Celebrate the sunshine

Holding Sunshine on imgfave

“Why is it so much easier to pray and seek Gods face in times of turmoil?  We pray to send the rain if that is what it takes to see Jesus and we rely on him during those times.  If only my dedication and faith were as strong during points of sunshine…would the rain return less often?  Thought of the day – I will focus on praise during good times so that I don’t need knocked to my knees so often!” – A friend posted this on her facebook today.  She was inspired by the Mercy Me song “Bring the Rain”.  Thank you for sharing this with me and letting me use it as my inspiration today. 

If I focus on the positive will the negative become lighter?  I believe it will.  There are many points during the day that are worth celebrating, but we often forget to acknowledge them and instead spend our time complaining about the things that didn’t go the way we wanted them to. 

Have you heard of those Complaint Free Bracelets?  It’s a purple bracelet that you wear and every time you catch yourself complaining you switch the bracelet to the other wrist.  The goal is to go 21 days without any complaining.  I’ve thought about doing this many times, but fear owning up to the constant failure I would surely face in the beginning.  I see why this is successful, but I'm not in a rush to point out my mistakes. 

They say to spend more time praising children than you do correcting them.  If you want to train your dog give her a reward each time she performs the correct action.  If you want me to fix you dinner you will have better luck convincing me to pull out the pots and pans if you praise my cooking rather than reminding me of the meals I screwed up.  We have a positive response when given positive reinforcement…no surprises there!

What if we used positive reinforcement on ourselves as a way to celebrate when we remember to focus on the positive?  What if I had a praise bracelet?  I could switch the bracelet every time I found something to be thankful for in my day.  A bracelet may not be the best way to go about this, but you get the idea.  Something to acknowledge that I deserve a pat on the back for finding the things that I am thankful for.  When Troy asks for seconds at dinner I am much more excited to think about what I will cook for dinner the next night.  When I recognize myself focusing on the positive and switch my bracelet to the other hand I will be much more excited to look for the next reason to switch my bracelet. 

What ideas do you have?  How could I positively reinforce myself for recognizing and celebrating the bright sunshiny moments in life?