Free compliments!

What if everyone were this positive? What if everyone could find one thing to compliment about another person every day? Will you give it a try? I'm going to!

Sometimes the right underwear makes all the difference

I've put on some weight in the last year. Okay, a lot of weight. There are many good reasons and excuses for the gain, but the bottom line (har har) is that none of my pants fit. Even pants I bought recently are already too tight.

It's hard enough to be out of my weight comfort zone and dealing with all that insecurity and disappointment, but it adds insult to injury when my clothes are so tight as to be 1) painful and 2) unflattering.

Shopping for bigger clothes is a temporary solution, and I have been shopping and have picked up some nice clothes that fit and that I look good in, and that helps a lot.

But what about those days (like yesterday) when I go shopping and, not only does nothing fit, but everything looks terrible on me?

Undies! Yep, instead of getting all "woe is me" about the lack of flattering pants around town, I decided to treat myself to some undergarments to replace the ones that are way too snug and make me look like I've wrapped rubber bands around my bum.

It's amazing how nice-fitting, smooth underwear can instantly make a lumpy-looking pair of pants so much better.

So for now, I've still got the tight-pants problem. But the right skivvies can go a long way toward improving my self-image and helping me be a little easier on myself while I work myself back into shape.

(Love the image from The Art of Manliness blog!)

Standing up for television

There are a lot of people out in the world who not only knock TV, but knock those of us who watch it like we're some kind of illiterate fools.

Because apparently it's not possible to enjoy TV and still be a productive member of society. If I watch TV, I must be eating bucketloads of junk food and letting my brain turn to mush. Not to mention the lack of exercise I get because apparently I sit on my fat butt in front of the boob tube instead of moving my body.

I'm tired of it and I'm going to defend watching TV, here and now. I can only speak for myself; I don't know what the rest of you watch, how much time you spend or how it impacts your life.

I work out five days a week; it's on my calendar and I'm deeply committed.

I read.

I write.

I cook.

I make jewelry.

I spend time with my husband, my friends and my cats, and my family when I have the time to travel.

I have work time and personal time, and TV falls into my personal time. I don't work during personal time, because I value the boundaries I've set between work and play. TV watching falls into play time. I don't work 16 hours a day, so TV is hardly affecting my productivity. I need and want downtime and I don't apologize for making time for it.

In fact, TV is some of the best inspiration I've found for my public speaking blog, Speak Schmeak. TV shows, sporting events and commercials regularly provide fodder for my blog posts. I find that it keeps my ideas fresh and in tune with pop culture. It stimulates my thinking and helps me apply effective public speaking principles to a lot of different situations. Why not use Top Gear, Top Chef or American Idol as inspiration? People watch those shows and can relate to the people and issues I write about.

Here are 85 public speaking blog posts that have been inspired by TV.

I'm tired of being judged because I enjoy TV. I have hobbies. I get plenty of sleep. I eat well. I think for myself. I'm pretty sharp, actually. And I watch TV. I find TV entertaining. I even learn things from TV.

You don't like TV. That's fine for you. But what's the big deal if I like it?

Love the process

I love the positive message of this video. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Happy Friday!

Let loose with car dancing!

It's only fitting that a blog called "Yay Life!" would reference a blog called "The Jungle of Life," right? Lance Ekum is a fellow optimist and lover of life, and he's started a micro-movement for car dancing in conjunction with The Levity Project.

Do you enjoy dancing and singing in your car, but stop when other cars pull up near you? How about taking the opportunity to forget all that insecurity and embarrassment and just enjoy yourself! I sing at the top of my lungs all the time when I'm driving, whether anyone's looking or not. But I can't say that I've yet graduated to dancing, unless I'm in the car with someone else, and then, for some reason, it's less embarrassing. Watch some car dancing below.



Over at the Speak Schmeak blog, this is a recurring theme: Lighten up, have fun, stop worrying about what others think. There's nothing wrong with having a good time during a presentation, for you or for the audience.

Fun isn't something I've talked about much over here, though. I'm going to have to remedy that!

Don't forget to check out Lance's blog and The Levity Project. Who can't use a little more levity in their life?

Spring in Santa Barbara!

The smell of spring in Santa Barbara is like no other city I've ever visited. You can't see it, but you know it's there.

Everywhere you go, you smell it. The scent of white flowers like jasmine and alyssum fills the air. On a warm spring day, all I want to do is take a nap in the grass in the fragrant air.

It hangs like a soft cloud, strongest in the early evening, sometimes carried on a warm breeze.

It's unmistakable, the smell of spring in Santa Barbara.

A tribute to Kitty

We lost one of our kitties on Friday, our oldest gray girl we called Dawg. I wrote a tribute to her fabulousness here.

On Saturday, leaving UCSB campus, we found ourselves heading directly into this rainbow. I couldn't help thinking it was a message from Dawg that she's reached the Rainbow Bridge.

Creek after a storm

Ten or twelve years ago, there was extensive flooding in Santa Barbara after heavy winter rains. We live across the street from a creek that overflowed its banks. We couldn't leave the house, as we were surrounded by two feet of water. Our neighbor, at the bottom of a slope, had a river running right through his house and out the back door. He pried off some fence boards so the water could continue through and not pool up in our property.

A few years later, Santa Barbara implemented a street sweeping program to capture all the debris that would normally flow into the storm drains and eventually cause flooding.

We all complained about being unable to park our cars on the street on certain days (hubby and I don't have any off-street parking or a garage), especially when we got one of those nasty green envelopes on our window -- a $40 parking ticket.

But we got used to it.

The creek across the street used to be filled with massive boulders that you could hear crashing and tumbling when the creek was running and full. The full creek used to be a dramatic scene; people from all over our neighborhood would walk over to watch it churn after a heavy rain.

Now the boulders sit in a pile on the other side of the park, and the creek flows freely. More like a babbling brook, even after a heavy rain. I miss the drama, but not the flooding. And the creek is still lovely to visit.

Old songs

Driving in my car recently, I heard both The Bee Gees' "Heartbreaker" and Tony DeFranco's "Heartbeat (It's a Love Beat)." These songs instantly took me back to my childhood, to happy, carefree times. Or at least that's how I remember them. Who knows what was really going on at the time? The way I remember it now, all was good when I played my favorite records (yeah, records!).

I had such a crush on Tony DeFranco!



What songs take you back to old happy times?

Invictus

If you haven't yet seen the movie "Invictus," I highly recommend it as a spirit-raising, hope-enhancing, darkness-squashing entertainment.

However, even if you don't see the movie, please read the poem from which the movie takes its title. This piece, in itself, shares a powerful message.


Invictus
by William Ernest Henley

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of fate
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years finds
And shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

On my other blog, Speak Schmeak, I recently completed a series on panic attacks: my own story of how I got my life back on track after a debilitating series of attacks. This poem feels like a satisfying way to end the series and move forward!