No bad seats.....

The someday Hurricane Ridge experience. (photo courtesy of Paul Gill)

No bad seats in the house...where did that phrase even come from?  I always thought it meant that a venue was built with the ultimate connoisseur viewpoint in mind.  Everyone in the theater or ballpark or amphitheatre could easily see the main attraction. Turns out that once again, I was right. ;)  I've used that phrase for years to mean that no matter what happens, a person can find a glimmer of hope, something to latch onto that will prove the venture, or the day, or the experience worthwhile.  Mind you, this is not always easy to do.  But if life were easy all the time, how would we grow?

Some may say this is a Pollyanna approach and I am mindful to not be too annoying with my positivity.  I just so firmly believe that our psyche listens to how we frame our experiences.  Have you seen the movie Pollyanna?  During my childhood as a pastor's daughter, this movie starring Hayley Mills, Jane Wyman, and the dashingly oh-so-yummy-in-a-purely-appreciator-of-God's-creation kind of way, James Drury, was deemed appropriate to be shown at church gatherings.  And so it was.  Repeatedly.  I think I stopped counting my viewings at around 23 shows.  This movie was shown reel-to-reel in the basement of the parsonage on one of my Mama's whitest bed sheets.  We made sure to put the embroidered edge down towards the floor so it wouldn't interfere with the image.  Isn't it funny the things you remember?  I remember my Dad had the projector tilted a bit too far down one time and all us kids laying in the front row propped up on our elbows giggled at the row of pristinely sewn flowers trickling down the creek bed.  But I digress.  The movie is about a cheerful orphan who changes the mindset of a grumpy small town.  I love this movie to this day.  I blame this movie to this day.  If you know me well, so can you. :)

The crux of the movie is that Pollyanna the orphan moves to this town and introduces the residents to a mental game she always plays.  It's called The Glad Game. Her premise is that no matter what kind of bad thing happens, you can always find something in the situation to be glad about.  I think all those viewings rubbed off on me.  I completely agree with her.  Yes, there are circumstances in life that truly suck.  Sometimes you just have to embrace the suck and get through the day, or the week, or the month.  But get through it.  Walk FORWARD.  After you spend some time appropriately in the fetal position, move. Move.  Find some small reason to propel yourself out of your wallow.  I see nothing wrong with throwing yourself a pity party when life careens you sideways.  God knows I have had my share of slices of time where just breathing was a total conscious effort.  So please understand that I'm not trivializing anyone's pain.  Pain hurts.  Pain is real.  Pain is part of life.  But you can't stay in pain.  In some small way, by inches, at some point you need to make a plan and MOVE.  Find a sliver of sunlight to pull you out of the mud.  Find a bit of glad, that kernel of happy, and hold on to it.  Somehow I've found that happy begets happy.  It grows when it is cultivated.  Anything you think grows when it is cultivated.  So why not do yourself the ultimate favor and grow glad?  See that there are no bad seats in the house.


Today my husband and I had the privilege of hiking in the mountains not far from our home.  We planned on driving up on top of one of the highest peaks in the area that is renowned for its views of surrounding beauty.  Unfortunately the highest ranges  are also frequently socked in with clouds this time of year.  We knew that to be a risk. We knew we could drive all the way up there and not see much.  We looked at each other and shrugged "Even if we can't see much, we will be up there, and together, NO BAD SEATS IN THE HOUSE! And we grinned.  It was true.  Setting up an experience to be a positive no matter what happened meant that there would be no disappointment no matter the outcome.  Thing of beauty.  Guess what?  It was kinda socked in.  There was a TON of snow still on all the trails so we couldn't really go hiking like we would've loved to.  But we were there.  We were together.  We saw some really cool stuff AND got to feed some friendly, beautiful birds by hand along the way.  Mission accomplished and enjoyed thoroughly.  Framework.  Someday we will come back on a clear summer day and we will be absolutely amazed at the surrounding majesty, and the wildflowers, and the trails.  And that day will be awesome too.

Go enjoy your life.  Take the bad with the good.  Memorialize the good, honor the sad, recognize and work through the bad.  But remember this.  This is YOUR life.  It will be what YOU make it. So......

Make it a great day!!

The Husband - wooing a winged creature. :)