Last month I read a post on Facebook that said…
“R.I.P British Summer Time May 6th – May 9th.”
Although I’m sure the person that wrote it was trying to be funny and get “likes”, I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at it’s ridiculousness.
First up, it was the beginning of May, which falls in Spring. The summer months hadn’t even arrived yet.
But there are a lot of people like this, who just can’t help but constantly focus on the negatives.
They might not be talking about the weather, it might be about…
The recession… “It’s just so hard to get a job nowadays.”….
Or maybe it’s about traffic… “I’m never going to get anywhere in this traffic.”….
Or it could be about bankers… “They take all our money.”
Let’s not forget healthy eating… “Healthy food’s too expensive.”
Oh and then there’s their job … “I hate getting up everyday to work here.”
Then there’s the things that parents and carers of autistic children say…
“He just won’t eat anything else but this.”
“He rarely sleeps through the night let alone in his own bed.”
“She can’t just come home and tell me about her day at school.”
“We can’t take him out him to nice places.”
“It’s like her school don’t want her there.”
You see the thing is, when you focus on the negative things in life you’re not going to change your situation. You’ll continue going down that negative spiral…
And when parents and carers of autistic children focus on the negatives, their child is the one who falls short.
When my sister gets stuck in traffic, I’m talking about major M25 traffic where it’s a sea of standstill cars ahead of you… She takes the opportunity to listen to all her favourite old music and have a karaoke session in her car.
Now you may not all be as crazy as her!…
But it’s just an example of choosing to find something positive in a, some would say “rubbish situation.”
A choice that we all have.
This isn’t about me pointing fingers here, I’ve said some of the things myself. It’s about recognising it and choosing about a better way to think that will benefit your child.
Speak with you soon, until then
Live every moment, Love beyond words and make a difference today…
Emma Ottaway
The Ambitious Autism Ambassador
