Breathe Easier

I cannot remember a time when I wasn’t appalled by the number of “nos” in the world. 

A “no” really only gives me half of the story and a not particularly useful half at that.

It seems to me that it would be much more useful to hear what I can do.  When I taught I used positive redirection, which was what I had done most of my life without knowing the name for it.  It simply means saying, “Stay here.”  Instead of saying, “Do not cross the street.”

For one thing people are not very good listeners, especially young children, so many only hear the last three words if they hear anything at all.  Then the words seem to be, “Cross the street.”

Also, “Stay here” leaves me a few options.  I can stay here and read, or paint, or daydream. 

Tonight I watched Goodnight Mister Tom and cried my way through most of it.  It is such a sweetly sad movie.  When it was over I got up and took my trash out then went to the post office to mail a letter.  Pretty normal, except that it was nearly one o’clock in the morning!

This is not all that unusual for me, or it didn’t use to be.  I like the idea of doing things in a timely manner and for me that sometimes means watching a movie late at night and running errands afterwards.  Why not?  We are no longer bound by darkness.  Light is at my fingertips everywhere.

Somehow I breathe easier knowing that I am not tied down by too many rules or unnecessary conventions, because in today’s world there are just too many things that make no sense, or go against logic and the older I get, the harder they are for me to deal with.