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Health

Celebrate You

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“Don’t Wait – Celebrate You Now” by Joan Y. Edwards

Kool and The Gang Singing “Celebration” on You Tube

Play this now.

You are a gift to the world. It is essential to celebrate the little things that happen to you every day. Being happy and grateful for things will get your excitement stirred. It’s healing to celebrate. Sometimes I get excited by seeing a butterfly fly by. On the way to Ohio and back, I saw Monarch butterflies on I-77. I’m pretty sure the West Virginia Turnpike let them through without paying a toll. It’s amazing that they fly thousands of miles.

When I teach, I get excited when a light bulb goes off inside a student’s head and his eyes lit up. That is awesome.

Sometimes children and adults celebrate by saying, “Gimme Five” and slap hands way up high. What do you do with your hands when you celebrate? Do you hold them up high? Do you clap your hands?

I want you to get excited about you. I want you to celebrate your accomplishments big and small. If you celebrate the small ones, the excitement and confidence that you gain will lead you forward to the big ones for which your heart pines.

My mother lived to be 92. She used to say, “I just love living.” She was excited about living. Whether you are 5, 15, 25, 35, 45, 55, 65, 75, 85, 95, or 105 I hope you smile and say, “I just love living.”

Are you stuck in a negative mood? Are you speechless and/or clueless when it comes to celebrating? Here are a few reasons to celebrate you:

Reasons to Celebrate

  1. You are alive.
  2. Life is precious.
  3. God smiles when He looks at you.
  4. Celebrate you.
  5. You are able to read.
  6. You are able to walk.
  7. You are able to walk with a cane.
  8. You are able to walk with a walker.
  9. You are able to move the wheelchair yourself.
  10. You can see.
  11. You can see with glasses.
  12. You can’t see, but you can read braille.
  13. You can’t see but you have a seeing eye dog.
  14. You are able to smell.
  15. You can smell your breakfast cooking on the stove.
  16. You can smell and feel fire.
  17. You can touch things. Soft. Textured. Rough. Smooth.
  18. You have a job.
  19. If you don’t have a job, that you are able to fill out the application to get a job.
  20. You have skills that you can use to earn money.
  21. You have money.
  22. You know how to save money.
  23. You know how to budget money.
  24. You know how to wash clothes in a washer.
  25. You know how to fold and put a way clothes.
  26. You can sense danger.
  27. You can sense comfort.
  28. You have a roof over your head.
  29. You have a blanket to keep you warm.
  30. You have food to eat when you’re hungry.
  31. You have water to drink when you’re thirsty.
  32. You have family.
  33. You have friends.
  34. You have respect for life.

Things to do!

  1. Put fireworks in your heart.
  2. Have a party.
  3. Fix a special dinner.
  4. Take a walk.
  5. Play cards.
  6. Take photographs of nature.
  7. Take a ride on a bus.
  8. Visit a museum.
  9. Go to a car race.
  10. Go to watch a high school play football.
  11. Send your friend a card in the snail mail.
  12. Dance in your living room.
  13. Sing to the top of the roof.
  14. Climb a tree and look at the world through a new perspective.
  15. Go to church.
  16. Read the Bible.
  17. Go to a movie.
  18. Watch a show on a learning channel.
  19. Take a course to learn a new craft.
  20. Read a book to a child.
  21. Write a book for a child.
  22. Go window shopping at the mall.
  23. Call a friend on the phone.
  24. Write a letter to your husband or wife telling them why you love them.
  25. Take out the trash and items for recycling.
  26. Clean out the refrigerator.
  27. Help a friend do something they can’t do for themselves.
  28. Teach a friend a new skill.
  29. Wash the windows in your house on the inside.
  30. Draw a picture.
  31. Paint a picture.
  32. Go to the library and check out a party book.
  33. Write a poem. Check out #9 below for more ways to celebrate with poetry.
  34. Skip rocks across a pond.
  35. Read your favorite kind of book.
  36. Listen to your favorite kind of music.
  37. Copy your favorite quotes and put them on poster board on your bedroom door or bathroom door.
  38. Sit and talk with your best friend without the television or radio on. Turn off the cell phones, too.
  39. Walk in the rain.
  40. Go to a little league baseball game.
  41. Go watch your niece or nephew play soccer.
  42. Say a nursery rhyme backwards.
  43. Ride a bike on a safe street.
  44. Look through picture albums in the house or online.
  45. Swing and go down the slides at a park.
  46. Walk on the beach.
  47. Go on a street you’ve never traveled.
  48. Start a collection.

Below are references that will give you even more ideas to have laugh, have fun, and celebrate you! You are a gift that is continually being unwrapped during your life. Add a new ribbon or two. Don’t wait. Celebrate now.

  1. Christina Caldwell. Parenting. “4 Reasons to Throw an Everyday Celebration” http://www.sheknows.com/parenting/articles/838627/4-reasons-to-throw-an-everyday-celebration
  2. Days of the Year.com. Ways to celebrate each day of the year.  http://www.daysoftheyear.com/
  3. Linn Carlson Knowing the majesty of God: Words of wisdom for everyday life  Dayspring Cards 2000
  4. Living Life Fully.com. Celebration Quotes. http://www.livinglifefully.com/celebration.htm
  5. Mackenzie Burger. “Reasons to Celebrate” http://mackenzieburger.blogspot.com/
  6. Poets.org. “30 Ways to Celebrate:” http://www.poets.org/page.php/prmID/94
  7. Tracy O Connor “Day 51: Top 10 Ways to Celebrate You:” http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/top-10-ways-to-celebrate-you-all-are-simple-especially-7/

Thank you for reading my blog. I am very glad that you are here. Please leave a comment. Let me know your favorite reasons to celebrate and how you celebrate!

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Never Give Up
Joan Y. Edwards

Copyright © 2012 Joan Y. Edwards and Her Licensors

Health

Twelve Ways to Get Over Disappointment

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Disappointed Lady image
Copyright 2012 Joan Y. Edwards and her Licensors.

“Twelve Ways to Get Over Disappointment” by Joan Y. Edwards

At times it is difficult to get over disappointing news. You get frustrated with yourself. You are short-tempered with friends and family. You can’t see things clearly. Instead of a rosy situation, like you planned, it turned was a lousy, awful, humiliating, and embarrassing situation.  Instead of winning, you lost 55-0. Instead of getting the raise, you got fired. Instead of getting a job after 30 applications, you were turned down. You wish it hadn’t happened. You fill disappointed. Disappointment is anger, sadness, and resentment all dumped together at one time.

  1. You think it didn’t really happen. You block it out.
  2. You blame it on anyone and everyone that you have ever known.
  3. You proclaim to the whole world that it’s not fair.
  4. You tell the world that this particular experience wasn’t supposed to happen. The plans in your mind never wandered down this road of possibility.
  5. You might even tell the world that you knew all the time that this was going to happen. You were afraid of this particular thing.

Twelve Ways to Get Over a Disappointment
1. Accept that it happened, exactly like it did.
2. Take a walk or do other exercise.
3. Accept that there’s nothing you can do to change the fact that it happened. Pray that God give you peace about it and show you what to do.
4. Be thankful that something worse didn’t happen. Be thankful for all the good things in your life. Realize that you did the best you could with the information, feelings, and knowledge you had.
5. Think through what you can do to prevent something similar from happening again. If another person’s decision, disappointed you, realize that you are not in charge of other people’s decisions. The only person you are in charge of is yourself. If your own behavior disappointed you,  realize that no one’s perfect. Educate, inspire, and empower yourself. Know that you can figure out a better way of handling this emotionally. Respect and honor yourself.
6. Accept that even with the best planning in the world, it could happen again. However, if it does, you will survive. You will be fine. If you resist it and are extremely afraid of this happening again, you are increasing the chances of the situation repeating itself. What you fear, you make appear.
7. Focus on what you want. Change fearful thoughts. Think about what you want.
8. Talk with someone who is a good listener. Someone who won’t escalate your anger. Someone who won’t blame you or lay out a million reasons why you were at fault. Talk with someone who will empower you to find your solutions. Someone who believes you can figure this out. Someone who might offer possibilities. Someone who will help you brainstorm possibilities. Focus on the solutions in your mind.
9. Visualize yourself being okay.
10. Write down the steps that will keep this from happening again.
11. Take positive action. Do something you feel will lead toward a solution. Do something that will help you prevent this from happening again.
12. Find humor in what happened. Watch a funny movie. Read a funny book. Write about it as if a famous comedian were telling the story. If you can’t find humor in the situation, go ahead and cry. Crying is healing. It will level your emotions. Then you will be able to think clearly.  When you can laugh about it, it means that you have let it go.

Other Resources:

Thank you for reading my blog. Please let me know what helps when you feel disappointed.

Celebrate where you are!
Never Give Up
Joan Y. Edwards

Copyright © 2012 Joan Y. Edwards and her licensors.