Having a Good Day in Bad Times

Right now there is a lot of uncertainty in my life.  OK, there is always a lot of uncertainty in every one's life if we are honest about it.  I guess what I am saying is that I am more aware of some uncertainties in my life than usual right now.  Of course like most folks, uncertainty breeds fear in me.  When I look at an uncertain future my mind always seems to want to choose the darkest possible outcome and focus on that as if it were already reality.  Sometimes I can manage to cheer myself up by reminding myself that I cannot tell the future and there is no use in feeling gloomy about what is really just imagination.  Sometimes I can even convince myself to imagine a brighter future than the one my mind has conjured up.  But there are times that those mental tricks just don't seem to work and my mind stays focused on a future I really don't want.  It is at those times that I use a trick that some very wise people taught me and that is staying in the moment.  Living life in the moment can be quite beautiful.  You see no matter what tomorrow may hold, today wasn't too bad.  In fact today was pretty darn good.  I took my beautiful daughter to lunch.  I helped her deal with some things she needed some help with.  I had some coffee with some friends.  I got to work at two different jobs I really enjoy with people I really like.  And to top it all off I got to come home tonight to my loving family.  When I stay focused on today, life is pretty good.  Now you might be asking yourself what this has to do with saying nothing negative about anyone?  Well the answer is that when I allow fear of tomorrow to creep in and rob me of the joy of today I find myself anxious, depressed, worried and OK sometimes grumpy.  It is at those times that I am MUCH more likely to want to blame someone, anyone besides myself and in so doing lash out with a negative statement.  Yes, negative thinking leads to negative talking.  This is nothing new, in fact it is ancient wisdom, but it doesn't really mean a thing until I apply it to myself at THIS time, today, this minute.  Believe me, if I want to find a million things to worry about, they are there waiting for me.  But, when I choose to count my blessings instead, you know what?  They are there waiting for me too.