April Showers Bring May Flowers (or how I see the best in everything; okay, most things!)

If you know me at all, have read at least one post of mine, not to mention chatted with anyone that knows me, I am 100% confident you’ll hear that “Christina Shaw is a cockeyed optimist.”

It’s true and I’m not certain that any of us have too many choices other than remain optimistic.

When “stuff” happens, and it happens to all of us, big “stuff” and little “stuff” too, there is one thing to do and that’s get through it.

And while you’re amid dealing with whatever has occurred, being optimistic seems to help the journey.

Please don’t get me wrong. I don’t want to imply that I don’t get sad or stressed; of course, I do BUT the length of that reaction is quite brief because I know I need to take steps to improve the situation.

And for the last 9 years, I have also had other people to think about, namely my two daughters. It’s one thing to be mired in misery when you are on your own, it’s an entirely different thing when you have a family that counts on you to have your sh-t together.

Here are a few tips that work for me:

I allow myself some moments of stress or sadness and give myself permission to acknowledge the upheaval.

I’m an action-oriented person so my next step is to start looking at solutions, (aka Plans B, C and D), and to contact people that can assist me.

I keep my daughters in-the-loop, comfortable and confident, and that means when necessary, sharing information that they can grasp without overexplaining the situation.

I meditate, exercise, and do yoga to help me maintain my sense of well-being.

I eat well to keep up my strength.

I drink lots of caffeine to keep me going

These actions work for me, and have been effective through thick and thin, and trust me, there have been some complex situations that have fallen my way.

I don’t take anything for granted. Good days are celebrated and the bad ones, well, they’re celebrated too, albeit differently, because I know there is light at the end of the tunnel.

I know there are folks for whom the light seems very dim and almost impossible to reach, and to them I can say that speaking to a professional to help them get through the situation is a great help too.

And even though there’s certain to be rain, expect flowers and sunshine to follow.

How about you? Any tips to share?