How is your Mental Sunshine today?
If you could do with a little more (and who couldn’t), I have a great tip this week that will help to make things brighter.
Have I told you that I love to go cold water swimming (only once or twice lol).
Well at my usual lake, we’ve introduced a swear box
But it’s not for what you might think…
Yes, the air is often filled with lots of expletives as people get into the freezing water.
Both first-timers and experienced dippers…
But the swear box isn’t for that!
It’s for anyone who belittles their achievement.
When the water is only just above freezing, getting in is an achievement.
Let alone swim for any distance or length of time.
So, at the lake, nobody is allowed to say, “I only did…” or “I just did…”
The reason for this is to maintain a positive attitude and not to undersell our achievements
When was the last time you minimised an achievement by qualifying it with words like only or just?
We do have a habit of doing this – after all, nobody likes a show-off…
But acknowledging your achievements is not showing off.
It’s an important part of celebrating who you are
And allowing space for more mental sunshine into your life.
If you’ve never been a runner, but you’ve just run 1k – that’s an amazing achievement and you should be proud of yourself.
If you rarely leave your house because of anxiety, but today you walked to the shop – WOW. That’s incredible.
This week, try to catch yourself when minimising your achievements
And correct yourself each time.
You didn’t only or just do anything.
You achieved something.
And that is worth celebrating!
P.S. The swear box takes the form of a Just Giving page for charity
So everyone’s a winner 🙂
