Are you a glass-half-empty or glass-half-full person? If you’re more of a pessimist, Optimistic October might be just what you need. This initiative from Action for Happiness offers a series of daily actions to help us focus on what really matters.

Welcome to the 82^nd edition of The Sunday Spark, a series with weekly thoughts and highlights, nuggets of learning, and a decluttering challenge for the week. In addition to approaching October with optimism, this week’s edition looks at the U.K.’s shift away from coal, Canadian seniors taking climate action, fracture concerns for older adults, and cleaning up our email inboxes.

On my mind this week: Fill your glass this Optimistic October

I mostly consider myself a glass-half-full person, but when I saw an email from Action for Happiness inviting me to sign up for Optimistic October, I decided to give it a go. We can all use a little more positivity and optimism, right?

After you sign up for the campaign, you get a daily email with the challenge for the day. The email pops up in your inbox at a time that works for you. I signed up to have the email at 6:00 a.m., so it’s one of the first things I see when I check my email in the morning.

Here’s an update on my responses for the first few days of the month.

Recap of the first few Optimistic October days

On October 1, the task was to write down three things we can look forward to this month. October is my favourite month of the year, so this one was easy for me. I wrote:

• Thanksgiving
• Fall hikes
• Visiting my friend Cher in Chicago

The next day’s challenge was to find something to be optimistic about (even if it’s a difficult time). I wrote that I feel optimistic about the potential of my new retirement coaching business.

The task for October 3 was to take a small step towards a goal that really matters to us. I resolved to draft the content for the home page of my new website. By the end of the day, I had checked that item off my to do list.

Things got a bit sidetracked on October 4 because I had an early morning meeting and didn’t check my email until after lunch. Friday’s challenge was, “Start your day with the most important thing on your to do list.” My response:

“Well I missed the boat on Starting my day… because it’s 12:50 p.m. as I read this email. The most important thing I need to do today is write a first draft of the assignment for my course.”

Despite starting off over six hours behind, I did complete the first draft of my assignment early Friday afternoon.

Saturday’s task was to write down something positive that we can appreciate or look forward to for the day. I wrote that I was looking forward to going for a fall hike with my husband and daughter on a beautiful sunny day.

Looking forward to the rest of October with optimism

I like these kinds of small challenges because they bring a little extra positivity and focus to my day. I’m looking forward to seeing what the rest of the month will bring.

If you’d like to bring a little optimism into your life this October, there’s still time to catch up. Visit the Action for Happiness site to sign up.

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Three highlights of the week

It’s important to celebrate big milestones and simple pleasures in life. Keeping the trend going, here are three highlights and simple pleasures of the week gone by:

• It was so wonderful having our daughter Laura home last weekend. The girls and I played cards, and we also played Catan, a game that I find difficult to get my head around. I even managed to win one of the games of Catan.
• The beautiful fall weather continued this week. On Tuesday, I dried laundry outside and went for a walk in a local conservation area with my husband.
• I had a fun virtual catch-up with two of my work friends on Thursday evening. It would be nice to get together in person, but one of them lives and works in Montreal.

Things I learned this week

Life is all about learning. Here are three things I learned this week:

U.K. closes last coal power plant

On Monday, the U.K.’s last coal power plant closed for good. That’s a big win for the environment and a huge leap forward for a nation that produced 40% of its electricity from coal just 12 years ago. (Source: BBC News) It’s also a signal to other countries who still rely on coal to fuel power plants that it is possible.

Fractures deadlier for seniors than cancer

If you’re over 65, a fracture could be deadlier than a cancer diagnosis. The good news: exercise can improve balance and reduce the risk of falls. (Source: Good Times)

Canadian seniors march for climate action

October 1 was National Seniors Day in Canada and seniors across the country gathered in over 70 events to call for decisive action to address the climate emergency. Canada’s favourite climate activist, 88-year-old Dr. David Suzuki spoke at one of the events, saying,

Time is running out. As seniors, we’ve seen what happens when people come together for a cause. We know what’s possible when we work toward a common goal. Now, we’re asking our political leaders to do the same and secure a livable future for all Canadians.

Dr. David Suzuki

(Source: Newswire.ca)

Watch for a future post with more on how Canadian seniors are taking climate action.

This week’s decluttering challenge – Email cleanup

In 2024, I’ve been revisiting the 52-Week Decluttering Challenge I completed in 2021. This week’s challenge was cleaning up email files and subscriptions, and I’m happy to report I decluttered over 600 items. You can find the details, along with my tips and learnings, in this week’s decluttering post.

If you’d like to join the challenge, visit this post to download your free checklists and jump right in with this week’s task.

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I’d love to hear what you think about any of this week’s topics. Drop me a comment below and let me know your thoughts and ideas.