I don't know the author of this quote. I saw it on Facebook one day and I laughed. Now this isn't exactly a happy quote, but it is something to remind us to look on the bright side. Cacti are beautiful, but they do pack a punch. I have never sat on a cactus, but I have fallen one. It hurts. I must have been around six or seven when my family went on some sort of day trip holiday. We were hiking around and little me somehow tripped over a boulder that was at least as big as me. Well that six year old size boulder was hiding a lovely little something on the other side. I found out that day that cacti not only have those long porcupine like spines, but thousands of tiny ones that you don't see, but definitely feel. One of my sisters had the job of tweezing out all the spines from my hands and wrists. Falling on that cactus definitely made that hike a lot more difficult. I share this somewhat humorous story to say I know what the cactus feels like, so stay away. Look but don't touch... er.. sit.
This is also a good reminder of "The grass isn't always greener on the other side." A cactus might be on the other side. Be happy with what you have been given. I was reminded recently that our bodies are gifts from God, and that God didn't create us to be sorrowful. He created us to be happy and have joy. Too many times we let the spines of a cactus ruin our outlook. We can choose to be happy. I know I am guilty of being envious and jealous of other people and desire things for myself. I start a journey to obtain those things, thinking they will make me happy, only to be met by a prickly cactus of pain and disaster.
We all have times that just make us want to scream, throw fits and tantrums, and talk to anyone who will listen. Luckily for me, I have terrific friends, family, and Hubs who are always willing to listen, but then they tell me how to look on the positive side of things. They help me through the difficult journey. The movie Pollyanna (I have yet to read the book so I cannot reference it) the main character, Pollyanna, has a game. She calls it the glad game. Whenever she is faced with something that isn't too pleasant, she finds the positive. When Pollyanna is faced with the trial of possibly not being able to walk again, she has a difficult time being "glad." Who could blame her? But then she saw how many people cared for her. How many lives she touched and changed because of her positive way of looking at life, and it changed Pollyanna's way of thinking about her trial. I watched this movie a couple of months ago and how poignant. Too many of us see the glass as half empty (to use the old cliche). If you are having a bad day, or even a rough patch in life, I challenge you to the glad game. Play it for a week. Here are my rules (slightly different from Pollyanna's but I am a beginner at this game): day one: think of one positive thing It can be anything, like I have a job that helps me to support my family, or I have beautiful eyes. Day two: think of the first positive thing, then think of another positive thing. On day three repeat the first two and then add one more, and so on until you get to day seven. So you should have seven positives. By day seven, report back on if those positives changed your outlook on the days or even the week just a little. Repeat for as many weeks as it takes to start thinking more positively, and see how your life changes. Or variation: for each day of the week, day one: one positive, day two: two new positives and so on, so by the end of the week, you have 28 positives. I feel for certain that this will keep your rear end from sitting in the cactus.
A cactus is beautiful. It has flowers that bloom, and some have long arms that stretch to the sky, others cover the ground in little mounds. Even the spines are beautifully designed. But still, no matter how beautiful they are, and how good they look in the window, you cannot expect to touch it and not get hurt. So I repeat the same saying, "Being negative only makes a difficult journey more difficult. You may be given a cactus but you don't have to sit in it."
This is also a good reminder of "The grass isn't always greener on the other side." A cactus might be on the other side. Be happy with what you have been given. I was reminded recently that our bodies are gifts from God, and that God didn't create us to be sorrowful. He created us to be happy and have joy. Too many times we let the spines of a cactus ruin our outlook. We can choose to be happy. I know I am guilty of being envious and jealous of other people and desire things for myself. I start a journey to obtain those things, thinking they will make me happy, only to be met by a prickly cactus of pain and disaster.
We all have times that just make us want to scream, throw fits and tantrums, and talk to anyone who will listen. Luckily for me, I have terrific friends, family, and Hubs who are always willing to listen, but then they tell me how to look on the positive side of things. They help me through the difficult journey. The movie Pollyanna (I have yet to read the book so I cannot reference it) the main character, Pollyanna, has a game. She calls it the glad game. Whenever she is faced with something that isn't too pleasant, she finds the positive. When Pollyanna is faced with the trial of possibly not being able to walk again, she has a difficult time being "glad." Who could blame her? But then she saw how many people cared for her. How many lives she touched and changed because of her positive way of looking at life, and it changed Pollyanna's way of thinking about her trial. I watched this movie a couple of months ago and how poignant. Too many of us see the glass as half empty (to use the old cliche). If you are having a bad day, or even a rough patch in life, I challenge you to the glad game. Play it for a week. Here are my rules (slightly different from Pollyanna's but I am a beginner at this game): day one: think of one positive thing It can be anything, like I have a job that helps me to support my family, or I have beautiful eyes. Day two: think of the first positive thing, then think of another positive thing. On day three repeat the first two and then add one more, and so on until you get to day seven. So you should have seven positives. By day seven, report back on if those positives changed your outlook on the days or even the week just a little. Repeat for as many weeks as it takes to start thinking more positively, and see how your life changes. Or variation: for each day of the week, day one: one positive, day two: two new positives and so on, so by the end of the week, you have 28 positives. I feel for certain that this will keep your rear end from sitting in the cactus.
A cactus is beautiful. It has flowers that bloom, and some have long arms that stretch to the sky, others cover the ground in little mounds. Even the spines are beautifully designed. But still, no matter how beautiful they are, and how good they look in the window, you cannot expect to touch it and not get hurt. So I repeat the same saying, "Being negative only makes a difficult journey more difficult. You may be given a cactus but you don't have to sit in it."
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