Take a pen out and a sheet of paper and write a letter by hand to a friend or loved one, put a stamp on it, and walk it to the mailbox. Turn off the wifi at home for a few hours. Turn off the TV. Sit and listen to the rain or walk in the sun or walk in the rain or sit quietly in the sun. Practice deep breathing, breathe deeply thorough your mouth with your eyes closed, relax all your muscles, purse your lips and as slowly as possible expel the air from your beautiful lungs all the while saying something wonderful in your mind like “I am love” or “I am loved” or “I can love” or just “love”. I promise there is real science behind why this works, and I can happily report that I have used this trick for years. It costs nothing and hurts no one and is very portable and is even organic!
Listen to your favorite music in a dark room with candles. Look through an old photo album. Open up the baggie that you store your Grandfather’s pipe in and breathe in your childhood. Write a little note or text to a good friend reminding them that you love them. Go through your closet and gather up a bunch of stuff you really haven’t used for years and give it to a charity. Volunteer at your child’s school or marginalized groups community center or a soup kitchen. Make up non-perishable lunches to put in your car to give out to people in need. Clean your kitchen. Go to a park and watch the children playing and the birds flittering about. Go to the mountains or rivers or oceans or deserts and just be. Stretch (better yet do yoga). Make some healthy meals for the work week ahead. Walk, walk walk!
Take a month off of social media. Spend time with a dog or a cat or a goat! Reminisce about your wedding day or the day your Dad said he loved you or the day you graduated or the day your child was born or even the powerful day that a loved one was buried (they never are really gone!) Do something nice for someone or for yourself, it is all the same really. Unclench your teeth and wiggle your jaw side to side, stick your tongue out and roar like a lion. Take a free online class. Go to a naturalization ceremony for new immigrants. Register people to vote. Visit a senior center. Cook a homemade meal with friends or family.
Commit to not complaining for an entire day (or even just an hour; I promise I’ll get to a day eventually)! Commit to looking at every single challenge as an opportunity, all are really both! Cry if you need to. Forgive yourself for errors, real or perceived, including those in the past as well as those we know are to come.
There is so much to be thankful for. When we commit to practicing this daily, this mindful determined positivity it eventually becomes automatic. It helps and even causes those around us to do the same. There is much misery in the world but there is even more untapped limitless completely free connectivity and truth and love and joy. We have to be brave enough to just try. We can all live happier, period!
