Here is an article worth your attention :Becoming Minimlist. It is a list of things to do that will enrich your life and make you happier. A lot of the things on the list are things that I am currently working on; reading more, being grateful, going outside, exercising, praying, giving etc. He mentioned one idea and that is smiling. It doesn't work to plaster on a fake smile....it must go deeper than that. How many of us though fail to experience or display the joy of the Lord?
When I was a child, I had to walk about two miles to school.(Junior high) and on my way there and back, as I passed people on the street, I would give them a big smile and say "Hi!" It was sort of a game to me...If they smiled back it was one point. If they said "hi" it was two points. If they had a sour pickle face and responded with a smile or a greeting, it was double the points. Most often the sour faced people just looked surprised...Even though it was a "game," it always left me feeling good knowing that I had brightened someone's day. Actually I think I got more "feel good"s than the recipients of my smiles. In fact throughout high school I made a constant effort to smile more. This gained me some attention from people who always noticed my smile
Now, maybe because of the flattening of emotions caused by schizophrenia, I find that smiling does not come easily. But maybe with some conscious effort I can revive my smile. Part of the problem is that I have no one to smile to....stuck here in the house for a week at a time, seeing no one but occasionally my husband and daughter...it makes finding recipients of my smile difficult.
Another thing you can do (which is related to the "smile" but not the same) is to look for things you admire in people....a shirt, someone's shoes or hair style and say "I really like your....... It looks great on you." Someone did that to me once. It was during a time when I was feeling fat and horrible and some twenty-something girl said to me, "I love your shirt, What a great color on you!" And that completely made my day. I still smile thinking about it.
As far as getting out of the house,, that is hard here. My house is on the peak of a mountain which means the trip back, from either direction, is a steep climb... My legs are way too weak for that and asthma, too, makes it impossible. But I could go out in my yard. And do what? Weed the flower beds and maybe plant some new ones? Last year because of pain, I could not do it and let the flower/herb beds go to weed. I told myself that I would not have a garden this year....but the front will look awful without some growth. Can I really go without it? Every year I say "this is the last time" and every year I end up growing at least a few herbs.
The article I mentioned at the beginning of this blog also mentioned reading fiction. I do not read much fiction anymore...and that is, perhaps, a great loss. In my childhood I had read all of Charles Dickon's books and Les Miserables and other classics....And I loved them. My father has been reading some classics that he got from the Guttenberg Project website....all for free for his Kindle. I enjoy now reading memoirs and biographies. I have a lot of books on my Kindle waiting to be read. I really should not buy any more until I've read a great deal more of the books there. I also should spend less time dawdling around on the net and instead work on reading more books.
I do not want to give away all the suggestions made by the author of the article I read. It is worth your while to go to that website and read it for yourself. If you have not already settled on your goals for this year, perhaps you can build some based on this man's ideas.
Now, maybe because of the flattening of emotions caused by schizophrenia, I find that smiling does not come easily. But maybe with some conscious effort I can revive my smile. Part of the problem is that I have no one to smile to....stuck here in the house for a week at a time, seeing no one but occasionally my husband and daughter...it makes finding recipients of my smile difficult.
Another thing you can do (which is related to the "smile" but not the same) is to look for things you admire in people....a shirt, someone's shoes or hair style and say "I really like your....... It looks great on you." Someone did that to me once. It was during a time when I was feeling fat and horrible and some twenty-something girl said to me, "I love your shirt, What a great color on you!" And that completely made my day. I still smile thinking about it.
As far as getting out of the house,, that is hard here. My house is on the peak of a mountain which means the trip back, from either direction, is a steep climb... My legs are way too weak for that and asthma, too, makes it impossible. But I could go out in my yard. And do what? Weed the flower beds and maybe plant some new ones? Last year because of pain, I could not do it and let the flower/herb beds go to weed. I told myself that I would not have a garden this year....but the front will look awful without some growth. Can I really go without it? Every year I say "this is the last time" and every year I end up growing at least a few herbs.
The article I mentioned at the beginning of this blog also mentioned reading fiction. I do not read much fiction anymore...and that is, perhaps, a great loss. In my childhood I had read all of Charles Dickon's books and Les Miserables and other classics....And I loved them. My father has been reading some classics that he got from the Guttenberg Project website....all for free for his Kindle. I enjoy now reading memoirs and biographies. I have a lot of books on my Kindle waiting to be read. I really should not buy any more until I've read a great deal more of the books there. I also should spend less time dawdling around on the net and instead work on reading more books.
I do not want to give away all the suggestions made by the author of the article I read. It is worth your while to go to that website and read it for yourself. If you have not already settled on your goals for this year, perhaps you can build some based on this man's ideas.
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