SMILE

Read today SP feature article, A Focused-Solution Approach to Weight-Loss. And it really struck a chord with me. I tend to let my problems overcome my good sense.

It said to look for the exception that proves the rule. No problem happens all the time. No matter how often you don’t do as well as you’d like, there are always times when you do better than others, and it’s usually not an accident—there’s something about these positive times that makes your work much easier. The trick is to figure out what that something is, and how you can make it happen more often.

When I have a lot of issues in my life, my eating changes for the worse, I don't exercise like I should, the housework doesn't get done, etc. But when everything is going as it should, I eat well, I exercise to my limit, I go a bit beyond on the housecleaning, and I'm sure I'm easier to get along with. Solution?

SP says a good way to keep a more even keel is to remember a recent time when things went well, and simply ask yourself what you did differently that time, or what was different about that situation. For example, was it easier to make the right choice because you were in a better mood? If so, what got you in that mood, and how can you get that to happen more often? What were you thinking about or doing the last time you made the choice you’d like to make most of the time? Can you find a way to spend more time thinking or doing that (or something similar) now?

The easest and fastest thing I can think of, while I'm sitting in my chair, that doesn't require anything extra, is to SMILE! Smiling always puts me in a better mood. And it makes the people around me in a better mood, too.