It's raining again and gray again in Athens, Georgia. The past several weeks since Thanksgiving we have experienced more gray, drab, rainy or cold days than I have seen here any year since I moved here in 1979, 22 years ago. Perhaps in your area of the world it has been gray, drab, cold, icy, muddy, dirty snow covered this winter for weeks on end or more many more days.

Is it hard for you to be as creative on such days?

One principle of creative thinking and being creative thinking I believe is our mood(s) from smiling to laughing to rolling on the floor to romping as a child again.

As a counselor I was taught, as one strategy, to help clients to discover ways to help themselves feel positive when they were frustrated, burned out, were experiencing unexplained depressive moods or depression: basically turn themselves around emotionally no matter what the situation: conscious, sub-conscious or un-conscious; internally or externally induced.

That is my challenge for you this week, if you choose to try it, generate or collect ways to spark a positive, fun, playful, childlike or childish mood whenever you need to.

MONDAY List or collect 12 to 144 things that generally cause you to smile spontaneously, i.e.: seeing a loved one, spending time with a friend, a walk through a flower garden, reading a positive motivational book.

TUESDAY List or collect 12 to 144 things that generally cause you to laugh spontaneously: i.e.: watching a comedy show, funny movie, reading a joke book.

WEDNESDAY List or collect 12 to 144 physical, generally non-thinking activities you have done, do or could do that would cause you to move away from the down or negative mood you are in.

THURSDAY Choose a depressing or frustrating experience that typically has made you feel very sad, frustrated or depressed. List or collect 12 to 144 things that could be good or positive about that experience.

FRIDAY Watch children or small animals at play and list 12 or more things they do that appear to cause them to smile or laugh.

Being Creative is a choice. Sometimes simply smiling or laughing can be merely our choice to make.

I wish you a smile and laughter filled week and thus a very creative week.

© 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006 Robert Alan Black, Ph.D. CSP