Taking Time to Smile - ThumbsUp Thursday!

My dad believed in the power of positive thinking and he raised me on the positive mindset philosophies of speakers and authors like Zig Ziglar, Norman Vincent Peale, and Og Mandino.

He believed in goal setting and giving your best effort and most of all, that where you put your focus is where you were most likely to wind up.

Dad didn't have an easy childhood, but he had a remarkably strong mother who refused to let him make excuses or wallow in a victim mindset. Between the lessons learned from both of them, I've done my best to shape my life by the examples they set.

Granted, as a teenager I probably wasn't nearly as enthused about the whole positive mindset stuff as I should've been. More than once when meeting him for breakfast, I remember telling him, "I'm positive I'm not a morning person." Yet, here I am, happily married for nearly 29 years and the mother of two grown kids. Those positive outlook lessons have kept me going through all of the ups and downs life has tossed at us.

For a little more than a year now, every Thursday on my Facebook page I do a live video... it's titled #ThumbsUpThursday.  The format is quick and simple. I hit the Go Live button and share the things that made me smile through the week. And I encourage everyone who tunes in live or catches the replay to do the same thing.

Where we put our focus really does makes a difference. It started with my dad teaching me to take the time to smile, to focus on the things - big or small - that are going right. In the moment, in the week, in the month, or in a lifetime.

As a new part of the Get Lost in a Story crew, I'll be doing a ThumbsUp Thursday post periodically here. And I can't wait to hear your responses.

Just this past week, in addition to the new gadets in our kitchen, I also had great converstaions with a few friends and a fabulous experience with customer service at Lush when my order arrived, but with the wrong stuff. (Having spent many years in customer service, I love it when companies get that critical connection right!)

Now it's your turn! What has put a smile on your face recently?