Starting From Where We Are

Too many times I have seen positive thinking turn into magical thinking.

by Alison Bonds Shapiro, M.B.A. in Healing Into Possibility
Originally published online by Psychology Today

The holidays are over. The year has turned. 2010 is upon us. Like many people, I tend to think about my life in general at the beginning of the year and one of the things that got me thinking this year was the trip to the snow. Lots of people go to the snow. Lots of people live in the snow and don't have to go anywhere except out their door to find it. I live in a place where it doesn't snow, so I went to the mountains with my family to give the grandchildren a few days delight.

And delighted they were. I loved the sight and sound of the children throwing snowballs and dodging from tree to tree. It was a joy - and for me the trip was also both very beautiful and quite sobering. I haven't been in the snow since I had the strokes 7 1/2 years ago. Most of the time people don't notice that I have physical challenges but I do. Walking in the snow and on the ice didn't leave any room for my pleasant fantasies about how able or physically challenged I might be. The facts were in my face if I was willing to look.

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