I live in Colorado, how could I NOT be surrounded by beauty:

• The beauty of a blue sky, sun shining with a bald eagle circling on the wind currents.
• Snow covered branches dancing in the breeze.
• Spring wildflowers blooming on the mountain in my back yard.
• Clear, cool streams filled with ice cold water flowing over mossy rocks.
• Puppies playing chase in the yard.
• Towering peaks high above the valley.
• Leaves dancing in the wind.
• Quarter-size snowflakes drifting slowly to the ground.
• The perfection of a newborn baby.
• The tenderness of a loved one’s touch.

Beauty.

It surrounds me every day and yet there are days when I simply fail to realize that it exists, that it is there. I am encompassed by a world filled with things that are far from mundane, and yet my day-in, day-out life seems pretty routine and ordinary most of the time. Rather than seeing the beauty in an adolescent’s smile, I see the behavior that caught my attention. I don’t notice the beauty of the snow fall, I notice the slick sidewalk and slippery roads. Instead of celebrating the past and the memories I treasure, I see the work and the tasks that I need to accomplish today.

How can I begin to once again focus on the beauty?

When I was growing up my mom had a saying, “Two men looked out from prison bars; one saw mud and one saw stars.”

How can I focus on the stars?

I have decided to take on a new challenge. My goal is to focus on the positive. I was always an optimist; I saw the good in people, in things, in situations, and even in challenges. But lately, I’ve noticed that I am not as positive as I use to be. That has to change.

In a science class somewhere I learned about flying. I know that the attitude of a plane controls where it goes. If it is true in a plane, I believe that it is also true in a human. Therefore, my attitude changes today. Here. Now.

No more will I allow the circumstances in which I live or work control my attitude. It is too easy to allow little things to take hold of us — to become the focus of our thoughts and our behaviors. Rather than looking at the tasks I must do, I will look around me as I move through this journey of life. I am choosing to see the beauty, to hear the laughter, to feel the warmth of the sun and the embrace of welcoming relationships. The changes won’t come quickly, they won’t be automatic or easy. But, with God’s help, I will remember to see the beauty because I want to be the “old” me.

I want to see the stars!