Staying Positive

Did you know if you google "positive thinking" it lends to 45,200,000 hits? I've been jokingly saying to friends lately that everyone I know is either crazy, or has discovered they are physically sick in some way. Particularly lately in the economy we are in, there is a level of stress in the air I don't think I've seen before. It's very hard to stay positive when you have family stress, your job is unstable, and the bills never go down.
Being the boomerang chick that I am (aka living with my parents, with no home to call of my own, amongst other things), I find it difficult to be a positive person. I discovered in the past few years that I probably have had a form of depression my whole life. Life's changes are difficult, and I don't always deal with them very well. I tend to dwell on the negative. A LOT. Negative Nelly, that's me.
So I've decided this week to write down some positives I can focus on. Instead of re-thinking of all I don't have, here's what I can do:

I don't a house of my own yet. But I have a place to go everynight that is always warm, safe, and secure. My heart goes out to the approximate 4M U.S. families that do not, and I remind myself to appreciate this every day.

If I don't ever get married again, I can live with my parents paying cheap rent, and I can make next year my year of Europe travel.

I'm still not a mother. But I can borrow a friend's child, get completely exhausted and cranky like parents do, but I get give them back at the end of the day!

Even if I'm not done college, there is still time to finish. And I will, no matter how old!

I don't have the sparkling, wonderful career that so many have, but I have the exact car I have always wanted.

I don't always like how I look, and what I weigh, but I have good health, and can go to my spin classes all I want.

My brother has not been nice to my family the past few years, and has made me cry for my mother alot. But I have a lot of really nice people in my life that remind me they think of me often.

I'm slightly dimented by my parents, but really, now, Stacy, who ISN'T?

And if all else fails, whenever I buy a pair of shoes I somehow feel better, at least for that day.