Wednesday, July 7, 2010

No Debbie Downers Allowed

Have you noticed how much negativity is out there in digital land?

Out of the hundreds of blogs I read and bajillions of tweets I follow, I would estimate that about a third of these people are regularly disgruntled, sometimes many times during the day, about some mundane thing or another.

I'm not talking about the people who are facing serious life hardships. Their posts are heart-wrenching and oh so readable. Because of their brutal honesty, I feel like I am right there with them and their pain, even if I am across the country. Their readers are a support network of love, and it's wonderful.

No, I am talking about those people who tweet out things like "UGH traffic again, my life stinks!!!" followed later by "The grocery store is out of my favorite brand of cereal AGAIN!" and blog posts about how much laundry and dusting there is to do.

Wow, they are all such Debbie Downers!

I like to look on the bright side of life (cue Monty Python here). You may have picked up on this from my constant use of obnoxiously cheery language and happy faces. I rarely have a day where I hate the world around me. Maybe you think my kind of personality is annoying, or unrealistic. But really, it just helps me to get through each day by remembering what makes my world great.

It's the big things. My friends and my family. My job. My home. My health.

It's the smaller things, too -- new shoes, or a new manicure. My favorite ice cream at Brewster's. A short line at the check-out. A great sale item on final discount.

Finding joy in all those big and small things helps me create my own personal bubble of daily happiness. And you know what? When I started this blog almost exactly one year ago, and when I started tweeting out my thoughts to the world back in 2008, I decided that "if I didn't have anything nice to say, that I wouldn't say it at all."

You may see an annoyed tweet or two from me every so often. I am human, and I get irritated at things, yes. I also (gasp!) have a minor (ok, more than minor) case of New-Jersey-blood-induced-road-rage.

But usually, I like to let it simmer before I word-vomit my thoughts out to you all. Because I mean really, do any of you really care if I stubbed my toe on the door? Or that I forgot to get one item off my list at the grocery store? No? I didn't think so :)

So here's a little challenge for all of us today: let's try and spread some joy around the interwebs, rather than complaints and madness. And who knows? You might find yourself filtering your words longer than just for today...

Cheerfully and optimistically yours,

10 comments:

The Mailman said...

Today, there were no coffee stirrers so I had to do it with my finger, and it was hot! http://bit.ly/99cEAn

Bargain Hoot said...

Totally get what you are saying!!! no DD's here...Glass is half full kind of girl!!! Thanks for your blog comment.... miss Issaic at Target too!!

Rene'
@bargainHoot

Ashley said...

I LOVE this post! I'm all about trying to find the positive in everything. People have a tendency to focus on the negative things so they can commiserate with others...making friends based on positive events always seems like a better idea. :-)

Unknown said...

Colin - love the picture ROFL.

And Rene - of course! And glasses-half-full are much more fun :)

Unknown said...

Ashley - thanks! I know, sometimes, it's ok to commiserate (say, a train is late for the commute, that's so rough) but then, we all could be sitting in traffic still, right? :)

LK said...

Preach on, sister!

Positive things happen to positive people! xx, LK

Unknown said...

Thanks Lauren!!

Anonymous said...

LK I cannot agree more with your statement! I am also trying to surround myself with positive thinkers to keep me grounded. People often ask me why I smile so much or do not complain. But why complain over the little things that you do not have control over?

Unknown said...

Anon - smiling is so much more fun! As Will Ferrel said in a fav movie Elf, "Smilings my favorite!!" :)

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