This is my new daily thing-to-do, SMILE for a whole minute every day and it is really great. Not only am I unable to have negative thoughts whilst I'm doing my smiling but I grin like a cheshire cat every time I think about having done it. I also wear a bif smile as I type this, telling you and whenever I pass the info on to anyone else. My aim is to spread the word around the world and have everyone smile for a minute a day, which will cause many more minutes of smiling to be done by everyone:) Come on, how great would that be?
Smiling is infectious and it's free. You can give your sunny smile to anyone and it doesn't cost a penny to make the recipient of it feel better than they did prior to receiving it. I people-watch all the time and it never ceases to amaze me how glum most people look. Worried, preoccupied, angry and fed-up are just a few of the expressions that greet us as we look around at others on our journey through our day. How fab would it be to be greeted everywhere by excited, curious, happy faces. You just have to go into any pre-school to find those kinds of faces. Kids who have the brilliance to wake up every day excited simply to see that it's a new day to explore.
When do we lose that anticipation? I know that there will not be one age for all but as a ballpark figure? No clue? Me neither.
I am a big scaredy cat and I remember being like that from a VERY young age. I'm talking pre-school here and so my memory is definately like an older persons, these days. I can remember curling up on a foldout nursery cot, for an afternoon nap, at the age of 3 or 4 but I can't remember asking my hubbie to check out something online for me yesterday-EEK. Seriously, it can be very scary, although I try to just observe and laugh at my short-term recollection ability.
Example: Bill and I are rewatching "Twin Peaks", a show that we both loved when it was made, many moons ago. We noticed that the actor who plays the Doc's wife, aka Donna's mum (only Twin-Peakers will know what the heck I'm talking about) had the same surname as an actor in one of our current favourite shows "Bones." Deschenel (? spelling) being an uncommon name, we thought we'd check it out later.
Later came, the next evening and my "sharp-as-a-tac" hubbie called me over to the computer to show me his findings. "What are we looking at this for?" came out of my mouth as I grappled with any idea that I might have as to what I'd obviously forgotten. God love him, he just laughed or groaned.................I can't quite remember.
I could make all the excuses I want about my age and about hormones and some of them would be well-valid. But, for me, it's about maintaining my sense of humour and allowing myself to laugh at me along with the rest of the world......or at least my family and friends. I have been using these last few years working on my inability to do that. I had lost all sense of fun and avoided play at all costs because it was a serious waste of my time. Wrong.
Play and fun are as important for us adults as it is for our children. Yes, there are times when we need to be serious but they are actually pretty few and far between. Unfortunately, my kids grew up knowing their dad as the play-person in our home. I was happy for them to look at us that way and always commented that it was just as well that they had their dad to play with. I would read and sing to them and I would watch their cartoons and cuddle them. I just, for whatever reason, felt unable to have a good belly laugh and play with them. They love when I get a fit of the giggles, which happens more and more these days. I sometimes find the tears rolling down my cheeks, usually over something relatively unfunny and yet I lose control.......and it's great.
Another story of this past week: Some of us "Moonies" (from doing the moonwalk, for those of you who wonder at the name) decided to go for a walk, early last Thursday. The weather was "Mingin,'" for want of a better term and we decided just to pile back to mine and play the wii fit. Being the only one of the 4 of us to ever have used the thing, I found myself the expert and coached them in the ways of the wii. Yoda, look out :) It was a fantastic way to spend an hour-hootin' and holerin' at the ineptitude of each other as we tried desperately to win the games of balance and observation. Tears were rolling and the endorphins were flowing and we all had so much fun that we plan to make the wii-fit part of our "Pink-night" on 27th. Of course I'll have to just sit and laugh at everyone else 'cause, bad as I am, I appeared an expert when placed next to my novice friends. So, "Pink-night" attenders beware..................there's not just Bingo to play!
Okay, what else?
My son's complaining (good-naturedly) about me writing about some "random 18 year old" (his words) instead of him. He likes a wee mention sometimes and was none-too-chuffed when he felt that I gave pretty much my whole last blog to Aiden Grimshaw and, worse still, that he had been likened to someone who is nothing like him-tee hee. I can see his point but I was talking, for the most part, about 18 year old boys in general and how anyone could be helped by the Bach Flower Remedies after suffering a setback such as Aidens. For some, that could be failing school exams or their driving test. For Andrew, my fabulous, wonderful son, it could be a defeat in a Rugby cup final which leaves him feeling crushed and defeated. The point is that we all respond to things differently but the Bach remedies are there to help a person cope with the unique way that they respond to the difficulties in their lives. Even though we experience similar situations, we can never assume that another person feels the same way as we do, during it.
And, on that note I'll leave it. Pointing out to a certain much-loved person that I have mentioned him in three consecutive blogs, now and that perhaps I deserve a mention in his? (tee hee, yet again)
Have a wonderful, peaceful week and remember to SMILE :)
Lxxx
Posted on Wed, November 17, 2010
by Linsey Denham