Hello my little bloggerettes. Carrying on from yesterday, some more thoughts crossed my mind about happiness, and how to achieve it. We are swamped with doom and gloom, and a lot of negative press, it's no wonder that people are feeling down. There isn't much to look forward to at the moment, but hang on a minute, there are ways we can uplift our mood and brighten our days. After all, we are still here, and we shouldn't lose sight of every day is a bonus.
Reading the news, watching the TV, listening to the radio, it's enough to make you cry. My tip is to not watch the TV, not listen to the radio, and be very selective about what I read. I don't need to know everything that is happening in the world. I skim read headlines, I wear blinkers, I scroll on by, and only read what I am interested in. Most it will be of no benefit to me. My brain will only take in so much. A lot of news is like junk food, it's bad for me, and I don't want to consume it.
I like to think about the food I am going to make for myself, how I am going to look forward to eating it, and to make time to enjoy it. I eat slowly savouring every mouthful. I think about my meal as being a treat, that I am making something nice for myself. I like the fact that I know what is in it.
This afternoon I filled the bath up with hot water, and gave it a generous splash of fragranced bodywash. I put some music on, and ate chocolate, while I enjoyed a soak in it. I had a lovely warm glow after a brisk rub down with a rough towel. Gave myself a pedicure, cut toenails and smothered feet in moisturiser. Fringe trimmed, hair washed, and face exfoliated and moisturised. Now feel like a million dollars. Why not treat yourself to a pamper day in your own bathroom.
Here's an idea, if you have a partner, have a date night at home. Make a special meal, get dressed up, open a bottle of plonk, soft lights and music to get you in the mood. You never know what might happen after that, nudge nudge wink wink.
There you are some tips and tricks to enjoy your days at home. Let's have some more. Tell us what you do to enjoy your time indoors. Share your ideas. Card games, board games, computer games anyone? What about switching the TV off and actually talking to each other. That could be interesting.
I'll leave it with you. Toodle pip. ilona
You decide
4 hours ago
Spot on.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jill. xxx
DeleteTo be honest Im having more showers now just for something nice to do,lol.Ive got a lot of half used jars of cream that my grandaughnters were going to throw out a few months ago,but they ask me first if I had any use for them.They know me so well,lol.So now is the ideal time to get more use out of them,just to feel nice!.As for the date night,well we have been together 47 years in June and the nudge nudge wink wink is something not allowed during lockdown...well that what I told my Hubby anyway,lol.We do play cards sometimes,have a few cans of Guinness together at the weekend.I tried playing I.Spy with him but he says that I make it too childish and its about time I grew up,lol.The cats destroy any board games by walking all over them,but we do enjoy sitting in the garden together with a good book.I have been painting furniture and re arranging rooms so that uses all the old tins of paint up and gives the house a new look for free!.I do like listening to soft background music when I get up in the mornings..I am always up about 3 hours before Hubby so I do enjoy that time so I can plan things for the day.So apart from making sure that my Mams still coping alright...she is counting the days down to getting her cast off..well thats about all we are doing at the moment!.Im starting to forget what normal life was like,but as each day dawns,well thats another day nearer to it.xxx
ReplyDeleteThat made me chuckle, Debi. No nudge nudge wink wink, go on, do it, just once. Put a smile on the old man's face. I must get some Guinness to keep my strength up.
DeleteI like how you pampered yourself, sort of like an afternoon at the spa, and then felt like a million dollars. I have refrained from watching TV news for more than a decade. I am well informed, but not from TV, it is too biased and too full of violence. I have found some humorous writers so reading them gives me a boost. Also, I have long enjoyed reading P.G. Wodehouse, his books are so fun. Toodle pip, as you say. I have always wanted to say that!
ReplyDeleteHumour is a great antidote for doom and gloom. Once you lose sight of that it's a downward spiral. Enjoy your titter. Toodle pip.
DeleteI agree Ilona - I found the first week in lockdown so stressful because it was just non-stop, 24 hours a day. I check the news a couple of times a day but limit it to our Mayor's daily update - the Premier's team and announcements at 1pm and a wrap up of the PM's daily news conference on the evening news. I'm paying more attention to the mayor and premier at the moment as we are starting to plan for the next step with easing up a bit - although not as yet - we are down a lot but not enough. This is a city of 3million people so we have to be really careful so that our hospitals don't become overwhelmed (so far they are coping). There is also a lot of concern about opening the border with the US - closed until June - as New York Sate is just across the lake and they are not doing well!
ReplyDeleteTomorrow I'm going to do some tidying up in my little apt. in the morning and in the afternoon I think I will have a bit of a spa day myself! I ordered some hot rollers from Amazon so I'm going to see how they work on my now rather long hair and then a pedicure is in order, followed by slathering myself in some lovely body lotion - and I'm going to pay some extra attention to my hands as they are really taking a beating between hand sanitizer and umpteen washing sessions a day! Great idea!
Your day is planned, Margie. My nails are a mess with so much hand washing, breaking and splitting. I am trying to keep them in some sort of order. Moisturiser every day.
DeleteClassical music - I have several playlist on U-tube.
ReplyDeletenatural sounds - I have CDs of those as well as several Tibetan bowls with rain, bookmarked.
I am very selective about my exposure to the news. I want the facts not opinion pieces. If I wanted opinions I would read the Editorial Page.
Happiness...contentment have to be cultivated like a flower bed or vegetable patch either you keep at it or the weeds take over and choke-out the good stuff. Same thing happens in the mind.
Judy, that is so true. I like that, 'contentment has to be cultivated like a flower bed'. Don't let the weeds choke out the good stuff. I shall remember that. Thank you.
DeleteI love that too Judy-Beautiful!xx
DeleteI enjoy just pottering and listening to classic to throughout the day and night.Caring for my dogs takes a while and I never get bored.I don't look great but always moisturize.I cook for the dogs and so theres the washing up.Nothing exciting here but I prefer that x
DeleteJust reading your post made me feel better. I so admire your attitude!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad about that. Spread a little sunshine, pass it on.
DeleteI have been doing exercise with Curtis Adams and Leslie Sansone, watching stichesbyjulia fabric art projects and Janome all on youtube. Our church has been on-line and we have had lots of zoom meetings so we can keep in touch and not feel so lonely. I did have my husband till April 14 but he had a heart attack and went home to Jesus so now I have the joy and sadness of looking though all his things. It has been fun seeing things stuffed away in closets and drawers that I had forgotten about. I miss him terribly we were having such a good time in the isolation but now it is all good memories. I too was married 47 years. We just had our anniversary last month. My advice to Debi is to take her husband up on the nudge nudge, wink wink. You never know when it will end abruptly.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry that you find yourself alone. Relive your wonderful memories, and be thankful for the support from your church. Thank you for your story. xxx
DeleteI often just lurk on Ilonas page and only very rarely make a comment, as I enjoy reading rather than commenting - but I am so sorry for your loss Susan. I am not a believer myself but I wish you all the best and I hope that your church and your memories bring you comfort during this time x
DeleteI did a lot of things that were on my list for ages.I sorted through my clothes, books, wool and fabric stash and the boxes we took home when we emptied my mother-in-laws house after she had died. It is really fun when you have enough time for it, and I found a lot of things I can use and even more I will get rid of. And now I enjoy opening the doors of my wonderful orderly and no more overstuffen cupboards!
ReplyDeleteI live near the end of the village with a wonderful view across the valley where the trees got new leaves and the wild cherry trees flowered during the last weeks, and I enjoyed just sitting on our terrace and looking at all the different shades of green. Just now, the birds are singing outside, and a light rain is falling, and I can sit there as long as I want and that makes me happy.
Hilde in Germany
It sounds like you are making the best use of your time. Isn't it wonderful how being outside in nature is such a relaxing place to be.
DeleteI missed your Tuesday post and am only catching up on your Wednesday post on Thursday morning. You have some really good ideas.
ReplyDeleteI agree so much with the anger bit and have spent my life trying to avoid confrontation- it's too exhausting.
I've also tried to stop worrying about things that may never happen BUT there is just one hitch - and that's being a mother - however old they are you don't stop worrying about them, especially in these tough times when they suddenly find themselves with no income .
I see your point, Sue. My mother was a worrier, she would do anything for her three kids. I see the same thing in my sister with her two boys, and now her youngest boy has three children of his own, the worrying is passed down through the generations. I understand that. It's one of the reasons why I decided I couldn't take on the responsibility of having children myself.
DeleteA few more things I enjoy have come to my mind this morning and one of them is listening to the birds singing in the morning.Watching my cats when they are playing.Seeing the washing drying on the line outside.Finding a pound coin in one of my old handbags,lol.Hearing the windchimes that hang from the tree.Looking at old photographs.We have had a few photo albums over the years and last week me and my sister borrowed each others.We both saw photos of our families that we hadnt seen before.We tend to enjoy just the simple things in life anyway...it is only the fear of catching this virus that is making life harder.The sun is shining here in the Midlands this morning,although it is quite cool outside.But I am going to put my coat and scarf on and sit outside with my second coffee of the day!.Keep smiling everyone!xxx
ReplyDeleteWell I had a very nice day as I cleaned out the summer house so I could sit in it and read. Seen the garden in a new light as it is lovely watching and listening to the birds. Patched up a towel which now has a new lease of life whilst listening to BBC Sounds on my phone (Horrible Histories meant for children I think but I enjoyed it,) had a nice home cooked curry and then did some evening work on the allotment after the rain had made the ground more workable. Ended the day listening to Dr. Chatterjee on Youtube talking to Tom Bilyeu regarding mind training. Also treated myself to an egg cup size sherry as using things up which I did not even realise we had. A lot of this is inspired by you Ilona so thank you for your blog and by my upbringing which was very much make do and mend. Sharon
ReplyDeleteSome very good ideas Iona I am pleased I like the little things in life , I have a good family and I am one of 6 and we are all in touch with each other so I get lots of phone calls. It has its down side because I do worry about them all. It's very windy here so I am listening to the wireless and have another cuppa then tidying up and do my crocheting. Enjoy your day.
ReplyDeleteHazel c uk🌈🌈🌈
Great ideas! We have not had a tv for over ten years now. Don’t miss it at all.
ReplyDeleteI've started my pillow lacemaking again after almost two years. I've had to go back to basics but there's some brilliant tutorials on u tube. Also knitting a cardigan to a very easy pattern which is relaxing. Growing vegetables and sowing flower seeds and crosswords and jigsaw puzzles are also good hobbies. I do worry about my son and family as they love in Brooklyn but we can chat on Skype so it's easy to keep in touch. Glad to hear you're pampering yourself Ilona, sounds a great idea!
ReplyDeleteYour pampering session sounds like something I would enjoy! How luxurious is eating chocolate in a bubble bath?! I'm going to pinch that one next time I have a relaxing soak in the bath.
ReplyDeleteI'm the same as you really I enjoy a bubble bath, and doing my own pedicures, manicure, eyebrows and recently cutting my own hair! Hasn't turned out too bad at all actually.
I find YouTube brilliant for learning how to do absolutely anything and its costs nothing :)
I am walking with my dog halfway around my block ( He takes his own sweet time about walking as he does not get in any hurry), doing things round the house that needs doing, ect. Binge watching game shows, and in my own yard washing down rugs, ect. other than that and going to my church's drive in church on Sundays, I am staying in for the most part, except for taking the dog out.
ReplyDelete