### **Positivity challenge** I was nominated for this challenge by @insideoutlet who posts fun and engaging content and is a founder of @asapers (a curation project to help budding Steemians). You can read more about the rules for this challenge at the bottom of the post, but in short, the idea is to write about something positive. #### **Progress report** As I mentioned last time, I tend to be pretty positive, so this challenge will help me focus on the areas that I really need to work on. Last week, I challenged myself to stay positive when plans change. How’d I do?

Well, I’d give myself an A overall. There were small changes to my plans and I think I made it through those fairly well. Then I had my “final exam” on Friday night. The power went out in our entire block of units! 😱 That was definitely not part of my plan for the evening, but Matt and I packed up the girls (they’d just fallen asleep but woke up once it started getting warm) and went to a coffee shop. It was in a pretty location. Telling a friend about it afterwards, her reaction reminded me how unsettling the incident could’ve been. But thankfully Matt and I have had a little practice with that sort of thing. Living in the Middle East, our power went out regularly and we learned to roll with it. This week, that training came in handy! ☑️ Staying positive even when plans change #### **This week’s challenge** It really drags me down when I’m not feeling productive or I can’t see how I’m making a difference in the long-run. Negative thoughts start running through my mind. And eventually I’m too discouraged to do anything. For this week, even when I feel like I’m moving backwards instead of forward, I want to stay positive. I think that refocusing my thoughts will help. #### **Keeping perspective** For example, just the other day I was reminded how much the little things really do matter.

When the girls were teeny tiny, I only had a couple outfits that “fit” ... they still look like they’re swimming in them 😄 I loved dressing Squirt in the white outfit and Squish in the gray one.

Grandma recently sent some outfits for the girls and in the mix was a white onesie and a gray onesie! I snapped some pics then dug up the old pics I had. Seeing how little they were compared with how big they are now reminded me that we’ve come a long way in the last year. Because the girls were preemies, there was a list of health concerns and milestones that we had to constantly look out for ... not to mention, keeping up with their daily needs. It often felt like a never-ending cycle: *make bottles, change diapers, wash laundry, clean bottles, change diapers, wonder why there weren’t any clean bottles ...* LOL When the girls would get sick or there would be a setback, it was easy to feel like all the little things had been a waste and then question what I’d done wrong. Of course, in retrospect, those little things were what mattered most!

*Girls with Daddy at 3 months, 6 months, then 15 months* Having the perfect plan and being productive often go hand and hand for me. As my plans fall through, it’s good to be reminded that what I think is “meaningful” may not actually have a long term impact. Instead, it may be (and probably is) the small, insignificant things that really make a difference.

*How do you encourage yourself to keep going even if you can’t see much progress?* ------- ###*How to play this challenge...* * Write a post about something you have to be positive about today. This could be anything from being thankful for your current situation, someone being nice to you, being thankful for your friends and family, or even being thankful for the opportunity you have been given here on Steemit ... Just keep it positive! * Do this for 7 days in a row if you get nominated. (Mine won’t be consecutive, but I’ll try to reach 7 posts.) * Mention three people who should do this on each day. (Since this has been going around for quite awhile, I won’t be nominating anyone but feel free to reference this post if it inspired you to write your own!) * Tag it with #7daypositivitychallenge and include these rules at the bottom of your post. * Include a picture of something positive - related to your story if possible.