Do You Remember Pollyanna?
“Pollyanna” is known for the invention of the “Glad Game”
The 1960 version starring Hayley Mills was the one I grew up on. If you have never seen the movie – rent it. Better yet buy it – you may need to learn her technique for future use. Make sure your children and grandchildren learn it too.
Pollyanna’s Mother was dead, and her Father was a Missionary and they were poor. She requested a doll be sent in the “Missionary Barrel”; instead what she got were a pair of small crutches. Seeing her disappointment, her Father invented the Glad Game.
The game was simply to find something about everything to be glad about-no matter what it was. In Pollyanna's case, she was glad she didn't need to use the crutches. In other words, you look for something positive in every stressful situation. I have used it many times through the years, even for tough situations. I would say to myself: “Well it could always be worse…” - “I’m glad that its not…” or "What lesson can I learn from this?"
Some days require the application of the “Glad Game” more than others....
So.... I’m working on my latest blog…(not this one)…When my husband comes into the office and in a calm, yet disturbed voice, and says, “Come here I have a job for you.” Now, I was already a little worried, because being a boisterous Italian man, he is never calm and disturbed at the same time. In fact, I’m quite sure if you check the dictionary for the definition of an oxymoron the definition would be “A calm disturbed Italian”.
Well, it was a welcome relief when I stepped into the Kitchen / Dining room area and saw a half inch of water covering the floors and flowing out into the garage.
Oh is that all? I can manage this. So I grabbed the shop vacuum, a bunch of old towels and went to work, as he worked on the pipe leak. Unfortunately I was missing one of the extension tubes for the vacuum, so I had to alternate between squatting and stooping to save my back, but hey – I was glad I had a shop vac!
Initially, we were glad it was on the tile floor and not the wood or carpeted areas; and really, really glad that we were home when the hose under the sink gave way. As we began to wrap things up I got a little better at playing the Glad Game.
I’m glad that this happened on a Saturday because I didn’t have anything planned for today (sigh). I was going to mop the floors anyway, but I’m glad I got the opportunity to move the Fridge and stove to clean behind them too, (it was over due anyway - ick).
The hundreds of dollars area rug was soaked, and would need to be professionally cleaned. But I can be glad that I would be contributing to the economy and helping someone else earn a living for his family.
No big deal about the three throw rugs getting soaked, I'll just toss them in the washing machine. Oh, wait…...I already have clothes in the wash. Well then, I’m glad I have my own washer and dryer because I now have three extra loads to do on top of the other three in my closet.
So.... As I was happily playing the Glad Game, I cheerfully said to my husband:
“I’m glad this happened today because now we get to go out to dinner.”
Without hesitation, my husband instantly replied…
”Oh really? I didn’t realize that a little water prevents the stove from working.”
I was really glad his left cheek didn’t require stitches.....
NOTE #1 - This was an archive article I wrote about 19 years ago. I recently ran across it and thought I would repost with a slight upgrade.
NOTE #2 - No I didn't really hit him; we had a good laugh, and Yes, we did go out to dinner