Spread Sunshine

Reminder:  If you've been keeping a Gratitude Journal now is a good time to update it.  Who blessed your life this week?  What events lifted your heart?  What did you see, hear or read that inspired you?  There are so many reasons to be grateful!  

A new post will be published each Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
        
         I encouraged you, in Monday's post, to let your light shine as you go about your activities in the community, at school and at work.  Please don't feel overburdened by this suggestion.  Gratitude and happiness are such wonderful attributes to scatter around and share, and their expressions are so easily conveyed.  Like golden sunshine, they make all of life a whole lot brighter! 

        Here are 10 suggestions for making your community a happier place:

• Hold a door open for someone.   
• Smile and say "hello" to a stranger.
• Pick up trash along a roadside to make the world more attractive for others who pass by the same route.  Sometimes you will notice signs along a road or highway noting an organization or family who has volunteered to keep that stretch of road litter free.  Give silent thanks for their efforts.
• Don't take work relationships for granted.  Thank a co-worker for his assistance on a project.  Not only will it brighten his day, it will make for a more productive and happy work environment.
• Help an elderly person, or someone with kids, put his/her groceries in the car. 
• Take a few items from the pantry shelf and drop them off at a local food bank or collection site.  Many small contributions add up and make a big difference for families who are struggling.
• Visit an elderly resident of a nursing home.  Sing songs, ask about his/her childhood, greatest adventure, schooling or work life.  It will give hours of happiness to someone who may be very lonely. 
• Spontaneously join a neighbor and help out as they weed a vegetable garden or flower bed.
• Write a note to your pastor, bishop, or other religious leader and let him/her know how much you appreciated the message at this week's worship service.
• Invite a new family in your neighborhood to dinner.

         There are so many ways to express love and appreciation as we go about our daily routines, or take advantage of special opportunities.  Simple as they are, they really do make a difference to those who are touched by our thoughtfulness.
         I hope your week has been, and continues to be, an especially blessed one as you look for ways to uplift others.  It's amazing how happy the world can become as we serve one another in simple ways, just one little act at a time. 


TODAY'S INSPIRING QUOTATION:
"If you light a lamp for somebody, it will also brighten your path."  Buddhist saying.

Home Grown Gratitude

         I've encouraged you to spread your gratitude this week through a happy spirit.  Certainly there are many things each of us can do to make the journey through life just a little more cheerful.  Since I've given that encouragement, I don't suppose it would be inappropriate to share a few of my favorite ways of accomplishing that, and I think that home is a really good place to start.
         Home is the place we cherish most.  As the late America religious leader, Gordon B. Hinckley once said, "The storms stop at the door."  Home should be a haven, a peaceful refuge from the rest of the world.
True, it often falls short of that when kids are being kids (i.e.noisy and rambunctious), tempers flare, and patience seems hard to come by.  We all have those moments or those days.  However, as flawed and human as we are, home can still be our best and most favored place as we make the effort to share our lives in an atmosphere of gratitude and love. So, today I thought I'd share a few thoughts about how to do that.  Here are 10 simple ideas:

• Make the bed for a family member who was in a hurry this morning.  If you have time, leave a note.  Something simple like:  "The bed making fairy was here." 
• Talk to your child about the day he or she was born and the excitement you felt with his arrival.
• Put the children to bed early (or leave them with a neighbor) and make your husband a candlelight dinner.  Keep the conversation positive and focused on what's important to him.
• Fix your wife breakfast and bring it to her in bed.  Discuss her plans for the day.
• Ask your spouse or child what his/her most cherished dream is.  Consider how you can help it come true.
• Find a jar, decorate it, and place some positive words inside, each on a seperate slip of paper:  happy; smile; thanks; fortunate; beautiful; capable; friendly; appreciated;  peaceful; nurturing; accomplished; abundant, etc.  Remove one word each day and use it in your conversations.
• Have a special family night where everyone is given the opportunity to express one thing they admire about each family member.  No one is allowed to repeat what someone else has said. Sit in a circle and let everyone take a turn.  When our children were growing up we did this once or twice a year. 
• Read bedtime stories instead of watching television.
• Work side by side with your child doing the after-dinner cleanup.  Talk about your child's day, or take time to express some things you notice and admire about him/her. 
• Have a one-on-one ice cream date with a child or your spouse.

         I'm sure you also have great ideas for enhancing the spirit of gratitude, love, and happiness in your home.  I'd appreciate being able to share them with other readers of this blog.  So, please post them in the "Comments" section. 
         If you have trouble doing that (several people have told me this has been a problem), I think if you set up a g-mail account, posting a comment will be easy.  G-mail accounts are simple to create.  Just type in: sign up for g-mail in the Google search bar, click on their site and follow the instructions.  Then go back to the Comments section, type in your comment, then in the drop down box next to Comment as:  click Google Account. Then click on Post Comment.

Thanks, and have a wonderful day!

NOTE:  I've heard that you are still having trouble posting comments.  Not being tech savvy, I don't know what direction to give to clear up this problem, but I will be searching for an answer.  My apologies.  I really was eager to hear your ideas!


TODAY'S AWESOME BLESSING:
I hadn't been feeling well and my grandchildren came by with homemade get well cards. They also brought flowers they cut out of paper, colored, and scented with perfume.  Now that would make anyone feel better! 
      

The Influence of HAPPY!

         I know I'm a little late this morning, but I've been pondering how really blessed I am.  Makes me want to bless others!!
         I think it's great that weeks have new beginnings.  They're a time to consider just how we're going to spend the next seven days, and all the great things we can do to add a little uplift to the world. 
         We are, in many ways, SO POWERFUL because we get to choose how we will respond to life, and what we will give to those around us.  Whether it's in our family, with our spouse and children, in a work setting or out in the community, we get to choose what we will give and how we will relate to others.  That means we have influence--for good or bad.
         What kind of influence will we be this week?   What will we bring to the world?   How will our actions affect others?   Will they stimulate feelings of gratitude, joy, and peace?  I hope so, because what we do really does matter.  Studies show that focused, sincere expressions of love and concern boost immune function.  Conversely, negative emotions (fear, anger, frustration, jealousy, etc.) can suppress our immune system for up to six hours--and that's from just a 5-minute negative encounter (see http://www.heartmath.org/research/science-of-the-heart/emotional-balance-health.html).  OUCH!  Is it any wonder that negative emotions make us sick?          
         So, today, I'd like to encourage us to consider how we can express gratitude and love during this week: the next 7 beautiful days laying out there in front of us.  How will we fill them with our influence?  What will we give at work, at home, at school, in our interactions at the grocery store, doctor's office, church?  We'll be in a hundred different situations this week--that's a hundred opportunities to show love, express appreciation and bring some happiness into the world.  WOW!  A new week truly is a wonderful thing!!

TODAY'S GENTLE ENCOURAGEMENT: 

Make Someone Happy.  Make Just One Someone Happy, and You Will Be Happy, Too!
                                                           (from  the musical Do, Re, Mi by Jule Styne, lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green).