Continuing with my thoughts about a Reader’s Digest article on happiness, a sidebar in the article was a list of “Ten Ways to Turn That Frown Upside Down.” There were some great ideas here, and I felt they were worth sharing.

1. “Be less virtual, more 3-D.” This suggestion encourages us to seek out healthy relationships rather than sitting at a desk or computer all day, or hunkering down doing nothing at home. Of course, this is far more complicated when one has a severely disturbed child—the number of parents who call me desperate for respite care is a testimonial to that fact.

2. “4, 6, 8 … who do we appreciate?” Apparently, those who have made a career of studying happiness say that counting our blessings is our most effective way of raising our “happiness quotient.”

3. “Rack ‘em up.” Keep track of every single positive event in your day, and tally them much as you would add a bead on a string. Now, which of us with our kids would have time for that mental gymnastics? But still, the idea is to notice the guy who waves at you at the stoplight or the check-in call from a concerned friend.

4. “Think memorable, not material.” This is one of my favorite suggestions. Spend your time and money creating memories that last, rather than buying something you think will make you happy. Again, this is highly challenging when one has a very difficult kid as part of the mix … but the idea is good, just the same.

5. “Go to the funny side.” Several times in the article, the reader is encouraged to laugh out loud. Look for ways to enjoy and appreciate humor. Watch reruns of I Love Lucy.

6. “Escape to your stress-free zone.” This is a visual exercise where you imagine some place where you feel stress free and you attempt to escape there in your mind. I am having a hard time imagining this would have worked well for me when I was in the throes of real distress, but it is an idea …

7. “See the glass as half full.” I think subconsciously, this is what held me up for much of my time of trial. In spite of how difficult and painful some aspects of my life were proving to be, I could look around and see many, many areas where I was extremely fortunate. This ties in nicely with the comment made by Lindy.

8. “Find your inner artist.” This is a suggestion that we renew creative outlets that perhaps filled our tanks in the past. That might be music, or crafts, or scrapbooking like my awesome friend Julie, or knitting like my awesome friend, Kelly. I used to do TONS of crafts and I am struggling to find time to do them again.

9. “Do good.” For this suggestion, I want to quote the article directly: Acts of kindness, however small, deliver as much pleasure to the giver as to the getter. As I mentioned in the previous post, I believe starting ATN was one of the threads that helped me maintain some semblance of sanity during a completely insane time. I felt good about what ATN was accomplishing. For those of you who are overwhelmed with your daily lives, it seems crazy to suggest you take on yet another thing; however, you might find that giving back to something you are passionate about is just what the doctor ordered to make you feel better yourself.

10. “Seize the moment.” Do something fun to “celebrate the day.” Bake a cake for no reason, treat yourself to something special. Choose to be happier.

I hope some of these suggestions will help you figure out ways to raise your spirits and refocus on the positive things in your life, rather than being constantly overwhelmed with the challenges. Believe me, I know how difficult that can be when every moment of every day centers around a very resistant and difficult child.

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