Week #319 – Procrastinator Alert: Christmas is (still) on December 25th This Year!

Greetings All — and Happy Friday!!!

I’ve been taking the month of October to look ahead.  And as I’ve said before, it may be too far ahead for some — but in this pandemic-year-of-all-years we need all the help we can get to squeeze those lemons of limitation this holiday season! 

For Week # 317, I reminded you to check with your localities and get together with your neighbors to keep the Halloween fun going safely and responsibly for you and your family this year.

Last week I reminded you to take a look ahead to that Thanksgiving 4- or 5-day weekend that’s SURE to look no other — and to test what’s left (if anything) of our resilience this year!

And today…well, we are fast approaching October 25th. And that leaves me no choice but to go where nobody wants me to go:

I’m talking about Christmas!!!

And the reason I’m bringing it up is THREE-fold this year. 1) it’s much easier to talk about the holidays when they are a few months out and nobody really knows what they’re doing; and 2) wouldn’t you like to be the one who knows what you’re doing?!

And 3)…let’s all say it together:

PANDEMIC!

Unspoken expectations are probably the biggest (and quietest) killers of Christmas cheer in a normal year. For those who feel let down because their needs aren’t met…there’s disappointment. But for those who feel they didn’t live up to expectations…well, there’s guilt, shame, anger, self-loathing…just to name a few! 😉

And that’s no way to start a Christmas list!

But this year, all bets seem off because we don’t know WHAT to expect…or HOW to deliver the Christmases we all know and love. (And hey — even the ghosts of Christmases Not-So-Great are looking pretty good this year!)

Which brings me to Christmas Present. VERY Present.

This holiday season is sure to look like no other before — and hopefully, God willing, no other in the future. But that doesn’t mean we need to throw in the towel. This may be the one and only year we get to do some things we never got to do before (like stay home) — and might not get to do again.

An invitation:

If you’re interested in finding out what THIS Christmas can hold for you and your family — join me and about 500 other people from all across the country for Year #2 of the Christmas Project Planner. I served on the manuscript development team for this book, the launch team last year, and I’m helping facilitate the group this year on Facebook. (You can learn more about the book here…and the Facebook group here.) If you’d like to join in the fun…click “join” and tell them Grace from SpreadHappyness sent you! I get nothing out of it other than the joy of seeing you there!

We will start working through the 21 projects in that book starting November 4th — with one project a day M-F (weekends off) through December 4th. You do not need the book to join…but it’s a beautiful planner to record and reuse year after year (and I spiral bound mine to make it more user-friendly)!

I don’t know about you, but I’m looking for every advantage I can get this holiday season to rest, relax, and restore a little faith in the holiday magic of 2020. And for those of you who prefer to keep Christmas in December…I get it! I envy your ability to get it all done in four weeks — in a good year. This year, I’m not leaving anything to chance!

Are you with me?!

Your Happyness Challenge for the Week Ahead: Christmas is (still) on December 25th this year! That’s right…not even Covid can cancel Christmas! Are you ready to plan? Have you already started? Or do you prefer to wait until after Thanksgiving? Whatever your preference, get out your calendar and walk yourself through December…especially the holiday weeks. Are there travel arrangements to adjust or cancel, time to request off, difficult conversations to have, lists to start building, or limits that would be better set now? Even if you don’t take action on them…get them down on paper and revisit them when you’re ready. Your December self might just thank you!

And if you want to…join me in the Christmas Project Planner Facebook Group to squeeze every last drop out of the lemon that is 2020!

Spread Happyness — it’s just about two months to Christmas!!! Start planning now!!! 🙂

10/23/20 by Grace Church
© Grace Church
grace@spreadhappyness.com

Week #318 – Procrastinator Alert: It’s Mid-October (Do you know where your Thanksgiving is…or will be?)

Greetings All — and Happy Friday!!!

I’m taking this month of October to look ahead.  Maybe too far ahead for some — but as I said last week, in this pandemic-year-of-all-years we need all the help we can get to set ourselves up for some kind of enjoyment!

Last week I reminded you to think ahead to Halloween so that you’re ready to squeeze the most fun out of this year’s limitations.

This week, I want to look ahead to that Thanksgiving 4-day (sometimes 5-day) weekend. Because what is normally a cozy, pre-craziness, together time for families might feel VERY different this year for many reasons:

First of all, you may have lost a member of your family this year. On top of everything else we’ve been through collectively, individual grieving in the middle of pandemic isolation and shut down has it’s very own set of challenges. If this is your situation, my heart goes out to you. Take it slow and easy on yourself — and others.

Second, you may have lost a job or income — or have taken on added financial obligations to care for someone else. This could put its own pressure on a LONG weekend normally spent shopping, eating, or traveling. All the more reason to plan ahead and establish boundaries early. If travel is out of the question, let people know quickly. If large gatherings are not in the budget, reconsider your hosting arrangement (maybe a potluck?) or pass the baton to someone else happy to receive it. And if Covid restrictions have you and your immediates holed-up at home, now is a great time to plan your menus and figure out “what’s for dinner” while you still have a moment to think for yourself! 🙂 (Otherwise, maybe assign a night to each member of your family to make something — or make other arrangements!)

Third, maybe you just miss your family and the way things used to be. The Pandemic Blues are a real thing…most of us accepted stay-at-home orders, we adapted to masks, we learned to recoil from hugs and handshakes. One LONG weekend may be more than we can shoulder alone at this point. If this is you, reach out to friends who may be in the same situation. Make plans to take walks, host a happy hour (outside, of course), or gather in whatever socially distant way feels comfortable and safe for you. But don’t go it alone!

Fourth, maybe you’ve just had A LOT of together time already and are looking to get away or get a change of scenery. You won’t be alone in that, for sure! Now is the time to think about where you want to go, where you could go, how you would get there, and what you need to do to make that happen. Who knows? Maybe this Thanksgiving turns out to be the best one yet!

Sorry if it bums you out talking about Thanksgiving already…but this year-of-all-years, it will be necessary to plan ahead, so that we can anticipate and enjoy the season that much more. 

I’m willing to give it a try…are you?

Your Happyness Challenge for the Week Ahead: Plan your Thanksgiving 4- or 5-day weekend now! Walk yourself through each day, maybe even in reverse, and think through (or discuss) how you want to spend them. This year promises to look very different than any other. Now is the time to seek out that which is important (or familiar) to you and your family — and put a plan in place to make sure you get more of THAT to start this holiday season!

Spread Happyness — tell me, how do you plan to spend this year’s Thanksgiving Weekend?

10/16/20 by Grace Church
© Grace Church
grace@spreadhappyness.com

Week #317 – Procrastinator Alert: Plan Your Halloween NOW!

Greetings Tribe — and Happy Friday!

Halloween may seem like a month away…but this year-of-all-years it’s going to be more important than ever to plan ahead!

Do you have a plan?

Normally, I’d be asking you if you have your costume picked out yet…but THIS year I’m asking if you even have a plan? Because with different states/localities in various stages of shut-down…we can’t rely on our regular norms and traditions.

This year, we may need to get REALLY creative. (And in a pandemic…creative isn’t always easy!)

First, find out what your locality is doing.

Some neighborhoods are allowing trick-or-treating and others are not. Some have banned activities that draw crowds in close quarters while others are encouraging anything that keeps people outside and at a distance. Before you get caught by surprise by what’s allowed/not allowed to happen…find out ahead of time what you can do to observe and participate in the holiday safely. Then come up with a plan that works for YOU.

Second, get busy celebrating!

Whatever you decide to do…run with it! Do you normally decorate your house? Maybe this is the year you go ALL OUT. Do you normally provide snacks/beverages for passers-by? Maybe this is the year you up your investment with individually packaged items. Are there other parents in your neighborhood asking the same questions? Maybe this is an opportunity to get together and come up with a group plan that satisfies the collective itch while keeping everyone safe in their bubble.

Third, be open to new traditions.

This year-of-all-years promises to be VERY different from anything we’ve ever seen before. I know it’s hard to accept. It’s tremendously sad to see the simplest of pleasures become the most questionable of activities. I’m with you. But keep courage, my friends…and press on. Heed the NO-s…but seek out and amplify the YES-es!

Turns out, staying positive may be the oldest “trick” in the book!

Your Happyness Challenge for the week ahead: Plan Your Halloween NOW! Saturday, October 31st is going to come around one way or another. I know it’s tempting to stick our heads in the sand and “wait to see” what happens. Don’t do that to yourself (or your kids). Come up with a game plan…even if it’s a Plan A, B, and Z. In this real-life fun-house-of-horrors…this is the year to be ready for whatever surprises are lurking around the next corner!

Spread Happyness — share your Halloween plans in the comments!

10/9/20 by Grace Church
© Grace Church
grace@spreadhappyness.com

Week #316 – Q4 is Underway! (What do you want to show for it?)

Greetings Tribe — and Happy Friday!

It’s the first Friday in October. The fourth quarter of the fiscal year. Thirteen weeks remaining in this crazy year called 2020.

As I’ve written before, the turn into October is usually a white-flag moment for me: the last lap.  A time to stop, take stock, and set a course for Q4 — the finish line of the calendar year.

But this year, it feels like we’re barely out of the starting gate!

Like you, we’ve been dealing with lockdowns and layoffs. And, as many of you know, in addition to all the other craziness that 2020 has handed us — Jim lost his father just two weeks ago. Not to Covid — but in a bizarre pedestrian accident that took his life in a split second.

The year just doesn’t make sense.

And yet, I know that Q4 is special because it brings the calendar year to a distinct close and gives us a unique opportunity to reflect and celebrate all that we’ve accomplished, completed, achieved, experienced, loved AND lost in the year that has passed.

Which brings me to my question: What sense can we make of it?

Because no matter what happens, this year will pass. And it will be remembered…for Covid, for the election, for people we loved and lost, for jobs changed and wisdom gained.

For what we decided to do with it…not just what it did with us!

So whether you’ve been keeping up with your dreams and goals this year…or whether life has thrown you curveball after cutter after slider, now is a good time to take stock and think about how this last quarter can bring you some healing, some closure, or at least a chance to regain your footing.

Sure there are problems — but remember to keep track of the good stuff too. Covid has taken a lot from us this year. Don’t let it steal your joy, too.

Your Happyness Challenge for the week ahead: Q4 is underway! What do you want to show for it?  Is there something you still need to do that is nagging at you?  Something you want to leave in 2020? If so…you’ve got thirteen full weeks to get it done!  Don’t take unfinished business into the new year ahead.  Break it down into steps…share it with a friend…find yourself a buddy…get to work…and get it DONE!

Most important…keep collecting the good stuff!  Keep on keeping track of those things that bring you hope, happiness, and satisfaction!  Because we need more of that, especially now.  More focus on the wins.  More focus on what’s right.  More focus on loving our lives and the people in it — so that we can live our lives more fully.

To Life! To Love!! To Happyness!!!

Spread Happyness — share your thoughts and plans for Q4 in the comments!

10/2/20 by Grace Church
© Grace Church
grace@spreadhappyness.com

Week #315 – “Roll Me Away!” (Listen to your longings this week!)

Good Afternoon, Everyone — and Happy Friday!

Many of you know that my partner Jim’s father was accidentally hit and killed last week while crossing the street in his beloved Jersey Shore town. The same town where this photo was taken…and many good memories were made.

Jim Sr. always saw to that!

As I was reflecting on all the great memories we made there, I was reminded of this post from Week #161. It was a full year after our move to Los Angeles and I was still taking care of some long-overdue to-dos. And while I had gotten quite a few important and somewhat urgent things done — one thing slipped through the cracks completely: my motorcycle endorsement. And I wasn’t happy about it.

(And now, I’m REALLY not happy about it!)

I had always wanted to get a motorcycle license. And while many of my practice hours were logged with Rob by my side, Jim Sr. was the one who made it happen. He was the first to get me ON a bike. The first to show me how to walk it gently up and down the street and how to roll the throttle and practice turns on his quiet little cul de sac. He let Rob take me out for practice run after practice run on those sandy shore roads. And in the end, he gifted Jim and I with a rider’s education course to make sure we really knew how to ride safely (in November…the coldest class EVER!).

When I moved to California in 2016, I had a year to take the written test again in order to transfer the endorsement.  The year passed. I never retested. The endorsement went away.

I know that in the grand scheme of things…this isn’t important.  There was some really sad, complicated, and important issues going on in our world when I first wrote this post…and they are still going on now.  But it was my brother (and Jim Sr.) who taught me to ride.  Who helped me achieve a life-long dream of getting my license and riding solo!  That “M” represented an awful lot of Rob…and Jim Sr.

And now they’re both gone.

And while there is part of me that’s REALLY not happy about the fact that I let my endorsement slip…there is another part that knows I will take another class, I will retest, and I will ride again!

And I’ll think of BOTH of them as I “Roll Me Away!”

Try as we might…we can’t be perfectly happy all the time.  Longing is part of the human condition…it’s what keeps us dreaming, keeps us envisioning, keeps us journeying to find out what’s beyond that next bend in the road…and then over those hills…and then out further along that plain…

…and, once again Bob Seger’s words will come flooding back: “Next time…we’ll get it right!”

Your Happyness Challenge for the Week Ahead:  When you come across something you “aren’t happy about” — don’t just settle for unhappiness!  Identify the longing…and use it to get focused on what you want.  And it doesn’t hurt to add a theme song to inspire you!  When I was leaving my corporate job, I listened to Boston’s “Don’t Look Back” every single day on my way to work to remind me that my future was AHEAD of me…not behind me!  Now, once again, it will be Bob Seger’s “Roll Me Away” as I set off to recover my endorsement…this year or next!

Whatever it is for you…listen to your longings! (And tell me your theme song in the comments!)

Spread Happyness — listen to your longings this week!

9/25/20 by Grace Church
© Grace Church
grace@spreadhappyness.com

Week #314 – Welcome Fall! (Celebrate the first days of Autumn!)

(This topic is an annual favorite — and always worth revisiting!)

Greetings All — and Happy Friday!

The Autumnal Equinox will occur at 3:30am ET this Tuesday, September 22nd.  That’s right…just in case you need a reminder: it is September. And, as far as I know, Fall is still the next season on the calendar! (I won’t tempt 2020 to do something crazy with that!)

The equinox is the exact moment when the sun shines equally on both sides of the Equator.  The word itself means “equal night” — as these days are marked by equal parts sunlight and darkness.

And for a moment — perfect balance. (Can you imagine that?)

Normally, the “end” of Summer is a sad time: light fades, the air cools, summer flowers surrender. This year-of-all-years, I know more than one beach bum who isn’t sorry to see summer go, or fall, or winter for that matter! Just beam us up into 2021, right?

Whether you’re on Team Summer, Team Fall, or Team Anything-But-2020 — I hope you managed to make some good memories this summer.  But if not, don’t despair.  Another 13-week season starts Tuesday!  A new beginning, a new quarter, and for many a new year ahead!

This equinox gives us the perfect opportunity to step back, take stock, re-balance — and to finish the year strong!

Your Happyness Challenge for the Week Ahead: WELCOME FALL!  Welcome this season of harvest, storage, and preparation by turning inward for a moment: take stock in yourself, make room for only what’s necessary, and set a goal or direction for the next three months — no matter what life is going to throw at you.  The Winter Solstice is thirteen weeks away. The next quarter is going to pass one way or another…and soon 2020 will be gone.

Ask yourself: how do you want to spend this season?!

Some ideas:

1. DECORATE — this is the easiest way to mark the change of seasons.  Don’t wait for the leaves to turn or for Halloween decorations to appear (in some stores, they’re already gone!). Get out your scarecrows and pumpkins and give yourself a visual cue that a new season has arrived.  WELCOME IT!
2. CLEAN — there is a lot of talk of “Spring” cleaning at the Vernal Equinox — but Fall has it’s own cleaning and decluttering rituals too.  As we turn our focus inward to our homes — it makes sense that we would declutter and clean in preparation for the indoor months ahead.  Use this time to get rid of things you no longer need — and make room for the things that will sustain and nurture you through the dark and cold of winter.  MAKE ROOM FOR IT!
3. SET NEW GOALS — Just like cleaning and decluttering makes room in our homes, cleaning and decluttering of the mind makes room in our psyche.  Every thirteen weeks we are given the opportunity to start a “new season.”  Start this Fall with a little quiet time to consider what you’d like to accomplish by the END of this year, what obligations or habits you need to shed to make that possible, and what new resources you may need to help you get there!  DREAM ABOUT IT!
4. PLAN FALL FUN — NOW is the time to look at your fall calendar (October/November/December) and find a way to continue with the activities you like best.  Harvest festivals, haunted houses, and crowded football games may be out this year…but apple picking, foliage tours, and that one last Indian Summer day at the shore are all sure things! Think about the things that bring you joy this time of year and find a way to get to a YES. Then PLAN IT!
5. START TALKING ABOUT THE HOLIDAYS NOW — This one is a little controversial because nobody likes to be rushed into the holidays…but especially this year-of-all-years, waiting until November 27th to start talking about how the holidays are going to look is too late!  Don’t let restrictions steal your JOY this year. Just like the Whos Down in Whoville…Christmas is coming one way or another! GET OUT AHEAD OF IT!

At the very least — set aside time this weekend to think about what you need to feel happy in the 13 weeks ahead!

Remember — it takes a happy person to Spread Happyness!

Spread Happyness — share your favorite Autumn rituals and activities in the comments!

9/18/20 by Grace Church
© Grace Church
grace@spreadhappyness.com

Greetings Happyness Tribe — and Welcome to Week #313!

Six years ago on September 5th our world changed forever — and on September 8th, SpreadHappyness was born.

It seems like forever ago and just yesterday all at the same time. And today of all days (9/11) — I feel all the various parts of my life colliding: my youth, my age, my life in New York City, my life in California, my life before Rob, my life after Rob, my life in a Global Pandemic.

A lot has happened, especially in this past year, to put A LOT of distance between life “then” and life “now.” And with that distance, sometimes go the memories. Even still, six years later, Rob feels very present to me through all the people that knew him and loved him and enjoyed his company!

So let me take a moment once again to say THANK YOU to each and every one of you who have logged on, followed along, shared your thoughts, supported the effort, and above all — who’ve SPREAD HAPPYNESS this past year!!!  

Because I know it’s not always easy.

It’s not easy to smile, wave big and say hello like you mean it when you’re grumpy, or sad, or struggling.

(And that’s just Week #1 and #2!)

It’s not easy to reach out, to lend a hand, to mentor or encourage someone when your world feels like it’s falling apart.

It’s not easy to plan ahead, to set goals, or to try something new when your heart has been broken by disappointment…again and again and yet again.

Shoot…NOTHING has been easy in this year-of-all-pandemic-years!

Six years and 313 posts later, I know that to some people Happyness seems simple…maybe even too simple. But let me be the first to tell you, it’s not easy. It’s hard work. And it is SO necessary! Because the reality is, some days (or even years) the world gets the better of us…

…and other times, Happyness wins!

How do I know? I started this website on September 8th…THREE DAYS after my brother took his last, labored breath in a small, quiet hospital room in New York City.

At that time, this is what I wrote…and this is what I believe to this day (it’s still the contents of my “About” page):

SpreadHappyness.com was created in honor of my beloved brother and best friend, Robert Church Jr., who died on Friday, September 5th after a short battle with cancer.  He was 40 years old.

It is my wish to identify and carry forward (through weekly blogposts/challenges) the torch of Rob’s legacy — which I believe was his natural ability to spread happiness to anyone who was lucky enough to cross his path.  If you knew Rob, you already know this to be true.  And I bet you have a story all your own about something Rob said or did — maybe even 20 years ago — that continues to make you happy today!  I want to hear those stories!!!

If you didn’t get to meet Rob, let me introduce you.  I pledge to deliver a little dose of him to you every Friday morning (at least) via this blog.  Because cancer is not the only thing that can spread.  Happiness can take on a life of it’s own too!  It will be up to us to carry his light forward by sharing our stories, living his lessons, and spreading happiness to those who are now lucky enough to cross our paths!

With great love and affection for you all…
Grace (aka “Rob’s sister!”)

So if you didn’t get to meet Rob…let me introduce you! 🙂

Your Happyness Challenge for the Week Ahead: Welcome to Spread Happyness!!! Spread Happyness is not about being Happy. It’s about “Spreading” Happyness by making choices that uplift and elevate others…not tear them down. When you feel the world getting to you this week — or better yet, when you see it getting to someone else — roll up your sleeves and get to work. There is Happyness to Spread!!!

To life! To love!! To Happyness!!!

Spread Happyness — please share your thoughts in the comments!

9/11/20 by Grace Church
© Grace Church
grace@spreadhappyness.com

Week #312 – Do you know where your Happyness is?

Good Morning, All! And Happy…well…

…that’s exactly what I’m here to talk about this week. Because it’s the first Friday in September and you know what that means:

Do you know where your Happyness is?

It’s a question I’ve been asking myself for the past ten weeks. TEN WEEKS! A full two months since my last post.

Did you even notice?

Probably not…because shortly after my last post our world went completely bonkers (as if it wasn’t totally bonkers before that). Civil unrest, protests, riots, tornadoes, hurricanes, fires, earthquakes, floods, and yes…even more election drama…have saturated our news.

I have to be honest with you…week after week, it just seemed like there was no room for Happyness in those equations.

And as the weeks went on, and some of us went back into lockdown while others openly continued their bad behavior…my heart started to get a little bitter. Was the pursuit of Happyness even worth it? What was the point? Was it even appropriate to put forth an unapologetically positive perspective while there was so much legitimate anger, sadness, grief, and unrest in the world?

The answer I’ve come to is…YES! (And I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to come around to it!)

How do I know?

Because in the absence of personal interactions I’ve come to realize the tremendous value of anyone who is willing to lift someone up, encourage someone, smile, wave, and say hello like they mean it.

Because as I spent more time on social media I came to realize how refreshing, encouraging, and inspiring people are who are DETERMINED to find the yes, see the positive (even in the negative), and make something out of a big fat nothing!

Because as I’ve endured the past nearly six months of shutdown, I’ve come to realize how truly important it is to train ourselves to be a source of positivity, encouragement, and yes — even Happyness — in OTHER people’s lives, especially in the bad times.

Because I had to remind myself that I started this website at a time just like that. Six years ago tomorrow my brother Rob succumbed to a cancer he didn’t deserve. A beautiful, healthy, vibrant, fun forty year old struck down in just a few month’s time. At that moment, when nothing made sense and my world was upside down, I created something to Spread Happyness.

If the past ten weeks of silence have taught me anything…it’s that Happyness is needed now more than ever. Happyness in hard times, in sad times, in grief, in pain, in anger, in frustration, in flat out disappointment — just as much as in the fun and easy times.

Your Happyness Challenge for the Week Ahead: It’s the first Friday in September…do you know where your Happyness is? If you’ve lost touch with your Happyness over the past six months, six weeks, or six days…you are not alone. The world has had its way with us a bit. But it’s time to reclaim our place…turn the page…and set a new course. It’s time to get back to basics! (Which is where I’ll start all over again next week!)

So yes, please join me in saying “Good Morning, All — and Happy Friday!”

Spread Happyness — It’s Friday, September 4th: do you know where your Happyness is?

9/4/20 by Grace Church
© Grace Church
grace@spreadhappyness.com

Week #302 – Find the Cracks (…and Flourish!)

Good Morning, All – and Happy Friday!

As re-opening continues across the country, a strange phenomenon is occurring…many people are feeling MORE limited now than during the shut down. 

How can that be?

Well, for one, during the shut-down closures were crystal clear — and therefore more easily acceptable. There was a long list of things we simply could not do — which made it easier to focus on the short list of things we could do!  So there was lots of decluttering, baking, home improvement projects, and maybe some writing.  Things that under normal circumstances, we didn’t always “have time for.” 

Now that things — and options — are opening up, our choices are opening up too. And that requires cognitive decision making on our part: should we, shouldn’t we, is it smart to do this, safe to do that, wiser to wait and see, etc?

So now, without the simple certainty of “can’t do’s” — we are suddenly overwhelmed with uncertain and complex consideration of could-dos, if-onlys, and we’ll sees. 

The irony is, limitations sometimes set us free to focus our energy on what matters most right in front of us. Like the weed in the photo. There’s only one way…and that’s up, through that crack in the pavement. Less than ideal circumstances for sure…but he’s going for it!

Our longing for “normal” is totally, well…normal. Just the thought of it  — even with whatever troubles existed before — brings a sense of ease and relief. If we could just get things back to the way they once were…everything would be ok. Right?

I don’t know. There’s a lot of hyperbole about “normal” not having been so great in the first place and instead looking to a brighter, more clearer, future. Only time will tell. In the meantime, there is a crack in the pavement.  

We might long for an open field…but for the now the sun is shining on this spot. Find the openings, whatever they are…and take root. Grow as tall and strong and proud as you can right now, right where you are, with the resources you have.

Find the cracks…and flourish!

Your Happyness Challenge for the Week Ahead: Find the cracks…and flourish! Whatever limitations you are facing (and I am too, trust me)…try to embrace them, and fend off overwhelm. Just because everything is “opening up” doesn’t mean you have to!  Find the cracks that suit you, that feel safe to you, that nurture you and your family…and flourish!

Spread Happyness — Find the Cracks (…and Flourish!)

6/26/20 by Grace Church
© Grace Church
grace@spreadhappyness.com

Week #300 (+1) – Give Yourself (and others) Some Grace

As I approached the 300th week of my blog this year, I kept thinking to myself, “Wow, I should really plan something special!”  Each week, as I ticked off the weeks, I’d think to myself once again…”300…I should really do something special!”

I was going to post a special picture, announce a new Facebook group, maybe (finally) talk about the book I’m writing.

Something SPECIAL!!!

And then you know what happened?  Quarantine Brain!  In the flurry of news and re-opening activities last week, I forgot it was Friday!

So I woke up at 2am last Friday morning (when Jim decided to get up for a snack) and the thought occurred to me, tomorrow is Friday!  Week 300!  And you didn’t DO anything!

I was immediately wide awake with disappointment, guilt, and regret. How could I forget it was Friday?  (His day?)  How could I forget my blog?  And how could I forget #300?!

And after I realized that no one would probably notice (or care)…I gave myself some grace. It’s corny for me to use this word because it’s my name, and it’s a word I avoid just for that reason, but it’s a good word in this situation. Give yourself some grace. 

And it’s good advice. Because as we all start to get back to life, get out in the world, and back to each other…one thing is for sure, we’re gonna need lots of grace. 

You may find that your social skills got rusty, maybe you curse a little easier, have trouble concentrating on a conversation, or find your editing system is a little off as you blurt out something that may not have made it out of your mouth previously. 

Give yourself some grace. 

You may find others impatient, rude, or unkind. It’s a good thing to remember that they, too, have been cooped up for months dealing with who knows what at home without the escapes of work, or school, or outside entertainment. 

Give yourself (and them) some grace. 

You may find the world as we knew it struggling to figure out this new post-quarantine thing…restaurants may be slow, operations may not be smooth, your favorite gym or studio may not have it all figured out yet because the theory of reopening is much different than the actual re-opening. 

Give the world some grace. 

It’s helpful to remember that for most of us, this is our first pandemic. We are living through a significant piece of history — and hopefully it’s never repeated again. 

Give yourself (and others) some grace. 

Your Happyness Challenge for the Week Ahead: Give yourself (and others) some grace!  As we move to re-open, wherever you are, try to remember that this was everyone’s first pandemic. The experience will likely be vastly different from person to person. Give yourself time and space to adjust. And most of all, give yourself (and others) some grace!

I know I had to!

Spread Happyness – Give Yourself (and others) Some Grace!

6/19/20 by Grace Church
© Grace Church
grace@spreadhappyness.com