This is a question I like to ask because I believe it makes us think about how we choose to approach life.  I used to be a bit of both depending on what was going on in my life, however over the last few years I’ve tried to turn this around and look at my glass as always being full and I am so very grateful that I even have a glass to fill in the first place and how lucky that makes me feel.

We are lucky in so many ways but only if we stop to really think and appreciate what we have.  There are many things we can do to be positive but when things are going wrong or not as we planned we tend to get bogged down and can start to slide speedily down that slippery slope.  So this week I would like to share some thoughts and some of my ways of being that little ray of sunshine and trying to find that silver lining on every cloud.

For me, it starts in those magical moments when we first wake in the mornings.  For example, how do you choose to greet and start your day?  Is it thinking of all the things you have to try to fit in during the day and how on earth will you do it or do you linger in bed a little longer and look forward to your day?  I believe the first thoughts that we have in the mornings can set our mood for the day.

The first thing I do is smile at the thought of a fresh new day, a fresh new start and I say to myself that it’s going to be a beautiful day.  By doing this, I have already set my intention that it will be a beautiful day.  Not once do I allow myself to focus on anything negative that I might have to do, and believe me, there are usually things I’m not so keen on doing on any given day but I don’t allow them to dampen my spirits.  I bring to my mind all the good things in my life and give thanks and am truly grateful for all I have.  The most obvious one is I am grateful that I had a good night’s sleep in a lovely warm bed with a roof over my head and more importantly,  I’m thankful that I woke up and now have another day ahead of me full of possibilities.

When the trains are delayed I don’t complain and say “it’s going to be a bad day”.  I try to shrug it off, I see my fellow commuters becoming stressed and agitated but it’s outside of our control and we cannot control anything else other than our feelings and I choose to have good feelings.  In this day and age, I can make use of the any time that is spent delayed and can log on to my e-mails from my phone and start working or I can catch up on reading or even my sleep if I’ve been burning the candle at both ends.  It really isn’t the end of the world.  Yes I might arrive at work or home a little bit later than usual but so what.

In some of my previous blogs I’ve mentioned how infectious smiling can be, I try to be happy and smile throughout my day, sometimes people ask me whether I’ve been drinking because I’m showing real signs of happiness.  Isn’t it sad that people have to ask us this question when we are happy?  Shouldn’t we all strive to be happy at all times?

When I pay for my lunch or a cup of tea or coffee I am thankful that I have the money to do so and that I have something to eat, especially when there are people in this world who barely have fresh water to drink.  More importantly, I am thankful that I have a job to get up for and go to, which in turn allows me to purchase that cup of tea or coffee.

By appreciating more things we become more aware and in turn our happiness stakes are raised.

Admittedly at some point throughout our lives we will suffer loss, loss of friendships, relationships and even the loss of some of our friends and family members through death or illness but as someone once pointed out to me “this is life” and nothing is forever.   It’s how we choose to deal with it that counts.  For me, whenever I have lost someone close, especially through their passing I realise that life is so very short and we should make the most of it, but more importantly instead of complaining about things we have no influence over we should really appreciate everything whenever we can, especially things we can influence and we can influence how we choose to feel.

When I wake up each morning I choose to feel happy.  I appreciate what I have in my life, my family, friends, animals and nature.  I am truly thankful and with thankfulness comes happiness.  If every morning you can find a reason to say “yes, it’s going to be a beautiful day” and every night you find a reason to say “yes it was a beautiful day”.  Then one day, we can look back and easily say “yes it was a beautiful life”. 

Wishing all my readers a week full of positivity, love and happiness.