Accentuating the Positive

Again, Christy and I have Sophia to thank for a wonderful outing last night. She took us to the Pt Dume Nature preserve, and had the weather been less gray, it would have been a glorious view of the coastline from Santa Monica to Zuma beach. We could hear the sea lions barking down below, and felt the mist, not to mention bringing home half the sandy beach in our shoes. We ended the evening with a wonderful dinner at the Natural Cafe in Westlake and each time we're together we get to know each other better. It is great to see the progress that everyone is making and to appreciate ourselves when seen through another's eyes. Being out there in nature is what I did when I walked in my neighborhood, but Sophia has introduced me to a whole new part of nature. I have a greater appreciation for wearing the right shoes for the activity that I am engaging in, and for the helping hand of a friend when there is no turning back and my heart is pounding because of the height. I am amazed at the constancy of Christy's ever-ebullient mood that keeps her singing and humming and talking to anyone she comes across, and the endless source of interesting places that Sophia has in her experience that she is willing to share with us.
I was thinking as we passed the hours how lucky we have been to have made these new friendships, to be learning all of these amazing nutrition facts that Paulette has at her fingertips, and to be pushed and prodded by Laurie and Mike in the interest of our own health, to be healed by Barbara, and "mothered" by the rest of the staff into keeping appointments and remembering all the things we have to remember. Sometimes I feel as if I have to pinch myself at my great good fortune at being part of this Project Transformation, which brings me to the subject of how we view life.
There was an artic le in the paper this week about a 100 year old man who had been a Pullman porter for 38 years and how he felt about his job, his life, and the people he has encountered in his long life. I was struck by his positivity. As a Pullman porter, especially in the early days, he probably encountered a fair amount of discrimination, racism and humiliation, but he stated in the article that he was always treated with respect. Isn't that what makes life worth living? Turning away from the negative, feeling lucky, making the most of opportunity that comes your way, and seeing the positive in a situation that you could just as well focus on the negative? There is the light and the dark in all of our experiences. No job, no party for that matter, is all perfect. But it is where and what we choose to focus on that makes our expereince of it, or our memory of it, what it then becomes for us. Our attitude is the filter through which all of our life experience passes. If we shine a light on it, then we see it as light and positive. If we choose the dark side, then it has the power to make us unhappy, and that unhappiness has the power to project out onto all parts of our lives and suck up the light.
There is a room in my house where the window, large as it is, is shaded by our lovely and productive avocado tree. The shade makes the room a bit dark, so you always have to turn of the light. But...when you turn toward the window, it is like being in a tree house, although the room is right at ground level. While the fruit is growing, you can see the heavy deliciousness growing right there outside the window, and know just when it is a good time to harvest in time for guacamole. The difference between the dark and the light is just a difference in attitude. The old saying that the quality of your life is what you say it is, is the way you look at it. We are willing to turn on the light in exchange for the lovely view, the delicious fruit, and the illusion of being yourng enouugh to spend lots of time in a tree house.
So..... The day was gray for our walk, but we got in some good exercise, we deepened our friendship, there was no sunburn possible, and we openeded our eyes tro new vistas, new ways to see life and to enjoy it.
So as we traverse this time that we have left in Project Transformation, I think that nothing could be a more thoroughly positive experience. We are treated to smiles from everyone we encounter at the Hotel. The doormen (and girls) wish us a good workout on entering, and ask us how the workout went as we leave, the the staff in the gym greets us with a question about anything we might need, our trainers, teachers, consultants and everyone we are lucky enough to deal with care about our progress and give us their best. It's easy to practice positive thinking there, and just like taking the things we learn about diet and exercise out into our "normal" lives after the program is over, I hope we will take the smiles, and the positivity into our habitual thinking and believing.