Why do we (us human beans) often seem to focus on what’s “wrong” or  what we think needs to be fixed? The “bad” news of the day, the uncomfortable conversation, the issue, stands out like a sore thumb. The mind grabs hold and wrestles with the data like a dog pulling on an old sock. 

Earlier this week I went for my annual physical. I had recently decided to find a new doctor due to my primary care physician’s snarky attitude and unhelpful office staff. I was a little nervous going in mainly because everything was new and I didn’t know what to expect. Welcome to Kyle’s world, right?

Neither my blood pressure nor my heart rate reflected the anxiety residing in my gut, so that was good. Perhaps all that breathing and yoga has had an impact after all. 

I received a clean, actually excellent, bill of health. In fact she thought my numbers looked so good from last year, lab work would not be necessary this year. The exam went very quickly. No questions, no concerns and I was out of there. This was really great news, wasn’t it?

I left the doctor’s office relieved and happy but in a neutral kind of way without giving much extra thought one way or the other to the wonderful news.  It wasn’t until the evening that I began to see that I had missed an opportunity for gratitude. This was awesome news.  Where was my big reaction? “Hellooo mind, pay attention! 

Aha moment! If I had been told of a health concern, even a small one, I would have been ruminating and worrying about it most of the day. My mind would have turned it into front page news. A serious health concern, and it would have been even larger, developing into a big snowball by the time my husband came home. 

A clean bill of health got a “that’s nice” but did not make it to the front page. A snowball of joy, relief, and gratitude did not grow within my busy mind. Human nature. We tend to zero in on what’s missing or lacking. It takes consistent mindfulness to work toward doing it differently.

With lots of  practice, we can access gratitude more easily and then it might eventually become the default stance toward life. I write about gratitude all the time, but I am still practicing. A clean bill of health is certainly deserving of celebration and definitely something to dwell on. 

Whine anyone? Oops, I meant wine anyone?!?