Today I Love "Yesterday I Hated, But Today I Love"...Slice of Life 13 of 31

     Today I love "Yesterday I Hated, But Today I Love".  Sounds strange, doesn't it?  I did something very different with my lovlies today that I hope will change the course of their lives.  Honestly...I still struggle with this whole "positive thinking, glass half full" thing on a daily basis and oh, how I wish someone would have taught me this skill years ago.  It would have saved me a ton of money in counseling and anti-depressants!
     My students have joined me on this Today I Love journey, and as you can see from the photo, they are 206 days in!  But yesterday I asked them to also write down 5 things that make them angry.  They looked at my like I had twelve heads sprouting from my shoulders!  I read them a few things off of my list: rude people, cigarette smoke, psychic toilets that flush at their own discretion, and raccoons.  (That's another story for another day!)  We didn't talk a lot about their lists...just jotted them down.  They cracked me up, and made me really stop and think, with the things they listed!  Everything from shoe shopping (one of mine as well), chalk boards, High School Musical, broccoli, and "rage quitters" (people who quit games when they get mad) to more serious topics like people who cuss, bullies, and criminals.
     Today I asked them to select one item off of yesterday's list and flip it..turn it upside down...and...love it!  Oh, if you could have seen the looks they gave me THIS time!  And, gasp!...NO sarcasm allowed...find the positives in whatever it was that was ticking you off yesterday.  I read them a post that I had written back in February about actually loving paying bills as an example.  I reminded them that I wasn't looking for silliness, but for them to actually look for something good hiding in the "bad".
     Well, it wasn't easy, but they did it!  Even the folks who wrote down bullies and criminals were discussing things such as the fact that we never really know what someone else has experienced in their own life, we are able to learn something from every person who crosses our path (even if it's just how NOT to do something), and we can trust in God to bring about final judgment.
    I was amazed at the level to which their thinking soared.  They reminded me yet again of what crazy, beautiful, intellingent creatures middle school students are!  I just love 'em!  Try it yourselves, friends...look for something that's really ticking you off and find the positive in it!