I split my lip last week.  After a big laugh this morning it was bleeding.  If I could just quit smiling it would heal faster.

I'm sure there is someone out there that would take at look at what I have going on in my life, sort through my baggage, and inject all kinds of negative into it.  Whoever you are, stay away.  I have plenty to smile about. 

You see, I consider myself a realist.  I take the bad days with the good, you can't have one without the other.  For every bad day I experience, there are two good days to follow.  I understand and accept my limitations, and the limitations of others.  I can't expect or demand more than they can give.  I accept that.  Of course, I expect and demand more of myself, but that's another issue.

For example, when I meet someone, will they become my very best friend or my soul mate?  Most likely no.  But they might be a nice person to know, or even just talk to for a few minutes.  I'm good with that.  

Stress is part of the game.  There is nothing I can do to eliminate stress completely from my life.  But I do what I need to do to release it and let it all go.  Coping is something I do pretty well.  Sure there's an initial freak out, (I'd like to meet the person who never freaks out) but after the 30 seconds it takes to get my feet back under me, I'm off running again.  It's just the way of life.

But I also know there are two ways to look at these situations that are out of my control.  I can stomp around and be upset that it's raining today and that the sun isn't shining and that my toes are still cold.  Or I can dress appropriately and enjoy how the pink flowers pop against the gray sky and feel the cold air in my lungs and look forward to my cheeks tingling when I come back into my warm apartment.  

I learned a long time ago that my perspective on the situation has the power to almost change the situation itself.  I can sit at my desk and think “I'm so tired.  I can't believe I stayed up that late” and wish I could take the rest of the day off to go home and crawl under the covers and nap away a miserable rainy chilly day.  Or I can say “I'm tired but that conversation was so worth staying up late for” and keep trucking through the work day.

Every morning at work I chirp a highly cheerful “good morning!” with a huge grin and sparkly eyes. (I'm a morning person, I can't help it)  My friend says, “Your sunshine and rainbows are shining brightly today.” Of course they are.  It's a good day.  Why?  Because I want it to be, that's why.

It's about taking the hard stuff in stride.  The hard stuff happens, it's how you deal with it that matters.

Is there such a thing as an optimistic realist?  

So yeah, I want my lip to heal so it stops bleeding and stops hurting me.  But I'm grateful for the reminder every time I smile and laugh that there are things to smile and laugh about. Because the only person who can rain out this sunshine and rainbows is me.