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This is a month that can be dreaded, exciting, stressful, enjoyable, or just tolerated while waiting the arrival of the new year.  All of these emotions can pull you down, or energize you. Think about it. How does the word December effect you?  I choose to get energized by it, since I anticipate being gifted by family and friends and giving to them.  I love to give to others, but I honestly enjoy receiving gifts more. It just demonstrates, to me, that someone put money and effort into the gift.  I love being recognized anytime it happens. Can any of you readers share my honesty?  Do you still do the in-store purchasing? A benefit of such is that the stores are not as crowded. A benefit is that you get to touch, try-on, and leave the store without taking it home unnecessarily. This is a stress releaser for me. How about your shopping preferences? I have always been appreciative of social event but I have not been good about attending in-person work parties, or family parties.  Covid-19 risks squelched my enthusiasm, but vaccines have reawakened my enthusiasm. Have you recovered from the pandemic yet? How did it happen for you? What effort did you have to put into it? Can you offer suggestions for those who have not fully recovered yet? How are you viewing your December? Can you awaken a positive thought of December?  If not today, tomorrow?  Happy New Year!

This topic was intriguing to me.  Perhaps it may interest you as well.  As a child, my role model was my mother.  I admired her strength for finding solutions for any issue she faced.  She was loved and appreciated by extended family members, but for me I did not get it initially.  She took wonderful care of us daily.  She anticipated our needs.  She was firm with discipline and forgot nothing good or bad pertaining to my sisters and me. She always projected confidence and competence   All of this could happen because she was a stay-at-home mom who accepted her role willingly and she followed the Doctor Spock teaching for parents.

Later in childhood, Dad became my role model.  He worked hard at 2 jobs so we could attend private school and get an allowance.  He often went without extras to be sure we had what we needed. He had a sense of humor matching mine more than Mom did.  His honest concern for others was something that I still try to emulate today.

Still later, my first Head Nurse at the hospital held the role of role model for me.  She possessed many of the strengths held by my parents.  It is funny, but I try to emulate the best of each of my role models to this day.

What have my thoughts sparked in you and your recall of role models?

Do you ever give thought to what your perfect day could look like? Take a few minutes and dream of such a day.  Moving about during the day as I choose.  Celebrating late rising/Awakening time, breakfast time, what would you eat? who would make the breakfast?  would you eat it alone? Then what would happen throughout your morning? What and when would lunch be? Who would make it? Would you eat it alone or with someone else? How would you spend your afternoon? Alone? with someone else? What book would you read?  How long would you read it?  Who would you call or connect with on social media? Why?  What else can you include in your perfect day?

Pick a day and make it a perfect day now that you’ve considered what it will take. Let me know of your decision and how it went!

Tips

Take time to think what your perfect day would look like in the future.

Can you share with me in these small significant celebrations of life?

I am concerned about what you think of this post and want to know more about your thoughts.

The mixed feelings we can have about this closer step toward winter can be strong or minimal,  positive or negative.  I like to look at fall as a most beautiful season of a year.  As you have come to know about me, colors affect my mood.  Fall shows so many colors that I get up excited each morning wondering which colors will enter my eyes.  Can any of you readers experience this as I do?  How about sharing your thoughts?

I actually look forward to taking out my seasonal clothing and returning my summer wardrobe to storage.  The switch makes my winter items feel new. My midweight clothing articles make cool days and evenings comfortable against the winds and darkness. I constantly find myself looking forward. Perhaps you prefer living in the moment? But for me, going forward to the next month, I love choosing a costume for Halloween, planning with friends about, which neighborhoods we will stroll through by dark.

Still going forward, the November days are shorter, cooler, and outright less exciting.  Early December is downright tough for me, but by December 21, my attitude changes and the days start to get longer and Christmas is right around the corner. Have I earned my continued reputation as an eternal optimist? Any comments to share?

The notion of happiness has always intrigued me. I believe that some have it and know it and some don’t. Some may have it and not know they have it. I think that before we can know how, when, where, or anything else about it, we need to look at what it is. Why do we need it?  Why do we want it?

Per Merriam-Webster, happiness is a state of well-being and contentment. Joy can include positive emotions, and mean that one’s life is meaningful and valued. I believe that happiness is an overall sense of experiencing more positive emotions than negative ones.

Have you been around persons that fit Webster’s definition of happiness? I have and I have become eager to connect with them. Have you also met persons whom you believe have not yet experienced that happiness happens?  Have you felt yourself trying to move away from them? I have. You may want to take a minute or two thinking about persons in each category.

Do you believe happiness is innate, earned, or something that one grows into?  I would love to hear what you think.

Do you feel that we each of us needs happiness for a heightened state of life?  I do, since it affects our attitude, behavior, and may make others see us as more desirable to be around.

Happiness affects our mental health.  The connection is easy to see. Happy people are healthier, have better relationships, make friends more easily, and find more success in life.

Since we all want to be happy why not consider all or some of these aspects of life:

• Individual income adequate enough to pay bills, and meet needs;
• Labor market health allowing for daily variances;
• Optimal physical health;
• Generational family relationships;
• Social relationships;
• Employment relationships;
• Moral values;
• Experience of positive emotions

Can you add other aspects? Which ones effect your happiness? Why?

Take a deep breath and release your happiness to those around you.

Think of persons in need of sharing your happiness. Why not give them a call?

A Walk Down Memory Lane

July has always been a favorite month of mine. It’s warmer, days are longer, childhood friends could all play outside longer, rhubarb was growing and we could stop thinking of school for a while. We even got to go a few times, as family, to the only ice cream store for cones. Life was at its best.

When buying the ice cream, Dad would always ask, who wants what? We could only choose between vanilla and chocolate because that was all that was available. Dad would forget our orders and always came back with vanilla for all. Remember those ice cream treat-days? He always offered us an apology and we still remained happy with the treat. Then in rolled Howard Johnson who offered 57 ice cream varieties Dad was then faced with a new challenge. He would make his honest attempt at getting the order correct, but he would still err! I still remember those happy evenings together. Being together is what made our ice cream times so fun. Now, ice cream is my go-to food.

As the story goes, July was designated ice cream month by Ronald Reagan in the 1984. He even went so
far as to declare the third Sunday of the month as Ice Cream Day.

Can you remember childhood memories about ice cream you enjoyed? I would love to hear about your early memories of ice cream.

Celebrate and enjoy National Ice Cream Month!

I am so excited to share this month with all candy lovers.  None of us can probably recall our first taste of candy, but we all know that it is well hidden in our memory bank. The thing about candy is that we all like the sugar.  Whether hard or soft, cream-filled or solid, fruit or alcohol flavored or plain, we like the sugar.  Now that I have you thinking about this subject, what are you doing right now?  Are you planning to pick up a piece that sits by your hand or will you get some as soon as you finish reading this?  Will you be waiting to get candy after your meal, or during your meal, now or later.?    I would love to hear anything that comes to your mind on this sweet subject. What is your favorite candy? When did it become such? When is your oldest recall of tasting it? How often do you eat it?  Enjoy your favorite this month in honor of Candy Month.

May is definitely a month of weather and temperature change and can awaken a spirit of need for change/growth within us.  You may be a person who loves change.  You may welcome any kind of change or you may consider change as dread! Are you a person who loves surprises? do you enjoy surprising others? We all need creativity for stabilization, or for change.  Both rely on creativity.  In order to maintain full life stability, we must fight off every challenging aspect of change.  Who can do that?   For me, as many of you know, I chase excitement, challenges, and fun.  All of this has often met with opposition from others for my entire life.  I believe that my approach to life is in my DNA and is quite unrestrainable.  I can bore listeners while finding object formations in the clouds. I could go on and on about my unsatiable creativity but I just wondered how, when, and if you will share your thoughts on this creative beginnings month.

February is usually one of the darkest months of the year.  March tends to be not as dark.  However, if we are to live in the moment, we can always control our perceptions of anything happening in us, around us, above us or below us.  This might sound a bit uncomfortable but for me it is fact!

Let’s look at weather.  Some love snow enabling them to participate in sports and events and just enjoy those cold winds.  For others, enjoyment is not a positive emotion that gets associated with the cold weather.  Thus, how much power we give to our various emotions gets us through the season.

Let’s look at being Irish in March.  For some it is magic for others it is loud, noisy and “over the top.”

To get through the month feeling less energetic about it all, you can choose to think of how it is only for 31 days and you can mark the days on your calendar or you can discover something new about Irish History. You can always decide not to delve into the excitement but appreciate learning.

What I am driving at is that no matter what happens, our reactions to events, actions or whatever, are all within our control. It is actually deeper than the glass half full or half empty that usually comes to mind.

When we consider how we are in control of all of our thoughts, feelings, and emotions, we sense discomfort or feeling overwhelmed.  We like to blame anything but ourselves for what happens.  I personally was in that “sandbox” for years. The “not-my-fault” syndrome really stifled my emotional growth and responsibility. 

Now I consider about what happens or happened and determine my personal responsibility for it.  What is not my fault gets blown away intentionally.

Does this topic spark anything within you?  Can you let me know your reactions?

Every year we anticipate today and wonder what we will get or give to someone.  We spend time just picking out the right gift, expressing our love and appreciation.  Non-monetary gifts can work too. What about tomorrow?  Will you return to your old ways of expectations and disappointments or will you extend your sentiment for a few additional days?  Many of you probably believe that we should celebrate each other specifically for the whole month.  One day annually just does not seem to be enough!

 I would like to propose that we can choose a day each month during the year where we quietly celebrate a different person with some small action that would demonstrate their significance.  How about that idea?  Agree or disagree?

Here is another proposal, what about choosing a daily selfcare action for yourself?  This could enable you to consciously choose celebrating yourself for all that you are, all that you have been, and all that you are yet to become?  You may choose to inform others of your choices or not.  Just do it!

I would love hearing what you think.  Your response could be exactly what another reader needed.