Throwing Up Rainbows

“Are you going to talk about how great your life is so that all the rest of us feel bad?” The looks shot at Bo from around the table. “Seriously, have you read her blog? It’s like she threw up rainbows.”

I was laughing too hard to respond. My husband has accused me of living in a world of rainbows and lollipops for years. I knew that Bo was just playing around, but words have a way of being so much more than what they may have been originally intended.

The drive home left me alone with the words. Maybe it would not have been as bad if I had not had a similar conversation just a few days before. “I am all about encouragement and hope, so I try not to go to the dark side of issues.” I tried to explain to the others at the time why I stayed away from controversy and even my own struggles. They tried to convince me that sometime you just need to drag them through the muck.

So, Bo’s words followed me home, all the way making me question how I address my articles, my blogs and my books. “It’s like she threw up rainbows” were the words that chased me into the morning.

“Do I candy coat it?” I worried about the perception that others might get from my writings, so I invested some time in reading some of what I had written. I discovered that the others, Bo included, were right about my writing – at least to some extent. I also realized that where I am and how I share is perfectly okay.

Why I See With Rainbow Colored Eyes

I search out the good – in people, in situations and even in things. That gift started at an early age. My dad told me that I was the kind of child that if you put me in a room of horse manure and left me, I would be digging when you came back looking for the pony. I have always looked for the heart of the moment and dug down into the potential. Today, I still have that same focus. There are benefits even in or through the storms. There are blessings through every season. There is hope even in the struggles. That is how I choose to see life.

I am a natural encourager – always searching for ways to motivate and inspire others. It makes me feel good when others find their success. Bringing a smile to the heart (or even just the face) of others lifts up my own spirit. Watching others sprint across their finish lines provides me with the energy to move forward in my own journey. I think you can and I do all that I can to instill that belief in yourself. It is my normal process.

I expect the good to win. That one statement explains a LOT of my annoyances as of late – those things that happen in the news or society that defy that “natural order” that I see as right. When I see a wrong, I feel compelled to look around until I can find that good rising up and shining. Hope is my guiding force.

So yes, I do often look like I have thrown up rainbows. Yes, I do stay focused on the possibilities and the positive. Yes, I do color around and over the problems or at least I keep digging until I find some element of gold or silver. Yes, I do talk more about the blessings even when my talk is about the hurts, habits or hang ups.

I live this live in this way because HOPE is my foundation. Hope keeps me moving forward and looking for the rainbows. The world has enough pain. The world pours out plenty of curses. The world shines the light on a sufficient amount of problems. The world works hard to drag down all of us.

“Maybe we need more of that.” Carol responded to Bo while we were sitting around the table. She smiled at me. Her words also follow me today. Because maybe – just maybe – a little hope is all that really is necessary to make things better for everyone.

Do you think focusing on the positive is living in delusion or living in hope?

Be Blessed,