Day 21: "Letters"

Sorry, but I was out of town for a couple of days and could not get to the computer. But, while I was away--visiting my mother--I did some reading and have a book that I would recommend you read. The name of the book is Letters written by Luanne Rice and Joseph Monninger. Letters is a fictional account of two people whose marriage has fallen apart following the sudden death of their 20 year old son. They are emotionally and geographically separated and the only form of communication they have is through letters. They find it is easier to share their real thoughts and feelings with each other in the letters they write than it was to talk to each other as they grieved over the death of their son. As they open up to each other and listen to each other, they begin to recall all the good things they had in their life; the day they met; the love they shared and the joy it brought them. At first I didn't think of the book as something connected to this challenge; but, as I was driving home yesterday, it occurred to me that it has a significant connection.
As this couple became more open with each other, they became more focused on the positive pieces of their lives and the qualities they loved in the other person. In other words, the more they thought about what they had that was good, the more good they recognized and they began to recognize how much they needed and wanted that person back in their lives.
You might remember that one of the first important benefits of staying focused on your commitment was that your mind and your focused energy would attract positive and beneficial experiences to you that will help your reach your goal. This book is an example of that. I have shared this commitment with my mother, and she regularly reads this blog. She recommended this book to me. Since I have my mind focused on my goal, I saw a connection in the book that I might not have seen otherwise. The connection for me is another layer of conviction of the importance of what our mind thinks. The people in the book were separated emotionally for almost three years. During that time they thought about all the ways the other person wasn't meeting their needs. But when they began writing the letters, and started to understand what had been happening to the other person; they began focusing on the good in that person and not the negative. It changed everything for them. Controlling your thoughts and staying focused can change everything for you, too.