Hopeful July

2018 Holiday Sale on herbal courses!

I have heard people rant and rave and bellow
That we’re done and we might as well be dead,
But I’m only a cockeyed optimist
And I can’t get it into my head.

-“Cockeyed Optimist,” from the musical South Pacific, by Rogers & Hammerstein.


Anyone else ever feel like you’re drowning in complaints? (Your own included.) I’ve wondered on occasion if grumbling fueled my co-workers more than coffee. I run into old friends, and the updates I hear are all the things going wrong in their lives. I ask a mom how her husband is doing, and she descends into a 30 minute rant on how miserable he is to live with. I have a bad day, and inwardly I turn into a stomping dinosaur who would like to roar at everyone in her path. And that’s not even touching the ridiculous banter on almost any comment thread on the internet.

A fellow blogger from Homestead Blogger’s Network (HBN) just made a wonderful suggestion last week. How about we combat all the negativity and nastiness across the internet and in our lives with a little positivity? How about we look for the good in things? Share encouraging quotes and stories? Make each other laugh?

The idea quickly took hold, and the group began organizing a campaign to bring a little more joy and hope to its readers. The hashtag #homesteadhope was assigned. HBN members began marching ahead, yielding good cheer as their weapons against the “happiness vampires”.

As for me personally, I know I could use a little boost in optimism. I can be a very cranky person. (If you don’t know me very well, you wouldn’t believe it.) But spend enough time in my house and you’ll find out. I let stressful situations compound and turn sour quickly.

“Don’t be a grump!” My husband will remind me on a semi-regular basis. Right. I know it gets ugly, and I need that reminder to keep adjusting my perspective.

But beyond being grumpy, I am also frequently uncertain about life- self-doubting, anxious, what-have-you. For example, I’m apprehensive of this upcoming fall. Homeschooling, potty training, canning, nursing a newborn, adjusting to life with three kids- it’s all pretty intimidating. So I’m looking forward to prepping my mind in July- this last month before baby’s arrival- with tidings of comfort and joy.

Hopeful July

So share with me your uplifting stories, positive outlooks, scriptures, inspirational quotes… let’s give each other a little more hope, peace, and love. Let’s resist the temptation to grumble and groan this month. Email me, comment below, share on one of my social media networks… and together we’ll spread some smiles. 🙂

Here, I’ll start:

“All the days of the oppressed are wretched, but the cheerful heart has a continual feast.” Proverbs 15:15.

Share with me your tidbit of #homesteadhope. (And you don’t have to live on a homestead. You know I’ve mentioned before that the homestead label kind of makes me nutty. But that’s just the hashtag for uniformity’s sake, so I’ll go with it. 😉 ) Keep your chin up, folks!

/center>

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *