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Hi this is Linda Gullo welcoming you to Mini Miracles from Minor Moments where the smallest moments can add up to make your days full of joy. This is Podcast # 52 on Forging ahead through times of trouble. We’d be foolish to think that all of life is easy, but life is challenging and it is hard to stay on top of it all.
For many of us our faith in God and living with wholesome values helps us stay on task. So where does your strength come from? Is it God? Is it people around you? Those at work? or Family members?
Perhaps it comes in the form of reading good books? Often the brief escape into a Fictional piece of writing helps you filter things out in your head. OR you run to books filled with advice and hopefully learn from them?
I wrote a book several years ago called Erasing Adversity. IT was a book about the story of a man who underwent a series of medical issues following a life altering brain injury and how treatment, perseverance, and scrambling for resolution took a toll on the family around him. It was a book that was meant to give hope. It was to be relatable to everyone whether they have cancer, go bankrupt, or encounter grief of any kind. The need to read and share these sadnesses are meant to encourage one another.
I have a sign in my office that reads “all things are temporary!” We need to dream on and keep going. We need to set goals and work toward better tomorrows. We need to keep moving, creating, and finding new things to be interested in for ourselves and those around us. We need to include more people and events into our lives by inviting others to share in our joys and sorrows. This is not your tomorrow when things are wrong; it is just today. Tomorrow may be the surprising turn around day for you. Every day brings opportunities for turning things around.
So let’s talk about “instant motivation!”
One of my patients suggested that I discuss the weather and how it affects us. I thought that was an interesting topic because the traffic into my office depends a lot on the changing seasons and the weather. People including myself; even the smallest children are effected. The sun brings out what I refer to as the “Happy Chemicals.” People get more active and connect more with friends. Their aches and pain seem to subside or at least appear to be more tolerable.
Actually, I think a domino effect goes into play and it plays out like this:
- The sun comes out and brightens our moods.
- We raise the shades in our homes, put things away, and begin to declutter.
- We call friends, make plans, and go outside. We breath in the fresh air.
- We invite people over and they gladly come out of their routine to visit with us.
- We receive more handshakes and hugs.
- We commiserate with each others physical pains and recognize our own crosses aren’t as bad as, we may have thought.
- We learn ways to compensate and move more.
- The more we move and run errands that we had been putting off, the better our dispositions become. Why? Because we have start feeling accomplished and successful.
- We dress up more, put on better clothes, and get compliments. That in turn make us want to be out and about more.
- We socialize more in our yards and our patios with music. We might even begin to dance as I saw at a recent church affair where volunteers were being honored.
- So now we all begin to move more. For those with arthritis, exercise makes their discomfort more tolerable, and often gentle stretching may help back pain. Often exercise can help control asthma and the frequency of attacks. People with diabetes are able to lower their sugar levels with more walking and eating less of the wrong foods.
But all of these things happen as a result of the sun and the warmth it provides. When we are feeling better or moods improve, our thinking becomes clearer, and even our pets seem more playful. We tend to throw the frisbees or balls that otherwise have been sitting dormant in the corner of the yard. The positive relationships grow among family, friends, and neighbors. Our memories begin to work more consistently, because our conversations wakeup them up. And because we are more active and the days are brighter for longer, we sleep better.
Keeping variety in life begins a hardy cycle! So yes indeed the weather does have a ripple effect on us and how we think and act. Spring and summer allows us to clean out our garages and attics. Soon we will be seeing the ALL American garage sales pop up in our neighborhoods.
Now briefly onto another topic. I have been blessed with Mini Miracles Cafe. It is a group of women who are entrepreneurs in our local communities that are banding together to support and help one another. It is the first of this year and only one of many groups forming in our office. If you would like to be part of one of our groups at Delight in Living, please contact me at linda@delightinliving.com
Also feel free to send me topics you’d like to hear about here on the Podcast. Until next time, please remember that One step may lead you on to the escalator of success. Bye for now and have a super week. Enjoy the sunshine and all that it brings to light up your life.