0 to 10 is better than 5 to 8

I've pretty much established the fact that I'm a raving optimist.  My glass is a little more than half full in fact.  But I'm also human and go through the "D" moods (feeling depressed, discouraged & distraught).  Recently I found myself feeling discouraged with so many areas of life; I was feeling that despite all my best efforts no great results were being seen.  It was just one of those times where nothing was progressing or going my way; to make matters worse I even found myself feeling as if I was moving backwards.  Helplessness was definitely starting to set in.  I even thought to myself "I'd just like to resign from life right now."  I wanted to throw my hands up in the air- not for dancing purposes, but simply to give up.  Have you ever felt this way?  Chances are if you classify yourself within the human species you have.  So my status was 0 out of 10 on the scale of life.  Maybe I was being dramatic at the time, but that's how I felt.  Then something amazing happened.  I got a call (I'll explain the content of the call in another posting soon hopefully) and the world turned around.  My efforts in one of the areas I was working on had paid off.  Success!  If I was physically able to bounce (as a friend so cleverly described) I would have.  My happiness and positivity were off the charts- definitely a 10.  So I've had a really great day since then as I continue to feel the rush that this news brought....so now I'm reflecting back on all of this and figuring out what it all means.

First off patience is linked to positivity;  when we expect instant results it is much more likely that we're left feeling negatively about the outcome or lack there of.  I'm an instant gratification gal.  This mentality really leads to feeling discouraged so much more quickly.  I hate feeling down about things.  Knowing that I could have avoided days of negative emotion had I just been a little more patient and believed that my efforts would pay off really bothers me.  This is something I must work on.  Some great things happen in an instant and some take a little or a lot longer; I have to remind myself of this more often.  

Then there's the aftermath of accomplishment (or receiving a good result.)  So now that I've had this one piece of the puzzle fall into place, I'm feeling much more optimistic that the other areas I'm working on will also see the result I'm hoping for.  Again, I need to remind myself to be patient.  But it's really incredible how my attitude has turned from feeling that nothing will be alright to everything will fall into place in its right time.  If I've made the right efforts to get things in order to work, more likely than not they will.  I'm really loving how my attitude has changed about every current endeavor after just one good piece of news.

The fact that I am this elated over this news is tied to how upset I was prior to receiving it.  Had everything else been going really well I would have certainly been happy to get this outcome, but not nearly as happy as I currently am (going from a 5 to an 8.)  I feel so much more appreciative of this great news because I hadn't been getting any for a little while.  This whole rush is really exhilarating.  It makes me feel that while it isn't preferable to feel that life is at a 0, it certainly makes the sweet a lot sweeter.  There's something to be said about feeling as if a breakthrough has occurred.  Generally we don't find ourselves feeling that "wow finally something great" unless we are devoid of that emotion.  Again when you're feeling as if there's no hope, it's hard to remind yourself of how great you'll feel when something good does happen.  After this entire experience I will definitely try to push that thought through my head.  It's a notion that may provide a bit of positivity during a vulnerable time.