The .5 Percent

99.5 percent of my life is wonderful. My health is good. I have everything I need and most of what I want. Loving, kind relationships prevail.

Except in the .5 percent. During holidays, filled with Hallmark movies where love prevails, reconciliation reigns, and gentle snow falls, I start focusing on the .5 percent. Old resentments rise up, and the .5% seems bigger than the 95.5.

It's during these times that I take longer meditations, focusing on forgiveness and letting go--seeing the beauty of my life and giving thanks--refocusing on the 95.5 percent. I imagine my life as a work of art, with one tiny flaw. Slowly, ever so slowly, the flaw fades and finally disappears.

You write it:  What we focus on gets stronger. During this holiday time with messages of perfection all around, what are you focusing on?