Starting the new year on a 'positive' note

     There are so many things I’m still a virgin to – climbing a 4,000-footer, camping in winter, singing at a karaoke bar – but for my first-ever blog post I thought I’d choose one of the more difficult things on my list: Not saying anything negative for an entire day.

     The morning was easy because I was in silence – sitting at a “meditate for peace” group gathering that has become an annual New Year’s Day tradition for me and a friend.

     But then came the first half of the Patriots game, where the Pats’ defense seemed to be altogether MIA, and I was feeling the after-effects of the previous night’s champagne and home-made eggnog and my intention became… challenged. It didn’t help that my dear friend Susan was urging that I exclude Jets coach Rex Ryan from my “no negativity” pledge as we got updates on that game.

     So… I tried my best to exclaim only at the positive Pats’ plays (thank you, Mr. Gronkowski) and, who knows? Maybe it helped them, too. Look at that 49-21 final score.

     Which reminds me of one of my favorite positive-thinking experiences, an event that  happened exactly 10 years ago today.

     I had gone to a small outbuilding on our property to write some New Year’s resolutions and do some thinking when Rick suddenly appeared, bearing a bouquet of flowers.

     That’s dumb, I thought to myself; they’re only going to freeze out here. But I told myself, don’t be a bitch. He’s trying to be sweet.

     Then he suggested we go outside and sit on a rug next to the vernal pool that was still flowing and I thought, it’s freezing out there; I don’t want to. But I told myself, don’t be a bitch. He’s being romantic.

     So we took the rug out to a log near the vernal pool on the first day of the new year, 2001… and Rick proposed.

     I’ve often wondered what would have happened if I HAD been a bitch and blurted out my first thoughts that morning.

     So glad my positivity rallied, like the Patriots’ defense.

     I won big time.

     Can your intention affect events? I don’t know. All I know is, it can – does – affect who you are and who you are becoming.

     And we’re always becoming, whatever age we are.