For as long as I can remember, I have always been a glass half full kind of girl. If a situation is negative, I immediately think of 5 positive scenarios. Always turning a negative situation into a positive is kind of my specialty. As I’ve gotten older, I have figured out there is actually a bit of a process I use to find the sunshine in my everyday.
Sunshine to me means a few different things! For one, I love the color yellow and that’s know for happiness! It also means joy, fun, not taking yourself to seriously (aka being silly) and shining your inner light that I believe we all have! It’s my goal for of you guys to see that we can all spread endless sunshine everywhere we go!
Wake Up Grateful and Practice It All Day, Every Day
Have you ever just woke up on the wrong side of the bed? It’s like from the moment you roll out of bed, your whole day is terrible. All you want to do is head home, put on comfy pajamas and never feel that misery again? #guilty After waking up to many times cranky, I decided to make sure I would practice gratitude everyday.
For me, gratitude is mixed with prayer when I talk to God, I truly believe that everything I have on earth is a gift from God. I am blessed in so many different areas of my life and everything I have been given. All of my gratitude flows from this perspective.
When I wake up, the first thought I try to have is one of gratitude. Now sometimes I wake up and realize my first though has no gratefulness or peace in it. I may be worried about something that happened the day before, upset I didn’t sleep well or even grumpy I have to go to work.
Instead of waking up grouchy and complaining, I have trained myself to wake up joyful.
This practice of gratitude did not happen overnight. I still have days where they just aren’t the best but I can almost always trace it back to my thoughts. Right now I’m in a season of unknown and have to really focus on being grateful.
Take this morning for example. Last night I was focusing on not having a job and upset that the doors have not opened for a new one. What do you think my first thought was? You can guarantee it was not, “Yay, I love not having a job”. My mind was filled with worry and fear about money.
Instead I turned around my thoughts immediately. I started to thank God for what I had right in front of me. My bed, a room to sleep in, my yummy breakfast I was going to eat in a few minutes and how I was so excited to do the stretches my PT friend sent over for my lower back pain.
I try my best to repeat this process all throughout the day. When I’m at work, shopping, eating, walking around. Now there are days where I get busy and my mind completely forgets to focus on gratitude. The more you train your brain to recognize negative thoughts, the faster you learn to turn it around immediately.
There will be plenty of bumps in the road but the more you do it, you will see how much it affects your thoughts for the best!
Get Up and Exercise!
This is by far the most important part of my week! I love working out so much. I’m not one to dread going to the gym but if you are one of those people, focus on the outcome. Always ask yourself how you feel after you exercise.
Exercise makes my entire body, spirit and emotions feel good and happy. I can’t think of a time where I’ve left my workout unhappy or feeling down. Besides maybe after a breakup? If you stick to it, you will be hooked!
If you are not a gym person, take a walk outside, watch the sunset, go to a yoga class, swing at the park like a kid, or get a group of friends together to run around in an open field. The important thing is to get outside and get moving!
Be Super Creative
This is a super fun part about finding the sunshine! Not that practicing gratitude and exercise aren’t fun but I find more freedom in being creative! The possibilities are endless here!
Creativity can mean so many things. For me I love daydreaming, journaling, coloring/sketching, crafting, exploring, watching sunsets, reading my Bible and taking photos. This is what truly makes me so happy in the day to day.
The other day when I was subbing, they needed help in the art room organizing paintbrushes. Just walking into that classroom sparked my creativity! All of the students were working on projects with toothpicks building structures, creating 3D cardboard portraits and panting.
After being reminded how much fun it is to use your hands to make things, am planning on having a craft night with me myself and I. There’s something so peaceful about creating. Not for the blog, not for others, just for me! I’m so excited and will probably use all three of the items I just mentioned and go for it with no specific project in mind. It sounds like the perfect Friday night to me!
Sometimes if I had a boring day, I will look up counties with pretty beaches that I would love to travel to. It gets my mind inspired and helps me to dream big! And I am all about dreaming!
This is where you can get creative and try new things. Try cooking delicious and budget friendly meals at home, watch funny Youtube videos, play games that don’t involve technology, walk around Target and dream up your future house decor, hand-make a card for a friend, the possibilities are endless!
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