Cheerful Choices

I have discovered that to a large degree my attitude controls my environment. For instance, have you ever noticed that if you look someone in the eye and smile, they almost inevitably smile back?

Yesterday, with one daughter at Nana's for the day, I took the opportunity to go "fun" shopping with my baby. Since she was born I have avoided going out much for fear of people's scowls if the baby starts screaming. This time my need to do something I enjoy outweighed my fears, and with baby in tow I hit a favourite bookstore and then Michaels craft store. More caught up in the sales than the possibility of a crying jag, we happily toured aisles and enjoyed the attention of many baby lovers. All the new sights and sounds were a great distraction for my baby, and when she was tired out she let me know... then a pit stop for a bottle before we hit the highway for home settled her down for a car nap. If I hadn't overcome my fears and stopped worrying about hypothetical situations, I couldn't have had such an enjoyable afternoon.

On the way home, however, my husband called to say he felt we should go to Toronto that evening and visit some of our church friends. This is another trip I've been avoiding, since it means the girls don't get to sleep when they should and then they're both ridiculously cranky and unmanageable. Considering how well my afternoon had gone, I decided I was going to put on a good attitude about heading into the city, and just enjoy seeing some friends. The girls did well on the hour and a half drive, our friends were delighted to see them (a rarity these days), and although neither did sleep while we were there, they did have some quiet time in their pyjamas that led to them both falling asleep as soon as we loaded them back in the car. On the whole, it went very well, largely because mommy wasn't stressing out. (Not that I plan to make a habit of disrupting their schedules.)

Anyway, it was just awesome to see that by simply letting go of my fears and meeting opportunities cheerfully, my day turned out to be a joy rather than an ordeal.

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