I’ve been a bit “under the weather” the last few days. It’s been a challenging couple of weeks and I “allowed” myself to get way over-stressed with things that seemed to be spiraling out of control. Stress is one of the most damaging environments for our health. So, I am choosing to see this passing storm of dis-ease as a wake-up call.

How can I shift my perception more quickly so that I don’t linger in the experience of overwhelming stress for so long that my immune system can’t handle the additional burden?

I came up with an experiment. 1,000 Moments of Aware Appreciation

10 unique things I bring into my awareness in order to focus on what I appreciate – for 100 days.

I’ll share with you what I discovered from my experiment today…

When you feel yourself starting to worry, take a timeout!

I Appreciate Kleenexes

When you’re blowing your nose 30 times a day, the soft texture of a Kleenex salvages the delicate skin on the nose. I actually thought I had used every Kleenex in the house. I keep several boxes around at all times.

I was “worrying” about needing to make an extra trip to the store since the Kleenexes had to be replenished. Pleasant surprise – I found one more box to use until I can replenish my stock.

I Appreciate New Furniture

I have been on a mission to replace the very old “70s” bedroom furniture in our guest bedroom. It’s a long story for another day.

When the drawers are used regularly, the house develops a musty smell. I finally tracked it down and I believe someone stored pipe tobacco in the drawers…probably for many years.  Anything we’ve done to try to clean it up has only made it worse.

So, I finally found some furniture that would complement what was already in there. I was “worrying” that the new and old furniture would “clash.” When it arrived yesterday, I was pleasantly surprised that it looks better than I anticipated.

I Appreciate Olbas Lozenges

OK. So, we’re back to the “crud” as my grandmother called it. I discovered several years ago that I can use Olbas oil on a Kleenex (no surprise there) when I’m sick and it helps keep my sinuses open which allows me to sleep through the night. I’ve tried their lozenges and inhaler but nothing has compared to straight oil on a Kleenex.

Not anticipating having a need for it, I left it in a drawer 500 miles from where I am now. Yesterday, I checked the local health food store to see if they carried it. They only had the lozenges. I bought them but didn’t even open them because I was “worrying” that they weren’t going to do the desired job…certainly not as well as my beloved oil.

Again, pleasant surprise. They changed the formula for the lozenges. Now they are fabulous. I could tell as soon as I opened the box that I was going to have a much improved experience with them.

So, why worry? Rather, wouldn’t I be better served by anticipating a pleasant surprise. It sure seems like that’s what ends up happening quite often anyway.

If you’re addicted to worrying, it can feel “impossible” to make the shift to anticipation of something good rather than something bad. Try distracting yourself by noticing things that you can appreciate.

You may even want to join me in this crusade. For 100 days, write down 10 unique things you appreciate (no repeats). Watch what happens. The more you appreciate, the more you have to appreciate.

Worrying stands no chance when your focus is on looking for the next pleasant surprise.

If you’d like to receive updates or even participate in the Moments of

Aware Appreciation Movement, make sure you complete the sign-up form.Do you have an example of a time when you worked your way out of worrying? Please comment below and like/share so that others can join the discussion.