What’s Your Focus?

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.

“Here’s why Minnesota has the best weather in the United States,” I hear my husband say, his voice carrying from across the room. I look over with a smile, having heard this reasoning before. His audience looks skeptical, but he continues.

“January? Fresh year. Who’s not excited about a new year? Everyone is setting goals and resolutions. February is equally cold, but it’s the shortest month of the year. March is a coin flip—we’ve had Marches in the seventies, although we might get a storm or two. April is pretty and not as cold, and then our amazing weather starts in May or June,” he says. His audience is fully engaged by now and listening intently, curious as to how he’ll finish his pitch. “By the time it gets cold again, it’s Thanksgiving and Christmas, and there’s excitement around the holidays.”

He pauses for breath, then finishes with a flourish: “We knock out our bad weather at the beginning of the year and get it out of the way—and that’s why Minnesota has the best weather.”

At this point, his listeners usually laugh or shrug. A Minnesota transplant, Tim could spend his time bemoaning our below zero temperatures or the fact that we have fewer sunny days than his home state of Colorado. Instead, he’s chosen to embrace the weather—both the good and the harsh.

Our decision to be grateful doesn’t mean we ignore or negate the hard things in life; it just means they aren’t our focus. The choice to dwell instead on the joy we get out of having four seasons doesn’t mean that we disregard the extreme cold and snow. It simply means we recognize that no temporary season should define our overall response. In the same way that our troubles are often opportunities for joy, our experience in life is not based on our circumstances alone—it’s based on what we choose to pay attention to.

Kristin

Today’s Act of Gratitude

Each time you are tempted to complain about something, choose to find the good instead.