What Makes You Smile?

The other day I was watching a mother push her baby in a stroller and I was thinking about how babies always make me smile. Just the sight of a baby's face can lift my spirits immediately, and if they smile at me, then I am a complete fool. So I decided to make a list of things that make me smile. My list includes puppies or kittens playing, a beautiful flower, any sunrise or sunset, robins in the Spring (and the way they hop around), people dancing -- especially at a wedding, an older couple holding hands, a younger couple holding hands, children holding hands, anyone holding hands, a nice big avocado, sock monkeys, and more! I really loved making my list because it made me realize how many things make me smile! I am going to post it somewhere so it can bring a smile to my face often.

I also appreciate it when a stranger smiles at me with a really big smile, just in passing, giving me a gift of acknowledgement and kindness. Smiles make me so grateful for the connections we have with each other. Even smiling when you are alone is a wonderful way to brighten your life at no personal expense! Hooray!

Getting Out of Bed!

Last week I had a cold, but I still had to get out of bed every morning at 6:30 a.m. because I was doing a facilitator's training out of state. Yesterday I was still feeling a little under the weather, so I had a love affair with the snooze alarm and didn't wander out of bed until after 9 a.m. Now that's not the worst thing, but it did throw my day off as far as getting things done.

When I went to bed last night, I was determined to get back into a good wake-up time, so the alarm was set for 7:30 a.m. When I woke up, I hit the snooze alarm, my husband checked in to see if I was getting ready to get out of bed, and then I hit the snooze alarm again. I almost slipped into the haze of not getting out of bed very early. For some reason I thought of this -- even though it is cozy and warm in bed, it is a very limited world. When I am in bed, I only have access to my bed, pillows, nightstand, books, and sleep. But when I am out of bed, I have the whole world of my computer, the whole house, my car, my neighborhood and town, my adventures, and my family and friends. I won't know what is going to happen today until I get into the rhythm of it! I might even be missing out on something by arriving late to my day! Oh no!

It made me so happy to have invented a new wellness tool that it would have been impossible to get back to sleep anyway!