Making Life Good

They came!! Just before Christmas, the flashlights arrived. They are cute, but powerfully bright--with the logo and the website printed on the side. I'm not really into gimmicks--I have no business pens and don't hand out calendars, but when I saw this flashlight, it was something I thought would be good for our practice to have.

These are owner-powered flashlights. The owner turns the crank vigorously for a minute or so, and the flashlight is then able to shine light. When the battery wears down, the owner cranks it again until the power in the battery is regenerated. As a therapist, I love the idea that the person is the one who provides the power for the light--and can so very clearly take very personal responsibility to remedy the situation if the light stops working.

It's got me to thinking about how it is so easy to blame circumstances or others for when we are sad or upset. There's no doubt that the actions of others or circumstances of nature impact on us in very clear and obvious ways. But then I look at the stories of Winnie the Pooh...Tigger and Eeyore were often in the same story and would perceive the circumstances in different ways... and respond out of that perception.

Now, Eeyore is a character in a nursery story, and so he is largely tolerated well...but I'm sure you've been around an "Eeyore" in life. You know how Eeyore types perceive the world, and then respond to that world like an Eeyore...and sure enough, their world responds to the gloominess with more gloominess...and now the Eeyore type can credibly state that the world is more unpleasant to them.

Jimmy James Barrie, who gave us Peter Pan said, “Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others, cannot keep it from themselves.” I read that this morning in a weekly newsletter I subscribe to.

I do believe in the power of Tiggerness. As 2008 ends, and as you contemplate what sort of 2009 you will experience, my hope is that you will create the sunshine in others' lives that will spill inevitably and powerfully into your own in healthy and lifegiving ways.

What a beautiful line