Power to be Cheerful – Part 3…

Hi Everyone,

Here we are in our 3rd week of December – known to many in the past as ‘the month of cheer’… Yet for many today, this is becoming more and more a month of stress and often sorrow. So today I want to explore cheerfulness from another angle – I would like to propose to you that cheerfulness starts with inner silence.

As with many of our inner strengths, it pays to use several virtues simultaneously. In this case using my Power to be Silent and my Power to Withdraw (to become the detached observer) can help me stay charged and help me stay cheerful. When we are too expansive (always outside of ourselves) we can find it difficult to ‘withdraw’ and recharge. When our ‘battery’ runs down depression, anger and anxiety can easily be triggered by outer stress – we become susceptible and easily targeted. When we get swept up in the hustle and bustle that’s around every corner, we lose our cheerfulness and the month of cheer becomes a time that’s dreaded by many.

Silence allows us to find stillness and beauty all around us, even while chaos is reigning supreme. When I allow myself to withdraw and become silent, I can find many therapeutic things to help me stay cheerful… For example; When I stop to consciously breathe I can look up – I can stay playful and look for shapes or faces in the white fluffy clouds, in the yellow golden sands or in the ever-green trees swaying in the breeze. I can enjoy playful things like coloring, drawing, hand-painting, hula-hooping, trampolining or swinging on the swings – simple things to have fun and make us smile and stay cheerful (these are some of my favorite ways to cheer myself and others up 🙂

Question: What do I do that keeps me and others cheerful and light?

Tip: Silence and Cheerfulness are such wonderful, gentle powers. The more I become silent, the more cheerful I am able to remain. Silence is a wonderfully, powerful gift we can give the world today 🙂

If you have any stories regarding our Power to be Cheerful – uplifting or otherwise – now is the time to share. I look forward to hearing them and sharing them with everyone next week. Keep smiling 🙂

Lots of love Annemarie