Mourning the loss of a good, good friend.

This is the last photo that I have of my best friend. It was taken the year before he died of cancer. I had flown up to see him after he had called to tell me was dying. It was a very cold April in the Chicago area. We had a really good, but all too short, visit.

If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. Don’t complain. ~ Maya Angelo

A few weeks back I watched a story of CBS Sunday Morning about a church in Kansas City, MO. and how they had started a mission to change people’s attitudes for the better.

Rev. Will Bowen of Christ Church Unity in Kansas City, MO was teaching a series on Prosperity. Part of this series was helping the congregation to form a habit of gratitude by going 21-days without complaining. Studies show it takes 21 days for people to form a new habit. In an effort to make the lesson practical, the church purchased purple bracelets and gave them away encouraging them to move the bracelet to the other arm if they caught themselves complaining.

Rumination as a digestive disorder is the bringing up of partially digested food and re-chewing it. Sounds disgusting, doesn’t it? For the black dog it is the bringing up of partially digested thoughts & experiences and re-chewing them in a negative light. Disgusting deja-vu all over again. It is spinning your thoughts as only a black dog can.