We all have them—the voices in our head that tell us we’re not good enough or remind us of all the reasons we can’t do something. This week, I explore the power of positive affirmations—our best weapon to make those voices go away.

Welcome to week 36 of The Sunday Spark, a series with weekly thoughts and highlights, nuggets of learning, and a sustainable living tip for the week. In addition to the power of positive affirmations, this week I look at the Los Angeles Airport’s plastic water bottle ban, an app to promote sustainability, the power of public pressure, and delicious local apples.

The Sunday Spark – Week 36

On my mind this week: The power of positive affirmations

Over the weekend, I read a post from the wonderful Wynne Leon at Surprised by Joy. In Pick Three Affirmations, Wynne shared that she writes little notes with positive affirmations for her kids as she sends them off to school every day. What a terrific habit to get into!

Wynne also indicated that she finds doing this for her kids much easier than doing it for herself. I think we can all relate to that. Why is it so difficult to challenge negative self-talk?

In her post, Wynne shared a long list of affirmations and challenged her readers to pick three, write them down, and look at them every day. I chose three affirmations and wrote them in my journal where I record daily highlights. Here are the three that I chose and why I chose them.

You make the world a better place.

With so much negativity these days, I take my responsibility as a citizen of Planet Earth very seriously. One of my mottos is to leave things better than I found them, but there are times when I wonder if my efforts matter. This affirmation is a powerful reminder that I do make the world a better place for the people in my circle of influence.

You are creative.

For most of my life, I never considered myself a creative person because I always associated creativity with artistic talent. It took me years to realize that creativity is about thinking differently and looking for new ways to solve old problems. I feel that my creative abilities have increased with age. Maybe the wisdom of age has enabled me to unchain them. Speaking of wisdom, the third affirmation I chose was…

You are wise.

My co-workers often tell me I’m a fountain of knowledge—I prefer to call it wisdom. (You can read my thoughts on wisdom in this post.) Yet when I struggle to learn something new, my first thought is “What is wrong with you, Michelle?”

To me, wisdom is the trait that lets us take the knowledge we have gained in our lifetimes and apply it to different situations. It’s an undervalued characteristic!

Thank you, Wynne Leon, for making my week better and inspiring this post! Please drop by Wynne’s blog and pick your three affirmations for the coming week. Drop me a note below to let me know which three you chose. And don’t forget to do the same on Wynne’s post.

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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:

• On Sunday, I attended a 50^th anniversary lunch and celebration for a couple from my church. It was a fun afternoon and I enjoyed connecting with friends I hadn’t seen for a while.  
• I found a scarf at a local thrift store that matches my navy dress perfectly.
• On Thursday, I went out for dinner with several work friends. These “girl gang” get-togethers are so much fun.

Three things I learned this week

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

LAX bans plastic water bottles

The US, China and Indonesia are the world’s largest consumers of bottled water. Americans purchase, on average, 50 billion water bottles per year. That’s about 13 bottles per month for every person, and many of them are sold in airports.

I was happy to learn this week that LAX, one of the world’s biggest airports has banned plastic water bottles, effective June 2023. This follows the lead of San Francisco International Airport where plastic water bottles have been banned since 2019. Well done, California! (Source: Happy Eco News)

ActNow for a sustainable future – There’s an app for that!

ActNow is the United Nations’ campaign to inspire people to act for the Sustainable Development Goals. These goals fall into four broad categories: A Healthy Planet, A Just Society, A Better Economy and A World Working Together. It’s hard to imagine that anyone could argue against any of those.

This week, I downloaded the AWorld app. It supports the ActNow goals with tools that let you measure your footprint and find ways to reduce your impact. (Source: UN ActNow)

Ford backs down on Greenbelt development

In the face of climate injustice and government wrongdoing, it’s easy to think our voices don’t matter, but they do. Ontario Premier Ford’s agreement this week to reverse his government’s decision to open up portions the Greenbelt for development is an excellent example of the power of public pressure.

Ontario’s greenbelt was established in 2005 to protect farmland and environmentally sensitive land from urban sprawl. The Ford government’s decision to open up greenbelt lands for development was not needed to meet housing targets. And it favoured certain developers who stood to make a lot of money from the decision.

Our voices have been heard. Yes, we need more housing in Ontario but opening up the greenbelt is not the way to do it. Take note, Premier Ford. People are watching!

(Source: CBC News)

Sustainable living tip: Think local! It’s apple season!

Fall is here and local apples are fresh for picking. Next weekend, Wellesley Township celebrates its annual Apple Butter and Cheese Festival. Enjoying local food is an excellent way to reduce your carbon footprint. This week, think local and enjoy some local apples, apple cider, or fresh-baked apple goodies.

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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.