I Guess Not

                                                        Image by Leonhard Niederwimmer from Pixabay 

I find that there is no response to my absence on this blog, so have decided it should change. Just not sure what direction to take it. I find that trying to be consistent with posting to be anxiety producing, which is something I don't need right now. So whatever I do, I don't think it will be on a regular schedule, at least not for awhile.

I'd still like to make a positive difference in someone's life, to help the world be a better place one person at a time. So shall I be commentator, an encourager, educator, instructor, inspiration?  What? And what do I want from that? 

If I want acknowledgement, how do I get you, Reader, to respond/comment/contribute? Should I be controversial? 

Should I consider using the blog for profit? Fill it with ads that I get paid for? 

What do YOU think?

                                                            Image by Alexas_Fotos from Pixabay

Did You Miss Me?

                                                                                Image by Alesya-Lesechka from Pixabay 

I didn't post last week. I was wondering if anyone noticed. Did you miss me?

Is there anyone else you haven't heard from or seen in a while? Have you checked on them? Do you know how they are doing?

In this Covid-19 world, checking on folks could be really important. We don't really know what friends and family are going through if we don't hear from them. Isolation, especially for older folks, can be pervasive. While many, probably most of you are out and about, those at higher risk are still trying to stay safe at home. Contact with others is very limited, especially if they don't have internet access.

So check in. See how they are doing.

Personally, I'm struggling with loss of emotional stamina. I seem to have lost the ability to "go with the flow." World, national, local and family events have worn me out. Early this week a major personal loss kind of did me in.

Oh, I'll recover. It is just so rare for me to not to be able to deal with life well. I'm just having to take extra care of myself. And, I do get tired of having to do that, too.

What I would like for you to do is for you to let me know if my blog makes any difference. Is it worth continuing? Or would it make any difference if I didn't post a weekly blog post?

Comment, please.

                                                                                       Image by silviarita from Pixabay 

Break or Be Broken?

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There is no question that the stress levels are very high these days. There are so many uncertainties, so much chaos, fear, pain, grief, etc. So it is imperative that we take special care of our mental and physical health.

Accumulated stress can break you. You can become overwhelmed, depressed, physically ill, and feeling out of control. You can lose your sense of direction, hope, even your faith.

We can't let that happen. The troubling times are not over. We need stamina to make it through the months ahead. But if you are broken, you won't make it.

So, let's all take a break! Taking a break means "interrupting activity briefly." Take some control by consciously setting aside time to simply stop. Temporarily stop attending to those things that create your stress.

Maybe you need a few hours less on social media. Or maybe you can stop watching the news every evening. Or you can meditate on beauty or nature or joy. Give your mind a break from the stimuli that keep the chaos churning in your brain.

Try reading a novel for pleasure or watch a funny movie or something that takes your focus away from your own life. Or start taking walks on a regular basis, without your cell phone!

Find something that takes you away for a few minutes, at least. And you'll be better prepared for re-entering the fray.

Take a break. Don't get broken. 

False Evidence Appearing Real

                                                         Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay 

F.E.A.R.: False Evidence Appearing Real

Fear is a natural reaction to a present threat. It helps us protect ourselves from present danger. It is when the danger isn't present but is anticipated that can keep us stuck, prevent us from moving forward.

Check out this article by Ed and Deb Shapiro

Overcoming-f-e-a-r-false-evidence-appearing-real from AWAKEN.

Don't let these fears keep you frozen, unable to move through them. We can't afford to let fear win.

Fear: I See It Everywhere

The only way to diminish all the anger and violence is to reduce the fear. Anger or pain are the most common causes of fear.

People feel angry when they fear losing something important to them, or when they are in pain. Remember the last time you stubbed your toe or hit your finger with the hammer? What word did you say - or at least want to say?

So, we see a lot of anger and violence, and we seem to have trouble understanding why. It is because of all the fear and pain (including emotional pain) people are experiencing.

People are afraid to wear masks because they think they will lose their right to choose more than they fear the Covid 19 virus. They tell themselves that they wouldn't die of it, and usually don't consider that they might have permanent organ damage from it.

People are in pain from losing jobs, income, the ability to provide for their family. They are in pain from losing social interactions, from losing loved ones to Covid-19, from dealing with so many changes in their lifestyles. People fear they will lose their home, their belongings. They lose contact with their elderly family members in long term senior facilities.They fear losing their plans and dreams of their future.

People are afraid of losing things that they care about. Some of their fears are realistic - but not all. Many are based on "what ifs" that have very little chance of happening. Some are things they can prevent if they put their minds to it and ask for help. Some are things they are told or seen in the media that are just not true. The T.V. and Internet send out false information to sensationalize the information and to manipulate the public to do or not do things.

People fear themselves. Well, actually they fear learning who they are at their center. And all this time of quarantine and isolation leaves them without their usual busyness, and they are confronted with "empty time". For many, this is very scary, and they frantically fill it with TV marathons and constant time on their cell phones and internet checking out all the sensationalized posts.. Or they compulsively cook or bake and eat. Or their addictive behaviors get out of control.

Depression and anxiety increase. We hear of more and more suicides and murders.

Fear and distrust multiply when the truth and lies compete for their attention. This is why we see so much anger and violence. This is what we must confront in order to find our way of the chaos.

Start by looking within yourself. Get to know your own feelings of fear and develop a method that helps you confront your own fears. Then listen to others to learn what supports their anger or pain. 

It is only when we reduce the pain and anger, the situations that create those  feelings, that we can begin to reduce the chaos. We must provide accurate and true information and confront the false, manipulative information. We must teach ourselves and others how to deal with those fears, to confront the likelihood of the occurrence of what is feared and/or develop plans for how to prevent or deal with them if they do.

We need to take back the power of truth, honesty, integrity. It is time that we addressed the problems and not just the symptoms, the pain and fear and not just the anger and violence. Of course, we can't ignore the violence, but we must work extraordinarily hard to reduce the pain and fear that fuels it.

We must make peace in our communities and our country. We can't wait for someone else to do it. We must invest our time, energy, money in changing the experiences that cause pain and fear.

Only we can make this a better world

Image by Wokandapix from Pixabay

Listen to Understand

A lot going on in our country/world these days. And a lot of it is sometimes hard to understand. When we don't understand, we increase our stress, making our lives harder. Let's try to find some understanding. 

I'm learning to listen differently. Listen through a different perspective than our own. For me, I have to consider a perspective of someone younger, someone with a different income level, someone with a different childhood experience, someone with a different cultural heritage, someone with a different family experience. Those are just some of the differences that can shape what a person thinks, feels, and believes. 

And each is valid for that person. "Different" is neither good or evil. It just is. Our values are formed by our experiences throughout life. Yes, it is possible to change one's values if they aren't working for us. But not everyone knows that.

So when I listen to someone who is different, I need to consider their perspective from where they are in their life. What shaped their values? What would it be like to be, say, twenty years younger? What life events did they not experience that you did? The assassination of JFK was significant for me.Times were very different after that in our country. Assassinations of prominent people was not part of my youth before then. After that followed Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King, etc. A different world for our country.

What would it be like to have been born into a lower or higher income family? What if our parents hadn't finished the 8th grade or had been college graduates? What if food was hard to come by, if we never knew when we'd have a full meal, if we didn't have lunch money for school? Or what if everything came to us easily, we always had whatever we wanted, never went without anything, never went without any necessity or want? Our attitude about life would be very different if everything was given to us without our struggle, or if we never had enough no matter how hard we tried.

What would it be like to be a child in a dirty backstreet alley with no toys but junk we picked up, with no grass or trees, no one at home most of the time, with violence and poverty the norm. How would that shape someone differently from someone growing up in clean, well kept neighborhoods where at least one parent was home during the day and both at home at night. Where bikes, wagons, basketballs, and dolls were the norm;Where you didn't experience violence or going without what you needed, and those things only happened on t.v.

How might you be different if your family and neighborhood were from a  different culture? Are you aware of what those differences are? Cultural histories have a great bearing on a person's values and point of view. What if your grandparents had been interred in camps because of theire nationality? What if your parents didn't have access to the jobs or education thay wanted because of their nationality? What if you were ridiculed and bullied in school because of your heritage? How would you see the world differently?

What if you grew up in a very different kind of family? Maybe you didn't experience a two-parent family, that that wasn't the norm when you were growing up. Maybe your siblings each had different fathers that came and went in your lives. What if you grew up with a parent that was drug addicted? What if you were removed from your home by community services and then bounced around in foster care. Or what if you were raised by your grandmother of aunt because your parents were absent for any variety of reasons? What if your mother was abused by your father or other men in your life? What would your beliefs about family, about women, about marriage, about all of that be later in your life? How would you see the world differently?

When you listen to learn these things about others, it is easier tu understand them, the things they do and say. You can begin to see things from other perspectives and can open your mind to the differences in people's experiences.

But in order to do that, you have to connect with people who are different, people you don't understand, and have meaningful conversations. You need to listen in a different way than when you listen with the intent to disagree and convince them their thoughts, feelings, and beliefs are wrong. Acknowledge the differences and look for common ground. You will find you are more alike than different and that there are many things you have in common.

Listen, and come together to make a better world.

Image by John Hain from Pixabay

Remember When Computers First Became Popular for Homes?

                                               Image by andreas160578 from Pixabay 

Computers were supposed to make life easier. And we were told to look forward to a paperless society. Do you remember that? You are probably too young. Most folks have lived their whole lives with computers as part of their normalcy.

But I remember our first computer. It wasn't even on line. The internet wasn't for personal use yet. Basically it was a word processor that soon went to online use, email and for academic research mostly. It made library research much easier.

And paper was on these connected pages that rolled through sprockets on your printer. The printer was louder, too. But we really didn't print that much then.

Then came the Internet and faster computers and more ways to use them. We are now to the place of information overload. With social media and digital news sites we can spend days learning new things, or playing computer games. FaceBook has half the world on line at any given time.

So, has it made your life easier? Not mine. I've had to learn new languages, techno speak, interpreting error messages, finding the correct web links, keeping up with email.

EMAIL! Currently I'm changing email providers. Have you ever done that? Argh. What a process to get old address books to new inbox. Letting everyone know your new address, including the sites you log into. I'm ready to go back to a paper address book! Lots easier to copy into a new one.

In the process I'm also unsubscribing from a lot of junk mail that comes my way. That's a good thing, just time consuming, especially not each site has the same link to do it. And some of them require more than just a click on a link to make the cancellation. They really don't want you to go!

And, about that paperless society? Before you had a computer, did you ever buy paper by the ream? Crazy. Now, I guess since the coming of iPhones, etc., lots of those things I print to take to the store or blood drive can be done with a scan of the phone. I'm just not there yet.

I've been dragging my feet about getting an iPhone. But it is getting to be that there are things you can only do with a cellphone. So we are shopping for one now. Sometime down the road I'll probably have a blog about that whole experience.

In the meantime, enjoy your easier life with less paper.

                                                                  Image by Ag Ku from Pixabay 

It's Just Too Much

                                                     Image by Małgorzata Tomczak from Pixabay 

These days it is just too much to handle. My brain feels like it might explode. So many conflicting thoughts. So much conflict. And with the fireworks, I feel like it is an actual war zone.

The quarantine fatigue, the crisis fatigue, and political fatigue pile up. At the end of the day I'm wiped out. Am I the only one? 

I'm sure that for me it is magnified by my sense of helplessness, because of my age and physical limitations, to participate in the causes I believe in. Makes it harder. And all the family challenges we've had lately take a toll on emotional energy.

I often play games on the computer as a way to escape it all. I also crochet and watch mindless television in the evenings when I'm too tired to do anything else. I communicate with family and friends, I'm still quarantining, you see. 

And sometimes writing this blog is a way for me to let off a little steam. I don't know who, or if anyone, reads it. But writing itself helps. Sometimes I focus on the issues and sometimes I focus on special topics. Either way I am focusing on something beyond myself.

I hope you are staying safe: keeping social distance, wearing a mask, washing your hands. The virus is not a trivial thing. If you read last week's blog you know why I am sure of that.

Care about others enough to wear that mask when you are around other people than those you live with. Stay home as much as you can. We have to stop the virus from spreading and killing more and more people. If we don't, we kill our country. 

Yep. Plain and simple, that is the outcome of our not paying attention to the science, of not caring for each other enough to stop the spread.

So respect and care about each other. Make this a better world with just those small things to do. We are in this together. Do your part.


Questions:

What is it like for you these days to live in the midst of all this? 

What are you doing to stay sane? How do you deal with the emotional fatigue?

I'd like to write about what others are curious about. Any suggestions?

Ruth Was More Than A Number

When you see the number of persons in the U.S. who have died of Covid-19 in the posted statistics, what do you actually see? 

Really. What DO you see? Do you see people or just numbers. Numbers aren't very real, are they? They are easy to dismiss. But what about Ruth?

Ruth was my mother-in-law. She died of Covid-19. We buried her Friday. And, because of the pandemic, it was a rather surreal experience. But she is definitely dead. And we all are grieving her death. And she is only one of those hundreds of thousands of other people who have died from the virus that so many think is no big deal.

Ruth was a mother, grandmother, great-grandmother. She had cared for her family, taught school, volunteered, was active in her community as long as she was able. She had friends she had stayed in contact with for decades. She would help anyone with anything. She had respect for others, for her country, for her heritage. She was more than a number.

As are each of those others in the "deceased from Covid-19" statistics.

And there are also the people, not in that statistic, who "recovered" with permanent damage to vital organs. They know Covid-19 is a big deal.

I am so offended when I see people not wearing masks and gathering in large groups without distancing  indoors, people who don't think they will get the virus, and even if they do, they won't have a bad case. I am so offended by people who think it is "not a big deal", and therefore don't have to wear a mask..

Maybe they won't get the virus. But they could easily pass it to someone else. And that someone else might have underlying health issues that make it more likely for the virus to take their life or cause permanent damage.

Now, I don't get offended easily. But when people are unwilling to wear a mask to protect those of us that are at high risk for fatal or life threatening cases of the virus, I get offended, feel disrespected. Why are so many people unwilling to care about other people, about their community, or even about whether the spike in cases might close the economy again? It boggles my mind.

A mask is an inconvenience. I don't enjoy wearing one either. But I do. We don't seem to have a problem wearing seat belts, which I find more uncomfortable than the mask. 

We are willing to obey traffic laws, at least most of the time. Why not wear a mask when out in public? 

Most of us respect property lines, we don't trample other peoples plants, we even say "excuse me" if we accidently bump into someone. Respect for others! Why not respect the health of others by wearing a mask?

What has happened to respect for others? How would you feel if you knew that someone died because YOU didn't wear a mask?

The More You Know, The More You Can Understand

We seem to be seeing a wave or empathy moving through our country. Why now? Why not in all the years before the death of yet another black man?

Empathy is the ability to share and understand each other's experiences. We think of it as an innate trait. But it is really a skill. The correct experiences, habits and practices can increase empathic capacity. The more it is exercised the stronger it becomes. On the other hand, other experiences can cause empathy to atrophy, like a muscle that is unused.

Seeing a police officer kneel on the neck of a man for more than 8 minutes, even after he had obviously lost consciousness, shocked the nation when the video went viral. The officers' obvious lack of concern for the life of a man who was suspected of passing a counterfeit $20 bill was an experience that gave us clear knowledge of the black experience. The ability to share that experience helped us understand what we had ignored for so long.

Researchers have found that power and privilege sap our ability to understand others. Psychologist Michael Kraus and his colleagues measured people's socio-economic status and their ability to decipher emotions in pictures and in-person interactions. They found that people higher in status were less accurate about other people's feelings. And more recent work has replicated these results and also found that high-status people make more errors when trying to take another's perspective.

Empathy is a skill that we need to make the world better. When we know and better understand others, the more we can create peace, inclusivity, collaboration, etc. 

So, if you are someone who wants to make the world better, you need to create experiences where you can get to know people who are different from you in some way, so that you can understand them and know what they are about, what they need or want. Practice listening to others without trying to shape what they say or think. Make a habit of connecting with more people to learn more about them and their lives. 

This is especially important if you are in a leadership role. You will make much better decisions as a result. 

Make this the Empathy Era. 


 (from "Calls for racial justice gained steam with empathy" by Jamil Jaki),

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/calls-for-racial-justice-gained-steam-with-empathy/2020/06/19/fc33c39c-b190-11ea-8758-bfd1d045525a_story.html

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay 

What's Compassion Got to Do With It?

Image by UnratedStudio from Pixabay 

Have you been watching T.V.? "No Justice, No Peace," "BLM", "Equal Justice for All," " Defund the Police."

George Floyd.

What is your very first thought when you hear that name, when you see those protesters?

Stop. Think carefully. Was that really your very first thought? Or did you instantly filter it?

If so, it's probably a good thing, a sign that you want to change your thoughts.

Why would you want to do that? My hope is that it is because you felt something when you saw how black men and women have been treated in our country, when you saw how black boys are trained to be careful how they act with police so they won't get killed.

My hope it that sometime during the past week you have had compassion for George Floyd when you watched him being killed. I hope you had compassion for the mothers who have lost their sons to police violence, so often so unnecessary violence. 

I hope you have compassion for the people in the protests that have finally had enough and want more from out country, people who want us all to change how we think about equality, about justice, about racism, and about our part in it. Because we each have a part to change our country for the better.

Compassion is not just a feeling. It is a call to action. Be part of the solution.

I'm an old white lady. I acknowledge my privilege. I continue to address my racist reactions that come from so many years of programming. I see a black man in my white neighborhood and remind myself that he is not a threat. But my first reaction is fear. I'm working on changing that. These are the small things that we need to change, inside ourselves, as part of the solution.

I hope this week has challenged you to explore your own biases and challenge them.

We are all in this together.

Image by truthseeker08 from Pixabay 

Too Overwhelmed to Write

                                                              Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay 

I'm sorry I don't have a decent blog post this week. I'm just too overwhelmed to write with any sense. There is just too much stress.

Of course there is the pandemic and I've be quaranteened since March. Starts to get to me at times. But I'm coping. 

Then I learned about a month ago that my older daughter is diagnosed with terminal cancer and is undergoing powerful chemo every three weeks. She lives in another country.

Then two weeks ago we learned that my 98 year-old mother-in-law is positive for Covid 19 and is in a Covid unit in her senior housing facility. It is three hours away. 

But, in either my daughter or mother-in-law case we can't be there.

Then we watched a police officer murder a black man on video. While we are encouraged by the Black Lives Matter movement's demonstrations growing around the world, and we hope that things will change as a result, it is still disturbing to see the violence that sometimes blows up in the midst of them.

For my 78-year-old spirit, it has just piled up the stress and is just too much. So, I'm begging out of blogging this week.

Stay safe.

All Means All

                                                         Image by Barbara Bonanno from Pixabay 

We seem to have a habit of saying things that we don't actually believe. We may think we do. But we don't.

For instance, our Constitution of the United States says, "All men are created equal." So did the founding fathers really believe that? If they did, they must have left out the qualifier. If they believed all men were created equal, how did they reconcile slavery, poverty of some while the wealthy were supported? Did they mean that all men are created equal if they are white, wealthy, and empowered?

That's not what they said. So what did they mean? Did they mean that every living man deserved the same privilege and power? If that is what they meant, why didn't they create a government that worked toward that end? 

And I won't even go to the point that only men were considered deserving of privilege. At that period of time women were legally chattel, the property of their father or husband. 

So, over time did the powers that be evolve to be more focused on making all people have the same privileges from birth? Well, let's see. How about the Pledge of Allegiance of the United States? We pledge to a country with "Liberty and Freedom for All". 

Seen a lot of that over the years. That was in June of 1942. The military was still segregated. In fact most of the country was segregated. I was born in 1942, and eight years later I couldn't invite a black friend from my class to a swimming party because blacks weren't allowed to use the pool. When I was 13 we traveled to Florida and discovered that drinking fountains were designated for blacks and whites. I'd never heard of such a thing. I thought the country was changing.

And during the WWII our government rounded up Japanese American citizens and held them in camps because of their ancestry. 

The South continued segregation in schools for decades after that. And in cities, people of Jewish descent are still assaulted, their homes and schools and temples vandalized to this day. Oh, and don't forget homesexual citizens who have been targeted by homophobic brutes who assault, torture, kill people they believe to be homosexual. Their houses get vandalized, even burned down. And wasn't it only last year that several black churches were burned down?

So, let's get this strait, when someone replies to "Black Lives Matter" or "Blue Lives Matter" or any of the other responses like that, with "All Lives Matter." What do you mean? All lives can't matter when some don't. 

All means all.

I don't usually come anywhere near a political post on my blog. My goal is to help folks make the world a better place. So this is not political in the sense of party politics. This is about actually making the world a better place. The world won't change unless we change.

                                            Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay 

Who Will You Remember?

On Memorial Day we remember and honor those who have fought for our country in wars around the world, all the wars. And there are many. Seems like every generation has had its war.

This generation is no different. Not only are there the long wars in the middle east, but there is also the war against a pandemic, Covid 19.

As we remember those who fought in all the wars in other countries, let's not forget those who are fighting the pandemic here in the U.S. You know, this is the first war that has raged on our land since the Civil War in the 1800's,

I had relatives in both World War I and II, as well as Korea. And I know that during both World Wars the people left at home struggled to get by, working to provide for supplying the military. They did without certain foods and  products, many things were rationed. Women went to work in factories making amunition and bombers and other things required in large numbers for the war effort.

Children grew up without fathers at home for many years of their childhood, some fathers never returned. Men were lost in every war and continue to be lost today in far off countries to come home in body bags, in coffins draped with the U.S. Flag. In current wars, women are also serving on the front lines. Sometimes they don't return, either.

Women have served in most wars, but seldom were they fighting on the front lines. Some were nurses, medics, support workers. Eventually a few were allowed to fly. Of course, now they are able to serve in any position they are assigned.

With the war against the pandemic, at least in the U.S., most of us serve by staying home, wearing masks, and observing physical distancing. Men and women are called on to serve this way. However, there are essential workers who are on the front lines defending us. These front line fighters deserve to be honored as well. Many of them lose their lives to the virus, the enemy.

So this weekend, let us remember everyone who fights for our country, past and present, and honor all those who have died in service.

 Image by Keturah Moller

Accentuate The Positive

Staying positive isn't the easiest thing to do these days. But it is SO important. Your health and wellness and that of those around you are dependent on positivity. Negative thinking brings us down and actually lowers our immune system. So we need to be more positive today than ever.

The thoughts/ideas in this post are taken and/or inspired by an article by Gregory L. Jantz, Ph.D., 6 Ways to Become More Positive Today. Perspective is destiny. Here's how to improve yours. Posted Sept. 24, 2014;

He quotes Lao Tzu: "Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habit. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny."

In each of us are a set of message that play over in our minds. These may be words you heard as a child in your home growing up. Or they may be things you were told in school by bullies or negative teachers. Wherever they came from, they have taken over your thoughts, and like Lao Tzu cautions, they effect your destiny.

Too many of us have negative self-talk created from those messages. And they can create a negativity that creates a dark ripple that moves throughout your life. And you can only see the negative in everything. This becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy that creates difficulty after difficulty and fuels the negativity.  "Many studies confirm the correlation between positive thinking and success."

Here are some ways to interrupt the negativity and replace it with positive thinking.

1.  Practice Gratitude-One of the quickest ways to shift your focus away from negativity, judgment, and disappointment is to list the things in your life for which you are grateful.  Practicing gratefulness can cause almost an immediate shift in your perspective. Keeping a daily gratitude journal, even digitally can help you keep your life's blessing in front of you. "Find a gratitude partner, someone who can support you in your journey to positive thinking. Each day, text, email, or tell each other 3 things for which you are grateful
2. Two Steps Forward-The shifting of your thoughts takes time. So be patient with yourself, and begin by just observing your thoughts. See if you can catch yourself judging other, focusing on failures, complaining, criticizing yourself or your body. When you observe thes thoughts, take a moment to counter each negative thought with two positive observations or gratitudes.
3. Positive Posture-The mind and body are highly connected-each has an impact on the other. If moving your mind into a more positive perspective is a struggle, try mvoing your body there first. Stand up straighter, shoulders back, chin help high, stretch your arms out as wide as they will go. "Feel powerfu. Feel positive. Carry yourself with positive posture encourages your mind to feel more positive as well." 
4. Smile-This also can trick your mind into being more positive. Simply smiling, even if there isn't necessarily anything to smile about, can instantly change the way you feel internally. You will be surprised at how your mind reacts. Practice smiling at a co-worker or stranger. They might smile back. You've just help someone else feel more positive.
5. Ditch the Crabs-Surround yourself with positive people. It is easier to maintain a positive perspective if you are constantly pulled down by the negativity of others. If you find yourself caught in a negative conversation, gracefully try to change the subject to something more positive. If you find yourself surrounded by negative people, it may be time to change your circle of friends to find mor uplifting individuals.
6. Do Something Kind-Rather than get submerged in your own misfortune and forget about the people around you, step outside your regular routine to help someone else. "This can provide an amazing perspective and fill you with positivity." Do random acts of kindness. 

Life isn't always easy. Sometimes it gets really hard. "But it is our own perspective that ultimately determines if we will druge through life puckered and sour, or skip along with a glass of sweet lemonade."

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

About the Author

Gregory L. Jantz, Ph.D., founded The Center for Counseling and Health Resources in Edmonds, Washington.

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