By Karen Sue-A-Quan, Pediatric Critical Care Pharmacist at The Hospital for Sick Children. Spiritual Life Coach.
Why is the sun associated with positive feelings as we gaze into its magnificence? What makes it beautiful? It’s a natural occurrence of fiery gases suspended in the universe and yet our perception of the sun is of its warmth, our life force, of hope, joy and other positive sensations and perceptions.
If we could take these same positive perceptions and apply it to all that shows up in our lives, we could live a life sunny-side up. It’s looking at people, situations, encounters, life experiences through a lens that blocks out the negativity to focus on the positive. Even if we are tossed about, burned on our underside and land sunny-side up like the way we fry an egg, then we can always have the sun facing towards us to see the beauty in life.
If we are to look for the beauty in the not–so-beautiful, then we will find what we seek. Life is not about perfection. It’s about the perfection in its imperfections. It’s about putting on the sunglasses to block out the harmful rays and still be able to see the beautiful light.
Take a look at every moment that is ticking and find its beauty spot. It may seem ridiculous but it is about retraining our mindset to settle down sunny-side up. Life is a gift and it is given to us when we are ready to receive it as such.
Think of a person that conjures up feelings that are more difficult to handle. Notice your internal responses. What is the image of the person doing to you internally? How is the image of the person impacting your physical health? That is just the image. Imagine what response would be happening if the image was reality and that person is standing right before you.
Look for the positive in that moment. Put on sunglasses to block out the rays, and really take a good hard look for the positive in every experience. Every time your mindset floats to the hard feelings associated with the experience, flip yourself like an egg, and find the sunny spot again. It takes practice as the habit of seeing unwanted may be so ingrained over a long period of time, that to unwind it, will take commitment and perseverance to see the wanted. Just take notice, and be a witness to your thoughts. Flip, flip, flop, and flip until you land sunny-side up.
Sharing with you my own experience
Sharing a situation where I had to learn to flip sunny-side up. It happened while I was at university. I had a person in my life that I had initial reservations but eventually let into my life. Despite the well-intentional warnings from friends and family, I chose to stay close to this person. After 3 years of knowing this individual, I uncovered that this individual was withdrawing money from my bank account without my consent. I felt angry, disappointed, and dismayed. Essentially, I was burned. Holding onto these feelings helped me initially to stay away as I tend to forgive quite easily. Eventually, I flipped my mindset to the sunny side up. I thought of all the life lessons this person taught me about myself. I thought of all the new experiences this person brought into my life. I thought of all the people he introduced me to. I thought of the fact that without knowing this person, I would not have met my husband who I am beyond blessed to have in my life. Sunnyside up mentality helps to diffuse the burnt sides and helps to see the brightness in the darkness. It doesn’t disregard the events that are not so sunny, but it chooses to focus more attention on the brighter ones.
Turning it over to you:
When you have difficult or challenging moments, how do reflect upon them?
How did you handle the most difficult moment in your life where you felt you were ‘burned’? What does being burned feel like? How does it serve you?
What would a positive mindset bring you in life?
How could you flip to a sunny side up mentality every time you find yourself in a negative mental zone?
Tips and tools to hopefully help you:
1. When you first notice that you are thinking negatively, just notice.
2. Say to yourself’ “I notice that I am thinking …….”
3. Ask yourself “What if this didn’t happen? Would I learn what I just did?”
4. Ask yourself, “What lesson did I learn?
5. Find amongst the rubble, what you are thankful for by saying in your head, “At least it’s not ___________________”.
All posts are intended strictly for educational purposes. It is not intended to make any representations or warranties about the outcome of any product/service.
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