Your Super Power

“Rain, I don't mind. Shine, the weather's fine. Can you hear me that when it rains and shines it's just a state of mind?”
John Lennon
 
My husband has a super power. He has the ability to focus on the positive about himself rather than beating himself up. I’ve seen him do this in small daily occurrences and in major life events that would have had me obsessing about what I did wrong and how I should have fixed it. He also has a keen sense of justice so that when he is in the wrong he will admit it and make amends. He then lets it go. He is a cheerful, positive guy to be around.
 
This morning I saw his superpower in action.
 
My husband has a set routine in the morning when he gets up. Not quite awake and operating on automatic he lets the dog out and feeds her breakfast. He feeds the cat. He unloads the dishwasher. He brews coffee and makes toast with peanut butter. He pours one cup of coffee and the rest into a carafe. Then he takes it all downstairs to watch the news while he eats his breakfast. He has it all synchronized so that his toast and coffee are ready to eat as the other jobs are completed. He doesn’t have to think about it.
 
That is not his superpower.
 
On this particular morning however, the cat had thrown up a hairball on the floor during the night and he stopped to clean it up. It threw his whole routine off.
 
I came out to the kitchen, stumbling around to prepare my own breakfast. I could feel that he was discombobulated (love that word!) as we kept bumping into each other.
 
Finally, frustrated, I went to sit down and get out of his way to let him finish what he needed to do.
 
Finishing up he went downstairs, sat on the couch, turned on the TV, had a bite of toast and reached for a cup of coffee that wasn’t there. He hadn’t poured his coffee or put it into the carafe.
 
Instead of feeling irritated or annoyed with himself, his response was to laugh.
 
He came upstairs still laughing and told me the saga of the hairball that messed up his whole morning routine. He was still chuckling as he went back downstairs coffee in hand.
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I could feel my energy lighten with his laughter.
 
That is his superpower.
 
Later that morning he cracked up again as he told the whole story to his friend on the phone. His friend laughed and responded with another funny story of his own.
 
An unimportant event that could have been an excuse for anger or irritation became a catalyst for enjoyment, lightening the energy of all those in the vicinity.
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That is a superpower. 
 
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Photo by Court Prather on Unsplash

Your Spiritual Toolbox

​Cultivate your own super power.
 
How you respond to the events in your life is a choice.
 
Pay attention throughout the day today. How are you reacting to what happens?
 
Do you focus on the positive aspects of each situation or the negative?
 
My tendency, unlike my cheerful husband, is to focus upon what I didn’t get right or to feel irritated with someone else who didn’t get it right (as defined by me of course!) That only lowers my energy and creates more of what I don’t want.
 
Instead I now choose to focus my attention on the positive. How about you?
 
​Focusing on the positive can be as simple as just seeing the humor in a situation rather than the irritation.
 
Laughter lightens the energy of all those around us.
 
Rain or shine, it’s just a state of mind.