I always try to be positive. Even when things are difficult, I try to stay
uplifting and upbeat. My husband will
confirm that I don’t always succeed.
The last school day of the year has
passed! As we roll into the holidays, I
thought it might be fun to think about five things we can do to spread a bit of
Christmas joy over the next week or two.
Smile
“The nicest curve on a woman’s body is her
smile.” I always liked that saying.
If you greet people and are friendly, they
may greet you back. If you smile at
strangers, some of them will actually return the smile. It is a simple suggestion but think about how
much more you like someone initially if they smile at you as opposed to staying
neutral or ignoring you.
Sing
A woman I met was telling me how she beats
the blues. She cranks the music and
sings at the top of her lungs. She
believes that the physical sensation of the music along with your singing to
the music alters moods. She is likely
right.
The holidays are a wonderful time to put on
some traditional music and sing with your children or your friends. A friend of mine sings in a 100 person choir
up in Huntsville and he swears by it. It
uplifts him every time he goes to practice.
The movie Sing is one of my favourite
children’s movies. Again, singing
provides positive energy. So crank up
the radio in the car and sing to your heart’s content. Just smile at anyone looking askance.
Bake
My girls love to bake. Most weekends we make brownies and
cakes. It is great fun to make
together. Then the girls and the boys
lick the bowls. While they cook they
infuse the house with wonderful smells.
Finally, eating the cake and debating whether to ice it or just dig in
begins.
Baking is fun from start to finish, and it
will definitely get you into the holiday moods having and sharing some
sweets. My coworker baked shortbread
cookies yesterday and I enjoyed two of them.
Those two cookies took me back to my mom’s homemade shortbread cookies
from years past. So nice!
Decorate
Putting brightly coloured throws and
pillows around will make you feel festive.
Dressing in red and green will get you into the holiday spirit. Lights on the tree and lights outside uplift
our spirits.
We have a row of sock snowmen stuffed with
rice that the children have made with name tags in front for each of our family
members. We have a tree with ornaments
from the past and some new ones.
We have
stockings hung. We have lights on the
tree and outside on the bush. We have a
wreath outside. All of these little
touches buoy my spirits whenever I see them.
Any small decoration will lighten your
mood.
Give
Give of your time and money.
I preach kindness in our household. My children sometimes call it lecturing. We don’t always achieve it, but it is a
wonderful objective. Kindness lays the
ground rules for all family dealings.
Paying it forward is a wonderful
concept. Buy someone’s coffee in the Tim
Hortons’ line behind you. Give of your
time to go see an elderly relative who is lonely. Do something small that makes you feel good
about yourself and about life in general.
The above are my five very simple suggestions
for spreading a little holiday cheer over the next two weeks.
