MULHER MAGAZINE
P
eople often ask me, “How do you do it Laura?” It’s not the first time I am asked this question. Every time I am asked, I still have the same quizzical look on my face and reply, with assertiveness in my voice, “Is there any other way?” I have often thought of how I acquired this blessed mode of thinking. I had a wonderful childhood. I grew up with three brothers, and I was Daddy’s girl. We went to church every Sunday, took drives to the lake, visited family, and of course, Daddy would make his delicious “Carne Asada.” Life was beautiful growing up. I couldn’t have asked for better parents or brothers. As I am writing this, I believe I can recall exactly when I could consider myself a positive individual. This will be the first disclosure of my life, and how this life event defined my character, and my mode of thinking.
Learning to think Positive in a Negative By Laura World
March 25,1986 is a day I will never forget. There was a knock on our apartment door. I was cooking dinner. I went to open the door, and it was my sister-in-law Barbara. I was surprised. Barbara told me, “C’mon, we need to go.” I stared at her, and deep down inside my heart, I knew where she wanted to take me. Again, she told me, “Let’s go. It’s your Dad.” Immediately, I kept repeating in my mind, with a pleading voice, “Dear God, I do not want to go. Dear God, I do not want to go. Dear God, I do not want to go.” I told Barbara I would meet her at the hospital. I wanted to freeze this moment. I was terribly immobilized with fear. I was not ready to say goodbye to my Daddy. I never ever thought for one moment he would leave me We dropped off our baby, my Daddy’s pride and joy, at my aunt’s house. My husband held my hand tightly as we walked inside the hospital. He was in the emergency room. I could not move. I was in fear of the reality behind the double doors. There he was. He was laying on the gurney, and he looked at me desperately and said, “I’m dying. I’m dying. I don’t want to die.” He was moving around restlessly, and all I could tell him at that very moment to comfort him, “No Daddy, you are not dying.” Did I believe what I was telling him? Did I say those words to him so he would not be afraid anymore? I said those words to the man who would do anything for me, believed in me, made me laugh, danced with me, had undeniable faith in Our Lord, my Daddy, my love, and the best grandfather a grandson could ever ask for. When they took him to his room, I went inside and gave him a kiss on his forehead. Quietly, I told him I loved him with all my heart, and he was the best Dad a daughter could ever ask for.
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He looked at me, with his eyes wide open and nodded his head, acknowledging what I said. I will never forget the look in his eyes. He was telling me he was afraid, he loved me, but accepted his life was gradually ending. My father passed away at the age of 47. My father had cancer. The surgeon told my father, while he was in the recovery room, he had three months to live. My father lived for thirteen months. Faith and a positive attitude allowed my Daddy to live beyond what the doctors told him.
“This is the essence of positive thinking.” My father was a man of Faith. He attended daily mass, prayed to Our Lord knowing his prayers would be answered when He knew it was time. My father wasn’t a perfect man, but who is? He made many mistakes. Mistakes as a business man, a husband, and a father. Every time he fell, he stood up by himself. At times, my Dad was lucky to have someone help him get up. Learning to think in this mode takes quite a bit of practice. You should train your mind to look at the big picture rather than through a kaleidoscope. Of course, life can be nerve-racking! If there are problems attached to our lives, it turns “happily ever after” upside down.
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