Smiling from the Deep Freeze

It seems that we're all experiencing terribly cold temperatures this winter. The news is full of stories about this. We should be used to it here in Newfoundland; but although we're used to lots of snow, it doesn't usually get this cold this early in the season.These are February temperatures! This morning it's -9 C (15.8 deg F).  My car was parked at the bottom of my hill, so I dressed with extra layers and care to make the short walk down.

I'm healing from my bronchitis. But try as I did, the side effects from my daily asthma medication were too harsh. I was unable to function yesterday afternoon --  in such pain and even my eyesight was affected! So, after checking with a local nurse, I stopped taking them last night. It's so hard to be positive and optimistic when you've been ill for so long and the meds are making things worse. But I tried my best.

In spite of the cold weather and my ailments, I went outside both Saturday and Sunday to get some fresh air and natural light. The sun even came out for 20 min which was wonderful! The snow was light and powdery, making it easy to clean off the car and easy to walk in. I stood in the driveway and turned my face to the sky and just luxuriated in the chill in my cheeks and the wonderful feeling of warmth in the rest of my body. I so want to enjoy this season. (And I'm pretty sure there's still time to do that! Egad!)


When I went back inside, I put on my new purple fairy-slippers and ate soup and hot buttered toast. Yummy! Saturday I spent the afternoon watching cooking shows on Public Television. And Sunday afternoon, I took a much needed 2 hour nap. I feel very fortunate to be able to do these things. Living alone has many perks!

Today my focus is on continued healing. I'm looking for pockets of sunshine and positivity. I often find these when I read your blogs. So, I'd like to share this one from MA at "On the Bright Side" (http://goodmorningsmiles.blogspot.ca/). This is a good one practice any day of the week! 

Decide to be happy today, to live with what is yours – your family, your business, your job, your luck. If you can’t have what you like, maybe you can like what you have.

Just for today, be kind, cheerful, agreeable, responsive, caring, and understanding. Be your best, dress your best, talk softly, and look for thebright side of things. Praise people for what they do and do not criticize them for what they cannot do. If someone does something stupid, forgive and forget. After all, it’s just for one day.

Who knows, it might turn out to be a nice day.

Cheers! And keep smiling!