Smile List

It's been a while since I've made a "smile list" here. For the uninitiated, a smile list is exactly what it sounds like - a list of things that make me smile - things that I'm grateful for. I started making them ages ago, when I heard a speaker cite a trauma specialist who had done research suggesting that taking the time to list things you're thankful for each day had the same effect on your brain chemistry as taking a mild dose of an anti-depressant.

I've found through the years that making smile lists is also a good way for me to pull out of (or at least bring some control to) a rapidly downward spiraling mood.

I'm needing a little bit of help with that today. It's been a trying week at work thanks to ongoing bumps in the process of the introduction of a new product before the training and staffing were in place to make it a smooth introduction. And I've spent a good part of the morning discovering that the process I need to go through to book a road test and (hopefully) wrap up my drivers license situation permanently is one of the more complicated, red-tape filled, and expensive processes I've encountered in a long while. (All told, I'll be spending around $350 or more to take care of this mess.) And, I also discovered that agents at Alberta Registry offices are not the most pleasant people around - I've spoken with several by phone today, and almost all of them were, if not rude, abrupt and very disinterested.

So, a smile list...

The things that are making me smile (that I'm thankful for) today include:

• a canning jar of daisies that a coworker brought me earlier this week
• casual Friday and jeans at work
• having a "hippy" day with my clothing (while still managing to appear business casual!)
• cream and brown wooden earrings - long time favorites
• a cream colored bracelet, formed from six resin roses
• that it won't be the end of the world if I don't get this driver's license mess sorted out in the next 24 hours
• Hemp hand protector and lip balm from The Body Shop
• the "Mennonite Tonight" video that Rik Leaf put up a while back. "you want passive but you like agressive..." or "a Menno good time costs $3.oo" (so great when you work for a Menno company full time)
• availability of clean, cool water to drink
• a toe ring on my right foot
• an office with a window that means I get natural light during the day
• lunch plans with a coworker
• that it's Friday!
• teasing from my dad who called this morning (I told him I was building another Ikea bookshelf this evening. Having seen the massive bruise I sustained while building the last one, his quick reply was, "Better have the bandages handy.")
• plans to make open faced turkey sandwiches with brie and nectarines, plus a salad on the side for dinner tonight
• that it was someone's birthday in the office today, and that meant that we got cake!
• that my latest piercing (though threatening a few times) has not become infected
• that I have family that loves me
• pictures of the new baby of some friends
• the memory of a conversation yesterday that made me chuckle (a conversation that centered around the fact that I carry a vial of annointing oil on my key-ring) "those are such old scents."
• An ikea trip that only cost me $55.
• the artwork in my office (more on that in an upcoming post)
• an email from a dear friend last night in a moment when I was feeling low and struggling deeply, reminding me that she loves me and was praying for me
• being called by name

That's not a bad list, actually. And it has helped. I'm in a less kerfuffled mood than I was. AND, I'm off to have lunch!