“Focus on Good Memories and Things That Make You Smile” by Joan Y. Edwards
Do you know how difficult it is not to focus on the problem? I’ll bet you do.
It’s difficult to focus when someone dies. It’s difficult to focus close to the time of a great happening – Wedding, Confirmation, First Communion, Baseball Game, Soccer Game, Football Championship, Job Interview, Pitch with Editor, Doctor’s Appointment, Operation, etc., etc., etc.
When you’re having trouble focusing, it means you have too much going on. It’s time to take a breather. Give your body and mind time to rest.
Take a deep breath. Hold your hands above your head, but out front where you can see them when you look up. Hold your fingers wide open. Breath in peace, understanding, love, patience, benignity, trust, wisdom, and any other quality you want to receive. Breath out misunderstanding, lack of control, nervousness, distrust, and any other negative feeling.
Think about all the happy moments in your life. Replay them like a video in your mind. Playing in the dirt as a kid. Making magic medical potions with red pokeweed berries or pokeberry weeds. We used to squoosh them and they made really dark red juice. It stained your clothing and your hands. But it was great fun. As an adult, I learned that unless you use the young shoots and cook them just right, they are poisonous. We never ate them. The lyrics for Poke Salad Annie tell more about it. We dyed old rags. We were smarter than we thought.
Jump double-dutch to 100. I didn’t exactly jump as fast as these guys in the video link here, but I had to jump fast to jump both ropes. The trick sometimes is getting two people who can keep turning the rope constantly at the same rate so you get into a rhythm.
Play hopscotch for hours.
Eat an apple sitting in the top of an apple tree in a field next door to our house on Birch Street in Falls Church, Virginia.
One thing about it. Writing down your memories like this helps you focus on the happy things. It changes your mood for the better. It helps unstick the thoughts that plague your mind that are focused on the problem and building it up bigger and bigger. After remembering the happy things, usually in 24 hours your emotions calm down. Your body and mind calms down. When you are calm, you can think clearly and find the best solution for you to make the problem disappear. You’ll feel better.
Try it. Perhaps you’ll like it.
Thank you for reading my blog. Celebrate you today. Do something fun for you.
Never Give Up
Joan Y. Edwards
Copyright © 2012 Joan Y. Edwards