Say something nice

9-3-09

During school today I semi-followed a particular student around. He is new at my school this year and is not exactly fitting in. He has switched homerooms, been identified as a special education student, and has already served in school suspension. I saw him several times in the hall and tried to keep tabs on him all day. He has a certain zest for life that makes him unable to contain his comments. He blurts them out at any given opportunity. This trait in him makes him lovable and yet extremely annoying. The reason I was watching him is that I thought he looked sad. He is constantly yelled at all day long. Sit down. Put your hand down. No you can't go to the bathroom. You just got water 15 minutes ago. Stop talking. Don't tap your pencil. Maybe all his outbursts are just a plea for attention. Maybe he just wants to have something positive said to him. I don't think he is a malicious boy, he just needs some love.

Don't we all need some love? I once heard a statistic that for every negative comment said to you it takes ten positive ones to equal it out. Have you ever counted the number of negative things you hear in one day? Turn on the news and you will get an earful: fires in California, child molesters in the next county, health care reform protests, someone got shot in a parking lot, a bank got robbed. Just from this sentence alone I need to hear 50 positive things. The news doesn't exactly talk about butterflies and fairies.

Because of all the negativity, I put it upon myself to say at least 10 positive things a day. How hard is it to say something nice? I like your shirt. Your outfit is so cute. Thanks for holding the door. Even smiling at a stranger counts. I make it sound easy, don't I? There are days where you'd be surprised how hard it is. But when you force yourself to see the brighter side of life, it does indeed make your day brighter (and if all else fails just look at that picture of Lucy with her tongue hanging out). It also brightens the day of the person you are talking to. Even if the compliments I get are from 5 year olds they still make me feel good about myself. So tomorrow as you go out to tackle the world say something nice to someone. You will find yourself in a better mood.

Have a blessed evening and thanks for reading my 12th blog.