The attraction of negativity

Kelly: Picture this; you read something on Facebook about so and so's rant about x topic/place/person. There's a slew of "right on's!" and "you tell them!" and "you're right!"  You see a friend of yours crying because they're upset something didn't go right, then a few people gather around, hug them, tell them everything's ok. You work with kids/teenagers and one of them starts throwing a fit, so all of a sudden all of your attention has to go away from everyone who's behaving themselves to the one person who's acting out. 

Does any of this sound familiar to any of you? I'm guessing probably so. 

So now picture this; you see someone walking down the street, and they're happy go lucky, not a care in the world. You walk on by and let them be without asking. You read something on Facebook about how so and so had a good day. Chances are, you probably just skipped right over it and didn't even think about it. 

And now I've probably got you thinking. Have you noticed that in today's world, attention goes on negative attitudes/behaviors? Or is that just me? Has anyone else but me wondered why that is? I'm fairly certain we've touched on this subject before, but it bears repeating, at least I think it does. It's kind of frustrating to me, you know? I think I find it most frustrating because I don't have an answer to the very question I'm posing. Why????? It just seems so backwards. I know it's something I'm guilty of too, and it happens a lot, especially where I work. Some days it seems like all I do is put out bombs caused by temper tantrums, and it really takes away from the time I want to spend praising those for having a good attitude. I'm trying to be more mindful of how I am too and about what I share on social media. Is what I'm posting really going to help someone? Encourage someone? Or am I just using it as a platform to excuse my lack of better word, bitch about something that I have no control over? Just a little food for thought.  

Holly: Yes, I notice it. I notice it a lot. Or, on another extreme...if you're positive, "bubbly", or just a good-natured person, sometimes you're asked "what's wrong with you?" Like, why are you like that all the time? I once had a boss tell me I was too nice. 

What? 

I don't get it either. I mean, from personal experience, the longer I spend time with someone who is just perpetually in a crappy mood, the more I find that I'M starting to get affected by it. I'm turning more cynical, negative.  Why do we, or others, find it irresistible to feed into drama, rants, general negativity? I don't get it. Someone please explain! 

I too am doing my best to be mindful...hence my 365-day gratitude/thankfulness picture project I'm doing on Facebook (so is Kelly). I know it's not much. But I like to post things on Facebook to encourage, make someone laugh, invoke joy. Positivity! They say nice guys finish last and I just don't think that's true. We should always be kind to one another and build one another up. And one way you can do that, definitely, is through social media. But don't just stop there. Really try to be a positive example wherever you go. I'm working on it every day. Because, truthfully, I'd much rather be told I'm "too nice" than the opposite.  

We're saaaaaaailing....to yard sales!!!

Kelly: In the past week, Holly and I have been to at least a dozen yard sales! Our quest: porch furniture! We have had no luck thus far, but we've managed to snag some pretty good deals along our journey. It was my idea to go yard saling this morning, so we packed up around 10:45 this morning and got home about 20 minutes ago (it's 5 after 3 according to my computer clock). Plus we were bored and needed something to do; our trip also involved a sudden need to venture to the laundromat for some last-minute laundry doing. (If anyone would like to help us hook up our VERY HEAVY washer that is currently sitting in our garage so we don't have to keep shelling out copious amounts of quarters...not that we mind...but yeah, please let Holly or myself know). I don't want to waste any more space, so here's some pics of some of the deals we found!

Holly: 

A lovely GE hand/stand mixer.  Needs new beaters, but I'm sure we can find some.  Isn't it awesome? Can't wait to bake yummy goodies with it! :D

ALL of the Narnia novels in one book! 

Two skirts (left and middle) and a dress.  The skirt Yoda is sitting on is from Gap! 

Do any of you yard-sale? If you've found any smashing deals, let us know! :D

The nice man in shorts

Kelly: Alas, our fall semester is complete, as of 5:00 today! Yippee!!!!! It was crazy and rough, and how we got through it is still a mystery to us. Definitely looking forward to a few weeks of downtime at home with family and friends. However, I am sad to report that this will be our last blog post for a few weeks; the internet at home is not good at all and to get on here and blog regularly is just not going to happen. However, we may be able to sneak in a few posts, so avid readers please keep your eyes open.

The purpose of tonight's post is to share a wonderful "God moment" story with you all. I will leave Holly to tell the story, but I have something that I would like to share before the story. While I was on facebook, a friend of mine posted that he had some "nursing questions" that I should be able to answer. Though for confidentiality reasons I will not disclose our discussion, but it just really made me feel useful. I am happy that I am able to console this friend and actually put my major to use when I'm not in class or in a clinical setting. SUCCESS. Before I hand this over to Holly, I just want to wish all of our avid readers a very Merry Christmas! I hope that God blesses all of you during this holiday season and that your time with family and friends is truly joyful! Peace! :]

Holly: This will be our last post until sometime after the New Year (less than desirable internet conditions at home), but this story is too good not to share.  I'm still smiling.  I suppose God is too.

Amanda (my roommate), Kelly and I were driving to a nearby gas station so Amanda could fill up her car to go home tomorrow morning.  I ran in to grab a frozen pick-me-up for Kelly and I and I noticed that there was a $20 bill in the cup holder.  Amanda had no knowledge of it.  (Just go with it...it comes back later).

I come back out to the car and Amanda tells me her tires are a little flat, so we pull up to the air pump thingamajig (after first placing a phone call to her mechanic stepdad).   Unfortunately, all three of us have NEVER put air in tires before, so we were completely clueless.  Out of nowhere, a man in shorts steps out of his pick up truck and asks us if we needed any help.  Mind you, it's about 30 degrees outside (about 1 C, for our Canadian/out of US readers).  Not only is this man in shorts, but he puts air in all four of Amanda's tires!  We were completely shocked...we literally just stood there the entire time.  As he's ready to leave, Amanda has Kelly go into the car and...get the $20 from earlier.  It is now in the possession of the nice man in shorts. 

We know absolutely nothing about the nice man in shorts.  We don't know if he was in a hurry, if he was a Christian, but we do know that he didn't have any obligation to help us, but he did.  It is likely that our paths will never cross again, but I don't think he'll ever know just how appreciative we are of him.  This.  This is what this time of year is all about. 

I hope that all of you who read (or do not read) enjoy a holiday season filled with laughter in your spirits and joy in your hearts.  :)

Worth Sharing

Holly and Kelly: NPR recently did a broadcast about Berea.  No, we're not making this up.  It's just over 5 minutes, and what's evident to us is something that is rare at a college: the students LOVE Berea.  They love what they are doing and they are not afraid to share it.  That's worth sharing.  Some of the students come from horrendous situations, and for many of them, Berea was their life-saver.  

At any other college, you go just to get a degree, but something about Berea is different: It really is an amazing place.  You fall in love with it, you fall in love with the people.  For more about Berea, please refer to this post.  But even that really doesn't do Berea justice.  If you really want to know about Berea and how it's changed our lives...ask us.  We'd love to tell you about it.  :)

http://www.npr.org/2011/11/29/142889056/hard-times-inspire-ky-college-students-to-action