Smile and the world will smile with you ...

If I had to name my favorite accesory, I would undoubtedly say it is my smile. I never leave the house without it. People mimic other´s expressions, and if you smile, the world will, in fact, smile with you.
A friend of mine who lives in Spain asked me recently how I was doing, and I told her I would rather not detail the challenges I had been going through because I did not want to feed that kind of energy. I needed to stay strong and positive. She mentioned that I must be a pretty good actress, because from my pictures on facebook I always looked extremely happy!
I do not advocate hiding one´s feelings or faking a mood all the time. But the more I practice the art of smiling, the easier it comes to me. I mostly wear a positive attitude no matter what is happening in my life. We are not our circumstances, keep that in mind, and we CAN train ourselves to act and react differently to how we are used to in the face of challenges.
When I came back from my recent trip to NYC I left my laptop on the plane. When I realized this, I ran back to the gate and was told the seats on my row were empty. My expensive macbook was gone with everything in it! After my initial shock, I was taken aback by my own reaction to the event. I did not crumble, I did not buckle under, I did not get angry. Furthermore, I was able to comfort a friend whose new camera was stolen a week later, because I knew what it felt like to lose your main work tool. I was able to move on and with the help of loved ones, get a new laptop and continue working ... and smiling.

http://www.lorrainecladish.com/

The light at the end of the tunnel

Guess what? You can get out of the tunnel RIGHT NOW. It has side doors! The side door is called ATTITUDE. And I don´t mean acting stuck up of course.
It is way too easy to stay in the dark and use it as an excuse not to get ahead in life, and not to live to your fullest potential. But it is also boring and lonley in there.
We blame the economy, a boss, a parent, a friend or an enemy for our circumstances. Ultimately, however, the responsibility is our own.
I started learning this in my twenties, while battling a long and severe eating disorder that I used as a scapegoat for many things from not having healthy relationships to being irresponsible.
However, and thanks to my perseverance, I found my way to a 12-step group that helped me realize that whereas I was not to blame for my illness (nor, in fact, was anyone else for that matter), I was fully responsible for overcoming it. And overcome it I did. It wasn´t easy, it wasn´t fast and to this day I can say it wasn´t a blast ...
But that eating disorder turned into my first and best-selling book so far, published in 1993, entitled "I Feel Fat" ("Me siento gorda", in Spanish), which is unfortunately not available in English. It turned into empathy, patience and understanding of people with addictions. It turned into STRENGTH.
Because I looked for a side door in that tunnel, today I know that if I was able to beat an eating disorder and help others know what it feels like to have one, and inspire them to overcome that, I can do ANYTHING!
Think of what you have overcome in life and how that proves you can overcome the challenges you are facing now or that may lie ahead ...