Well, if last week was a struggle to get into the spirit of the hike, this week felt IMPOSSIBLE.  First day of Spring, and they were calling for snow showers. Plus I was getting over some icky illness.  Plus I just wasn’t in the mood.

So I decided to take a spoonful of my own medicine from last week’s blog and try to come up with a good question…one that would get me more excited about the hike.  My question was: “How many signs of spring can I photograph on this hike?”  As it turned out, the very first thing I saw when I got out of the truck was a forsythia just starting to dress itself with little yellow blooms.  I got excited.  The hike was fun.  In fact, I took way more pictures than normal and saw some unusual things (some of which I will spare you due to the grossness factor).

In terms of my singleness, I found myself in a situation recently where I had started down the path of paralyzing myself with a decidedly bad question.  You know, one of those deals where there’s this good-looking guy (or gal) that you see around here and there, and you’re curious about them. You think how it would be nice to get to know them better.  Then suddenly you’re presented with the opportunity to take part in a group outing and the person is going to be there.

If you’re like me, the first thought that pops into your head is  “Oh, sh*t, what if I do or say something stupid?”  Trust me, I’ve been known to trip over my own two feet in a spectacular fashion at exactly the WRONG time.  Or say something absolutely horrific without realizing it.  Or have a piece of spinach stuck in my teeth.  So you can imagine that this particular question wasn’t helping me in my current situation.  It was leading me to seriously consider bailing out of the event altogether.

That’s helpful, huh?  My question had the potential to stop me from ever finding out if this guy was as nice as he seemed or a potential serial killer once and for all.

It took me right up until the day before the outing to realize what I was doing to myself with that question.  At which point I came up with a different one: “What are some things I can do to relax and just be myself at this event?”  And my brain went right to work.  I stopped stressing about what to wear, how to do my makeup, what to say, and whether I should have preset topics of conversation at the ready.

And I relaxed.

And I had fun.

As it turns out, I’m pretty sure the guy is not a serial killer.

In this case, part of coming up with a better question for myself was keeping things in perspective.  At best, I might gain a new friend.  At worst…well, theoretically at worst my severed head would end up in the guy’s refrigerator.  More realistically, at worst he’d still just be the guy I see around every once in awhile.  Pressure OFF.

So regardless of what your situation is…

…instead of asking “How am I going to get through this?” try asking “What is perfect about this?”

…instead of asking “When is it going to get better?” try asking “How can I create what I want?”

…and instead of asking “Why do I always feel like this?” try asking “How do I want to feel?”

There’s a bunch more examples I could give you…if you’re curious, or want help figuring out a new question unique to your current situation, shoot me an email and book a complimentary session with me.  I’m sure we’ll be able to come up with something!  At the very least, I encourage you to practice this concept again this week…the more you do it, the easier it’ll get.  Until next time, peeps!