…Ever work all day not knowing what you got done?  Do you find yourself stressed out and complaining about other people?  Wishing you were on vacation more than you were at work?  Overwhelmed with all you have to get done and feel you have no help?  Worried about a stressor, a bill, a want, or desire?  Think about all that you’ve got and all you do have.  And this will turn your day around in an instant…

…So I was out today on another home visit doing my coaching with the patients on their medications for my research study.  The lady we visited is 78 and lives on the 3rd floor of a high-rise all alone.  She had one room and a bedroom and stuff was everywhere!  There were two ironing boards, food boxes all over the kitchen, empty medication bottles and inhalers, plastic containers, and a potty chair in the living room.  She did not know what to do with her medications.  Four of them actually needed to be refilled and who knows how long she has been without.  Two of them she was taking the wrong doses.  Even one of them her physician wrote one thing on the prescription, but another on a discharge form- so which dosage was right?  How was she to know what to do!?  Who helps her?  How does she pay her bills?  What are her worries?  Is she lonely?  Is she bored?  How does she breathe fresh air?  Does she go outside?  What does she eat and how does she get food?  Who cleans for her?  What is with all her stuff and who takes out her trash?  My mind was racing…

So here I share with you 7 Ideas for Getting Outside of Yourself:

• Be grateful for what you have
• Help another person each day
• Call a friend, family member, or neighbor you know is lonely
• Volunteer at a homeless shelter, nursing home, or school
• Write in an appreciation journal each day to dialogue all you are blessed with
• Smile at other human beings and say hello
• Be mindful and aware of all that you do have and live in each present moment enjoying the good things each day

I hope this post prompts you to take some time to be present.  Be aware of what you have.  Thank your Higher Power or the Universe or whomever you believe in for all you are blessed with.  Share your talents with others.  Give to those in need.  I bet living for a couple of weeks in this way you will start to see a lift in your mood.  For one study I read spoke of those that wrote in a gratitude journal for two weeks actually felt better overall and had improved mood than those that did not.  What a blessing; to be able to appreciate all we have each and every day we are here!