2012 February — The Life Optimist

Archive for February, 2012

You Were Not Built to Break

Sunday, February 12th, 2012

This is from an earlier post I did on Whitney Houston. With this great loss of such a talented woman, I’m glad her words and her voice can live on for us all in this way.

Sometimes things hurt so bad you think you’ll never get over it. Sometimes bad things happen that you have no control over, or you can’t explain. And sometimes we all feel “broken,” like we can’t get anything right and we’re doomed to failure and feeling alone.

But please know that if you ever feel this way: Tears and fear are part of the path of life—and proof that you’re healthy and emotionally advanced. You can’t feel great happiness unless you’re able to feel great pain. And the way I see it, if you’re feeling pain now, it means the happiness is on the other end of the seesaw just waiting to take its turn.

Whitney Houston says it best in her song “I Didn’t Know My Own Strength”:

“Survived the darkest hour, my faith kept me alive, I picked myself back up, hold my head up high,

I was not built to break. I didn’t know my own strength.“

Whether you’re facing a heartwrenching, life-altering time or just having a really, really, really sad or bad day, when it feels like your half-orange in love will never come your way or you’ll never get out of the hole you’re in, it’s part of life’s path for you. If you can feel this deeply in sadness, you can feel this deeply in love. And Whitney’s right: You were not built to break. None of us were.

Big love,

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So Much BRIGHT SIDE UP Love!

Monday, February 6th, 2012

Well, my book Bright Side Up: 100 Ways to Be Happier Right Now will be on bookshelves tomorrow. Which means that today is the last day to be officially cool and pre-order the book on Amazon!

Buy BRIGHT SIDE UP!

The good news is, for the people who already have the book in hand, they’re loving it…

O, The Oprah Magazine recommends it this month, as one of “10 Titles to Pick Up Now” in the magazine, and online, one of “17 Books to Watch For in February.”

Also, Self magazine recommends it, saying you can spread a little sunshine with the “get-happy” tips.

Judy Dutton gave a rave review of the book on her blog Brain Candy on PsychologyToday.com , saying the “warm, engaging tone will make you feel like you’ve got a new best friend in your corner, cheering you on.”

And most recently in magazines, Shape magazine featured my book, saying you should “place this engaging new book on your reading list”:

And there was this wacky one: my face (literally) in the pages of Star magazine giving celebrities advice on seeing bright side up:

There’s been big love from the blog world, and I want to thank you for that. Rachel Wilkerson wrote the wonderful review “Reading Into It: Bright Side Up“:

Nicole Argento Gonzales wrote the post “Bright Side Up” on Truth + Fairytales:

Today, Stephanie Dolgoff, who’s hilarious book My Formerly Hot Life was on The New York Times’ Extended Bestseller list, allowed me to guest post on her with her “Help Finding the Bright Side” post on FormerlyHotLife.com:

And The Student’s Life recommends the book this month, too:

So pre-order your copy of the book today, or get it on bookshelves tomorrow!

Oh, and if you have a blog and you’d like to review the book, contact me! (Click “Email Amy” over on the right there, or find my info on the “About Me” tab on the site.) If you want me to do a Q&A about the book for your site or you want to use Bright Side Up for your book club and have me Skype-join you for a meeting, I might be able to do that, too!

Either way, I hope you get a chance to read the book. And I wish you a big happy day and a positive future.

Big love,

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We Should Purr, Too!

Saturday, February 4th, 2012

I was reading in bed this morning with my little kitty Guinness fast asleep on my belly. This, if you don’t know her, is Guinness:

Little Guinness

She’s nine years old and only six pounds with no teeth! (She had to get them all pulled last year when we adopted her, poor thing.) Well, after I turned a page, I put my finger on her tiny paw and petted it. Just for a second. And from her deep little slumber, she started to purr like a big, steady motor.

Me and "Little G" on the couch

That’s how Guinness. She purrs all the time. And it only requires the tiniest provocation to get her to do it. Give her a quick glance and say her name? Purr. Pat the couch and call her over? Purr. Pick up her bag of food? Purr. Even the vet said that after they pulled all her teeth and she woke up groggy out of her anesthesia, she opened her eyes and purred!

Thinking about that this morning made me wonder: Why don’t we purr this easily in life? Why does it take us so much more to feel happy?

Here’s what I think we could do: Let’s think like Guinness for a day. Every time we see or hear or taste or feel or touch something that is good, let’s imagine a little purr of happiness inside. When you take your first sip of hot coffee in the morning? Purr. When you get a green light? Purr. When you greet your good friend? Purr. When you put on a soft, warm pair of socks at the end of a long day? Purr.

If we’re really paying attention, we could have our motors going all day long, just like Guinness does. They do say cats really life the life, right? Well, I think we can, too.

Did I cover the good stuff in my little list there? What makes you purr on a regular day?

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