Make Your Own Sunshine

       There are some days when life just doesn't seem like their is anything to smile about.  The skies are cloudy, the weather is cold, the world outside the window is hazy or foggy and the day holds nothing but tasks and responsibilities. Everything looks gray and depressing, so you allow your feelings of being overwhelmed, tired, listless or sad to govern your thoughts and actions.   Perhaps because you are not at your best your children respond to match your mood, quarreling, crying, misbehaving or demanding extra attention.  


Tulip Delight (MS ClipArt, Online)

     You could choose to stay in this state of mind and body if you wanted, but there is another solution.  Sometimes you have to make your own sunshine.   If the sun doesn't seem to want to shine, it does not have to mean you have to stay in the dark.  You can create your own form of sunshine that changes drab to bright, dark to light and gloomy to happy. 
      It all starts with a smile.  You cannot smile and be sad at the same time.  So turn up the corners of your mouth and smile.  Now find someone to smile at or a reason to smile.
     Change your perspective. If the baby spilled his cereal all over his high chair tray this morning and made a mess you had to clean up, think about his laughter or the fun he had before you cleaned it up as he splashed the milk around and made patterns across the tray.    What was a mess to you was another opportunity of play for him.  Follow his example and create some fun. Give the children some blank paper and crayons and tell them to draw a sun and their favorite thing from outside, then tape them on  a window to look at instead of the gray fog.
      Turn on some music, then tap your foot. dance or sing as you perform your next task. Listen to a favorite record or CD, or turn on the radio and guess what kind of song the DJ will play next. Instill some rhythm to your day.
      Shine something.  I know that sounds silly, but it works.  Take a rag, some soap & water or a spray bottle of cleaner and find something to clean.  The act of wiping and polishing will naturally increase your energy and the pride at making even one thing shine will add a sparkle to your mood.
       Do something silly to start you laughing.   One woman I knew cut the comics from the morning paper.  Then she posted one on every door of her home.  Each time she opened a door she had something she could either laugh or think about to stay positive.   
       You know you better than I do.  You know what makes you happy and changes your mood.  These are  just suggestions that have worked for others.   Be creative and find your own way.  The idea is to know, when life seems less than perfect you have the power to add some sunshine and brighten it back up.  So go.  Do it.  Create a little sunshine, Right Now, Right Where You Are.  

START - Your own way

I had a friend who recently recommended a book for me to read.  
START: Serve, Thank, Ask, Receive, Trust”
― Richie Norton, The Power of Starting Something Stupid: How to Crush Fear, Make Dreams Happen, and Live Without Regret . 

Although I have not yet purchased this book, the message to START something stuck with me.  When I first heard about the book I thought I wanted to dedicate a single blog to each one of these concepts.  I immediately, went into this blog and set up a draft page for each idea, thinking I would come back to them later.  Well, later took much longer than I had anticipated, as it often does as life does not go exactly as we plan.  However, the thought stayed with me that these five words needed to be shared in some way, as they each really do impact our lives every day. Each one of them is a skill to master. 

The words and order the author of this book had chosen were very good for the message he wanted to share. Yet as the weeks have gone on I realized that the power wasn't in the five words he selected the letters to stand for, but in the very word START.    During the past week I have found that what I really wanted to share here was encouragement to just start something.   I found that the word START seemed to change dependent on my own focus for the moment.    For instance, when thinking about a loved one, the words START stood for Serve, Trust, Act, Receive, Thank.   When thinking about goals at work I found that I wrote START as Set Goals, Time Limits, Act, Review, Think Again.   As I began writing this, and another blog post, START stood for Share (these thoughts with you), Trust (that I can touch a  heart or mind), Ask (you to believe in yourself), Receive (the chance to hear back from you) and Thank (you for your trust and trying it for yourself).  

We all have the opportunity to START.  Some may start something new.  Some may start from a place where they last were.  Some may need to start again after a pause or event.  Some may start alone and another may start with a friend.  Some may start today while another may wait to start tomorrow.  Some may start one thing at a time and stick with it while someone else may start many things at once and then work a little on each as time allows.   However, or whatever, your starting place is or what you want to start, it is perfect.  It is perfect for you in some way.  So I encourage to think about what you want to START and go for it.  Go for it with passion, belief and the knowledge you can and will succeed in some way.  It may not be what you expect, but you will not be the same after you have started that you are at this moment.