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Stop the planet--I wanna get off! (Times of Your Life).


I've always been one of those people who never wondered if the glass was "half empty" or "half full." I did wonder why anyone spent time answering such silly questions. Of course the glass is half full. Unless you just drank the other half; then it would be half empty. But in either case, who cares? If you want more, just fill it up.

This overly confident attitude carried me into my 30s quite nicely, thank you very much. But, when the Superwoman su·per·wom·an  
n.
1. A woman who performs all the duties typically associated with several different full-time roles, such as wage earner, graduate student, mother, and wife.

2. A woman with more than human powers.
 syndrome flattened flat·ten  
v. flat·tened, flat·ten·ing, flat·tens

v.tr.
1. To make flat or flatter.

2. To knock down; lay low: The boxer was flattened with one punch.
 me, I suddenly realized that not only was the glass not half full, it was bone-dry. I became an "owe-it-all," living as if life owed me whatever I wanted, resenting it when people didn't meet my expectations. Welcome to Planet Negative, where nothing ever goes right or ever will, where the glass is always empty, someone else is responsible for spilling it, and they didn't bother to clean up.

The gravity on Planet Negative is so strong it can smother you. The oppressive weight makes it difficult to leave. Thankfully thank·ful  
adj.
1. Aware and appreciative of a benefit; grateful.

2. Expressive of gratitude: a thankful smile.
, there is a substance light enough to allow you to float free of Planet Negative's atmosphere. It's called Grateful Gas. But it can't be bought in stores. You've got to make it yourself. Almost everyone crashlands on Planet Negative at some time or other. Knowing how to make Grateful Gas now will shorten (audio, compression) Shorten - A form of lossless audio compression.  your stay.

On Planet Negative everything is magnified. Not only can you see all the flaws, but they're so close up it's hard to focus on anything else. Grateful Gas is made from lots of little "gratitudes." Before you can make any, you have to look away from the planet at something else--anything else. Focusing on problems and obstacles is what lands you here in the first place. Shifting your attention to the positive things--no matter how small or seemingly seem·ing  
adj.
Apparent; ostensible.

n.
Outward appearance; semblance.



seeming·ly adv.
 insignificant--will get you out.

Some people accomplish this by taking a gratitude inventory each evening before going to bed. They mentally catalog catalog, descriptive list, on cards or in a book, of the contents of a library. Assurbanipal's library at Nineveh was cataloged on shelves of slate. The first known subject catalog was compiled by Callimachus at the Alexandrian Library in the 3d cent. B.C.  every minute detail that could be considered beneficial: "the toast didn't burn; I found a parking space; someone sat at my table for lunch; I'm reading a great book; the sun was shining; my lilacs are flowering." These are circumstances we take for granted in the course of daily life. Half of them are things we don't even think about, but they exist. And if we didn't spend so much time examining the planet, we would be able to see them. Seeing them, really seeing them, is what it's all about.

If you're not the mentally cataloging type, maybe you're the journaling type. If so, you can start a gratitude journal. Every day list at least five things you are grateful for. You'll notice that the more you look for "gratitudes" the more of them you will find. Be sure your observations are specific. Rather than "People were nice to me at the bank," write: "Janet, a teller TELLER. An officer in a bank or other institution. He is said to take that name from tallier, or one who kept a tally, because it is his duty to keep the accounts between the bank or other institution and its customers, or to make their accounts tally.  at the bank, asked how my jogging jogging

Aerobic exercise involving running at an easy pace. Jogging (1967) by Bill Bowerman and W.E. Harris boosted jogging's popularity for fitness, weight loss, and stress relief.
 was going."

Noticing things in the back of our minds, such as the fact that the sun is shining, is different from realizing what this means to us. The sun was shining, so I was able to go outside and read during a break in my work. Each of these "good things" are little gifts that are hand-wrapped, hand-delivered presents from God.

In the end it doesn't really matter if your glass is half empty or half full. The important thing is that you know how to fill it. Planet Negative might enter your orbit from time to time, but it won't pull you into its atmosphere if you keep your tank filled with Gratitude Gas.

Celeste Celeste is a woman's first name. Celeste may also refer to:

in Music
  • Voix céleste, a Pipe Organ stop.
  • Celesta, a musical instrument
Other
  • Spanish/Portuguese for Sky Blue, Light Blue, Baby Blue
 perrino Walker is grateful she is able to live and write from Rutland, Vermont Rutland, Vermont may be:
  • Rutland (city), Vermont
  • Rutland (town), Vermont
also:
  • Rutland County, Vermont
  • West Rutland, Vermont
.
COPYRIGHT 2001 Review and Herald Publishing Association
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 2001, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

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Article Details
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Author:Walker, Celeste perrino
Publication:Vibrant Life
Geographic Code:1USA
Date:Nov 1, 2001
Words:626
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