“When the negative thoughts come — and they will; they come to all of us — it’s not enough to just not dwell on it… You’ve got to replace it with a positive thought.”  — Joel Osteen

 I had big plans for the past weekend. I booked a rustic old log cabin a while ago, to get away and escape from the normal day to day life. I wanted woody, with a fireplace and a bathtub.

In my mind I knew exactly how I wanted it to go. Get clarity on life, some inspiration, peace of mind – my Ah-ha moment.

And then I got sick just before I came.

It started with a sore throat and a right nose sniffle mid-week. I sneezed 3x times on Friday night and I was done for. I still tried to do what I wanted on Saturday morning, but it’s less fun when you use a copious amount of tissues, your eyes are involuntary leaking and your head feels like a baked potato.

So, I reluctantly returned to my cabin, took a nap and spent some time feeling sorry for myself – while the wooden fireplace burnt away my sorrows.

Have you ever made plans on how things would go and then life simply halted you in your tracks? I’m feeling a lot of head nods coming on. It is something every single person has experienced on numerous occasions. And I think the way I dealt with this, is the way that we all deal with these disappointments.

We retrieve to comfort and feel sorry for ourselves.

There was nothing I could do about being sick, apart from taking my meds and drinking a lot of fluids. The issue is also not that I had to stay in the cabin. I thoroughly enjoyed the wood-burning fire. I have now learned a preference in woods best for burning longer-lasting fires.

It was my attitude that I have a big problem with.

I want to run through the cabins conditions quickly and I want to see if you can pick up on why I’m not impressed with my own attitude. The cabin was nestled in-between the woods and under thick trees, but that ensured that it was colder inside because of a lack of sunlight. I enjoyed the lovely wood-burning fireplace, but it was small and didn’t quite reach the back of the cabin and especially not the bathroom. The water supply was gas operational which is good for load shedding, but gas-geysers never quite reaches the ‘burn-my-skin-off temperatures I so thoroughly enjoy when I’m cold.

Have you counted the amounts of “but’s” I used in my description?

The way we look at things can make a major difference in how we experience things. We can find our “but’s” in just about every situation.

I am anti-delusional. To such an extent, that I at times bombard myself with bitter reality in order for me to not become disillusioned. Not a good thing either. But the point I want to make – focusing on the positive things in life is not the same as being delusional. Delusional is holding onto false believes of a different reality, despite actual evidence of the opposite.

Real positivity is acknowledging less than ideal circumstances and still choosing to make the best of it.

Sometimes in life things don’t go as you planned. You are presented with this table of deliciousness and you make plans around it. A feast-y table that you build upon and want to cling to its warmth and cozy comfort. And when those plans go sideways, we lose focus and almost give up. We sit on our couch and tell ourselves – we will simply bare this through. Suffer through it. As if we’re some sort of martyr that is carrying this burden and that this is our life.

It does not have to be that way, though. When plans don’t work out the way we hoped for, we take a step back and assess the situation. We can alter our plans, we can accept the situation with joy, we can make the most of it – and we can re-plan. What we shouldn’t do, is just give up and stay in the comfort of stagnation.

Our attitude determines so many things in our lives. And when we consistently choose one type of attitude, it becomes our way of thinking. To worry about what tomorrow brings and all it’s issues, will not help with what is on the table today. Today is its own situation. And today is filled with everything that you need to handle it.

I went away for the weekend to an amazing rustic and remote cabin. I sneezed three times and was overcome with a cold. It sucked a bit, but…

I was fortunate enough to have a lot of tissues and really soft 2x ply toilet paper to protect my prominent nose from too much damage. I could cuddle in the softest blanket in front of a wood-burning fireplace, while looking at the lush green woods. I had a gas oven and electrical kettle to boil some extra hot water for a luxurious bath. I had the best blankets to hug me at night in a cloudy bed. I could eat cheesecake, drink beer and have as many salted-caramel hugs-in-mugs as I wanted.

I could escape from work and remember what it feels like to be cold again (you sometimes forget, where I live). I could nasally laugh, when I jumped from carpet to carpet, as I got dressed in the cold. I could play my guitar in the silence of the night, with the heat warming my back. I cannot think of a better place to be sick at.

Our attitude makes the world of difference on our own experiences. It is something that I sometimes still learn after the fact, but I will learn. Day by day.

It’s a daily decision on how you look at things. Not to be a delusional blob, but there is undeniably something good in any day and any experience – if only we want to look for it.

May we all look for the good, fun and funny in all situations.

Happy attitude friends!