Dear Mr. Peale...

(photo via ffffound.com)

Think positive! Have you ever heard this phrase?? When things are seeming dreary and depressing, people always say - "C'mon, Charlie Brown! Think positive!" Well you know... some derivative of this... Norman Vincent Peale was a major proponent of positive thinking... And even wrote a book about it, The Power of Positive Thinking. Of course, he got a ton of flack for it, as many of his references were anecdotal in nature and failed to reflect any ties to real people with real opinions on the matter.

Anyhoo, Norman Vincent Peale was sort of popular for something else. Regardless of his spooky psychological theories, he was able to succinctly turn our everyday hardships into little bits of nothing. This is hardly a critical endeavor, of course. With some of his sincere gestures, he was simply reminding us that life is too short for shenanigans of the dramatic variety.

Dear Mr. Peale... We owe some seriously profound awakenings to you...

"When life hands you lemons, make lemonade." - Peale

"If there is no fun in it, you're doing it wrong." - Peale

"Never talk to defeat. Use words like hope, believe, faith, victory." - Peale

Today, as I was walking downtown to meet Alix, I was about ready to climb into a hole. It was FREEZING today. 1 degree. 1, a single, degree. However, as I nearly ran to my destination, I noticed a couple kids galloping along with their backpacks in tow, rubbing their hands together so fast - eager to see who could make their hands the hottest. They were laughing sooo hard. It was epic. The young woman, who I assumed was looking after them, acted as the judge.

So, I thought of our Mr. Peale...

"Live your life and forget your age." - Peale