Challenge: One Week of Extreme Positivity

I am good at complaining. I play a really good victim. I can make most people feel sorry for me. Ask my ex-boyfriends.

This coming week, my brain already has its favorite complaints ready to shoot out and paint everything a nice dark shade of super-victim...
 
I'm sick. It's tech week. I'm not getting enough sleep. I'm working too hard. I don't get a day off. It's cold. I haven't worked out lately and I feel fat. It's Valentine's Day and I don't have a valentine and I feel old at 26 and my mother wants grandchildren yesterday and my heart is just exploding it's so ready to love so where is he???

It's exhausting.

So, I've proposed a challenge for myself: One Week of Extreme Positivity. (I was going to call it One Week of Not Complaining, but I didn't want a negative in my title). For this week, starting tomorrow, February 13th, I will practice Extreme Positivity. No complaints. No victim act. I will welcome smiles, compassion, gratitude, joy, and love.

Am I planning to just Pollyanna it out? Put on the Mormon smile and let my complaints fester within?

Not exactly, but sort of. I never thought it was healthy to not complain at all. I believe in balance. One must let out the steam. My problem lies in unconsciously shading most situations with, Oh, poor me. The idea is to bring awareness to my mind's fiercest habit and to encourage some, Oh, lucky me!, even in the unlikeliest of circumstances.

Sally Hawkins as Poppy

I loved the movie Happy-Go-Lucky. Sally Hawkins charmed me as Poppy, a somewhat modern, realistic, and accessible grown-up Pollyanna. I remember radiating with positivity all day after I saw that film. My goal this week is to maintain that feeling for a week. Look on the bright side, see the glass as half-full, and make some lemonade out of life's lemons!

How am I going to do it?

I have a plan:

- I've set up my phone to send me reminders 5 times a day along the lines of, "Practice positivity," "Love today," "Breathe in happiness," "Find gratitude."

- I wrote it on my planner: Focus on the good stuff!

- I have dug up the articles of clothing I own that are not black or gray. I think wearing some pink and yellow might help me remember to spread smiles!

- I have set aside five minutes every day for the deliberate contemplation of extremely good thoughts.

I think Lynda Carter would be proud.

- What's the opposite of a victim? My guess is a bully or a hero. Let's go with hero for this week. Wonder Woman is my screen saver for the week.

- I made a play list called Happy Songs. They will start off my day, every day this week.

- I will make a gratitude list at the end of each day.

- Baking makes me super happy, so I'm gathering my favorite recipes and will try to bake at least twice this week. Happy homes smell like chocolate ganache cupcakes as far as I'm concerned!

- Find time for some kind of exercise. It totally helps my mood, whether it's going to the gym, yoga, or taking a dance class. So, this week, even if it's just for 20 minutes, I'm committed to exercising at least four days out of the week.

- Keep a record of how I'm doing throughout each day.

Those are my initial plans. I may come up with or discover more. I do expect that complaining thoughts will still come up, but I am hopeful that I can keep them in check. Even in writing this, I am already feeling an abundance of warmth and joy. I am actually really excited about this- I love setting up time lines for challenges and coming up with a plan for executing them. It makes them seem so much more attainable.

So, here I go! One week of Extreme Positivity! Check back in a week, folks, and feel free to share with me any ideas you have on sustaining positivity!