CancerGirl was spending time with her BFF Lynne and CG told her about something that CG did when she was first turned into CancerGirl, she wrote a SuperPowerOfHappiness tool list!!
The EvilMelanomaMan has many weapons in his arsenal, he has the EvilPowerOfUnhappiness, the EvilPowerOfPain, The EvilPowerOfChemoTherapy, the most powerful of his tool belt is often the worst of his weapons at his disposal. When he uses this power it can cause a CancerSuperHero to not be able to find any of the SuperPowerOfHappiness. By using the SPOH Tool List you can find that SuperPower easily.
You may be asking yourself "How do I get my own SuperPowerOfHappiness Tool List?, I bet it is very expensive isn't it??"!! Well the answer is so very simple and ABSOLUTELY FREE!!!! In fact, you can make your very own Tool List!! I am including the easy to follow steps below:
1. First get yourself a CancerSuperHero Official Notebook!! You can help Hats For Happiness
by purchasing a CancerGirl Journal by following this link to www.cafepress.com. Of course you can just get yourself a regular notebook, or even a few pieces of paper, but in this CancerSuperHero's unbiased opinion the CancerGirl Journal is much nicer then any other notebook on the market, after all it has CancerGirl right on the cover!!!
2: The second step is to number that paper from 1 to 100. Don't skimp on this step and think "ahh who wants to number all the way to 100, I will just number them as I go!!" but don't give into the urge to do that. A big part of this special tool is that you have the motivation to finish it, and it is much harder to leave something unfinished that is numbered and not filled out.
3: The third step is the most fun out of all of them. Do something that puts you in a good mood. Something that makes you happy!! If you can't think of something to do that makes you happy, then think of a time in your life that makes you happy to think about. Maybe it was that time you got the only thing you wanted for Christmas that year. Maybe it was the day that you got married. Now think of that thing or do that thing, then write it on the list.
4: The fourth through 103rd step is to repeat that process until you have completely filled up your list of 100 things that make you happy to do or think about. It is important to completely fill this list out and to do it when you are happy already.
I will now explain a little of where this idea came from (SuperOncologist calls it the "happy list" and he now has all his new patients do this because he was so impressed by it) and why it is important to follow these instructions as they are laid out.
I thought of the "happy list" after watching The Bucket List. Although I thought the movie was well done, and I found it to be very entertaining, I was left with a feeling of dread about the idea of even thinking of making a bucket list. Considering it is a movie, and taking literary licence and all it was still a very sad movie. I got done watching it and thought "I think if I had a bucket list, when I did anything on the list I would think that I was that much closer to dying. Once I got everything done, what is left? Why does it have to be a bucket list of things to check off before you die? Why cant it be a happy list?
I decided that I would write a list of things that make me happy. I hadn't started numbering them or anything, I just started writing them. I put the list aside for a while, I had begun chemo, I had school, many other more important things, I thought.
I was having a horrible day, I was in the middle of chemo, I was trying to study for school, things were not going well. I came across my list of happy things I had made with about 15 or 20 items on it. I read the first few and tried doing a few of them. I crocheted, I played with SuperDog for a while (I loved that part!!!), I thought back to a funny experience that SH and I had a few years back. These things brought me happiness and before I even realized it I felt better and I was happy.
The reason this happened is something I was yet to learn in school. When you are having negative thoughts, and are unhappy, it is extremely hard to find things that bring you happiness. It is not uncommon in those with depression (a vary common occurrence with the EvilPowerOfCancer) to bring up "unhappy" on the mental Rolodex and suddenly all the other things filed under that come up. By making a list of things that make you happy, if you use that list when you are having problems finding happiness it will begin to put your mind in a more happy forward thinking mood.
I now have my happy list on my iPad, on my desktop and as a hard copy for when I need it. If I do the first thing and that doesn't change my mood, then I go onto the next. This is why I suggest that there be 100 things. Most people think they can't find 100 things, but I have yet to find a person who at the end couldn't get to 100 and then have another 50 in their minds they could add.
By having this as a physical list, you don't have to remember them. After a while you will find that you don't need your list anymore because when you find yourself being attacked by the EvilPowerOfUnhappiness you can instantly bring up your Happy List and begin to get yourself happy!!!!
