Reach Out By Faith

"For she said to herself, "If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well."  but Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, "Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well."  Matthew 9:21-22

Some people are eternal optimists, you know them.  They always find the good in everything or see the blessing.  You know too the pessimists.  They see the glass half-empty all the time.  They find fault when there is so much more good than bad.  Sometimes it's in the guise of "helping" but you leave their company feeling like nothing is ever good enough.  It's a little different than the perfectionist who seems to critique themselves more than they do anyone else. 

So while I have said for many years that I am a recovering perfectionist, I also have to admit that in my early 20s, I was definitely more critical (in the critiquing sense) of life than I am now.  Somewhere around age 26, I realized that my attitude had to change or nothing in life was ever going to make me happy.  It hasn't been easy.  Asking someone who naturally wants to find the fault to see the good is hard but after 20 years, I can say that I am making progress.  I don't know if I'll ever get to the point of a eternal optimist but my life is so much happier when I focus on the good and not the bad or the ugly.  It's still there but so much more manageable when it's covered in good stuff! 

Yesterday, I learned that 50% of happiness is genetic.  So for those of us that didn't get that gene, the rest must be learned.  Surrounding myself with naturally happy people has really helped.  Knowing that how happy my children are can be influenced by my own happiness "state" is important.  Having faith that God has something great in store for me also keeps me focused on the positive.  Sunlight does a lot as does the beautiful snow that I see outside my window today. 

Now how does one find happiness is cleaning the bathrooms?

Have a "happy" Best Life day!