Spring brings flowers, showers and sunshine

"Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather." ~John Ruskin

**disclaimer - I do not recommend getting a sun tan, that's not "soaking up the sun" type of advice I am giving. I am all for healthy, young skin & 0 cancer!

Welcome home Spring (my second favorite season of the year.) Or maybe it is my favorite. I go back in forth with Autumn and Spring...

Regardless, these beautiful skies we are experiencing is almost too much. How can you NOT smile? Though, I can assure you - when you a have a few Eeyores in your life, those black clouds come swooping back in.

According to my car, it was a beautiful 88 degrees today. Yeah - 88 is Spring for us, and it only lasts for about 1 month, then we dive right into the depth of summer weather. My windshield had a bit of pollen on it, and there are a couple of bumble bees swarming around my window. They were mating, I assume - and pollinating the world.  Earlier today I went into the bathroom, and noticed a small bumble bee was at the window. At first, I panicked. I thought - eek.. I need to kill it. Then I thought, wait a minute - this is a smaller bumble bee, I assume it is young (I really don't know) - so, I just left it, thinking - well, it will probably die.

Then I noticed it was buzzing at the window next to the couch, trying desperately to get out. I saw the other bees buzzing around that very window (from the outside.) I decided to try and save the little fellow. I got a cup and a cd case. I trapped the guy and quickly covered the opening of the cup. I took him outside - and away he flew. I am sitting here now - looking out the window at the two big bees.. and guess who has joined them - the little guy. Who knows? Maybe they were a family - regardless.. I know they have a LOT of work to do.

Those adorable bees made me think of my own life. They are working so hard, and carrying a body that technically their little wing span should not be able to keep afloat. They come out and pollinate our yards - and in turn, the beauty of spring is upon us. They are the messengers of love. They take that pollen and make other flowers grow. It's a beautiful thing. I will I could bottle up their motivation and have a cup of it each morning.

A cup of sunshine is needed, oh so needed, right now. I have decided on this first day of Spring to purge the toxins and dirt from my life. That includes the "sucky" attitudes of those I love and am acquainted with. I think I will create a protective bubble that will keep me safe. I need to try that whole affirmation thing. I need to pray more. I need to create more. I need to soak up more sunshine. (It is supposed to be a natural mood elevator.) As well as - exercise... it will make me feel loads better.

Spring has to be a rebirth for the world, and now it can be rebirth of my mind. This is it folks.. we are on borrowed time. No time to waste. The older I get, the more cynical I get and the less I trust people.  It doesn't matter how it all ends (heck we all end up dead) - I need to pull out that fabulous girl I used to be and just radiate the light that God has given me.

I was looking through some articles online, and I actually found some advice on how to chase away the dark clouds and bring more sunshine in your life! There are so many tips.. 9 ways to do this.. 7 ways to do that.. I am going to cut and paste the options I think would best fit my life:

Nicole's Way to More Sunshine in Her Life

1. Appreciate as much as you can. This is one of those very simple things you can do to bring more positivity in to your life. I have also found appreciation to be a great way to turn an angry, sad and frustrated mood around to a more positive one.What about you? What do you do to keep more sunshine in your life??


2. Stop comparing yourself to others. If you don´t then you´ll just create a lot of unnecessary pain in your life. If you pass one person then you´ll just find another person more successful than you. And your brief sense of being a winner will transform once again into anxiety, fear, tummy-aches and possibly heart-attacks.

3. Realize that it is possible to choose how you react. You don´t have live your life in reaction. You have a choice. There is always a gap between stimuli and reaction. If you focus on that gap it will widen and although it might seem in the beginning like stimuli and your reaction are tied together that is not the case.

4. Educate yourself. Self-education can be a great help to live a more positive life. Read great books on the areas of your life you want to improve. Maybe it’s it your financial situation. Or your health. Or your relationships. Ask people with more success in that area than you what they did to improve.

5. Act as if. Your emotions work backwards too. So even if you don´t feel positive, confident, calm or decisive you can act like it. And after you have done that for a few minutes, guess what happens? You will actually start to feel positive, confident, calm or decisive.

6. Live in the now. Don´t let your thoughts drift into the past or future more than necessary. It’s often a sure-fire way to start negative loops of thoughts in your mind.

7. Do some mental rehearsal. This is great way to improve your performance and decrease anxiety in any upcoming situation. Maybe you´re heading into a meeting soon. Then visualize now how great the events will unfold – see and hear it – and also how great will you feel at this meeting.

8. Redefine failure. Michael Jordan once said: “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

9. Focus on what you want, not on what you don´t want. One common problem is to focus your thoughts on what you don´t want rather than what you want. If you do that then it will be hard to get what you want in life. If you want to improve your finances then focus on having a great financial situation rather than your lack of money and your debts.