Cheery. That words just sounds happy. I feel like I am usually a cheery person. When I think of cheery people, I think about how they are the people that I like to be around. I think being cheery is a choice. When something happens like an unexpected quiz, you have a choice. You can respond by being mad and growly and grumpy or you can have a cheery disposition. That doesn’t mean I yell, “Yippee! A quiz!!!” It means that I take a breath and believe in myself. I do my best. I think being cheery and positive helps me have a better life. 

I see people who are grumpy for no reason at all. I wonder how it feels inside to be grumpy on the outside all the time. That would tire me out. Taking the opportunity to smile or to look for the good in a situation gives me energy and that makes me feel better. 

My Dad taught me to be positive and cheery. He said that good things will happen and bad things will happen to everyone. We can’t control that. We can control how we react to it. Here are my tips to be a cheery and positive person…

1. Take a deep breath before you respond to any situation
2. Find a way to express yourself creatively
3. Always be kind
4. Have confidence and believe in yourself

Dancing is hard for me. I have no coordination and I mean absolutely none! WHenever I take an exercise class at the gym, the instructor always has to come over next to me and help me with my right and my left. The steps move so fast for me and I get easily confused. It’s too hard. You know what, I keep trying!

I love dancing. For me, when I say dance I mean the movement, any movement, to music! Choreographed dancing is too hard for me…although I do enjoy line dancing. That’s not hard at all. My favorite thing about going to wedding receptions is the dancing. There are usually so many people that I can get lost in the crowd and no one cares how silly I look. I guess that’s the trick for dancing.  I have some rules for dancing…

1. Be silly. 
2. Don’t care how you look
3. ENJOY the music
4. Laugh…A LOT!!
5. Make big, giant movements
6. JUMP
7. Wave your arms around
8. Have fun!

What’s not to love about dancing?!?! Everyone can dance if they follow my dancing rules!

This is the fourth time I’m writing about BEGIN. I’m tired of beginning….exhausted actually. Beginnings take a lot out of me. All of that excitement and anticipation takes so much energy and I’m old…so old. Today I began writing, well planning, a novel in verse that I’d like to write. I have the setting and characters. I need a problem…a conflict. I struggle with conflict…hahaha, that made me laugh. Whenever I write I notice that I avoid conflict. That makes my writing boring. Hmmmm, what if I BEGIN with a huge conflict? The rest of the novel could address the conflict. What kinds of conflicts do you like in your books? Dangerous conflicts? Emotional conflicts? Complex conflicts? I’d love suggestions! Please share your conflict ideas with me so I may BEGIN my novel in verse…