Do you see a black dot or a white paper?

I remember an exercise that we had in a retreat before where the retreat master drew a black dot the size of a peso coin in the middle of a clean white sheet of paper. She then proceeded to ask us, "What do you see?" You know what? Eerybody answered, "A black dot!" (with all conviction). She then pointed out that no one even saw the white paper.

We tend to be like this most of the time…seeing the negative instead of the positive. We feel the thorns instead of smelling the rose. Sometimes, we may not even be aware that we are doing this. Seeing the bright side of things has been one aspect of my life that I have constantly tried to work on…it’s healthier, better for the soul, better for the heart, better for our lives. One thing I can say is that life is happier when we focus on our blessings instead of our problems. Yes, we do have to face the reality of our problems (after all, we have to prevent the black dot from becoming bigger)…but we have the choice of facing it with a smiling face or a crying face. We have the choice to either whine or be thankful.

The world is already full of negativity that we should start with ourselves and try to emanate that aura of positivity. Who knows, we might be helping out someone simply by emitting postiive forces around us!

Are You Blessed?
(Author Unknown, Source Unknown )

If you woke up this morning with more health than illness…you are more blessed than the million who will not survive this week.

If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation…you are ahead of 500 million people in the world.

If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep…you are richer than 75% of this world.

If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace… you are among the top 8% of the world’s wealthy.

If your parents are still alive and still married…you are very rare, even in the United States.

If you hold up your head with a smile on your face and are truly thankful…you are blessed because the majority can, but most do not.

If you prayed yesterday and today…you are in the minority because you believe God does hear and answer prayers.

If you can read now, you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world that cannot read at all.

 So try it…focus on the white paper instead of the black dot!