I’ve been pondering over all the things we have at our disposal that can turn our bad days into good ones.

Have a think about times when something happened that changed how you felt for the better. With our daughter, all we have to say is McDonalds and her face lights up. The same when my son gets pulled away from studying to do something he really enjoys. My husband always perks up when he is on holiday or headed down some random country lane he’s never been on before.

Is there someone near you who is down at the minute? Is there any way of bringing a smile to their face? Of course there are times when nothing can change how we are feeling. But for everyone, at some point, there is a way to make them brighten up. Surely that is one of the aspects of life that makes it good, if we have the openness to see it.

In the past it was always the objective to ‘get mummy to the sea’. As that becomes more of a challenge, I have had to find more inventive ways of ‘getting to the sea’. Right now I am looking out our bedroom window at the most beautiful combination of setting sun, lit up white clouds with a blanket of dark above. The pink blossom on a cherry tree is peeking round the edge of my view and a bird is chirruping. If I had closed my curtains or put on music, I would have missed one of the sweetest parts of my day.

I have also found that a few encouraging words can put the spring back in my step. And that doesn’t cost you a thing. Neither does a smile.

It says in Lamentations that God’s mercies are ‘new every morning’. So every day, there’s another chance to find something to lift your spirits. The sun is shining today, and so it is easier to feel brighter than usual. That is something sweet for the soul right there.

So make a list, look out your window, step out your door and find the things that can give you a little lift, whatever you are going through.