Over the past weekend, we hosted a party at our home. Two of my stepkids and my husband all have birthdays within 5 weeks of each other so we chose a day in the middle and had the grandparents over for an afternoon of grilling wings, throwing bags, drinking sangria and just hanging out. It came on the heels of a week so bad, one of the days alone would have been enough to be considered a bad week, only there were seven of them in a row. It ended up being eight but we didn't know that until later.
The day was absolutely beautiful. I felt like my house had never been so clean, and my hostessing skills never so spot on. The weather was perfectly gorgeous after a week of torrential rains. All of the parents were getting along so nicely, the kids were happy, I was relaxed.
And then suddenly, it was not okay.
I had left my father in law standing on my front porch in order to retrieve my phone. I came back to find he had fallen off the porch, face first onto the sidewalk. He broke every bone in his face. He had to be sedated for a couple of days and woke up in pain, not remembering how he got there, and yet as soon as he could communicate, he was cracking jokes. Talk about joie de vivre, this guy has it!
I am guilty of a sense of pessimism of late, 2013 has been challenging with it's illnesses, injuries and injustice. It's hard to take a beating over and over and not be prone to stink in' thinkin'. I realize that it can't get much worse than breaking you entire face and if he's not lying there feeling sorry for himself, neither am I. It's hard to break out of the cycle, so it will take some action. Here are five ways to snap out of the poor-me's:
1. Gratitude - It always starts with gratitude. Make a practice of being grateful for what you have.
2. Exercise - You know the deal, exercise releases endorphins, yadada, yadada.
3. Hugs - Make a physical connection with someone everyday. It just feels good.
4. Fun - Nothing beats a belly laugh.
5. Bacon - I don't need to explain this.
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