I was out walking with my Mum last week, the weather wasn’t great and it was cold and dreary, but we did our short trip to the river. On returning to the estate we stopped to talk to Pete, who was washing his girlfriends car. He was full of beans, laughing and joking about and made both me and my Mum laugh. He has 2 prosthetic legs (A speedway accident, I think) and was telling us how cold his legs were, as he had shorts on.
Up to that point I was feeling quite somber, due to a few challenges I am facing and possibly the weather was having an impact! But, after speaking with Pete, I felt lifted and both me and my Mum had a good giggle on our way home.
That experience changed my whole day and every time I thought of Pete, it made me smile. I must tell him, the next time I see him, how much his positivity impacted me. He is always smiling and having laugh with people and, I’m sure, he has made many a person’s day with his amazing energy.
In the situation we are in, it’s great to bump into positive people now and then, especially as the negative overload can suppress moods for everyone. The news is rarely positive, the deaths being reported are awful and the dark evenings can cap it all, so it’s important to search for positive things to focus on.
These are, currently, my top 5 positives:
- Mine and my familys’ Health
- Doing my exercise
- The walks along the beach or in the New Forest (with family)
- People like Pete – and there are quite a few I am in touch with
- Doing some paid work
I appreciate and value doing / having all of those things in my life and find myself focussing on them to keep me positive.
What do you do, on your dark days, to keep positive? Do you have your own version of Pete or do you actually have the same impact, on others, that Pete did on me?
This week, be like Pete and make someone else smile. You might be the tonic they need to keep their head above water.