The Sunny Side of the Street

All babies are cute on the sunny side of the street.
All cups are fully full on the sunny side of the street.
All mistakes are the funniest story you ever told.
The flowers bloom in dazzling colors on the sunny side of the street.
All smiles are irrepressible on the sunny side of the street.

On the other side of the street is spit and litter.
The flowers droop.
The kids are dangerously overweight.
The cup is cracked and leaking.
It smells like butt.
Cigarette smoke chokes the air.
Desperation screams at his out of control children.

Think of these two sides as the voices in your head: one will make you blossom, the other will make you wither.

One tells you you’re a good person. It’s proud of you! It recognizes your accomplishments!

The other criticizes you -- mocks you at the smallest effort, then makes you give up on yourself, eat chocolate chip cookie dough and watch reruns CSI:Miami. Or worse!

Sometimes we can control the voices. We can banish the shaming voice and say ‘yes’ to the uplifting voice. Sometimes the mean voice wins out.

The important thing is to be aware of the voices.

If you feel tired, angry and grumpy either you are not getting enough sleep, not eating right or you are walking on the shady side of the street.

If you are full of energy, humming show tunes and actually want to take a walk in the park, your inner cheerleader is doing his/her job.

Make it a choice.
Recognize the consequences.
Choose how you want to feel.
And then listen to that voice.

And if you absolutely can’t get rid of the mean voice, call me.

That’s what I do…breathe through the shady side so you can once again feel the sun.