April Fools’ Day is a good a day as any to embrace my long-absent sense of humor on my journey to renewal. So I’ve been open to exploring how little things – things that take only 5 or 10 minutes, can have a huge impact on my attitude and make my day better. Maybe you can relate to my attitude adjustment ideas, or even be inspired to find your own “little things”.
One day I began my work day feeling quite annoyed as my entire cup of Starbucks morning coffee ended up falling off my desk and landing upside down in my boot! Don’t even ask me to explain how THAT happened!
There in the midst of my distress, it popped into my head to sketch my dog, CJ, sitting next to a falling coffee cup, with a caption saying, “well, she can’t blame me for this!” And a second caption saying “or can she?” This was to remind me of how important it is to laugh at myself, instead of my usual reaction. It seems like right away, when unpleasant things happen, my default reaction was to look for someone or something to blame. I am all about creating new and better ways to react.
I find that my dogs make great mirrors for self-reflection, which to me is what life’s journey is all about. Yoga, art, a sense of humor, having dogs that I love…it’s all a chance to grow as a person, to reflect on my reactions (which dogs are just awesome at highlighting) and hopefully learning something about myself. If nothing else, my little sketch activity sure changes my attitude for the rest of the day. I turned my coffee tragedy into a funny comic that made me (and hopefully others) laugh. I felt great and it only took 5 minutes! Ever since that day, I have made this a daily habit each and every work day!
Life with Lisa Yogini 