Positive Energy

Last night, my oldest daughter had a small 21st birthday celebration for one of her closest childhood friends. I was honored to have been invited to celebrate with them. They have passed the awkward teen years where moms are geeks to be avoided at all costs. The birthday girl just returned from a semester abroad in Scotland, and when she shared her experiences of traveling through Europe, it brought back so many exciting and rich memories of my own travels through Italy and France in my twenties. It is beautiful to watch these lovely girls unfold into the flowers of their adult lives.

After ice cream cake and Smirnoff Ice, the drink of choice for non-drinking wimps like me (just because they are old enough to drink now!), we went down to the basement to watch the movie, Yes Man! They actually invited me to join them! 

For those of you who have never seen the movie, Jim Carrey plays a guy who is depressed and filled with negative energy. He goes to a seminar on the power of YES! and learns that saying yes to more things in his life will open him up to life-altering new experiences. And although much of the movie is silly, the message is very meaningful to me.

While it is not healthy to say Yes to everything in life, as Jim Carrey's character soon learns, it is important to focus on being positive and contributing to others. I am a firm believer in the philosophy that our thoughts determine the direction that our lives take. Norman Vincent Peale said it well: "Change your thoughts and change your world."

So, as my daughter and her lovely friends embark on their exciting journey through adulthood, I leave them with these thoughts: 

1) Choose to make your lives positive. 

2) Give generously and often, not only materially but through your active support and kindness to others. 

3) Take time to focus on what's working in your life. 

4) Love with your full heart.