The miserable Arctic weather and lack of sunshine is making me feel, well, miserable. Thankfully I recently bought Albert Espinosa’s fabulous book, The Yellow World and life suddenly looks a whole lot brighter.
Espinosa wrote the book after surviving cancer, and many of his inspiring points can apply to anyone, not just people living with a serious illness:
Ask 5 good questions each day – silly ones, practical ones, emotional ones. No matter what the question is, having answers will empower you.
Keep a life record – keeping things that are important to you at the time can help you look back and realise how unimportant they are now. The embodiment of the ‘but will it matter in a years time?’ rule. Also keep things that remind you of good times – the heart-shaped stone you found on a beach, the drawing your nephew made just for you.
Find the positives – life doesn’t go to plan, but your reactions to it can. Even if it’s only small, try to find something positive in everything.
Take 20 minutes out every day – Espinosa learned this from having to stay still during scans. Shutting out life for just 20 minutes can free the mind.
Look at things – so often we rush through life not noticing our surroundings. Try to make a conscious effort to see the details we often miss.
Finally, collect Yellows. You know who they are – the people with that certain energy, that goodness about them that just makes you want to be in their orbit. MS has taught me to turn away from the negative people I used to know, the energy-sappers, the fair-weather friends, the doom-and-gloom merchants. I just don’t have the space or time for them in my life any more. Their ‘void’ has been filled by people I can’t wait to spend time with. If anyone else has read this book, let me know what you think?