It's The Butterfly's Fault

Many moons ago I was a very depressed and sad person. I couldn't see that life was worth the struggle, though I continued to struggle, nonetheless. One day, while trudging down the street on a hot humid day, thinking about everything that was wrong in my life, I saw a beautiful iridescent blue butterfly. It wasn't native to that part of the country, or possibly even the United States. Stopped cold in my tracks, I watched it flit around me for about 20 minutes until it flew away off into the nearest tree, where I could no longer spot it. I was stunned. It was as if a lightbulb went off in my head. "Wow," I thought. "Maybe life does have something to offer after all!"

As I journaled that night, which was my habit, I thought about that butterfly appearing out of nowhere. It had reminded me that, despite the struggles, there is beauty in this world. Usually I blasted on the page the horrible things of the day. That night I wrote about how happy I was to have seen that butterfly and the feelings of excitement and peace it brought into my world, if only for a short time.

To myself, I thought that I needed to look for more beautiful things in the world as I walked through each of my days. Having heard of gratitude journals for years, I had not found a single thing to rate writing about as a gratitude. That night something fundamental shifted in my thinking. So ... the next day I made an effort to see something beautiful or find something nice that had happened during the day. To my surprise I came up with 12 things that were positive in a day that otherwise was horrendously bad. So that night I wrote about them, leaving out the negatives. For the first time in many years, I went to bed content and calm. As I was falling easily to sleep, I decided to do that every day.

As time went on, I trained myself to focus on the good things in my life, and, lo and behold,I started to see that there were many good things in each day. Faithfully I wrote them down every night before going to bed. I learned to keep my focus on those things, rather than on the things that upset me, went wrong, or made me fearful. Each night, night after night, I wrote a list of things for which I was grateful. I concentrated on things other than what we often think about being for, such as my family, my friends, my animals, etc. The little things were what I went after. Things such as being complimented for something, someone opening a door for me, or a cat in a yard coming up to be petted and rub against my legs, populated the pages of journal after journal. I recognized such things as someone asking me how I was and actually wanting to know, and listening when I told them - by that time, usually positive things.

The practice began to creep into my outlook on the world. I began to get out of bed with a sense of wonder, thankful that yet another day had dawned, I was alive, and wondering what I would experience that day. Positivity and optimism became my natural inclination. I became likely to smile at people, compliment people on the street, or give a penny to someone in a grocery line, or whatever. Even though things weren't perfect, and at times were still pretty bad, I saw that so many things were good they overshadowed the things with which I struggled.

This has been part of my life for years now. Every day I look for and think about the things that are good in my life. Each day is approached with joy. Sure, I get angry about things, or disappointed, or hurt, and things happen in my life that are upsetting and cause problems. I allow myself to feel those feelings but for a short time, and then move on, looking for the next great thing to happen, or small thing. These lately have included such things as someone complimenting me for my now purple hair, or loaning me that penny in a grocery store, or telling me how beautiful and well behaved my service dog is.

With a long history of mental illness, I am now functioning fully and happily. Trying new things and looking for new adventures is natural. All of this is because of seeing that butterfly, which encouraged me to start looking for the beauty and good things in life.

Won't you join me? I know if you focus on those good things, more will come your way, or at a minimum you'll be aware of them. Many of my friends have been convinced to adopt this practice. We are all happier, calmer, and healthier than previously. Life has more good in it than bad, if we just look for it.

Try it. Tonight think about what happened in your day that was positive, even a half smile someone threw your way, someone letting you into crowded traffic, or a pretty fall leaf on the ground in front of you. Start writing those things down. See if making that a habit doesn't improve your outlook on life. It sure has mine, and the lives of millions of individuals and communities around the world.