Day 34 - Manufactured Memories

"We all went to Disneyland for Chloe's Birthday. I was thinking about it, I don't really have memories of Disneyland. There is a lot of activity but not much happens. I think we remember more of the fights and temper tantrums and bad experiences than we do the good experiences. Maybe it is because the good experiences are manufactured by the rides and shows. Oh but I could show you the patch of concrete where my son climaxed his one hour fit that started in the restaurant. I could point out the chair under which my son's diaper overflowed. And finally I could bring you to the handrail where my daughter fell off and hurt her arm and it later resulted in a midnight ER visit."

Disneyland is the self-professed 'Happiest place on earth'. I have had lots of great days at Disneyland holding my children's hands and seeing smiles on their faces. It has been a place I can go and turn my brain off and just enjoy a nice day outside walking around the park. 

That being said I couldn't tell you specific happy moments. Just that we were happy while there. The real memories I have are the ones mentioned above. We laugh about them now but they made real impressions on us. 

The point of all this is that I think we have to work at remembering good. We have to strive to be positive. Negative comes naturally. Maybe that is why Paul told the Philippians a laundry list of things to think about that were positive. If you don't do it on purpose you won't do it at all. 

In thinking about happy experiences at Disneyland I do remember when my friend was going to propose at the castle with the fireworks going off. A friend and I drove down with no money and begged the lady at the gate to let us go and see him propose. She had mercy on us and let us in. We raced to the castle during the fireworks show and were franticly looking at everyone while they looked at the fireworks to see if it was our friend. The show ended and they started ushering everyone out of the park. We finally found a payphone (What? This was fifteen years ago!) and got ahold of our friend. He had proposed hours earlier and was eating dinner at a nearby restaurant so we met them there. That night still puts a smile on my face.

Are you like me and find it harder to remember the good than the bad? How do you keep your mind on the good?

Day 4 - Community

"Jess said today as we were driving home how much community affects people. She noticed how when one of our neighbors took down their Christmas lights all of them did. Even the guy at the end of the street who still hadn't taken his down was not turning them on anymore. It is interesting how much we are governed by what the people around us do. Like speeding on the freeway because it is the flow of traffic. Or negative talk and gossip at work because that is the way people speak and it comes naturally to us. Thank God this also works in the positive because 'A companion of fools comes to ruin but he who walks with the wise will himself become wise.'"

Do you notice any habits or activities in your life that can only be explained by community? Is this workin in the positive or the negative?