REFLECTION & ACTION: Over the years, most of our family vacations have included an emotional meltdown by one member or another at some point during the trip. Our most “memorable” vacations have featured multiple meltdowns, triggered by lapses in communication or thwarted expectations.

One vacation meltdown occurred over something my traveling partner couldn’t control. Really, what are the chances he would consciously choose to have a killer cold coupled with zero enthusiasm on our only day on the beautiful Greek island of Mykonos?

Nevertheless, there I was-stuck in a snit-actively making a rough day worse. The speaker in me tried to talk it out. The writer in me grabbed my journal and scratched out my frustrations on paper. Neither approach tempered my bad humor.

It was only a change in my frame of reference that turned my mood around. When I switched from listing my gripes and complaints to consciously noting all the things for which I was grateful (in spite of my disappointment and selfish lack of compassion), I found it impossible to maintain a negative head of steam about the situation. I zapped the snit right out of existence.

Try this the next time a snit hangs a hammerlock on your heart. List the things for which you are grateful and appreciative. Watch your mood swing to the upbeat side of the positiv-o-meter. It’s impossible to hold onto a snit and embrace gratitude at the same time.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.”

– Melody Beattie

READERS WRITE:

“I attend Al-Anon and have learned that I can’t control everything. When my snits take hold of me, I back off. I’m learning to detach with love and take inventory of what I’m grateful for. It works.” – Jan N.

“I’m becoming better at being present in the moment. When I’m not, I’m usually spinning my mental wheels in worry and recriminations. My cue to pausing and coming back to the present-and the reality of the absolute glory of this life I’m living-is negative thoughts! I use negative thoughts as a cue to help me return to stillness and joy and it’s truly wonderful!” – Corinne A.