What will go in your box?

19th June 2016

When you dance to your own rhythm, life taps its toes to your beat.  Terri Guillemets

Did you start you smile list after yesterdays blog? If not you should it's fun!  We've really had some great meetings this week talking about our Smile Box (comfort/happy/cuddle box, whatever name my members chose for theirs).  I've really enjoyed listening to hearing what they're going to put in theirs!  What's a Smile Box you're thinking, well...  It's a box we're going to fill with things that cheer us up, give us comfort, make us feel loved and warm inside.   It's is a great way of taking are of the needs of your inner child.  A way of comforting yourself in other ways than eating and/or drinking!

We chatted about the things we'd put in ours, what's could you put in yours?  Things that calm, relax, uplift and comfort us.  Things to remind us of the good stuff, those awesome moments in life we've had.  Let's be honest everyone has down days, those times when our lives aren't running as smoothly as we'd like, and for whatever reason we find ourselves feeling stressed, depressed, alone, anxious, unloved or unsupported.  And even though we find ourselves surround by others, they're just not able to comfort us in the way we need, or we may be too upset to tell them what we need.

When this happens most of us turn to food and/or alcohol, so maybe having a ‘comfort box’ could really be helpful to help us get through it.  Go find yourself a box, then sit and think what are the things that would normally bring you comfort?  It's probably a good idea to put your box together when you're in a good place and feeling happy.  Then in readiness for those more difficult times, you can store it somewhere safe.  I've got me a pretty box which is going to be an ornament in my living room (once I've tidied it up). 

What can you put in there?  Anything, but in case you're looking for ideas, how about;

 

• Photos of anything or anyone that makes you smile - friends, family, holidays, days out, good times, you can't beat a photo to recall a memory/
• Candles or incense sticks.
• Painkillers ( I usually get headaches with stress and pain can make me feel low)
• Pamper stuff, like bubble bath, face pack, nailpolish, posh perfume or aftershave
• Music - a favourite cd maybe, or different music for different moods, make your own playlist, we have good technology these days, no more are the days of the cassette player and you're fingers on the record and pause button waiting for the charts!
• New PJ's, dressing gown, blanket, socks. Something to make you snuggly.
• A favourite book, what about a kids books, maybe a fav from your childhood.
• There was talk of a teddy bear, but I'm sorry no one puts teddy in a box!  He can sit on top of it though :)
• Old cards
• Make a scrapbook maybe with your smile list, quotes and lyrics that you like, photos, ticket stubs, you get the gist.
• Something to occupy you, crosswords, colouring book, crafty stuff
• And of course, it's ok to have a bit of chocolate or a little bottle of wine - remember a bit of what you fancy does you good, too much, not so much!

I've already seen photos of the ones my members are doing, you can buy a pretty box, or decorate your own, one member told me she has a box that a friend made her and it's covered with photos from her life, that's a lovely idea.

And the best thing is you don’t have to wait until you are feeling rotten before you use your ‘comfort box’ – you can use it to make yourself feel good at anytime, call it your happy box.  Use it anytime you feel like a bit of happy.

So today's challenge is to list what you want to put in your box, and then start to collecting those things and you can add to the box at any time of course.

Here's to a wonderful Sunday, happy Fathers day to all those amazing dads out there, I've got family coming, so I'm off to M&S to buy a readymade buffet I think, there's no way I'm cooking for 5 after the week I've had :)

Enjoy your day BeYOUtiful, healthy and happy remember xx