We recently vacationed in Thailand and while perusing one of the many street fairs, I came across a stand with beautiful teak and semi-precious stone jewelry. I’m not really into personal ornaments, but this earthy necklace caught my eye.

This is beautiful, how much baht?

The vendor replied with a very reasonable price and added, “This will bring you positivity and help draw light to you.”

Sold. I mean what price can you put on something that will help encourage feelings of contentedness? That purchase was a start, but after reading some of my recent X posts which fall into the scorchingly devious category, I decided it was time to proactively engage positivity. So, here goes my top 10 plus a bonus.

You’re not going mad – To get to the root of the issue, you have to understand it. We as a world are under enormous strain and it’s easy to lean into the tendency of “Am I going insane?” You are not. We are all experiencing similar feelings, so you are not alone.Find one thing a day to be grateful for – The term gratitude tends to be overused these days, but if you can find one thing to be grateful for every day – it might be as simple as a painted sunset or the deliciosity of a Klondike bar – it will help reset your brain.Engage with nature – The highlight of our trip to Thailand was a visit to an elephant sanctuary. We got to herd elephants, feed them and bathe them. I was amazed at how gentle and calming they were which gave me such a sense of peace.Breathe – We take this reflex for granted. I mean, everyone breathes, right? But, how often do you take a minute to truly appreciate your breath. Try it right now. Breathe in slowly for five counts, hold it for five and then slowly release your breath for five. Doesn’t that feel better?Get physical – Remember when you were a child and you’d spin yourself around until you were silly sick? Any sort of physical activity to the point of tiredness can help to reduce stress, and the endorphin rush of intense physical activity can really help to increase your sense of positivity.Pet your pet – Pets can do an enormous amount of good for our mental health. The mere act of having responsibility for the life of another being can help keep things in balance. My favorite part of the day is when my dog rolls over on his back and while exposing the bare of his belly eyes me with a look of “Well, do your job.”Sleep, sleep and sleep – I am amazed when I read articles about the lack of sleep Americans tend to live with. It’s a wonder we aren’t all walking around like Night of the Living Dead. Commit to sleep more, today, not tomorrow. Tonight.Get antisocial and cut back on the social media – My friend continually says “I cannot live without TikTok” and then fills my poor little over-absorbed brain with clips of total nonsensicalness. Reading social media feeds force us to engage and truth be told, people post things to get likes, so they are in effect robbing your precious brain cells to gain followers. Who benefits from that? And, have you ever felt totally drained after skimming social media feeds? Yup, not so healthy, I guess.Limit your political news – This was tough for me as ever since COVID I had become an obsessed news follower. What has continued since then is an extreme amount of worrisome the sky is falling doom and gloom which can bring the toughest person to a steady stream of tears. Before reading an article, I now ask myself: Do you need to know this? Will this be important a week, month or year from now?The universe is unfolding as it should ­– Everything may feel chaotic and troublesome, but remember this too shall pass. I think back to the Kennedy assassinations, the Civil Rights Movement and even as far back as the Civil War. It must have felt like the world was falling apart then, but lo and behold, it snapped back into shape. I believe this will happen once again – but I understand we all need to work to make it so, which leads me to my bonus point.Be kind to strangers – There is so much venom out there and Karens are ready to strike at a moment’s notice. Therefore, do something nice for a stranger. It could be as a simple as a smile and a hello, or even opening a door. Imagine the utter revolution that the world would experience if we all did one nice thing for someone else each and every day. Plus, I have found when I put someone else’s needs in front of my own, I strangely feel much better.

So, there you have my attempt to fuel proactive positivity into the utter divinity of this mysterious and wondrous universe. Just in case these tips don’t work, I am wearing my positivity necklace as some days I can use all the help I can get.

And, with that, I end this as Poolside from PS.