I have been a pessimist most of my life. Is my glass half full or is it half empty? For me, often I couldn’t find my glass. Having kids changed me for the better. I became less depressed and more hopeful for the future- hopeful for their future. Certain setbacks this year, brought a lot of the pessimism I worked so hard to get over, back into my life.
The last few weeks, however, I have been making a concerted effort to focus on the positives. It’s so easy to let the negatives in life take over and consume you. Each week, I decided to come up with two or three wins. A win can be something big or small. It just has to be meaningful and provide you with a sense of accomplishment. It can be something as simple as getting the haircut you have been putting off for months, paying off a credit card bill, or taking time to catch up with an old friend. A few weeks back, I was super excited that I was able to sign my kids up for a sports camp and swim lessons. This is certainly nothing earth shattering, but I was happy I was able to check these two items off of my to do list.
Its only Wednesday and I am pleased to have three wins already for the week.
1. On Tuesday, I took my three kids to Carowinds (big amusement park) by myself for the first time. There were only two arguments, one meltdown, and zero children lost. This is a huge win in my book. We all came back in one piece and I lived to write about it.
2. A few months back, I submitted my mischievous middle child’s birth story to Love What Matters, a fun website that shares human interest stories. I had completely forgotten about submitting the story, until I received an email from them stating that they had published it on their site. Woohoo!!
3. I received the go ahead from the physical therapist that I have been working with since I injured my shoulder, to slowly resume my aerial practice with a multitude of modifications and stipulations. So for the first time in 6 months and 6 days (but who is counting), I went back to the aerial studio for a static trapeze class taught by my favorite instructor. Although, I looked longingly at the intermediate silks class doing the skills that I “should” be able to do, I truly was thrilled to be back at my happy place. I could have easily gotten discouraged that things that once were easy, were now challenging for me. However, I was just happy to have another chance, even if it means starting over.
What are your wins this week?
Delusions of Parenthood 
Awesome 👏🏻!!! You are back where you belong!
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I hope so! We will see how it goes!
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What a great way to find WINS to counteract pessimism! Before long, you’ll cross the threshold and begin to see the glass half full 😉☺️ Xo, Evelyn, PathofPresence
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It’s a work in progress that’s for sure.
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Great techniques. Focusing on the small wins are so important as well and helps cultivate a sense of gratitude. Keep it up!
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It’s amazing how much noticing these small wins can have on your overall wellbeing.
Lovely post. You should add writing it to your list of ‘wins’ for this week.
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Aww thanks! That means a lot coming from you, Phil! Your writing is fabulous!
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Love the post! My wins for this week are showing more self-control, being more patient, and being aware of the kind acts of others!
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Those are great wins! Keep up the good work!
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Yes!!! Wins are so important. I think as mom’s we tend to look at things in a very foggy lense. If it needs to be done, we just do it but we don’t often step back and realize what it took to make it happen. We are winning constantly and rarely take the time to reflect. Can I just say that the aerial work out looks AMAZING!
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Exactly!! It’s hard as moms to see the day to day events as successes! Aerial is a great workout! I’m so happy it’s back in my life.
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Focusing on your wins is a great reminder – it’s so easy to focus on the negative and what you can’t do.. Congrats on making progress with your shoulder!!
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Thank you!!!
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Love the idea of celebrating all wins, big or small! So cool that you do aerial, I’ve wanted to try it for a while.
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Thank!!! Definitely give aerial a try! It’s life changing!
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I need to start doin this! Focus on the wins instead of on the things that I didn’t do or still have to do. It maty help reduce my anxiety. 🙂
Nailil
http://thirtyminusone.com/
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It should help reduce both anxiety and depression, as well as empower you to do more for yourself and others!
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I tend to be a pessimist as well, so I liked your advice on focusing more on our small wins, sometimes I am so perfectionist that I don’t acknowledge my small victories. Great post!
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I can see it being hard as a perfectionist to see the small victories in life, but they count & they are as important as the times we do something “perfectly.”
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Excellent story, thrilled that you got the go ahead to start back with your favorite exercises
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What an awesome story! Let’s celebrate the wings!
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It’s great to hear that you were able to refocus your thoughts successfully. Counting wins is an effective way of supporting your personal development in a positive way.
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I never thought of acknowledging my wins, you just triggered something within me.
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So glad! Hope it helps with finding some positives in life.
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It’s really an amazing post. For me, I always try to be positive. When I don’t see results after a lot of hard work, I become a little negative. But it not last forever. Thanks for inspiring me!
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Focussing on regular wins keeps me motivated too. I enjoyed reading this post and could relate to a lot.
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Wow, these trapeze classes look awesome! Loved your energy in this post – keep shining!
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The pictures look spendid. I would love to trapeze classes soon. Thanks for sharing
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Your article was motivational and inspirational. I loved it so mch that I have followed your blog so that I do not miss out on good stuff
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Aww thank you!
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Great post. Even i postponed by haircut for last 2 weeks. Now i will follow u. Will finish my small small task and this will give more confidence to complete others too
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Thanks! I agree – getting small things completed will help us tackle the bigger tasks.
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Love this post. I think I should also start counting my little wins.
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Lovely post! Finally I found someone who writes about parenthood and it’s perks and pesks (I know that’s not even a word but I still like to use it). It’s important to enjoy small wins equally along with big wins. Because they do make a difference too. Followed you!
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Thank you!! Yes- parenting has its ups and downs that’s for sure. I followed you back!
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Love your post! I really like the idea of finding wins for the week! I know I’m late to the party. My week has just started, but last week I think I had three wins. I went to the pool on Thursday with kids at work, I had dinner with a work friend on Friday, and I did a free yoga class on Sunday. It’s been a great week!
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Really nice post! Enjoyed reading and seeing your pics to illustrate everything 😊
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Focusing on the positive is so important. Even knowing that you are heading in the right direction should be counted as a win.
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Love that you are back in your happy place! I’d totally take signing up my kids for both camp and swim lessons as a win. ❤️
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Thank you!!! So happy to be back there
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