Tag Archives: smile

Three cheers for the woman who dressed as a cow

29 Thursday Sep 2016

Posted by in Advice, Attitude, Freedom, Positivity

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I was in such a good mood this morning because I saw a cow walking down the road.
Well it was a woman dressed up as cow, actually a woman wearing a cow onesie with a tail, ears and everything.
And I laughed and laughed aloud in my car.

What a blessing to be able to walk freely in the street dressed as a cow and not worry about what anyone thinks.
I often feel that we are so caught up in our problems that we don’t notice our blessings.  Not only that, we don’t notice the little moments that may just shift our moods, even for a short while.  Even if it is a cow walking in the road…
In all the chaos of my life, I have been catching up with a TV show that I used to love when I was a kid in the 80’s. It’s just a simple pleasure.
(Stop smirking or trying to work out my age…. )
The 80’s were great – we had big hair, big shoulders and leg warmers – enough to make anyone laugh when they look back at how cool we thought we were.

Can you create some time just to do something that will make you laugh?  Whether it is reminiscing with a friend, watching an old movie, doing something silly…
Can you care a little less what anyone thinks of you?

I would love to be able to thank the woman who chose today to walk in public dressed like a cow – she has no idea how much better she made me feel.
Maybe tomorrow, you might be the person who makes somebody else smile….
Give it a go!

Singing and Dancing in the Rain

17 Thursday Mar 2016

Posted by in Attitude, Positivity

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We have been blessed with wonderful rain in the past week.
Which is great for the environment but better for me because I went to see the show Singing in the Rain this weekend.
And I bought a Singing in the Rain umbrella and now I can sing (and dance) in the rain much to my kids’ embarrassment.

Singing in the Rain
And of course it makes me feel wonderful. It reminds me of a guy in our neighborhood.
He stands on the corner of a busy intersection and dances. Everyday. No matter what.
And he absolutely makes my day.
Not only does his dancing make me smile but he waves at me every time I pass him and sometimes I even get a kiss blown my way (an occupational hazard of mine).

The amazing thing about the dancing guy is that he is unemployed and doesn’t look very dapper but he still has the power to make people happy. In a world that is so materialistic, we often forget that there can be more happiness from simple things than from the big, expensive and powerful things that we come to expect.
There is no physical object – chocolate or shoes (ok, maybe not shoes) that can make me smile like this guy does.

You never know how much power you have to make somebody’s day.
Your smile or your dance could help someone to go from grumpy to smiley. Give it a chance!
It might just work on yourself too!

“You’re never fully dressed without a smile”

27 Wednesday Jan 2016

Posted by in Acts of Kindness, Attitude, Gratitude, Positivity

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I was so touched today when I was part of a discussion where one man thanked another for a compliment he had received from him earlier in the day.
It touched me because so few people give compliments anymore and the person involved said that he could not even remember the last time somebody had said something nice to him (sad world that we live in).
We complain a lot, we focus on the negatives, we fight when we get poor service, and we expect a lot from people in general.
It is so easy to get caught up in that spiral of negativity.

So let us start a new mission:
Everyday, say something nice to somebody.  Not just to somebody that you know or to a family member. Give a compliment to a stranger.
I make it my personal mission to always comment on a cashier’s hairstyle or a security guard’s smile.  I like to tell somebody that they are looking good.  OK, it is probably explains a lot about why I get more marriage proposals than the average person but so be it.
Tell someone that you are proud of them and very importantly, tell your friends and family that you love them!

Everyday that you walk into work or school – smile!
Even if you don’t feel that happy – smile anyway.  Because if you smile, you will probably get a smile back in return.  You will probably feel better for smiling anyway – you know – “turn that frown upside down”?
Or to quote Annie (yes, I watched the original movie numerous times and the latest version twice….) “you’re never fully dressed without a smile”

And my favourite thing to do… always – random acts of kindness.
If you would love somebody to do something nice for you, chances are that somebody would love something nice from you.
Small little things – today it was a packet of peppermints that I gave to a colleague battling with morning sickness.
I promise that you will feel good doing it.
And yes, it is difficult to be the one always giving and not receiving but be the nicer person.

Eleanor Roosevelt wrote in her book You learn by living: Eleven Keys for a more fulfilling life:
“Happiness is not a goal, it is a by-product. Paradoxically, the one sure way not to be happy is deliberately to map out a way of life in which one would please oneself completely and exclusively. After a short time, a very short time, there would be little that one really enjoyed. For what keeps our interest in life and makes us look forward to tomorrow is giving pleasure to other people.”

And let me tell you this:
You are wonderful!

Happy 2016!

06 Wednesday Jan 2016

Posted by in Advice, Attitude, Being brave, Change, Creativity, Life journey, Self growth

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Happy new year everyone!
I hope that this is going to be a year of self discovery, learning and finding peace.

Those of you who have been around me or have been reading my blog for years (thank you very much!) know that I hate the concept of new year’s resolutions.
Yet, I make them anyway because when do you get a greater time to make change than from the very beginning of a brand new year?
That doesn’t mean that you can’t make resolutions whenever you want – make them as often as you want. Don’t worry either if you fail on one of your resolutions, keep trying or take the failure as a clear indicator that you need to do things differently for a change.

Here are some of the things that I have decided to do for 2016 (and I would love it if you joined me in one or two or all of them):

1.  Care less.  It sounds horrible but I know that I care too much about too many people.  My very kind friends have told me that caring is part of my personality and that I shouldn’t change but I am trying to care a little bit less so that I make a little more time for myself and my happiness.

2.  Always (ok, close to often) have well manicured nails – the first thing that people see when they reach out their hand to greet you is your hands.  A well groomed hand says a lot.  Buy that funky coloured nail varnish…

3. Smile more – before people shake your hands, they notice your face (I hope).  Smile! Even if you don’t necessarily feel like smiling, if you make yourself look happier, you generally feel more positive and so does the person who is looking at you.  Unless you are grimacing – don’t grimace!

4. You may meet shy people who don’t look you in the eye and don’t extend their hand to you.  They tend to look down when they talk to you – which leads me to my next point: wear awesome shoes!
If you don’t feel awesome, then wear nervous breakdown shoes, which is a whole other story.

5. Learn a new skill this year – creativity is the one thing that absolutely keeps me calm so I am going to learn a new craft.  You can learn a new skill, gain a new hobby, sign up for a new course (remember that there are thousands of free online courses) or just teach yourself something that you’ve always wanted to do.

6. Do something that scares you – choose to do the thing that you have been putting off, confront someone who needs confronting,  go ahead and book that bungee jump (I won’t be joining you but feel free to do it anyway)

7. Be less worried about order and control and therefore, I am going to calmly only have 7 points on my list even though my logical brain is telling me to keep it even – a nice number like 10.  Sometimes, we have to live a little chaotically and see what will happen and where life will take us with less planning and less need to have control.

I would love to hear what your plans for the year are.
Let’s make it wonderful!

Smile! It really can make a difference

14 Thursday Nov 2013

Posted by in Attitude, Moods, Positivity

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I’ve spent a ridiculous amount of time this week speaking to call centre agents.
Actually let’s be honest, I’ve spent a ridiculous amount of time this week shouting at, pleading with and arguing with call centre agents.
Firstly, I have nothing against call centre agents, and if you are one, you have my utmost respect because I think that it is honestly one of the hardest jobs in the world – especially if you have to deal with impatient people like me.
The thing is that when I make that call, I am usually stressed because I need to sort out something that isn’t working – otherwise I wouldn’t be needing to call in, would I? And that makes me a little bit intolerant and irritable to start with, but if you are rude to me, then that is not going to help to resolve the issue much is it?

What is amazing is that there is such a difference between the way I have been treated by the people that I have spoken to this week.  Some people are so polite and helpful and others are just downright rude and show little interest in trying to help me.

It is said that how people treat you is a direct result of how they feel about themselves.
So that leads me to believe that a call centre agent who is rude to me, has got issues that have got absolutely nothing to do with me.  And the important thing is that when I put the phone down, I don’t take the negative service that I received personally. And I definitely shouldn’t say that the entire company is terrible or that they generally give poor service because of one person’s attitude.

How often do we take it so personally when people treat us badly or insult us?
Unless you know that you had done something to irritate that person – deliberately or non-deliberately – it is NOT about you!
Your happiness or friendliness might even irritate that person because they feel so low about themselves that your good mood threatens them, or makes them jealous.
Rather than worry about how others treat you – spend your energy looking inwards.
Look at how you treat others.  Focus on how you feel about yourself and how you would like others to feel when they are around you.

So, here’s my “revenge” plan and I’ve put it to good use today:
Treat everyone that you meet with respect;  treat strangers like long lost friends; smile at everyone;  ask somebody how they are and stop to really listen to the answer.
Yes, there may be negative, miserable people that we are going to encounter in our lives, but there are also people whose lives you may touch and even change – just by being you!