By Laurie McAnaugh

If you ask my family what my favorite question is, they will tell you, it’s, “Who do you

choose to be?” Within each of us is the opportunity to live a joyful life. Building positive relationships and being willing to share our unique strengths is one of the ways we shine our own individual light on others. Part of how I hope to instill these values in my children is by constantly asking them how they want to show up in the world. When they behave in a way that doesn’t line up with who they choose to be, it leads me to ask them my next favorite question; “Are you really okay with that?”

Let’s face it, at times we light up the world like Fenway Park just by being ourselves, and at other times, we are barely bright enough to rival the night light in our upstairs bathrooms. Being aware of how we choose to react to

20

difficult situations is helpful when evaluating the many ways we show up in our lives. Of course we’re all human and when life throws us challenges, we need to vent every once in awhile, especially to our closest friends. But when does venting turn into complaining?

Venting is when we talk about our problems in an effort to move that negative energy out and to gain new perspective and clarity to propel us forward. Complaining is when we dwell on our problems and we sit in that negative space, allowing it to build and conceal any alternatives that may have otherwise been uncovered.

You can tell the difference easily by acknowledging how you feel when you’re done venting. Typically, you feel energized and ready to change your attitude. When you’re done complain- ing, you still hold a sinking feeling; that

June/July 2010

feeling of needing someone to acknowl- edge your pain and suffering.

When we are com- plaining, that negative energy stays within our physical body, only to manifest inevitably as some uncomfort- able symptom we can’t explain.

I’m reminded of a recent experience of my own where my husband and I remod- eled our kitchen. Unfortunately, noth- ing was as easy as we’d hoped it would be and we quickly found ourselves living in a space of complete disarray far longer than we’d expected. Even while immersed in

“So who choose Flip the to bright light in th and shin way to joyful Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100