Leave People Better Than You Found Them

For Scribbled Lives we were asked to create something that utilized the negative and positive spaces in and between letters. I instantly thought of black and white AND wanted to create something with the words of Dr Seuss…such fun! I found this quote and enjoyed creating the wide and thin lines between words to emphasize the text.

This made me think about the negative and positive things we handle each day in life. Not everything is always roses and buttercups! Sometimes the people and things we love add a rough edge, dark side, even a painful element to our lives. And some may also bring joy, life, light and reason to our world. And somehow all of that gets rolled up into a bundle that we navigate every time we open our eyes and our feet hit the floor. If you are like me, some days handling those ups and downs can be enough to fill our days without having to manage everything else in life!

As I have gotten older I find myself spending more time with the people who bring joy, light and life to my days and less time with the negative, complaining sorts. That seems like a natural progression and yet I feel a bit guilty about it. I wonder if by spending time with me they are going to change, be more positive, kinder, gentler…maybe even a better version of themselves? Maybe I am the joy and light that can move their attitude and actions to the brighter side of things? Maybe that is my purpose in the relationship…even if I leave with my knuckles dragging and needing to watch a happy Disney movie to pump myself back up?!? Everyone needs a lift now and then – I get it. Trouble is, do I spend my time pumping them up to only feel deflated every time we interact? When are they responsible for changing their attitude without pulling down others? When do they give life instead of crushing it? And when do they realize this is not who they want to be….and then it hits me. Maybe this IS who they want to be!!! Maybe it IS the best version of themselves and no amount of joy and light will change that. HHHmmm…

And then I spend time with people who make me feel great about myself! I mean I leave enriched, happy and ready to take on the world! I have energy to spare and feel joy and hope! THESE are the people who make life and relationships easy, better, lasting and nurturing. And my hope is that I do the same for their lives….which I believe I do. They tell me this and as it is reciprocated we spend more time together. It is these people that make we understand why I gravitate towards them and want to spend my valuable time with them. It just makes sense.

The big question here is which one are you? The positive or the negative friend? The bringer of light or the energy suck? Or are you somewhere in-between? We all have bad days and good days, rough patches and weeks filled with sunshine. We also have a choice about how we interact and impact others…and we have to make that choice everyday!

Let me encourage you to take a good, long look at your life and friendships to determine who you want to be. Are you the uplifting one or the negative one. Do people gravitate towards you or find ways to avoid spending time with you? Yep, this could be your season of life, it could be a time of pain, and it could be something you are working through. Let’s hope that’s what it is if you find yourself spurting too much sludge and not enough sunshine. And let me make my point again: we have a choice about how we interact and impact others…and we have to make that choice everyday. Today choose wisely and leave people better than you found them.