We used to have a saying at work "there are no problems, only opportunities".  It was a great way of looking at things from a different perspective, and forced us to come up with alternatives rather than just giving up.

It can be a natural tendency, when something happens that you are not familiar with or you have not planned for, to look at it as a problem.  In this situation, you may feel trapped, and you may find yourself playing the "yes, but" game.  This is when someone suggests a possible solution to your 'problem' and you answer with "Yes, but ..."  "I don't have the time"; "I don't have the money"; "It interferes with xyz".  The list of reasons can be long and varied, and even though you genuinely want to find a solution, the "yes, but" game stops you from seeing all the possibilities, keeps you feeling the situation is hopeless and just confirms that you are right.

The solution to the "yes, but" game is to play the "yes, and" game.    The "yes, and" game forces you to think of positive solutions.  Substituting "but" with "and" is more likely to get  you thinking of what could work.  Give yourself permission to be really creative, to interrupt your old thinking patterns and to allow new ideas to come through.  You might surprise yourself with the outcome!  If you allow yourself to see possibilities, your wish that the situation was different starts to become a goal that you can work towards.  Automatically, you feel lighter, more positive ... because you have possibilities.

Once you have come up with your possibilities, it's time to decide on the one that you feel best fits the current situation, and start taking action.  This might mean calling on the support of someone else, doing some research, making a phone call - whatever it is, take that first step without delay, remembering to think in a mindset of "yes, and".

Have fun with it, and let me know how it goes!

Have you noticed how great you feel when you laugh?  It lifts your spirit, makes you feel alive, positive, energized.  Studies show that laughter stimulates the immune system and offsets stress.  Laughter releases endorphins - the body's natural analgesic.

Negative emotions, such as anger, sadness, fear, hurt and guilt make people feel hopeless, helpless and worthless.  They have a negative effect on our body, mind and spirit by affecting our body's chemistry.  Letting go of these emotions, taking life less seriously and taking conscious control of how you decide to think will allow you to have peace of mind.

So next time you are feeling down, sad or depressed, smile at yourself in a mirror for a full five minutes.  I know - it's the last thing you want to do, and you may feel like an idiot at first - but persevere.  The smile becomes genuine, and with it the mood is lifted to a more positive one.

But be careful!  Laughter is highly infectious and spreads rapidly!!

What's made you laugh recently?

A couple of posts ago I talked about clearing out the clutter.  Steve and I have just given the inside of our home a fresh coat of paint, and taken the opportunity to reorganise some of the rooms.  "Reorganise" translates into going through our possessions and getting rid of things we no longer use, and changing the layout of each room.  It's amazing how much clutter can be accumulated over the years - and the things you hang on to.

We have been really quite severe in our culling this time - significantly reducing the amount of furniture (and, as a result, the contents of cupboards/wardrobes had to be seriously reduced) - and at the end of it, we have looked with pride at the result ... and fallen in love all over again with our home!

We have both commented on how pleased we are with the end result, and the sense of freedom it has brought about.  It truly has been a liberating experience - I encourage you to try it, too!