Believe in the upside when you are down.
   Jean Paul Sartre said “Life begins on the other side of despair.”
       Try something different: Skip the despair.
You are worthy of audacious celebration every day!

Focusing on blessings and positive glimmers of light makes everything easier, even in this ugh-2020 when it’s hard to catch a breath, and as we brace for a challenging start to ugh-known-2021. Too many are going through too, too much. Yes, we have a gauntlet to run, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. 

Looking for the upside when down is essential to easily facing challenges. One of my favorite designs tells this story with diamonds falling from a broken heart. On the back the words “Lucky Break” remind us that there is always opportunity in what only appears to be crises. We have the power to turn things around.

In addition to making things easier, we need optimism to 

• To have "faith in good" 
• To find courage and energy 
• To believe in our own power
• To take those steps toward building what we desire. 

How will we take that leap of faith, without the faith to leap? 

“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.”  Helen Keller

Lockdown ups and downs and upside? Yeah, there has to be something!  At least we can get a giggle remembering that pros and cons are often pro/con/pro at the same time, like not being able to be with family, and not being able to be with family!  ;-) 

Below are a few of my lockdown-ups-and-downs-upside.  Please share yours - we can all lift one another!

• Working from home, staying in PJ’s if we want!
• Get up when we want. Go to sleep when we want
• No traffic, no commute, no complaints!
• More time with family!
  • Less time with family  :-) 
• More time with pets
• Time to reflect, rebuild, re-energize
• Slowing down
• Do more with less
• Remembering how precious, frail, and fleeting life is, 
  • and so reassessing and reconnecting with what is important.
    • "Dead people receive more flowers than the living ones because regret is stronger than gratitude." Ann Frank
    • Vow now: No regrets! 
      • Reach out.  
        • Apologize. 
        • Be kind. 
      • Be yourself as you want to see yourself
• Recharge
• Catching up on things that have been postponed or avoided for too long.  
  • How many times have we said we would do something tomorrow, someday, soon... 
  • Someday is not a day of the week!
  • There is no time like NOW!
• Time for creativity; writing, painting, photography, home improvements, etc.
  • Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness without action. --Benjamin Disraeli
• Time to laugh.
  • "If life seems jolly rotten, there's something you've forgotten! And that's to laugh and smile and dance and sing..." --Monty Python
• Thinking outside the box for work. Reinventing
  • "The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why." --Mark Twain
• Online learning
  
• Online teaching
• Re-thinking 'normal' with an open mind
• Tele-health visits with doctors. Why waste the time if they don't need our bodies there?
• Time to just be
• Time to try new things
  
• Making tough decisions
• Cut the fat - - in life, and on bodies
  • Get it all in better shape.
• Sneak preview of retirement gives opportunity to plan ahead, either
  • plans for retirement, or
  • plans not to retire if we just missed the work we love
• Learning we are stronger and more resilient than we thought
• Newfound courage
• Learning that letting go opens our arms, mind and heart to embrace the new in so many ways
• Shared experience which can unify the world!

We've got this!  Stay safe, and optimistic. 
Now more than ever, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” Ben Franklin

Please let me know if you have any Lockdown-Upsides to add to the list

At the time of this posting I am trying to change this so comments can be added.  If you want me to add your Lockdown-Upside to the list, please contact me and I'll add them myself, or share on posts on your favorite social media and tag me so I can see and add the comments.

More important, while we allow each other to talk about challenges, let's also share positivity and upsides. Optimism can be like planting a seed, and sometimes absolutely contagious. 

Jane@JaneGordon.com
212-688-8600 - phone, text, WhatsApp, or WeChat
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