[eweissenbach]

As I was shoveling four or five inches of snow off my huge driveway this morning, I had time to ponder. I thought to myself, I am really enjoying this - the snow was a beautiful, fluffy, relatively easy to shovel variety, the air was cold, but little wind, and I was toasty in my snowmobile suit and insulated boots. That made me think of the many posts I have read on TOTV as well as other complaints from people about winter, cold, snow, etc. It also made me think, why do I find joy in something that many people find miserable? I am a generally positive person, who tries to find the good part of anything rather than the bad part. That, in and of itself, does not make me a superior or even a good person, it just happens to be my makeup, probably as the result of patterning by my cheery and positive mother. As I continued shoveling, I thought about people I have known who are generally negative, usually finding something worthy of complaint in every situation. I thought about a boss I once had who would routinely send back his meal, or his expensive wine, as not meeting his lofty standards, where I thought both were stellar. I thought about people who express that Gracie must work for the Morse family, as no one could be that genuinely positive. I thought about people who have alleged that myself or someone else expressing positivity must either a Pollyanna or ignorant of the obvious (to them) truth. I hope I am not holding myself out to be morally or ethically superior, but I agree with Zig Ziglar who Sid basically "I would rather spend an hour with a person who is insincerely positive than spend a minute with someone who is sincerely negative". I am sure there are benefits to being negative or cynical and I am also sure their have been people who have accomplished great things because of that point of view. I wonder about things such as what causes someone to be overwhelmingly positive or negative? What is ones motivation for being one way or the other. What is the psychological payoff - how do you feel about people who are the opposite of you on the positive/negative scale. I suppose most people are balanced between the two extremes, and how do they see themselves? Finally, does anyone really see themself as negative, and if so what is your viewpoint of people who are positive. Oh well, I will get back to shoveling the snow and check back later to see if anyone has some interesting or enlightening observations. If not, Merry Christmas - we will have a very white one.