Wednesday, February 23, 2011

The book I grew up with...

"Pollyanna" - in short, always look on the bright side of life...

The title character of a novel, written by Eleanor H. Porter, is Pollyanna Whittier, a 10-year-old orphan who goes to live with her wealthy but really harsh Aunt Polly. Pollyanna's philosophy of life centres on what she calls "The Glad Game", an optimistic attitude she learned from her father. The game consists of finding something to be glad about in every situation. The game originated in an incident one Christmas when Pollyanna, who was hoping for a doll in the missionary barrel, found only a pair of crutches. Making the game up on the spot, Pollyanna's father taught her to look at the good side of things—in this case, to be glad about the crutches because "we don't need them!". With this philosophy, and her sunny personality, Pollyanna brings much happines, not only to to her aunt's life but also to other inhabitants of the town.

When I was a child, I used to play "The glad game" and I felt quite good about myself. I believe that noticing possitive aspects of life, and seeing that a glass is rather half full not empty, can really make our lives easier as it brings less disappointments. I sadly admit that now I often tend to forget about "the game". It is because, although so simple, sometimes Pollyanna's philosophy seems too idealistic and it seems easier said than done. Yet, the point is to always try to see goodness, not only in things we experiance, but especially in people we meet in our life because the truth is that, "when you look for the bad in mankind expecting to find it, you surely will."

Maybe it's not such a bad idea to reach for the books from our childhood from time to time to refresh and keep in mind all the wisdom they carry.

Sooo...:)
http://w248.wrzuta.pl/audio/7dsVLvZ9vaZ/always_look_on_the_bright_side_of_life

Better late than never... My first assignment.

I bet you are really excited that you can finally read something about my (favorite) place... ;)

I live near Poznań. My home is situated in a beautiful, wooded and rather quiet area, just 15 minutes away from the city centre. Well, it actually takes 15 minutes by car, and I believe that poor public transport is the only inconvenience of living where I live. Beside that, I can't think of a better place to come back to after a long and tiring day. However, now that is sooo freezing outside, I guess I could move for a couple of months to...let's say Australia:), but in general, I love it here. The neighborhood, with lake, forest and horses (yes, horses - nice to watch, not so good for riding;) round the corner, is pretty amazing. As I'm  rather not a city person I enjoy every moment spent at home and I rarely get bored there. I admitt that this probably is because all attractions of a town are within my reach, so whenever I want to have some fun, I can easily get it. Nevertheless, I prefer to be surrounded by nature and stay away from crowds, traffic and noise for as long as I can.

Thanks for reading it. In comments you can point out my mistakes;) I will appreciate that.