“This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine!”
The cold and cloudy weather of February made it pretty easy for me to feel like nothing I did mattered. We all have those moments, those weeks or even years where we question our ability as an individual to make an impact. The truth is, it’s always one idea from one individual that builds into a movement. I started to think about this with the Bell, “Let’s Talk” campaign. To be totally honest, at first the campaign totally irritated me. It felt like Bell was out to capitalize on a clever marketing idea. After I sat with it for a while, I realized that it wasn’t Bell that came up with that idea. It was an individual that works or was working for Bell that likely was passionate about mental illness and truly wanted people to realize that they were not alone. That one person’s idea sparked a powerful movement that resulted in worldwide compassion for life.
Letting your light shine, letting your ideas flow and interacting with compassion is like pulling apart the blinds back on a sunny day. It always feels better to hang out with happy, creative, compassionate people. Sharing space with someone who has a positive mindset, a positive outlook and a creative approach to life and even problems can often improve your mood and can help you feel better about yourself. You can be that person for others everyday!
All this being said, we are human and bad days, bad moments and bad moods are all part of life. Instead of beating yourself up when you’re down, try these tips to let your light shine!
Watch Funny YouTube Videos
Laughter really is the best medicine. Being around funny friends or going to laughter yoga class is a great way to lift your mood. If you’re not quite ready for a laughter yoga class and your schedule doesn’t allow time for you to hang with your buddies, YouTube is a great laughter resource.
Read A Light Fiction Novel
When you get a chance to take a break, grab a fiction novel. Fiction helps to turn on the creative portion of your brain. Finding a book that will make you laugh is even better or maybe even a romantic comedy.
Use Our Happy Spray
This blend of grapefruit and bergamot will help to uplift your spirits. A few sprays = a few rays of sunshine. It’s great to use in every room of your house including the office. Citrus essential oils are great for both mood and productivity. Some of the other citruses we carry are lime, lemon, mandarin, tangerine and blood orange.
Walk or Run
There are tons of studies now that show that bipedal movement (i.e. walking) is extremely helpful in treating mild cases of depression. There is something about taking a few strides that release the right concoction of hormones to balance out the mood and brighten your day. You don’t have to sign up for your first marathon. Just 20m of walking a day can have a profound effect on mood.
Affirming What You’re Grateful For
Start or finish the day by letting yourself know 1-5 things you are grateful for. Don’t worry about being profound, it may simply be that you’re grateful for having clean socks. Whatever it is that you’re grateful for make sure you are honest about it with yourself. Some people will keep a gratitude journal but for me, I usually just tell it to myself in my head at the end of the day. The professionals recommend for this to be done in the morning but I’m not a morning person and am usually in a rush and tend to forget. The end of the day works amazing and it’s a really nice way for me to wind down to sleep.
When you let your light shine for all you are the world becomes a better place in an instant. Not only because the universe craves for all of us to be happy, but also because you can feel grounded and authentic to who you are.
I’m going to let mine shine!
Jayleen
