Saving the Environment!

I thought I'd share my favorite line from one of the most wonderful books I've ever read:

"There's something like a line of gold thread running through a man's words when he talks to his daughter, and gradually over the years it gets to be long enough for you to pick up in your hands and weave into a cloth that feels like love itself."

Isn't it just beautiful? It's from a book called Decorations in a Ruined Cemetery by John Gregory Brown. It's about a broken family in 1950s New Orleans. I love Southern literature. Most probably, I enjoy it because I am from the South, but also because to me, Southern literature is so real. All of the long, drawn out sentences that you can't read without interjecting a thick and slow as molasses drawl. The plot almost always contains some twisted family secret that has been hidden from the light of day for years. It begins to bubble to the surface and would tear most kin asunder but somehow, the robust characters find their way through it. There is always a triumph of sorts, even if it's not necessarily a happy ending.

The point being that the characters in these stories always manage to take what they've been given, make out if it what they can and move right along on the road of life. They have learned that their environment is what they make it and they manipulate it with expertise. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say I think that's a great thing.

Most people think of manipulation as negative trait. But to manipulate really just means to influence or control. Now, I am not saying it's an admirable thing to practice manipulation of another human by trickery or deceit, but I do think that being in charge of our immediate environment is an essential tool. Can you control the temper tantrums that your two year old insists on throwing at dinner ever night? Of course not. But can you be prepared for the onslaught with a chair in a quiet corner so the rest of the family can exist at the table in peace? Sure.

It doesn't do any good to wish and hope that something in our environment will fix itself, especially if it truly is something you can count on happening time and again. I know my daughter hates getting up in the morning just like me. She is a sourpuss to rival Oscar the Grouch. It used to be that first thing every morning as I was rushing around trying to get ready for our day, she would have a meltdown. It set us back no less than 20 minute and always made us late. I used to throw my hands up in the air and question the almighty, "Why ME?"

Well, finally I quit asking and decided the problem wasn't going to get solved as long as I wasn't making a proactive effort to solve it. So now, when I go to get my daughter up, I am prepared. I have a glass of water in hand to quench her little dry throat, I have her Cheerios ready on the table, I have her clothes laid out on her reading bench (two sets, she gets to pick the one she wants to wear), and we have a little surprise waiting for her if she hops up without a fuss. Honestly, you'd be surprised just how much a sticker can be worth! These are very simple things that I do, but they work like a charm. I learned to manipulate my environment. I traded bedlam and unruliness for a nice transition into my day.

It's important to keep a healthy environment in our daily lives. Chaos and disorder simply spiral into more chaos and disorder making us feel stressed to the max. But, if we can use just a little management over our everyday lives, things tend to run a little more smoothly providing that much needed breather. It's a lot easier to tackle the day if you know that your own little world is steadfastly propped on Atlas's strong shoulders instead of crumbling down around you.

Kym Wilson
123 Feel Better Wellness Advisor
http://www.123feelbetter.net/
Make today a life changing event!