May

It's chapter 11 (November) in her book but for me May is "keep a contented heart - attitude". This time of year is especially difficult as the weather warms and as kids get a little stir crazy not to mention saying goodbye to all the ones I've taught. I also need to worry less and realize that everything is not do or die.

Gretchen took a personality test to see if she was overly positive or overly negative. So I took the same test and got these results: 

I definitely am the highly critical type so I thought I would've been more negative than shown above. It's definitely something I have to work on. She talks a lot about how instead of criticizing, you can reword things to say the same thing. For example, instead of saying "Ugh, you never brush your hair" (this is her example to her child), she could say, "I love when your hair is straight - it looks great!". That is going to be what I try to do this month - try to be more positive. She did a "week of no negative comments" which I think would be near impossible but I am going to try it - probably the last week in May.


She also talks about sarcasm. I am one of the most sarcastic people I've ever met. It's tough for me to see something ridiculous and not make a comment about it but I will try to do this less. It's going to be very difficult since that is my style and I like being sarcastic. 


I came up with my checklist as well:

The first one is a typo - should say laugh out loud. It's true - you do feel better when you laugh or smile. And I love to laugh so I am going to try to find little things funnier. I hardly ever smile but usually am in a good mood and I appear to be miserable when I'm really not. I don't know why that is but I do admire people who appear happy all the time. So I will attempt to smile more to show I am not, in fact, miserable. I will also try to be more enthusiastic. I am generally drawn to people who are enthusiastic although I am not always enthusiastic. I will attempt to emulate people who are. I will also help people more. Soooo if you need something, ask. By helping people, we help our attitudes. Who doesn't like to hear nice things about themselves? Compliments are on their way! My quiet spot is my bath tub. I already do pray for my enemies - every single day. I need to be more satisfied with life, for sure. I already am pretty kind but I could always be kinder so that's something I'll work on. I am pretty good at listening but I do often times feel the need to answer back with my life experiences and I will try to do that less. Although honestly I learn a lot more from someone when they've gone through something and tell me about it than reading about it online which is probably why I do it too. But I do realize it can get annoying/draining. And a lot of times I am listening but seem distracted. I will try to focus more and listen better and be engaged. For me, complaining is a form of venting and if I don't do it, I might flip out on someone unnecessarily but people who complain a lot are draining so I will try to do that more. And pursuing one's passions is always a good thing since it makes one happier. 


This is a lot to accomplish in one month but I will try to improve overall. And if I fail, oh well. At least I tried :)