What a week!

Today, I’m going to write about what I need—a little hope, optimism and ideas for rising above the smoke, wind, war, illness, accidents, drought, death, and fear.

I know life comes in waves. The gunk of hard times leaves us alone for a long time, and then sneaks around the corner and, without cause or warning, dumps on us. We can go from sunshine and roses to darkness and glass shards in a nanosecond.

If you are dealing with bad things that seem out of your control, here are my thoughts on what you (we) can do when, not if, it’s your turn to face the hard challenges of life.

• This past week I received my family’s genealogy research that went back to the 1400’s in France and England. I usually recommend looking forward, but it did my heart good to see names and photos of ancestors I knew and those I had only heard about. The wind and smoke fell out of my radar as I connected the dots.
• Answer your phone, even if you can barely breathe and you’ve lost the courage to watch the news on TV. Talking to friends or family can lift your spirits and bring something besides dreary into your mind. I’m referring to talking, not texting.
• Make some warm, cozy, and nutritious soup, and eat it all day—I feel better just thinking about it.
• Take a walk. I have walked “it” off for years.
• Take a shower—If you don’t fall, good happens in the shower.
• Let as much light as you can into your house. Open the shades—even if it’s cloudy, light lifts us up.
• Do the dishes—Your outlook will be brighter when your kitchen is clean.
• Dress in something that makes you look good—if we look good, we feel better.
• Start a puzzle—finding all the straight edges is a good feeling called satisfaction.
• Clean out your junk drawer—if nothing else, it will make you smile and wonder why in the world you kept that?
• Stretch and shake all over as Lucy does.
• Bake something that smells good.
• Eat ice cream—not the low-calorie stuff.
• Breathe deep, hold it, and exhale slowly. Repeat ten times.
• Watch a Hallmark movie—they always kiss at the end.
• Write twenty things you are grateful for.
• Sing a song and dance in the living room.
• Find something to laugh about—we can always laugh at ourselves.
• Love yourself and give yourself a long, strong hug.

Add your own remedies to the list, tape it to the fridge, and do some or all of them until you believe that, with patience and effort, good is just around the corner.

Until the next time: Live while you live