I was flipping through the channels while waiting for my daughter to re-enact last week's night walk to record the music of the night when I stumbled upon Sound of Music. It was in the scene where the children have piled on julie andrews' bed out of a fear of the thunder and lightening.

Julie shares some of the things that make her feel good "raindrops on roses, whiskers on kittens" etc.

The brain is a powerful gift that can be used for good or evil and in her song, "My favorite things" she shares that thinking of things we love can help over come fears or bad thoughts.

Then just now I was reading Stephen Hopson's (Adversity University) post on The importance of feeling good.

He actually lists the things that make him feel bad and twists them around into positive thoughts or actions. He recommends that we do the same: think of five things that make us feel bad and then turn them around.

Okay, so here are five things that make me feel bad:

1. I'm hyper-critical of my own actions. I spend more time berating myself when I could be using the same time and energy to encourage myself. Sybil had nothing on me when it comes to inner voices. I am working on getting them all singing in perfect harmony.

2. People who go back on their word. When someone commits to helping or providing or doing and then go back on their word - that makes me feel bad. Unusual circumstances are understandable but consistently being late or telling an untruth or letting others down - those I try to recognize as unhealthy in my life and limit my contact with them.

3. Cold weather. Ick. When winter gets me down I plan beach parties at home where we turn up the heat, close the curtains to the snow and ice and listen to Jimmy Buffet.

4. Looking in the mirror makes me feel...not bad so much as OLD. Perhaps covering the mirrors with artwork that makes me happy? Not sure how to twist this one around.

5. Uncompleted lists. I am a list maker and at the end of the day/week/month if my tasks aren't all crossed off, that makes me feel bad. But life happens and if I can look back and say I completed most everything and also threw in an unexpected opportunity to hang with my kids or a friend then I congratulate myself for what I finished and move on.

So what are your five things that make you feel bad? How can you put the Stephen/Julie Andrews positive spin on them?

Deborah Chaddock Brown
Writer