Positivity

My number one STRENGTH is positivity.  believe it?  If you know me, you would probably say, absolutely!  I'm not a PollyAnna by any means, but I do tend to live my life with my glass half full on a regular basis (and no, I'm not talking about a glass of wine, but yeah, that too)!  Where did I get such a trait?  I'm really not sure.  I guess it was something that developed internally as I grew up.

I grew up as a child of the 70's, middle-class family, my Dad served two terms in VietNam, my mother was a homemaker.  My siblings came along when I was 4 years old, both adopted from the same family.  My Mom worked in a home that took in foster kids and so she knew my siblings from a very early age.  To say that we struggled with this new blended family is an understatement as I reflect back now, but it was "our normal" for many, many years.  It wasn't until I was grown and gone that I realized our normal = everyone else's abnormal = our growing up years were probably no different than the next one!

A long story, short, I learned to internalize my feelings and knew from an early age that the only one who could make ME happy was ME!  Self-talk became my language and I made it through (what I try to see as a normal childhood) to graduating from high school and into the Minnesota Army National Guard by the age of 17.  I was one of the youngest in my graduating class, and I finished 8 weeks of basic training in North Carolina before I turned 18!  How's that for positivity?!

So I'm not sure this is going anywhere, other than to give you a little more insight to my life and to reflect on a song that popped into my head this morning as I was reading another friend's blog...  it was a childhood favorite of mine.  I am not sure I could have told you the verses, but I definitely knew the chorus and sang it loudly!  And now that I know Frente! sings it, I will have to go look up that version too!  And yes, this could also have been the start of my contagious smile and fascination with smiley faces!

OPEN UP YOUR HEART (AND LET THE SUNSHINE IN)
(Stuart Hamblen)

Gail & Rosemary Clooney - 1954
Cowboy Church Sunday School - 1955
Frente! - 1995

Mommy told me something a little girl should know
It's all about the Devil and I've learned to hate him so
She says he causes trouble when you let him in the room
He will never ever leave you if your heart is filled with gloom

So, let the sun shine in, face it with a grin
Smilers never lose and frowners never win
So, let the sun shine in, face it with a grin
Open up your heart and let the sun shine in

When you are unhappy, the Devil wears a grin
But oh, he starts a-running when the light comes pouring in
I know he'll be unhappy 'cause I'll never wear a frown
Maybe if we keep on smiling he'll get tired of hangin' around

So, let the sun shine in, face it with a grin
Smilers never lose and frowners never win
So, let the sun shine in, face it with a grin
Open up your heart and let the sun shine in

If I forget to say my prayers the Devil jumps with glee
But he feels so awful, awful, when he sees me on my knees
So if you're full of trouble and you never seem to win
Just open up your heart and let the sun shine in

So, let the sun shine in, face it with a grin
Smilers never lose and frowners never win
So, let the sun shine in, face it with a grin

Open up your heart

 and let the sun shine in