accentuate the positive

(I've been thinking about a lot of topics for a long time and have procrastinated posting them. This is one of them.)

All too often I let myself wallow in the deep darkness. I focus on all the things I haven't accomplished, all the ways in which I don't measure up to my impossibly high standards for myself. I've been thinking for a good long time that I need to change this and see how it affects me. I'd rather focus on all that I do accomplish day-to-day, even if most everything I accomplish isn't really all that much (and, really, all that we will ever do amounts to less-than-bittiness in the whole cosmic scheme, no?). I'd also like to focus on the little bits of life that bring me moments of joy.

So, at least for this first post, I'd like to go in a few different directions:

Inspiration for this sort of thing abounds in my real life and here on the interweb.

When I was in high school, I had a book called 10,000 Things To Be Happy About. (Actually, I believe I still have the book. I even think I might know where it is.) Shortly after that, I got a day-to-day calendar based on the book. The calendar listed five things that made the author happy for each day. I started my own little happiness list in my journal. I'm not sure why, but I stopped that practice years ago.

As for websites:

* Poke's Five Happy Thoughts

* Tara's Inspiration Monday posts (in which she posts things that inspire joy and thought)

* pretty much anything that Amanda posts, but I'm especially thinking her 10 Things posts

* really a lot more than this, but my connection here is a bit tenuous (my computer is trying to exit the highway), so I'll move on.

Things I accomplished today:

* swept the condo

* spot-mopped (good enough for me)

* co-made a crumble

* helped Pic to purge some of her excess belongings and get her room under control (more on that later?)

* finally returned some movies to the Blockbuster box at the grocery store (okay, so we only kept them for two nights, but it felt like a long time)

* had a much-needed phone call with Auntie L

* ate frozen yogurt

* other than the above, only ate what we had here at home

* pilates

Things that brought me moments of joy today:

* listening to the Thriller album (on vinyl!) and Pic's response ("How did you know I love this song?!")

* the crumble (really, I'll post more on that tomorrow)

* doing a bit of excess-stuff purging myself

* getting a much-anticipated package in the mail

So, it's time for me to disconnect from screens (I'm trying some new nightly routine ideas in hopes of being able to sleep at a somewhat decent hour), listen to podcasts and continue to dig my way through the den.

I hope you find many, many moments of joy and accomplishment throughout your days.

G'night,
v