Do you try to stay in a good mood as much as you can? What I’ve noticed is that first you’ve got to catch yourself in a bad mood and then you have to want to get out of it. Sometimes it’s just plain fun to wallow. But wallowing never helps the reason for the wallow in the first place. Sooner or later, like the line in that old song says, you've gotta, “Just pick yourself up, dust yourself off and start all over again.”

Would you agree that happy thoughts run at a higher frequency than say guilty or angry thoughts do? Have you ever noticed when you’re happy you’re kinder to others, more compassionate and understanding and you have way more energy?

Staying in a good mood takes watching how you feel and being selfish about how you feel. So here are 7 ways to get out of that bad mood as soon as you find yourself in one.

 

1. Pick out a happy feeling and feel it

When you’re in a really bad mood, take a minute and think of a happy time. You have many to choose from, so just pick one. Once you’ve picked one, dig it up. Remember the people and the circumstance. Hear the laughter and feel the love. We SHEs have such a grand ability to pull into our mind’s eye any occasion we wish to re-experience. 

How to stop worrying and doubting.

When you doubt, you’ve stopped trusting the power that created the Universe. Such a silly thing to do when it’s put that way, don’t you think? If you plugged a lamp into the socket, and the light didn’t go on, you’d figure either the bulb was burned out or you hadn’t paid the electric bill. In other words it would be something on your end that caused the light not to work. You would never doubt that the power of electricity was no long effective.

So when you doubt yourself or have doubts about some event or another person, the problem is on your end, because the power that created the Universe has your back and there's nothing to worry about. So how do you fix your end of this deal? I’ve come up with 6 ways to be positive so you can stay hooked into the joyful source of your life and see the truth that all is well.

1. Put yourself first

The most important thing to do when you feel doubt is think something that makes you feel good. Sometimes it helps to go outside to summon happy thoughts or read spiritual material that fills you with positive energy, or look through a travel magazine and focus on a dream vacation. Only you, know what will cheer you up. It really helps to build a list of thoughts that lift your spirits, so when you get down in the dumps you can refer to it. I call it my First Aid Kit.

The definition for “loser” depends on the circumstance in which a loser finds him or herself. One definition has to do with losing at a sport, gambling or some kind of game or competition.It sucks to lose, but if we’ve been raised by loving people who taught us how to be good losers, we spare ourselves being the “bad sport.”

So you lost at Monopoly and landed on Park Place laden with hotels, or you didn’t win the Miss America contest; boo hoo, big deal. It’s not like you fell off or climbed down from some social ladder, but you’re still considered a loser. Anyway, that’s not the kind of loser this blog is about.

SHEs are Natural Losers

I know for sure we SHEs (Sidetracked Home Executives) are losers, because we spend a lot of our valuable time looking for stuff. As SHEs, we’ve had a lot of experience calling the Lost & Found departments in various establishments like hotels, restaurants, theaters, airports etc. and like the guy who doesn’t take car maintenance seriously and becomes known by the local towing company in town, SHEs usually get to know the Lost & Found people in familiar institutions like the building at work, the kids’ school, your school, your gym etc.

In this blog, I’ll share two ways to curb the search for your stuff. In part 2, I share two other ways we lose; one from loss of loved ones through death or disease and one from theft.

 

Every year as I'm getting organized for Christmas, I start looking for the Christmas letter from the mouse family that lives in our house. Mrs. Cheddar (her name is Mozzarella) is the one who writes it and I’m sure she’s disorganized because I usually receive it in February. I’m always amazed that she finds the time to write at all, considering how busy she is with all those kids. 

 

Well, the letter came today and as usual I love sharing it with everybody (with her permission of course). 

 

Merry Christmas

Dear Friends,

Merry Christmas from Washington State! We hope you all had a great year! As most of you know we live in Terry and Pam’s house. Last year I told about living in their piano (until Pam discovered she couldn’t play the one and only Christmas Carole she knows, because we built our nest on some of the keys and when she hit them the notes didn’t play and of course we were busted!

 

One of my New Year’s Resolutions was to stay in a good mood as much as I can and what I’ve noticed is that first you’ve got to catch yourself in a bad mood and then you have to want to get out of it. I discovered, sometimes it’s just plain fun to wallow. But wallowing never helps the reason for the wallow in the first place. Sooner or later, like the line in that old song says, “Just pick yourself up, dust yourself off and start all over again.”

Would you agree that happy feelings run at a higher frequency than say guilty or angry feelings do? Have you ever noticed when you’re happy you’re kinder to others, more compassionate and understanding and you have way more energy?

Staying in a good mood takes living in the moment and watching how you feel and being selfish about how you feel. So here are 7 ways to get out of that bad mood as soon as you find yourself in one.

1. Pick out a happy feeling and feel it

When you’re in a really bad mood, take a minute and think of a happy time. You have many to choose from, so just pick one. Once you’ve picked one, dig it up. Remember the people and the circumstance. Hear the laughter and feel the love. We SHEs have such a grand ability to pull into our mind’s eye any occasion we wish to re-experience. 

How to stop worrying and doubting.

When you doubt, you’ve stopped trusting the power that created the Universe. Such a silly thing to do when it’s put that way, don’t you think? If you plugged a lamp into the socket, and the light didn’t go on, you’d figure the bulb was burned out or you hadn’t paid the electric bill. In other words it would be something on your end that caused the light not to work. You would never doubt that the power of electricity was no long effective.

So when you doubt yourself or have doubts about some event or other person, the problem is on your end, because the power that created the Universe has your back and there is nothing to worry about. So how do you fix your end of this deal? I’ve come up with 5 ways to get rid of doubt so you can stay hooked into the joyful source of your life and see the truth that all is well.

1. Put yourself first

The most important thing to do when you feel doubt is think something that makes you feel good. Sometimes it helps to go outside to summon happy thoughts or read spiritual material that fills you with positive energy, or look through a travel magazine and focus on a dream vacation. Only you, know what will cheer you up.

 

Have you learned valuable lessons outside of your home life that reflect on what goes on in your house? I'm in a chorus and I love all the women in it; all 110 of them! When I joined ten years ago, it was as if I had an instant set of new friends that shared one of my passions: singing harmony. I’d like to pass on to you some lessons I’ve learned from being in this family of singers that might help you have a happier family life.

 

1. LOVE

Love is the most important element in any happy group. Every one of the singers in my chorus loves music and loves what happens when we sing together with love as our reason to be doing it. Our supreme goal is to have that love reflected out to our audience, lifting each person and changing the atmosphere in the room.

Of course we love our families and when all of our “To Do” lists are crossed off and our fondest figuring outs are quieted; our love is the most important part of our experience as moms.

Child Locked in Antique Safe

A few years ago, I was at a grand opening of an internationally known bronze sculptor’s establishment. It was held in an historic building that has been restored to its original integrity. After the festivities, a child accidentally closed the door to an antique, walk-in safe, seeming to seal her younger cousin inside! The mother of the child in the safe went nuclear!

She had been one of the main organizers of the event and all the fussing and preparation for the big ceremony paled to the agony of this mother as she stood on the outside of the safe in hysterical horror. As it turned out, the safe had not locked. All it took was a screwdriver and a few minutes to nudge the heavy door open.

What I observed was a mother who was instantly reminded of what was really important in her life. Love of her child. Organizing the event, which I’m sure had consumed much of her time, was insignificant compared to her child’s life in that moment.

2. JOY

When I get worried, one of the best things I can do is sing. I belong to a fabulous chorus and once a week on rehearsal nights I sing for five hours straight. I’ve noticed that if anything was bothering me before I start singing, by the time I get back home I have no worries! I think much of our worry is habit and it’s good to find ways to curb unnecessary worry and know all is well. 

Aside from doing something you love to do, I learned a valuable lesson when worry crops up. A few years ago on a beautiful Sunday morning, I decided to visit a new church near Portland, Oregon. I got the address and Terry, my husband, went out to the car and programmed it into our new GPS for me. Back then I didn’t quite trust the thing. (Once it got me going in circles and I’d have circled for hours if I hadn’t recognized the same barn, for the third time.) 

Because I was not sure of the new gadget, I backed myself up with MapQuest. It said the church was a little over an hour from my home and mostly freeway. I set off out of Woodland, Washington and before I’d gone two miles, Victoria (that’s the name I gave her) popped up in a breathy British accent, “Take the next exit right.”