December of last year I’m sitting in the airport parking lot feeling absolutely crushed. My little family was supposed to be visiting my family two states away and I miss my sister, my best friend, like a big aching void. But. . .
Right when we pulled into the airport parking lot, Arthur starts throwing up. We had to go home.
Pretty much the whole ride home and most of the next day I cry.
I tell myself to get over it. I tell myself to be grateful. But I can’t.
That’s when I remember the glad game from a favorite childhood Disney movie, Pollyana.
The glad game is simple. You ask yourself, “What can I be glad about in this situation?” Then you look for anything. Any little thing you can find to be glad about.
Watch my video to hear how I played the glad game with myself and began feeling better.
At first I felt just a little lifting of the tension in my stomach and then my heart. The sadness lessened little by little. It didn’t all go away, but focusing on what made me glad about the situation did make me feel less intense sadness.
If you have ever experienced sadness and disappointment that weighs your whole body down, this simple game can really help.
Tips for playing the glad game
- Start small. Ridiculously small.
- Once you get on a roll with small things, try to find something bigger to be glad about
- Don’t stop until you FEEL better.
- Share with someone else and spread the gladness!
We’re going to play the glad game and learn other gratitude practices that can take your feelings from blah, or irrrrr or whaaaaaa to warm and fuzzy at the next Mamas Sisterhood Circle Saturday December 30th, 10am at the Antelope Valley Birth Center.
I haven’t scheduled a virtual circle for this topic so if you really want to come but can’t because of location email me and let me know cuz I could make that happen!!
Meanwhile, I leave you with this question:
What are you glad about?
Share this with a friend and see if you can help each other play the glad game!
PS If you haven’t seen Pollyanna, it really is a sweet movie. Here’s a little clip of Pollyana explaining where the glad game came from.