Wag more, bark less

My whole life, I've always wanted to be a glass-half-full kind of person. I've wanted to think positively, look on the bright side, truly believe "everything happens for a reason"...

But it was like holding my breath under water...I could do it for about a minute, and then I needed to break back through the surface. And on the surface was the reality that I was not, no matter how hard I tried, a glass-half-full kind of person.

Yet something has shifted in the last few years, and more noticeably in the past few months. As cheesy as it sounds, God has given me a perspective I've never had before, and truthfully it's kind of amazing. To experience things so purely and devoid of all of the heaviness I used to carry around with me. To see things as if for the first time.

And I realize I have a choice. I can get bogged-down in the this-didn't-happen-quite-the-way-I-wanted-it-to -ness of every day life; or I can be deliberately thankful and intentional in noticing the head-pats and belly-scratches as well as making sure I'm doing my best to continually give them. If I can keep my focus there, as much as possible, I think I'll be okay.

Number Four: UNEXPECTED LIFE LESSONS

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Philippians 4:8 (NIV)