Positive thinking - week 1...

I think this may be harder than I thought! Only 6 days into the year and I have definitely had a couple of days already when I have really struggled to find myself a positive thought out of the days events. Funnily enough, both were days when I had long and challenging days at work - will be interesting to see if a pattern emerges over the year that might help me pinpoint my low mood triggers!

Anyway, I've decided I'll try to post my positive thoughts for the week each Sunday evening. This is giving me a certain amount of disquiet, as my slight tendency to OCD means that I suddenly realised that this will necessitate some of the other things I want to post about having to come out of chronological order!!! But neither can I manage a mixed post of general rambling and deliberate thoughts... Oh the trials of a dysfunctional mind!!!

So here goes, can't quite believe we are already a week through January, but these are my positive moments for week 1...

1st January 2013

Beautiful blue sky to start the New Year - surely a good sign?!

2nd January 2013

Doing something that you wouldn't usually do can be a surprisingly good experience!

This was kind of a two in one, because out of the blue on 2nd, a friend called and said 'Did I fancy a game of badminton?'... Now the knee jerk, honest answer would probably have been 'Um, not really...' I've never been very keen on sports that require hand-eye coordination - largely because mine is rubbish and I usually spend all my time running around picking up the ball, so this is not something that immediately appeals. But in the spirit of my New Years resolve not to say no to things... And it was fun! And I wasn't that bad - I lost, of course, but we had a few good rallies and I didn't completely shame myself. And more importantly, we laughed a lot. It was surprisingly energetic - I think the blurry photo can only be blamed on adrenaline shakes post exercise! And I must have used very different muscles to the ones that get used running, because I knew about it the next day!!

3rd January 2013

This was a tough day, long day at work, some comments that I took the wrong way and a bit of uncomfortable feeling with a couple of colleagues who I really consider to be very good friends, left me feeling really fed up. Then in the evening, I decided to not stew on things and picked up the phone to try to sort things out - and we talked about how we were feeling which sort of helped. So my positive thought was - be open and honest with my friends, they care about me for me and sometimes can't be expected to know that I'm feeling a bit over sensitive!

4th January 2013

Ditto really... but my positive moment was sending the same friend a 'virtual hug' with a cup of coffee (I'm sure you all know what I mean by virtual hug? I think we send a lot of hugs across the blogosphere...) which elicited a smile... definitely worthwhile!

5th January 2013

 Simple pleasures really can be the best.

I picked up my crochet hook for the first time in I don't know how long - since I moved house maybe? And I got real pleasure from the easy rhythm of these little squares, which are the beginnings of the baby blanket for a friend (also on my New Years list!!).

6th January 2013

All in all quite a few positives today - took my Mum to see Quartet at the pictures (think we both laughed and cried in equal measure!), treated myself to some flowers to brighten the place up after taking the decorations down, had a good chat with my friend from work and definitely resolved any issues there - they were mortified to realise that I had taken things to heart!

But I'm going to finish the week on a rather silly positive... this evening I looked at my depleted fridge (haven't shopped for more than milk since before Christmas...) and came up with Brussels and Chestnut soup... Unpromising sounding, I know, and I have to admit that it didn't look that appealing either (hence no photo - looked a bit like something a cat that's been chewing grass might present you with...!!) but it was delicious - just a simple mixture of onion, garlic, celery, sprouts and vegetable stock, with the leftover bit of unsweetened chestnut puree, seasoning and grated nutmeg stirred in... Might even make it again, when I'm not forced to scavenge the post festive food! 

So today's positive thought was - not to be put off by the way things sound or look, the unlikely can be very good!

Hope you've had a positive start to 2013!

Til next time

Sx