Courage to stare it down

Courage is more exhilarating than fear and in the long run it is easier.  We do not have to become heroes overnight.  Just a step at a time, meeting each thing that comes up, seeing it is not as dreadful as it appeared, discovering we have the strength to stare it down. – Eleanor Roosevelt

One step at a time as you embark on any new path of discovery is a great way to approach things.  You can't do everything at once.  While you may think you can be the same as before, you never really are.  Wouldn't it be more fun to approach life as though every new obstacle or challenge is a new adventure of discovery?  It takes courage to take that first step.  In retrospect, think about every time you did take the courage to venture off in a new direction, it turned out didn't it?  It is never as hard or as dreadful as you thought it would be.

Getting back on the treadmill after an injury is scary when you don't want to get hurt again.  Getting back into a relationship with a new person, especially if you had a bad experience before, can be scary when you don't want to get hurt again.  Getting your resume ready after you lose a job can be scary.  Realizing all the things that you've learned along the way, not knowing if those skills will be used again or not.  It takes courage to take the next step and send it off that first time.  Getting back to work after being unemployment can be scary, starting over is never easy.  Getting to be a parent for the first time is scary.  Getting to be an empty nest parent can be scary.  So many moments in life can be either scary situations or opportunities, or both.

The strength to stare down the obstacles and opportunities in front of you is what is needed to get through.  Getting back on your feet and taking the steps needed is rewarding and exciting.  It might be tough as you go through it, but you're stronger each time you choose courage over fear.

Maybe you have nothing to fear today, maybe you do...I'm wishing you a day of discovering your strength to stare it down and discover your courage!  Thanks for stopping by - Happy Thursday!

You might have to duck a few bridges

Enjoy the view as you go ~
Maybe you'll be a little guarded as you start out

Discover new ways to look at things

Remember your friends and their support
along the way.

Enjoy the journey
with the courage to discover new roads!

Peace of mind

Every goal, every action, every thought, every feeling one experiences, whether it be consciously or unconsciously known, is an attempt to increase one’s level of peace of mind. – Sydney Madwed

Do you remember when you started something for the first time?  Remember how exciting it is?  Remember how draining all the excitement can feel though, when your mind is racing like crazy?  Is the mind racing because it is searching peace of mind?   I can see it?  How about you?  Maybe it is just racing because there is so much to process?  Either way, it happens and people do find a way through it to find peace.

Geez...I appear to be full of questions today don't I?  This time of year always feels like a time to search for peace.  The cold weather and not being able to sit out on the deck and enjoy the sunshine creates a longing in me for those days.  Just sitting and relaxing and letting my mind catch a breath helps me find peace.

Time to think of a peaceful spot and remember how awesome it is to feel peace of mind.  Thanks for stopping by!  I'm wishing you a day with many peaceful moments ~

A peaceful walk on a sandy beach in the morning!

Believe in your aspirations

Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations.  I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead. – Louisa May Alcott

Sure is strange to wake up to rain and thunder in January in Wisconsin.  It has taken the pets by surprise and provided all of us with less than a restful night of sleep.  Copper is terrified of thunder.  The cats are purely excited that there was activity in the middle of the night.  So what's the upside of a poor night's sleep?  Maybe there will be a rainbow later?  That would be cool to see in January.  It is fun to have goals that might be out of your reach right?  I can certainly see the beauty in a good night's sleep later today!

For now, I'll just have to believe in the possibilities just like Tizzie does!  Enjoy your Tuesday!

Tizzie sat here for quite some time
dreaming of getting to the top of
the bookshelf and to the plant.
She attempted to climb on the
window ledge, and realized the
plant was simply out of her reach.
It was my goal to have a plant in the
office out of reach of the cats.
Win - Win right??

A new book begins today

No, this is not the beginning of a new chapter in my life; this is the beginning of a new book!  That first book is already closed, ended and tossed into the seas; this new book is newly opened, has just begun!  Look, it is the first page!  And it is a beautiful one! – C JoyBell  C

Last night, the deer didn't show up in my dreams.  Guess the boxes of papers are no longer a burden or needed in my life.  All those pages of that story are history now.  I would have been fun to toss them into the sea and see them float away.   For some reason the snow storm yesterday didn't really seem like a place to toss the book into.  Instead, the shredding machine will have the pleasure.

Today I begin my first day back to the employed world.  I'm very happy to say I'm no longer unemployed.  The time has flown by when I look back.  I enjoyed the time away from the formal schedule of working and the transition time between jobs.  It gave me time to reflect and let go of the past.  I enjoyed the adventures with Copper, as he lays here watching me type, I'm guessing he might just miss me today.  I enjoyed the time to regroup and reorganize my office.  It will be nice to come home to it tonight after work.

Ah...ready, set, let the new story begin!

Most of all, I'm looking forward to the new book in my life.  A blank page, an open canvas, an opportunity to grow.  While new beginnings are always an ending too, endings help us grow into the new beginnings.

Thanks for stopping by!  Enjoy your Monday and the page of your life you're writing today!

Copper will enjoy hearing about my day when I return!

Nonsense and dreams

I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. – Dr. Seuss

It was a full moon last night.  I don't know about you, but I don't really sleep well when there is a full moon.  Last night I had a weird dream about this HUGE deer that came into our house.  He laid down on the floor in the middle of our family room and just stayed there.  He must have been about 900#'s.  I wanted to get a picture of it, but every camera that I found didn't have enough battery left or the battery was missing.  I spent so much time scrambling around to find a camera to take a picture instead of just sitting there and enjoying the moment.  I woke up before I could find a camera to capture the moment.

I'm not a dream psychologist, so here's my best guess.  Perhaps the size of the deer represented the HUGE pile of papers that I have gone through and gotten rid of.  The papers are finally loaded in the car ready to deliver to the shredding place.  I spent so much time over the past few years trying to keep track of so much stuff that I hadn't purged old records timely.  The papers were like this huge burden taking up space in my office.  I had to go through all of them rapidly to keep the momentum instead of getting stuck and just keeping them again.  Maybe not being able to find a camera was my brain's way of saying, it's okay to let go, don't worry about the papers anymore and just enjoy the moments as they come.  The moments are not in the papers.  The deer is alive and represents the changing moments in life.  If you've ever watched a deer, they come as quickly as they go, just like all the moments in life.  If you're not watching for them, you miss them.  If you're watching for them, you get to enjoy them.

My analysis is simply nonsense, but my brain cells are awakened to new thoughts about dealing with papers and not putting that task off for so long.  It's scary to think that a big deer is going to be sitting in our family room again!

Thanks for stopping by - enjoy your day - hope you find a little nonsense to think about too!

If you leave your papers laying around,
something HUGE will find their
way to lay around on them and keep them company.
I did have a battery and the camera ready
to catch this moment!

Play day

Playology is about waking up our senses, infusing our organs of seeing, hearing, smelling, touching, tasting – and the higher cognitive senses as well, with the spirit of play.  Play ignites creativity and spontaneity.  Playing together leads to trust and cooperation.  Ellie Katz

The quote above is Copper's true philosophy in life.  Okay...a reach, but true nonetheless.  Think about a dog with a toy though.  They really use all of their senses.  They see the toy and start to wag their tails.  They hear the squeak from the toy or your words encouraging the play and their tail wags.  Once they get to hold the toy, they smell it, touch it and taste it and that in turn creates more energy in their tail and their desire to play.  The longer you play with them, the more they learn to trust you and cooperate with you.  Our cats are the same way.  Except they play more on their terms.

When our kids were little everyday was a play day to them.  I still see that in them now, they love to look at life by finding the "play" in the day.  They are right you know.  It is important to remember to take time to play and enjoy life.  Think about the last day you really played.  You felt great didn't you?  Didn't you enjoy the spontaneity of the moment?  It is a great feeling!

Thanks for stopping by!  I'm off to play and to enjoy my projects that are coming to a completion.  But first...two of our pets are begging for some playtime.  Enjoy your playful Saturday!

Copper carries his toys everywhere, he's
always ready to play.

Dessy climbs on everything,
and the higher she gets,
the higher she wants to go to
find something to play with!

Nothing is really something if you think about it

“Take some more tea,” the March Hare said to Alice, very earnestly.

“I’ve had nothing yet,” Alice replied in an offended tone: “so I can’t take more.”

“You mean you can’t take LESS,” said the Hatter:  “it’s very easy to take MORE than nothing.” – Lewis Carroll

Yesterday as I was dabbling with the Feng Shui stuff  I decided to weed out my bookshelf.  Remember, I couldn't really determine what section of the Bagua I'm really in my house, let alone which one my bookshelf is really in, so I decided the best approach would be to make a rainbow.  I sorted the books by color of the rainbow on each shelf.   That way, whatever color is supposed to be in that corner of the room I had my bases covered.  I'm sure that is probably bad Feng Shui but it is more fun to look at.

Since it was a sorting project I removed books I no longer wanted.  The bad chi books are gone.  I kept the ones I wanted, i.e., the good chi books.  I came across a book that I received as a gift a long time ago.  It is full of quotes about "nothing".  Building on the Feng Shui thoughts got me thinking that since this book contains quotes about "nothing, " has blank spaces where "nothing" is written by the author and I definitely wrote "nothing" in it, maybe it is a bad chi book.  Oh dear, I think we're on to something.  Maybe whatever is missing in my life, in that area of my Bagua, whatever that is, must be because this "nothing" book is there!  I'm chuckling as I put it on the pile of books I've chosen to donate.  I do hope the new owner finds "something" about it to enjoy!  Then the real test will be if I suddenly get more something in the missing area of my life where nothing was.  Sounds like something to look forward to eh?

The quote from Lewis is clever.  You can always take or do more than nothing!  So when you choose to sit around, you aren't really doing nothing, you're just not doing what you think you should be doing.  Should be doing something or should be doing nothing?  How about could be doing something or could be doing nothing?  Less guilt right?  Well, enough on that, it is time to get to doing something instead of nothing!

Thanks for stopping by, enjoy doing something nothing today!

I've got "nothing" to say about that...(didn't
Forrest Gump say that???)

Always something to write about

And by the way, everything is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise.  The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt. – Sylvia Plath

Oh really, we'll let's see about that!  As I sit here this morning, with my cup of coffee and piles surrounding me, I'm not sure that I feel very creative.  Then I glanced to my left and saw the book I found as I was sorting this week.  Don't worry...I'm not going to go chapter by chapter on you again!   A long time ago, I read this book and got exhausted trying to figure out how to apply it to our house, so I never really followed through.  The fact that you can apply the bagua to literally every area, inside every bigger area, just seems too crazy to me.

Let's take my home office for example.  It happens to be in the "Fame/Reputation" area of our house.  But that's only if I apply the bagua correctly from the entrance to our home.  Our house isn't a square, and I don't know if the garage should be part of the bagua.  So...after all the figuring and process of elimination, it's my best guess, the office is in that section of the bagua.  As you enter my office door, you're supposed to use the "Career" section as the doorway.  Since my doorway is to the far right of the room, does that mean that I don't have a "Helpful People/Travel" section or do they just meld together, or do you simply rotate the bagua?  If you rotate it, then the section that I thought was the far left corner of a square room is something totally different?  The book didn't have a clear answer on how to apply to my floor plan.  So I continue to guess and see if there is positive or negative affect in that area of my life for a day.  If no change, then I guess it didn't really matter right?  The next section after the helpful people is the "Creativity/Children" area.  If you're struggling in this area by not being able to conceive children (not my problem) or come up with creative ideas you might just have blocked energy in this area of your home.  Hmmm....

The book is very clear on the following message.  Any place you have clutter in your home you have blocked energy.  I've been doing lots of reorganizing and clutter clearing and this is the pile sitting in my "creative" area of the room.  It's a transitional pile of clutter.  Imagine that!  So is my block for creativity this morning because I have clutter sitting in my "creative" area or is it because just seeing the pile there creates stress and frustration because I have to walk around it?

All I know is it's time to get busy and unblock some energy!  (By the way - the book is very interesting and I would recommend reading it if you are at all lacking motivation to get rid of clutter).

Thanks for stopping by!  Happy decluttering Thursday!

Pile of transitional clutter (Product
placement of the book - not intended for
discarding at this time...)

Another pile of transitional clutter.  It
is placed in either the Helpful People/Travel or
the Career Section.  No spring break for me!

A fun book to read!  Now go clear some clutter!

The rhythm of living

Action and reaction, ebb and flow, trial and error, change – this is the rhythm of living.  Out of our over-confidence, fear; out of our fear, clearer vision, fresh hope.  And out of hope, progress.  – Bruce Barton

Well, I don't know about you, but I'm feeling like it has been a little too long safely tucked away in the house.  I'm thankful this little cold snap is soon to be over.  I know, it too shall pass.  The cold weather passes just like the really hot days in the summer when all you want to do is stay in the air conditioning.  I'm looking forward to new beginnings!  January can seems like such a strange transition month.  You're on to the new year, but you haven't quite got down what it is that you want to be doing.

Some days it feels like your rhythm is off.  Some days you're doing awesome, some days not so awesome.  Taking a risk here and there helps you get out of the place of fear.  If it is the weather that gets your spirits down, hoping for an early spring might be where you're at today.  There's a lot of hope in spring.  I love thinking of the fresh air and walking around outside.  The change of seasons will come in due time.  Until then, I'm keeping busy finding ways to keep my spirits up.

Today I looked back at a picture I took when I was attempting creativity.  It's all about trial and errors in photography.  Sarah's critique made me smile that day and today.  The picture reminds me of taking a risk to discover something new.  There's that I'm looking forward to new beginnings theme again!  Ah...

Thanks for stopping by - I'm off to discover some more trial and error moments.  Hope you have a great day!

A carefully placed bluebird feather.  There's
even a carefully placed heart shaped rock in
the lower right hand corner!

Turn the camera, a different angle helps??

Nope...no matter what "a feather strategically
placed doesn't look natural mom..." 

Live in the moment

Why not just live in the moment, especially if it has a good beat? - Goldie Hawn

Day 10 & 11 The Positive Dog Challenge - Today's challenge is to "Lose Yourself in the Moment".  Spend the entire day living in the moment doing things you enjoy.  Remember how it feels to be completely lost in the moment?  That's what you are to do today.  Read, write, sew, organize, take some pictures, listen to music on IHeartRadio, watch YouTube, play games on Facebook, do whatever you love doing.  Tomorrow's challenge is to "Be a Coach", share what you have learned about being positive and help others be positive too.

So why day 10 & 11 together?  Honestly, because, losing myself in the moment reminded me of my goal for this blog.  It was to blog for fun.  The moment I realized it was a task, it would no longer be just for fun.  The "random" thoughts and writing about them is living in the moment and something I enjoy.  I'm going to take the author's advise and live in the moment every day!  While having a specific thing to write about each day by following the challenge of the book made it "easy", it turns it wasn't as random as I would have liked it to be.  So tomorrow, I'm heading back to my world of randomness.  Day 11 - being a coach is living in the moment and sharing positive interactions with everyone you meet.  In that sense, you don't need special training to be a positive coach, you can simply be positive and set an example every day.  I think that is more of a life long challenge, rather than just one day.  What do you think?

Overall, I think The Positive Dog book is a great read.  It has a fun message.  The challenge does give you a recipe to follow if that works for you.  The bottom line is being positive is a choice.  So...have you chosen to be positive?

Thanks for stopping by!  I'm going to live in the moment today, hope you do too!  Enjoy your positive moments of the day!  Hope they have some good beats too!

When it's cold and blustery outside...

Nature makes weird snow...

And I make really random weird things with
used clothes...lost in the moment!

A gratitude visit

You can’t stay in your corner of the forest waiting for others to come to you.  You have to go to them sometimes. – Winnie The Pooh

Day 9 - The Positive Dog Challenge - Today the author suggests that you write a letter to someone in your life, current or past that you are grateful for.  Then go and visit them and read them the letter.  I know that I have sent thank you notes to people in the past, but the piece that I missed is seeing if the message was received as intended.  Maybe that's the part that is the most important?  Have you experienced someone coming to you to tell you that they are grateful for you?  Think about it, it is a very positive experience.  How about an old boss, a dear friend, a family member, a mentor?  What about them are you grateful for?

I remember back to when I got my driver's license.  Being in the big high school, I couldn't help but think back on grade school and the great teachers I had.  One day I was thinking about how some of the messages they shared back then were now coming true (or at least I was finally recognizes them...).  A few days later, I drove over to my grade school to walk around.  I found my favorite teachers and told them how much I appreciated them and what a difference they had made in my life.  They were touched and thanked me for stopping by.  Just seeing they were touched by my random visit...you know, did make me feel more positive too.

I guess that's what the author is suggesting.  Sharing your gratitude in writing confirms what you are feeling and sharing it in person solidifies the feelings and the experience is positive.

Thanks for stopping by - good luck on your adventure out of the forest!  Enjoy!

Vision creates optimism

"When you have vision it affects your attitude. Your attitude is optimistic rather than pessimistic." - Charles R. Swindoll

Day 8 - The Positive Dog Challenge - Here we are, one week of positivity under our belts.  Have you recognized it is within your power to choose and create a positive life?  So far we've taken a thank you walk, shared gratitude, experienced smiles and laughter, celebrated our successes, spent time with positive people, shared kindness and enjoyed nature.  Sure seems like a recipe for promoting positivity.  With all that positive energy building now the author suggests a day to "Take out your telescope."

The telescope represents our dream for the future.  By definition, the telescope is designed to make distant objects appear nearer.   Research shows dreaming about your future is a positive boost to your morale.   If you look at what you'd like your future to be like, you're bringing the vision of it closer to you and it brings you hope.  If you really look at what you are doing, what you'd like to accomplish, what you'd like different or how you can make a difference, then you create the opportunity to bring those dreams closer and more possible.

Time to add to all your positive accomplishments from this past week.  Really dream!  Dream about your vision and purpose.  Write them down and keep them posted so you don't forget.  Keep the positive outlook in front of you as you continue on discovering your vision.

Thanks for stopping by!  Enjoy your day of dreaming!

Dream beyond your current
situation - where do you want to
go, what do you want to do, be, have, etc?

There's so much to discover about your world
and yourself when you dream!  Enjoy dreaming!

Spending time in nature

If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has power to move you, if the simple things of nature have a message that you understand, rejoice, for your soul is alive. – Eleonora Duse

 Day 7 - The Positive Dog Challenge - For today, the author suggests spending time in nature to boost your positivity.  I checked out the forecast for our area in Wisconsin.  It looks like right now, at 8:28 am, is going to be the best part of the day - weather wise that is.  The wind is going to pick up to 40 mph, it is going to snow and the temperature is going to drop approximately 30-40 degrees.  Hmmm...

So how does one put a positive spin on that weather forecast??  Turn the challenge into an opportunity.  If you love it when it snows, you'll be happy to see the snow this afternoon.  If you love cuddling up in a blanket when it gets cold outside, you'll have the opportunity to do so.  If you really don't have any where special to go today, be thankful you get to stay home.  Grab a book and read a few chapters.  Take a nap and relax.  Finish that project you've been working on, you won't feel guilty you get to stay inside and work on it.  Yep - you can choose the positive by changing your perspective.

Thanks for stopping by!  Enjoy your Saturday - Catch some fresh air, catch some snowflakes, bundle up and enjoy the wind blowing through your hair!  Enjoy the fact that in Wisconsin, you can experience a wide variety of weather all in one day!

Get ready to catch some snowflakes!

Enjoy the sunset - even if it is from inside.

Enjoy some bird watching.

Bark at those rabbits!  Run around in the snow!

Share 5 acts of kindness

Those who make compassion an essential part of their lives find the joy of life.  Kindness deepens the spirit and produces rewards that cannot be completely explained in words.  It is an experience more powerful than words.  To become acquainted with kindness one must be prepared to learn new things and feel new feelings.  Kindness is more than a philosophy of the mind it is a philosophy of the spirit. – Robert J. Furey

Day 6 - The Positive Dog Challenge.  Today's assignment is to engage in 5 acts of kindness.  I'll call them random acts, just because I like the word random.  The author's suggestion is that in order to really feel the benefits of kindness, you need to engage in 5 or more acts of kindness.  Each act builds upon the other to produce the benefits.  It's about stretching yourself and learning new ways of being kind.  Kindness and compassion shared add to your journey to a positive life.

Yesterday, when you were sharing time with the positive people, I bet you can see ways they were sharing kindness.  Kindness and compassion attract more kindness and compassion.

Perhaps you are already a very kind person and share kindness wherever you go.  How will you stretch it to 5 more times today?  I'm sure you'll find a way.  If it's not your nature to be kind, but more of a doubting Thomas, then this day could be more of a challenge.  If you're a millionaire like Oprah, maybe you'll give away a car.  Nah...I'm thinking small acts of random kindness will present you with more opportunities during the day than one big act.  Help someone find their way if they look lost in the hallway.  Open a door for someone.  "Like" every friend's Facebook comments today.  Wash the dishes for your spouse if that's not something you normally do.  Volunteer at a shelter today.  Call someone who you know is lonely and missing someone.  Share a hug with someone who can use a shoulder.  Plenty of kindness options if you think about it.  It is choosing kindness that makes the difference.

Thanks for being so kind as to stop by!  I appreciate your visits!  I'm wishing you a happy day of discovering  kindness!

Share window space

Share your toys

Share your hiding space

Send someone a card

Call someone who is all alone

Share some fresh air and
discover kindness together!

Surround yourself with positive people

You can make positive deposits in your own economy every day by reading and listening to powerful, positive, life-changing content and by associating with encouraging and hope-building people. – Zig Ziglar

Day 5 - The Positive Dog Challenge - For today, the author continues to encourage you to build upon the first 4 days.  You've been thankful, grateful, you've smiled and laughed and you are feeling successful.  I hope your day yesterday provided you with opportunities to feel success.  Did you wake up today feeling ready to accomplish more? With the confidence you've built by feeling positive for 4 days, today your challenge is to surround yourself with other positive people.  Connect with the people where the relationships grow each time you get together.  The visits where you simply feel better after being together.  Connect with someone from your past that you haven't seen in a while.  Call your friend who always brightens your day.  Or maybe reach out to someone to make a new friend.

The studies show that close positive relationship promote health and well-being.  I know for me spending time with people who are positive makes me feel more positive just by being around them.  One of my favorite memories of times when everyone is positive is when you take a vacation.  Once you get to your destination you, your family and the staff that greet you are all positive.  Have you ever been on a vacation and you encounter the traveler(s) who simply find something wrong with every situation?  Aren't they a downer??  Don't you just want to run away from them?  Then, just at the right moment, the extra special staff person, who no matter what, simply keeps on smiling and serving despite the rude traveler?  I want to be around them.  They are able to overlook the negativity and say "Ya Mon" and just keep on being positive.  Why waste your time on being negative?

Ah...that reminds me of some people I wish I could see today.  Yep, since it's too early in the morning to call my sleeping friends and ask if they want to go for lunch or chat.  A few pictures of positive moments sounds good to me.   Interestingly, the stats show that the suicide rate in Jamaica is 2.5/100,000 people.  In the US it is 13.7/100,000 people.  For some reason...they are happier and more positive people.  Other than the beautiful tropical weather, the awesome views, and all the positive travelers who come to visit and keep their economy going, they have less than we do in the US and every day, they choose to be positive.  Huh...imagine that?  Irie Mon ~

Hey...and to you...thanks for stopping by, I'm wishing you a positive day connecting with positive people!

All smiles!  

Beautiful scenery...endless possibilities!

Still positive after all those years of growing
that hair...!  

Even a wait for dinner turned into positive fun!

We didn't have to be doing anything,
just sitting and watching sunsets
was positive!

The staff - always positive, always having
fun!  Yep - surrounding yourself with
positive people is a good thing!

Resolution to succeed

Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other. – Abraham Lincoln

Day 4 - The Positive Dog Challenge.  Before we head into today's challenge, just checking in...are you still smiling from the laughter of yesterday?  It was hard not to feel positive with a smile on my face.  I have a lot of moments of laughter to look back on.  A session with my hairdresser always brings laughter to my day.  Hang on to the smiles, hang on to the gratitude of day 2, hang on to the thankful thoughts of day 1 as we move on to day 4.

For today, our challenge is to celebrate the success of today.  Before you go to bed tonight, really think about your success from the day.  Maybe you had a great chat with a dear friend, maybe you finally finished a project you were working on, maybe you simply took that first step in a different direction.  Whatever you do today that you're proud you've done, that's what you'll celebrate before you go to bed.  The author states that by focusing on your success today, you'll look forward to focusing on more the next day.  If nothing else comes to mind, you can focus on the success of being positive for 4 days in a row!!!

Your own resolution to succeed is important!  Here's to wishing you a day of successes!

Here's Copper...waking up.

He's not quite sure about it though...
maybe he's still reflecting on the successful rabbit chase?

He's so darn cute - maybe this is the success for me
today, capturing a cute picture of Copper??  We'll see!

Smiles and laughter the perfect medicine

I live by this credo: Have a little laugh at life and look around you for happiness instead of sadness. Laughter has always brought me out of unhappy situations. Even in your darkest moment, you usually can find something to laugh about if you try hard enough. - Red Skelton

Day 3 - The Positive Dog Challenge - For today the author suggests you find at least enough humor in your activities to make you smile and laugh for at least 10 minutes.  Get the endorphins that make you feel good really going.  Look at the kids around you.  They laugh at everything.  Be thankful, be grateful, and be funny.  You will simply feel less stress.  Smile during your obstacles and challenges.  Yesterday, as I was reminding myself of how grateful I was for the opportunity to be working on my tax papers, I did feel less stress and remained positive throughout the day.  How about you? How did your day 2 go?

Let's see, what are some ways to smile and laugh more today?

Take a break and watch some kids.  Studies show that kids laugh up to 400 times per day.  That's a lot of opportunities to smile and laugh.

Okay, I know I made fun of YouTube a few days ago...but, remember, I also said we had fun watching videos and laughing.  It was the laughter that made it worth it.  I know I felt "better" afterwards.  Try searching YouTube for true facts about sloths and see what you get.

Watch an I Love Lucy show.  As a kid I loved watching the episode in the Candy Shop.  The crew sure could laugh at each other and with each other.

Share some laughs and jokes with your co-workers.  One of my favorite memories of the last group of employees that I had the opportunity to work with was the laughter.  The stories they shared and the way they could laugh at and with each other kept me smiling well into the day.

Be the first to smile at a stranger.  Be the first to smile when you greet your family today.  Be the first to smile at the driver next to you at the stop sign.  Practice those smiling muscles!

Enjoy the smiles and laughter during your day today!  Here are a few of my favorite smiling pictures -

It's so hard to get everyone to smile at the same
time - this one I love my dad's eyes -
he's genuinely smiling!  

Hugs and smiles - always
a great combination!

Who wouldn't smile - toilet paper is a great gift!

A legacy of laughter comes to
our family from two people who
still know how to laugh
and have fun!

I love this one - there were 3 cameras going and
not a single person is looking in the same direction.
You just have to laugh when you're trying
to capture group family pictures.

Oh yeah...we're having some fun now right?

These two always make me smile!
I love you girls!!

So what ya waiting for??
Go out and smile and laugh!!!