Why is this so difficult for some of us?

[Neil]

I remember when Schmutzie started doing this on her blog. I thought it was cool. I saw her start this group. I told her it was a great idea. I come here and read what you write. But when it comes to my participation -- it makes me very uncomfortable sitting down and writing this "grace in small things" lists. I have not done one as of yet. It doesn't seem natural... or honest. Not that I pooh-pooh the idea. It just makes me anxious, like the first time you go to a dance as a teenager. I can't believe that it is so easy for everyone attempting this. Do you think that we live in a culture where it seems more natural to be sarcastic than seeing the positive in small things?

[Michele]

Yes. Yes I do. Man. Today was my first list. And it actually was HARD. Life is kind of negative right now. But I suppose that's the point. I need to point out the positive to myself - if no one else.

[Neil]

I don't see the world in a negative light, actually. I just find it difficult to go positive and stay there. If I say "I love eating pizza," it is hard to stop myself from also adding "...but it can also give me high cholesterol!"

[schmutzie pickles]

I struggle with some of my lists. It can take me an hour to write one some days. It seems like it should be so easy to do, but, to be truthful, I find it much easier to be critical than positive. Putting something positive out there that is not tempered with some form of negativity leaves me feeling vulnerable.

[Cecilieaux Bois de Murier]

Balderdash! Abecedarian!

I don't struggle with lists. I just read yours.

This is the lazy way to grace.

[Maura]

It hasn't been easy for me. But I'm also finding that I'm looking for positivity a bit more and it's getting a little easier to do each time.

I know that I have tried to be honest, but it's hard because it's not natural. It's far easier to be sarcastic.

Maybe start by just putting down the ones you think of, and don't worry about whether you have five at a time or not?

[Min Tea]

It definitely hasn't been easy. Not that life has been really bad or negative for me, I think I just take too many things for granted. That all the stuff happening is too common to give thanks to but I think that's not the way to go.

[Chibi Jeebs]

Do you think that we live in a culture where it seems more natural to be sarcastic than seeing the positive in small things?

Yes. It seems to have become second nature for the majority of humankind to look for the negative in everything.

I struggle. I struggled enough that when I first started doing this on my blog, I was only listing one thing per day -- I just found it too damned hard to find four more things to be positive about or appreciate. However, after getting the invitation to join the GiST group, I decided I'd "strive for five." Admittedly, some days are easier than others (and the other days far outnumber the easy days because I can be such a damned Debbie Downer), and some items are obviously me grasping at straws. After a week of "forcing" myself to come up with five things to be thankful for everyday, it is getting marginally easy.

That being said, yesterday was rough because the day was crap -- I do find it hard to be remotely positive if I'm having a bad day.

[Kate]

I must tell you that my natural instinct is to see the negative and cower away from the pollyanna perspective of anything. I am not a rainbows and unicorns kinda gal. This being said, there has to be something good in everyday, which is why I force myself to do this. I find the more good things I find, the more good things I find. It also helps me to not get caught up in the negative. Oh and don't worry about what others think is good. It is what you find good that matters. If you think road kill taxidermy is an amazing and beautiful thing, so be it.

[Neil]

All the responses are very interesting, and I am going to try to take the plunge. Again, I think what is so hard for me is that I don't feel like I am a person dwelling in negativity. I don't see the world as positive and negative, good and bad. It is probably a defense mechanism that I have developed, but I stay moderately happy by taking the route down the middle, like Plato suggested. If something bad happens, I focus on the positive lesson that I learned. But I protect myself with the reverse -- if I win the lottery, I expect trouble -- I know my annoying relatives calling my home. And that prevents me from totally enjoying that million dollars! I feel that if I let myself focus on what I am grateful for in a true manner, I'm going to be less protected with I encounter something depressing. It is easier just staying somewhere in the middle, without feeling excessive sadness or happiness. It also allows me to be funny -- because part of humor is seeing the other side of the story. And humor is also a good defense mechanism. You're not going to read my "humorous" blog anymore if I get too healthy, and that is bad for business!

[Kate]

As long as you have humor you are well armed. I think humor is my most powerful weapon. and not all humor has to be sarcastic. Laugh it up. It's what keeps me going most days.

[Angela]

I agree that this has been difficult! It is so much easier for me to find all the things that irritate me on the top of my mind. A lot of the blogs I read seem to always mock or find humor in crappy situations, so this is refreshing.

[Laiaira]

I definitely think it is easier to be sarcastic. That's my battle armor for the world. I'd much rather have something snarky to say than be all "one with my inner peace" or some crap. You know what I mean? I've kind of snubbed places like that before. It seems fake to who I am.

I also saw Schmutzie doing GIST on her blog and thought, wow, cool of her. I like to read her small things, and I like(d) to think it was helping her. But I definitely "pooh-poohed" the idea myself. I thought 1) too much work, 2) I'd run out of things to say by day 2, and 3) Who the hell wants to be positive anyway?

However, seeing the community here and reading their GISTs... well, it makes me smile to read a lot of them. (As corny as that sounds, and how non-me as that sounds.) To read that one of my "friends"-on-GIST can find grace in the walk into work, or that something as simple as a dog winking at you can give you a bit of happiness... it's a positive thing.

That said, I do have days where it is harder than others. Yesterday, I even blanked that I was supposed to write. It was that kind of day. I was so concerned with being angry at a few things around me (a coworker, an argument) that it took me a while to realize, yes, there were good things about today.

Sorry for my corny answer, but maybe some of my GISTs are rubbing that sarcastic edge off me a bit. :)