Haters Need Not Apply

Call it coincidence...or not, but I've been meeting a lot of really angry 50 something year old women lately.  I don't know why, but they want to let me know how much life sucks after 50.  They tend to look at me with disdain, like I'm really much too young at 39 years old, to even comprehend these horrors of which they speak.  50 and after bites in every way, shape and form, and I better get ready for it.

The following statements and the like, are usually being projected my way, "It's all downhill after 50.  Just wait, you'll see.  Losing weight is nearly impossible now that I am in my 50's.  Oh, and menopause doesn't help."

I mean, if we're talking boobies that touch yer knees...GOT EM!  If we're talking crow's feet and wrinkles...GOT EM.  If we're talking peeing your pants while laughing...happens more than I care to admit.

Maybe one day, I will be just as disheartened and pissed off.  But right now, right in this very moment, I believe that attitude and life perspective is INDIVIDUALLY based.  Is the glass half full?  Or half empty?

Oddly enough, I usually appreciate my life the most, when I hear of someone else's TRUE unfortunate circumstances.  Someone's husband has been diagnosed with cancer.  Someone's child is battling a mystery illness that has taken a toll on the entire family.  A mama of 3 young children is having health issues.

It is in these moments, I thank God for a loving husband, cheerful and healthy children, and an extended family that loves us more than I will ever understand.

 I am grateful for all that is right in my life, and the very little, that is wrong.

Every year, I enter a contest online to win dinner out and a limo ride through Vasona's Faaaaantasy of Lights.   If we want to continue being friends, you have to say it like I do...Faaaaantasy of Lights. Anyone who's experienced the Faaaaantasy, understands what a colorful Christmas light filled spectacle for the senses it truly is!

So anyhoo, there I am online, checking the times and dates for the Faaaaantasy, and there's the contest entry for dinner for 8, and a limo ride.  Every year, I type my name in, and I manifest positive thoughts, "This year, we're going to win."  And for 3 consecutive years, we haven't won Jack.  But it also hasn't kept me from re-entering.

Well guess what?  This year, WE WON!  The girls have NO idea, so Tom and I will be surprising them in the next few weeks with it  And I guarantee they will PEE their pants.  I will probably pee MY pants.

Positivity works!  But it is a conscious choice.  It doesn't happen by osmosis.  We must call it into our presence for ourselves, and those that we love.

 But most importantly, we must call it into existence for those who are angry and disgruntled with life.  It's a lesson I learned from my older brother just recently.

 Pray for those, for lack of a better term, you hate.  Or find really difficult to like.  Or have wronged you, and you just can't seem to forgive.   Pray that their hearts will turn to love.  Pray for them to be blessed. And in the process, your own heart will grow.

So I guess I better start now...praying for all the angry 50 year old women.  I'll do it, if you do!