Tag Archives: how to be positive

Richard Branson’s 10 Favourite Quotes on Positivity

Posted on June 30, 2015 | 1 comment

quoth heYou know that when one of the most optimistic people in the world references other people’s optimistic quotes, then they’re gonna be good.  And they are.

But before you click on the link, here’s a few from Sir Optimism himself:

“My general attitude to life is to enjoy every minute of every day. I never do anything with a feeling of, ‘Oh God, I’ve got to do this today.”
~ Richard Branson

“Business opportunities are like buses, there’s always another one coming.”
~ Richard Branson

“Personally, I see any glass half full as an opportunity to top it up, start a conversation and perhaps spark a great new idea.”
~ Richard Branson

“Through the right people focusing on the right things, we can, in time, get on top of a lot, if not most of, the problems of this world. And that’s what a number of us are trying to do.”
~Richard Branson

Brilliant!

And now…da da-da da!…the quotes that inspire Sir Richard Branson himself. (Which have in turn, inspired me, and I’m willing to bet will inspire you too.)

Oh, and btw, at the bottom of his post, don’t miss his top 10 quotes on other aspects of life too.

Richard Branson’s Top 10 Quotes on Positivity

Did you find these inspiring? What are some of your favourite inspirational quotes?  Share them below. 

Richard Branson quotes from BrainyQuote

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The Tree, The Apple, The Distance

Posted on June 4, 2013 | 2 comments

medium_3174097944As a parent, as all parents, I have tried to instill my values in my children. 

I have spoken to them countless times about the environment and our part in protecting it.

About good nutrition, although I admit, I am not the best role model at the moment – chocolate, yum! – potato chips, equally yum!

About smoking and drugs and the dangers to their health.

About how to treat people with equality and kindness.

And I have tried to model those values on a daily basis.

So, I am proud to report that my eldest apple has not fallen far from the tree.

A budding journalist, for her first-ever post as Postscript Editor of her university paper, she chose to write about…Positivity.

I couldn’t be more proud.

Please take a moment to read her take on positivity in the wake of misfortune or tragedy.  here

And thanks to the trees from which I too have not fallen far,
for most of my values are theirs.

When have you noticed or experienced a positive outcome after a negative event? Please share it below.

photo credit: photo credit: <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/gemella/3174097944/”>LaGemella</a&gt; via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a&gt; <a href=”http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/”>cc</a&gt;

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How To Tune Into Your Sub-Conscious

Posted on January 10, 2013 | 3 comments

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I wonder what percentage of people have a song in their head – ALWAYS.

I’m not talking about an ‘earworm’; a catchy popular song or jingle that is over-played on the radio and works it’s way into your head and repeats for the day.  I’m talking about a line or a lyric of any song, from any era, at any moment of any day, that is playing often on a loop – a seemingly endless loop.  Sometimes the same song will play for days.

Do you know what I’m talking about?

Are you one of those people?

I am.  I don’t know when it started but I noted it in my teens.

For me, if there is a song on the radio, that becomes the song in my head but once the radio is off, my internal frequency picks up its own signal and the beat goes on.  Perhaps this is why I don’t often turn on the radio, throw on a CD or plug in my iPod while I’m alone in the house.  There is no need for external music when the internal juke box is playing my song.

Once, while on a camping trip deep within protected wilderness grounds, I suddenly noticed an absence of internal tunes.  I literally stopped what I was doing, aware of the foreign silence.  The next day as we drove toward the park’s boundary, the music returned.  It was both welcome and not.

I’ve often wondered why that happened or why myself and others, yet not everyone, have this ability or anomaly.

Are we some sort of radio receivers? 

When I approach a radio, often the signal will go off frequency and return once I move away.  I joke that it is my animal magnetism that is causing the fluctuation but I wonder if I am emitting an electro-magnetic field from all the gunk I’ve absorbed from the state of the environment we live in today.

At one time I was seeing a naturopath and I mentioned to her of my constant sonatas and she responded very sincerely that I should pay close attention to this internal music for it is a porthole to my subconscious – particularly upon waking.

Each morning that I awoke unassisted by the radio, including if I were to awake in the middle of the night, I was to note what song, and particularly which line or lyric was playing in my head.  This would be a window to my soul.  An indication of what my true thoughts and feelings were given whatever was happening in my life at the time.

This has become a habit and has proved most insightful.

I don’t remember many of my dreams and dream interpretation, although very interesting, is in my opinion very subjective. For instance, if I dream about swimming, could that simply mean I like swimming, or could it mean something deep like I am infantile and am swimming in the womb, or could it mean that I am feeling like I am drowning and am trying to get a way from some stress in my life?

But paying attention to the line or lyric that is playing in my head upon waking has at times surprised me, often confirming a far off feeling, and has provided ah-ha moments like no dream interpretation ever has.

So perhaps it has nothing to do with radio reception and I can stop worrying that an alien civilization will one day make contact through me via their inter-stellar FM station.

Perhaps it means that I am so out of sync with my true feeling that I have these constant messages trying to get me to pay attention and perhaps those few days in the park, where I was relaxed and at peace, there was no need for a skipping record to play the same line over and over telling me how I was feeling because I was taking a break from the daily grind and was actually letting feelings filter in.

Or perhaps it means that I am so in tune (no pun intended) with my subconscious that I am in constant sync with it.  A highly involved individual – prime for alien connection.

Regardless of my evolutionary state, Waking Lyric Observance (my phrase) has helped me note the negatives in my life and therefore aided me in being able to confront them allowing positivity to shine through.

And after all, having a constant melody to accompany your daily tasks is like living in a movie – my own personal soundtrack – and that’s pretty positive, for the most part.

If you are like me, pay attention to the lyrics that repeat in your head.  It may bring a whole new meaning to waking up!

Bring on the music and dance! The aliens are waiting.

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<a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexkerhead/4933944478/”>alexkerhead</a&gt; via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a&gt; <a href=”http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/”>cc</a&gt;

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Bright-Side of the Web: Skating on Thin Ice

Posted on December 7, 2012 | Comments Off on Bright-Side of the Web: Skating on Thin Ice

Before I introduce today’s Bright-Side of the Web, if you celebrate Hanukkah, I want to wish you peace and love and a very

Happy Hanukkah!

In today’s Bright-Side, National Geographic photographer, Paul Nicklen, shares his awesome (literally, awesome) photographs and his adventures as a wildlife photographer in the arctic and antarctic.

If you can’t spare the time to watch the entire program, be sure to watch the first five minutes, although I’m sure you will have a hard time pulling yourself away.

Our polar ice is melting and something must be done. Paul Nicklen will show you why.

Share your comments on this video.

 

video credit: http://www.ted.com/talks/paul_nicklen_tales_of_ice_bound_wonderlands.html

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Recalling Happier Days

Posted on December 6, 2012 | 6 comments

The winter holidays of “kiddom” * likely conjure up some of your best memories of childhood.

Gathering at the local toboggan hill, you lined up at the top, mounted your trusty sled and raced your buddy to the bottom both seeing if you could break the record for who would go the farthest and the fastest only to run back up and do it again. Or perhaps you both piled onto the same sled, rushing to get your feet in, legs wrapping around legs, pushing yourselves forward with knitted mittens caked with tiny damp snow balls, tumbling sideways off the toboggan as you neared the finish. You would both grab hold of the rope and scramble up the hill again, toboggan in tow.

Making snowmen at morning recess and hoping the big kids didn’t knock it down by lunchtime.

Writing letters to Santa, wondering if he’ll have time to reply and desperately hoping you’d been good enough all year to get your wish which you revealed in confidence to the big man himself.

Excursions to the tree farm to select the perfect specimen to grace your home for the holidays. One worthy enough for the home-made ornaments.

Rushing through dinner so you wouldn’t miss a minute of your favourite holiday classic.

And on Christmas eve, tuning into the radio to listen to the reports from the airforce on where they last spotted an unidentified object flying through the sky which every kid knew without a doubt or hesitation was Santa, then racing off to bed “uncharacteristically early”*.

In our house, as the Christmas cards arrived in the mail, my mother would tape them to the wall behind our dining room table. As the month passed, the collection grew. Bright and cheery images added to the holiday decor. Inevitably, there would be at least one pair of matching cards, sometimes two, and we would make a game out of trying to find the match.

On Saturday mornings, my father would get up early and drive my best friend and I to the local outdoor skating rink, often arriving at 7:00am. (at least that’s how I remember it).  The place was vacant. We had the entire rink to ourselves. He would leave us to skate to our hearts content. Where he went, if he even went anywhere, I do not know and never considered until only a few years ago. All I knew was, we were alone, we always felt safe, and we were given the freedom to do what we loved. We would practice our twirls and try to add jumps and would race from one end to the other. My father would arrive to pick us up again just as the official public hours would begin and snack bar would open.  We rode home with dreams of olympic glory in our futures; the next Dorothy Hamills.

When my children were small, I began the tradition of giving them one new ornament each year.  As we decorated the tree as a family, just before the final one was hung, I would present them with that year’s ornament. My hope is that when the time comes for them to have a tree of their own, to decorate with a family of their own, that they will begin their new lives built on happy memories. Hanging among their shiny new ornaments will / that each ornament they unwrap from their past will recall a happy memory from their childhood days which they can use as a base from which to branch out.

What’s your happiest holiday childhood memory?

* “kiddom” – from A Christmas Story
* “uncharacteristically early” – from Miracle on 34th Street (1994)
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Video Credits: YouTube

 

 

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10 Ways to Keep the ‘Happy’ in ‘Holidays’

Posted on December 4, 2012 | Comments Off on 10 Ways to Keep the ‘Happy’ in ‘Holidays’

Today is December 4th. Christmas morning is a mere twenty-one days away.  “Are you ready?”, is the common question you hear. “Finished your shopping yet?”, is the other.
I don’t know much about the other religious holidays that occur at this time of year; I have a vague understanding of some. Christmas is the holiday I celebrate, so all I can speak to is how Christmas is observed in my part of the world, and in my immediate surroundings.

Basically, there is an over-hanging stressfulness that envelopes this holiday. Families are trying to sort out plans about who will be where and when, and is it possible for us all to get together on the same day, and why not, and when will we see you if we can’t?

Then there’s the who-do-we-have-to-buy-gifts-for discussions? Followed by the what-shall-we-get-them brainstorming sessions. Which logically is followed by rushing off to stores whenever the time allows to complete the list of requests and decisions, if you’re lucky. Sometimes you have no idea what to buy someone so you spend hours searching for just the right thing that you hope they will like and use and benefit from.

I’m drawing a bit of a glum light on things. There is of course the other side of this equation; that you really want to get something special for someone because you love them so much and want to shower them with gifts to show your appreciation for their existence in your life.

The difference is the having to buy versus the wanting to buy. 

But regardless, there is shopping involved and generally a lot of it with many people spending more than their lifestyle can afford thus bringing on the dreaded PMS: post-merchandise stress. How are you going to pay off your credit card when you are barely making payments for your monthly household expenses?

With twenty-one days to go before the big day, I feel it is an appropriate time to reflect on the meaning of this celebration; at least the meaning as I see it.  To me, Christmas is meant as a time to surround yourself with loved-ones. To spend quality time and celebrate the joy that they bring to your life.

Yes, there are some gifts. Gifts of items that people have been needing, some are things that people just want. But in our house, over the years, the gifts have become less important and the gathering more so.

Today, the only people I buy gifts are for my children and spouse. We have done away with gifts to extended family and friends.

Making New Traditions

For friends, and this was mutually agreed upon years ago with a sigh of relief from all, we make time to spend time together. The holidays get so busy that sometimes the month goes by and you realize that the time you spent with friends, if any time was spent with friends at all, was quick and impersonal. So, each of my friends and I set a date to get together for a dinner out – no-one cooks – and we make sure we have hours available to sit and enjoy each other’s company. We give each other the gift of our time; a precious gift indeed. And this gift comes with a bonus; it has the wonderful effect of de-stressing us during this busy time and fuels our spirit to face the foray.

For family; that being brothers, sisters, parents, nieces, nephews, grandchildren; everyone that isn’t your own children or spouse, we began a tradition about twelve years ago that we still carry on today. Rather than buy all sorts of gifts that no-one needs, we gather for dinner (on the big day or another one), and at some point before dinner, each of us puts money in a pot. There is no set amount. Each donates what they feel they can afford. No mention of it is made. We just catch up on news in each others’ lives and mill around the kitchen preparing the feast while nibbling on goodies set out to enjoy. Once the meal has been devoured, the pot is retrieved and the money is counted. Suggestions are made as to where this year’s donation will go and one or two options are selected as a group. We have bought fruit trees for Africa, medical supplies for needy regions, bicycles for rural Cambodia, mosquito nets for areas with malaria, donations to local foundations and hospitals.

We started this tradition when my children were six and nine years old. They never once asked why they couldn’t get more gifts. Instead, at the beginning of December, they would start saving their pennies and doing extra chores so that they could donate too.

With my in-laws, the numbers are much smaller, but the tradition is same.  However, rather than donate to a pot, each of the families selects a charity in need and the children make a short presentation about why they selected the particular group and present the other families with an information card or small poster as a token of the gift. The amount donated is never revealed; it is only the gesture that is shared. Each gives what they can afford.

So, I promised you 10 ways to keep the ‘Happy’ in ‘Holidays’ so here are my suggestions in no particular order:

  1. Shop with a list and a budget and stick to it. Can you decrease your list?
  2. Make time to be with your friends
  3. Make time to sit down with your family and share your favourite holiday movie
  4. Play your favourite holiday music, loud, and sing along while you are doing your holiday preparations
  5. Make time for yourself; unwind in a hot bath, read a book, just be sure to relax
  6. Take the time to create traditions
  7. Focus on giving; volunteer, donate
  8. Stay mindful of your mood; if you’re upset, it probably isn’t worth doing
  9. Reduce your must-do list; what can you ask someone to help you with?
  10. Evaluate your priorities. Create memories that people will cherish.

In twenty-two days it will all be over. Start thinking now about what will really matter on December 26th.

Share some of your holiday traditions.

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Bright-Side of the Web: Before I Die…

Posted on November 30, 2012 | 2 comments

“It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day and forget about what really matters to you.” Candy Chang.

Join Ms. Chang as she describes her experiences turning neglected spaces into constructive ones.  With this particular experiment, Candy says, “Thinking about death clarifies your life.”

As we bring November to a close and step into the time of year where people start planning their resolutions, think about Candy’s message.

How would you answer the question:
Before I die I want to…

30-Day Challenge: Day 30! Yipee!!

Well, how did you do? Did you make it all the way without stumbling?
If you stumbled, did you shake it off and keep going, knowing it was but a mere bump and nothing to make you give up?

I’m proud to say that I stayed away from bread for the entire month.  Not once did I have sandwich bread, bagels, croissants, waffles, english muffins, muffins of any kind or pizza. 

How did I find a month without bread? Ok, not bad, sort of hard, sort of easy.
I never once craved it but it made it more difficult to think of what to eat.  My go-to toast and jam or egg and cheese on an english muffin made me have to reach for something else or modify my standard fare – just eggs with no toast for instance.  

I did, I admit, eat more pasta than I usually do which perhaps was the reason I didn’t crave bread.  I also ate a few crackers.  They weren’t on my list so I felt they were ‘safe’ but I did limit them to much less than I would have had normally.
I had hoped that this challenge would kick-start some weight loss for me but not even a pound was shed (likely thanks to the pasta). 

What’s for dinner tomorrow? Likely pizza. I did miss pizza.

Share your experience with your 30-Day Challenge.
Are you planning a 30-Day Challenge for December? What will you do?
And don’t forget to answer ‘Before I die, I want to…’ 

Video credit: http://www.ted.com/talks/candy_chang_before_i_die_i_want_to.html

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Happy Grateful Day, Again.

Posted on November 22, 2012 | 2 comments

Today marks Thanksgiving for my American neighbours to the south.

As stated in an earlier post, Canadian Thanksgiving happened more than a month ago.  It seems a bit odd that these two virtually equal events would be celebrated at such different times of the year but looking on the Bright-Side, it gives yet another time to stop and ponder for all that we are grateful.

We all lead busy lives, rushing to do what must get done and adding what didn’t onto the list of yet-to-do’s.  Planning for this, accomplishing that, starting the next thing; with head down, nose to the grind-stone, forging ahead.

It is nice to be able to stop and reflect on all the good in our lives, even if we have to be told to do it.  And with Thanksgiving as a national holiday, the collective stopping is refreshing and enlivening.

So whether or not you are officially celebrating Thanksgiving today, take at least a moment out of your day and make a mental list of all the blessings in your life. You may be surprised at the length of your list.

Happy November 22nd, Everyone!
I am thankful you stopped by.

What are you thankful for today?

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Positive Ponderings: Lifestyle Coordinator

Posted on November 19, 2012 | Comments Off on Positive Ponderings: Lifestyle Coordinator

If I had the power to change your title to

 

Lifestyle Coordinator,

 

what would you do to help your next client:

You?

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Bright-Side of the Web: Soul Pancake

Posted on November 16, 2012 | 4 comments

You avid Oprah.com fans may already know about Soul Pancake but they are a new discovery for me and one I am so happy to have found.  I can’t tell you how much time I have spent watching their videos.  They are inspiring!

Soul Pancake is a small group of people who set up interesting, innovative and exciting ways for people to share their joy.  I want to join their team! How great would that job be?

Here are links to just a few of my favourite projects and seriously, I had a difficult time narrowing it down. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry (in a good way) and I’m sure you will continue to explore the site and discover the rest for yourself. (Sorry, I can’t do anything about the commercials at the beginning of some, but at least they are short).

Soul Pancake: Chatterbox.  I love this one!

Soul Pancake: Heart Attack  Not what you’re thinking. Trust me, you’ll like it. 

Soul Pancake: Listen Up!  Hmmm, kinda like my post “Go Ahead, Make My Day!”

Soul Pancake: Good News.  My philosophy exactly!

Soul Pancake.  A very Bright-Side of the Web!  Happy Friday!

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

30-Day Challenge – Day 16

We’re half way through the November 30-Day Challenge!
How are you doing? Still sticking with it?
Don’t worry if you had a slip-up or two.  Just re-focus and forge ahead!
So far, so good for me. There were a couple of close calls. Habits are hard to break but luckily I remembered about the challenge in time to catch myself.  What I have noticed though is there are so many pizza commercials!! 

15 days down, 15 to go. 

photo credit: http://photopin.com
flickr.com/photos/_sk/3333996738/

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