mile away and work across the street.

So that was my picture today...man oh man...do I feel lucky. I went in today, feeling a bit frustrated at the fact that I really feel more tired this week and have to do this every day, but my orientation got turned on its head after meeting these folks. Just shows us all...no matter what we are struggling with...there's someone who has it worse...much worse...so what's the deal Ralph? (a favorite family phrase)

It's quite embarrassing to think how our humanness gets in the way of realizing how God blesses us each day and takes care of our every need...just to see, just to breathe easily, just to walk, just to be able to think and problem solve, just to have use of our hands, just to have people who love us, just to have food and shelter, just to live in a democratic society where we have a voice, just to be able to love God freely and publicly. Hope you take a moment to thank God for your blessings as you read this...as I did today! I'm looking forward to anything I can do to lift my fellow "radiation partners" up...to make their day...to make life a bit brighter for them each day...and I have 17 more days to do it!