I'm POSITIVE that this will cheer you up.

Thank you all so much for your sweet comments on the last post!  Keep 'em coming, too, because I love seeing new people 'round these parts.  And thanks for not mocking me.  I would have.

Now, those of you who watched the video saw my rather... daunting ankle boots.  The heel is quite precarious, and I've been wearing them around the house here and there in order to break them in.  The problem is, we have wood flooring and it's quite slick, so I can't really walk very easily.

Because of this, I can't tell if they're so hard to walk in because of my floor, or if it's because I haven't worn heels like this since summer and I'm not used to it.  In hope that the former is the case, I'm wearing them out tonight.  Pray for my ankles, toes, and me, that we may remain friendly, or at the very least, cordial with one another.  After tonight, the odds of that are quite low.

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Lately I have been noticing a trend around younger people, my age and down into junior high/middle school.  Negativity.

I usually cringe at the term "positive thinking" because nobody really knows what that means.  It also seems a bit touchy-feely to me, and I hate cliche terms like that.  But as of late, I'm seeing why so many people are talking about it.

Constantly, I'm seeing (and in myself, too!) negativity.  "This is the worst day of my life."  "I surrender!"  "This will never get better."

It's really, in a word, ridiculous.  When I notice it in myself, I cringe.  This past week I've been trying to be a bit more "cup half full."  Or even if the cup's empty, at least we HAVE a cup to fill!

But here's my problem with the idea of Positive Thinking.  It's not a question of positive or negative.  We're not magnets, people.  It's a question of grateful, or ungrateful.

Today, I choose to be grateful!

1.  I'm grateful for my warm house when it's chilly and rainy outside.

2.  I'm grateful for my ability to purchase clothes and shoes that I think are pretty.  I'm grateful I have clothes at all.

3.  I'm grateful for my mama and daddy and their incredibly wise counsel.  I don't always listen and sometimes I run, but I find that when I sit, listen, don't argue, and apply their words to my day-to-day, my life is just so much easier and more blessed.

4.  I'm grateful for a Father in Heaven who loves me more than I can imagine.  A Father who chose me before the foundations of the earth to be his child.  A Father who bestows his grace upon my unworthy head so abundantly, though I do not deserve it.

5.  I'm grateful for this week's study on the Reformation and Calvinism.  This is the first time I've studied it where I've really sat and thought about the concepts and tried to come to terms with the ideas.  Because I struggle with letting my feelings overtake proper judgment, I had to search for proof and realize these ideas from a Biblical perspective.  I feel so much stronger in my faith just from truly understanding how blessed I am and how comforting it is to know that God is superior, God is sovereign, and there's nothing I can do to break my faith with him.

6.  I'm grateful for fresh produce.  I love going to the store across the street and picking out the freshest of veggies and fruit.  I've been going through oranges and carrots like they're going out of style.

7.  I'm grateful for my online school.  We're about to sign up for my classes for next year, and my mom and I both realized that I'm going to be a Senior.  Next school year will be my last at home, and it's a little scary.  But at Veritas Press Online Scholars Academy, I have made several great friends, and I'm so happy for the opportunity.

8.  I'm grateful for music.  If I'm having a rough patch in my day and turn on some hymns on our stereo, it immediately lifts my spirit.  And it doesn't hurt to pick out some eighties music and rock out a bit, too.  Who needs Ke$ha?

I feel better already!

Sound off in the comments.  For what are YOU grateful today??