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A Happy Song and Dance

3/29/2014

Have you noticed how when you are in a good mood everything happening around you seems to sing? And when you are in a bad mood, everything seems to work against you?

You might be asking, "Well, which causes which? Does hearing happy singing cause the good mood or does the good mood cause us to open our ears to the singing?" Let's not worry about that too much right now. You may have some ideas about it. It's something that is interesting to wonder about and see what rings true for you.

Theses days, the important thing for me is to simply realize (become very aware of, remember) my deep desire to live in the singing colorful world as much as possible. Sometimes there are sad things of course. And it's good to feel the emotions. But all things pass, good and not-so-good feelings. We are always moving forward and things are constantly unfolding. What I have found is that moving into happiness more often & more quickly sounds like a pretty fun idea!

Even when it's raining, I add some color with a fun umbrella!

Happiness is Just a Thought Away

So…how do we feel more happiness and joy? One of my wise friends recently said, "happiness is just a thought away." And this gave me an idea. Remember when I spoke about kindness in Gratitude is the Attitude? Well, I think it's a bit like that. After you have felt your feeling, whether a rainy or sunny one, and it's time to move on, you can kinda set the tone for the next step of your journey by what you choose to focus on next. The idea is to focus on something (or many things) that makes you smile or feel happy. When I think about flying my spirit lifts and I can say to myself, "Ahhh…Smile...Open the imagination...yes, the next part of my day is going to be good…And even if something that seems bad or sad happens later in the day, I will get through it, and learn, and then come back to my happy thought(s)."

What about those times when it's hard to find that happy thought? Well, it's there - there's always something you love that you can think about. It may just take longer to remember it at times. Don't give up! Keep "trying" new ideas!

What kinds of things make you happy to think about or imagine? I'd love to hear!

Here, I am learning to walk outside and see the world in a colorful song. My friend wrote a poem about it once.

Wind Blown, how they have grown
out of cold and dry and lifeless stone
into creatures wild and free and unknown!
Casting aside all doubt and fear,
it dissolves into the atmosphere.
Walk outside as if for the first time
And see the world in a colorful rhyme.

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Do You Know Why "There is No Try"?

3/27/2014

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GUEST BLOGGER:
Pepe McD'inkleberg Nodriguez

I'll bet a lot of you have seen Star Wars and remember a line from the movie, "There is no try," spoken by Yoda, Luke Skywalker's teacher. It's when he's communicating to Luke that you either DO or you DON'T - there's no in between.

Anyways, I've been thinking about this a lot lately, and came up with this idea: there is no try, because there is no failure!

How can there be no failure, you ask? Because you are never done! It's ALL a process and there's no finish line.

Do you remember when you learned to ride a bike? Remember when in the beginning you would wobble or even fall over? Well, that wasn't failing, right? That was just part of learning. And eventually, if you set your mind to it, you learn to ride it smoothly. Or maybe you decide you don't want to - you'd rather learn to roller skate or ice skate. Or maybe you decide to do it for a living and learn how to ride bikes in the mountains. Some just do it occasionally or even once just. But there's no fail or succeed - it's your choice.

I think the same goes for anything in life, not just riding bikes - it could be playing music, or dancing, or a college degree, or writing. You can always get better, there's no finish line or moment when it's finally "done" and "successful". All of it's success because it's all learning and learning is part of growing…and I'm a believer that growing is good. Growing is definitely a big part of life here on earth - everything seems to grow and change: plants, trees, flowers, animals. And even when you stop growing in size, you can still grow in your mind and heart.

Sometimes "Try" means "experimenting for the first time."

Just because there is no finish line, doesn't mean you shouldn't set goals or "try" new things. Now here is a use of the word "try" where it makes more sense. This kind of "try" means "experiment" or "sample." When you "try" a strawberry, you taste it. There's no failure or success. You are trying it out - tasting it for the first time.

So these days, I'm trying not to say "try"…Whoops, wait! That's not what I meant to say! I mean to say: these days, I've decided to say "try" less often, because it often doesn't make any sense! I'm either doing or not. And it's my choice.

PS (update)

I didn't mention the second part of Yoda's famous phrase. There is no try... only DO.

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Kindness Helps You Grow!

3/23/2014

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Good morning! It's your friend Squishy Blueberry here with an optimistic message about growing up and learning from mistakes.

Did you know that treating yourself with kindness helps you grow more than treating yourself with criticism or harsh words? Think of kindness like the sun and rain that help flowers to gently grow to their fullest potential. Harsh words are just that, harsh words. Would yelling at a flower to grow make it grow faster? No. Would saying, "you've been bad, I'm not going to water you for a week" help the flower grow? No.

But singing and playing music (a form of kindness) to plants has been known to help them grow. Humans are similar. Talking to and treating yourself with kindness is filled with healthy emotion and helps you grow and flourish just like eating healthy foods!

Here I am giving a flower to a friend to cheer him up.
Remember you can give flowers to yourself too!

Kindness Exercise

Here is an exercise you can do whenever you think you've made a mistake or done something wrong. If you hear yourself saying something like "how could I do that?", " I can't believe I'm so stupid!", "No one will like me now." or "I should have known better," immediately say something like, "I forgive myself. Everyone makes mistakes. And really, there are no mistakes - it's a learning process. And every time I learn, I grow. And as I grow, I become more fully me!" Be creative, just remember to be gentle, as if you were singing to a flower or talking to a little baby infant.

Note, this is not to say you should never apologize. If you accidentally hurt someone's feelings, it's important to tell them. But in your mind you can say, "I forgive myself." Your forgiveness, more than the other person's, is the most powerful for your growth. This is because as you treat yourself more gently and kind, you naturally become more kind to others! Funny how it works that way. I think it's because when you are kind to yourself, you get in a better mood, and you just feel happy and joyous and friendly to everything around you.

Try it out, and let me know how it feels!

In this picture I am offering an olive branch, as an apology, to someone whose feelings I thought I hurt.
It turned out I really needed to apologize to myself because my friend wasn't even mad anymore.

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Gratitude is the Attitude

3/16/2014

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Here at Blueberry Planet headquarters, we've instituted a daily "Gratitude Practice," which involves saying the things we are grateful for in the morning right when we wake up and before we go to sleep at night. We also say it when ever we are feeling down through out the day, as well as when we are feeling happy because it increases happiness too!

Gratitude really is the best attitude. You know why? Well, think of it this way. When you focus on the things you are thankful for - the things you like and love - you are uplifting yourself just by thinking about them and telling someone about them. And the goal is to feel good, right?

When you focus on the things you don't like...well, even though you may be telling yourself, or someone else, that you don't want them, it's not making them go away, AND you are still focusing on them - which means you naturally aren't going to feel so good thinking about things you don't like. As you focus on them more, they get bigger, at least in your mind. When you focus on the things you like, then the happy things become bigger. (Of course, we often have to acknowledge about something we don't like in order to take action. I'm talking about focusing on it for a long time without changing anything).

Which do you choose to make bigger in your life? The things you love? Or the things that bug you? We have a choice!

Fun Gratitude Exercise using the ABC's

So here is fun activity for you to do, alone or with your friends. Make an ABC's list of the things you love in the world, the things you are thankful for and desire more of. You can include things about yourself you like and that you are thankful for as well. Start with the letter A and go all the way to the letter Z! You can be creative, and it doesn't have to be exact - you can do more than one thing for each letter, and even skip a letter if you just can't think of anything. Make a list or write it in a paragraph. Anything you do is good!

I am thankful for AIR and BREATHING, and I love BEAUTY. I like to play with CATS and DOGS. I love the color EGGPLANT and am very grateful for my FRIENDSHIPS. I love GOING to new places (see the creativity here?) and HEARING birds sing. I am thankful that *I* am responsible for my happiness, and love hearing funny JOKES....

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Just Say YES to What is Fresh!

3/15/2014

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Hello my friends. This is your new friend Squishy Blueberry here to remind you to Just Say NO to Fast-food and to say YES to the wonderful world of Fresh food! Here are some examples.

Vegetables like broccoli, carrots, celery, zucchini, lettuce and onions.
Fruits like apples, bananas and strawberries. S o many to choose from
Nuts like almonds, cashews, walnuts, pistachio, pecans, and filberts (which also happens to be one of my favorite names!).
Seeds like pumpkin, sunflower and sesame.
Grains like rice, buckwheat and millet.

Keep in mind, the less the food goes through after it's picked from the plant, the more *fresh* it is.

Also, don't forget the fats (like avocado) & oils (like coconut and olive) - you need fat for extra energy on long days.
And remember to drink lots of water to keep your energy level high!
As always, most things are best in moderation (though it's very hard to drink too much water). Of course, you cannot ever love too much.
Timing is important too! For example, fruits are healthy and have vitamins, but eating a lot before bed can keep you awake because of the sugar in them. The sugar is natural, but it's not so helpful when you want to sleep. Better in the morning time!

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A Happy Song and Dance

Happiness is Just a Thought Away

Do You Know Why "There is No Try"?

Sometimes "Try" means "experimenting for the first time."

PS (update)

Kindness Helps You Grow!

Kindness Exercise

Gratitude is the Attitude

Fun Gratitude Exercise using the ABC's

Just Say YES to What is Fresh!

Squishy Speaks

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