Think you’ve seen it all?  Think again.

Joyful Springers take a gander out there.  They see the world with a fresh, eager perspective, knowing that when they seek something new and wonderful, they find it.

What you look for, you get.  So take a look around you with an expectation that you’re going to discover new joys and new layers of beauty to your world everyday.

[Mollie's back.  This lovely mixed breed from the UK has a great perch from which to take a gander, doesn't she?  And I'm sure her momma, Donna, a life coach with the great blog, Donna At The Beach, has taught Mollie all about looking for the fresh and new in the world.]

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Trends and fads happen when a whole society is encouraged to focus on something in particular.  Often, if we choose to look another way, we’re labeled as “out of it” or “old-fashioned” or “backwards.”

Joyful Springers fixate their own way.  They don’t care about how others label them, and they don’t care about trends.  They follow their inner guidance wherever it leads.

When you let the outside world tell you what to pay attention to, you’re giving away your power.  You have a divine strength within you that knows what you need to focus on.  Trust that guidance.

[Pump and Butch and Marty are back.  Their momma, Helen Gibbons, probably wanted a nice face-forward photo, but Butch and Marty chose their own focus.  Good for them! ]

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“There was a little girl who had a little curl right in the middle of her forehead.  When she was good, she was very, very good, and when she was bad, she was horrid.”  Remember that old ditty?  It’s a great reminder of how bad draws in more bad and good draws in more good and how we can choose which clump–bad or good–we want to create.

Joyful Springers cluster good.  They consciously choose to lump together as much good as they can by refusing to linger too long on the bad things in life.

When something doesn’t go your way, you can complain about it and talk about it to whoever will listen.  But when you do that, you’re inviting more things to go wrong.  Instead of issuing that invitation, you can invite things to go right by turning your attention to what has already gone right for you.  For every “wrong” thing, if you really look, you’ll probably find dozens of right things to focus on, and when you focus on them, they bring in even more right things to a happy cluster of great experiences.

[The TJ's Bed & Biscuit rescue pups are back.  These cuties were rescued by Savings Grace Rescue of Raleigh, North Carolina, cared for at TJs and eventually placed in their forever homes.   Do they make one of the cutest clusters ever or what? ]

JUST A NOTE:  In the November 5 post of Ducky with her walking stick, wearing her Commando Ducky Outfit, I included a link where you can donate to the site if you want.  That link went wonky on me and didn’t work.  Several of you (thank you!) e-mailed me and asked me about it.  If you do want to donate, you can use the link that does work: Look to the right side of the Joyful Springer website, at the picture of Ducky that says, “I pose for treats. Donate to my treat fund?”  Click on that picture and it should take you to the Paypal donation page.  Thanks so much to those of you who have donated!!  Ducky has wagged herself silly in appreciation!

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You’ve heard the expression, “Hit the wall,” right?  Who hasn’t felt at some point like they’ve smacked into an invisible wall built out of exhaustion, frustration, or disappointment?

Joyful Springers push the wall.  They know that when they hit the wall, the only thing to do is push on through it.  They do that by looking past the current circumstances that are wearing them down and focusing on how great it will feel to be where they want to be.

When you feel like there’s a barrier between you and the life you want, remember that every situation is transient.  But if you keep focusing on how bad the situation is, it will perpetuate  itself.  In other words, your attention to the wall keeps the wall in place.  Look past the wall, and you will push through it and move on to something much, much better.

[Ollie is back. This handsome guy definitely pushes the wall of sleeping styles. ]

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Most of us live inside of narrow perspectives, and it’s through those perspectives that we see the world.

Joyful Springers practice watchfulness.  They want to see anything and everything because they understand that solutions to problems and opportunities for triumph may lay just beyond routine ways of seeing the world.

Often, what you need is right there in front of you, but you don’t see it because you’re not looking for it.  When you get in the habit of watching for unusual and new ideas and experiences and people, you often find just what you want in delightfully unexpected places.

[Ducky practices watchfulness daily!  She likes to hang over the back of the sofa to watch us when we're in the kitchen.  She's an excellent meal supervisor and enthusiastic taste tester too (she loves getting bites of raw veggies when we're chopping). ]

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We’re in the habit of mindless observing whatever we happen to see.  But there’s a more productive … and more fun … way of viewing the world.

Joyful Springers look for clues.  They decide what they want in their lives and they consciously look for things that are similar to what they want.

Instead of being a passive watcher in the world, be a seeker of what you want to experience.  When you deliberately set out to see things you desire, like examples of love and health and abundance, you create a force of energy that can, over time, pull more of these things into your world.

[Pringles is back. Joan Howe made the cape that her beloved tri-color Springer, who passed away in 2009, is wearing in this photo.  The hat was specially made from a San Francisco hat store, and the pipe came from a costume shop.  Is Pringles the cutest Sherlock Holmes you've ever seen or what? ]

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Singing group Timbuk 3 sang, “My future’s so bright, I gotta wear shades.”

Joyful Springers require shades.  They expect wonderful things to come their way.  They see a future that meets all their desires.

The future will match your perspective of it.  If you see it as dark and foreboding, it will be.  If you see it flaring into a supernova of delightful experiences, it will be so bright that you’ll need shades. 

[Sidney, Betsy, & Wallis are back.  Their momma, Catherine Jones, sent me this photo with the message, "Here are the girls doing their best to look cool or cute, really both."  Catherine said these North Carolina girls are wearing their signature colors here:  Sidney (red), Betsy (lavender) and Wallis (pink).  And don't they look lovely? ]

If you’d like to hear the song, “My Future’s So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades,” check out Ducky’s blip.fm channel.  She’s a dj of upbeat songs!

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Who says it can’t be done?

Joyful Springers defy barriers.  They see obstacles merely as challenges that invite playful action.

Whatever is in your way isn’t permanent.  In fact, often, something that seems like a big deal is something you can easily knock over … or squirm under.  When you look past barriers instead of at them, you can figure out how to get to the other side of them.

[Pump is back.  Clearly, Helen & Rich Gibbons' clever girl understands that barriers are optional. ]

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The term “just ducky” is a marvelous U.K. expression that means excellent, fine, and wonderful.

Joyful Springers have a just ducky attitude.  They are so tuned into the best moments in life that their lives naturally ARE excellent, fine, and wonderful.

Excellence in experiences isn’t something you stumble upon if you’re lucky.  It’s something you choose by the power of your focus.  You can always choose to focus on life’s ducky moments.

[Pump is back. I had to break tradition today and include all four pictures her momma, Helen Gibson, sent me that captured Pump's 2008 birthday celebration.  Pump loves rubber ducks, Helen says.  So they gave her a Rubber Ducky Birthday party that they dubbed the "Lucky Ducky" party.  Helen told me that Pump “has ducks of all colors--pink, blue etc!”  Helen wrote, “It was her first  B-day  party after adoption...her first year on earth! We taught her that life is ducky!!! She didn't know that as a rescue and in her past life.  She is in the blue hat.  She does have the matching coat … for another time.” Because Ducky's full name is “Woodridge's Life is Jusducky,” I had to include this series as photos celebrating the idea that life IS just ducky! ]

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Are you waiting for your outer circumstances to suit you before you feel good?  You may wait a long time.

Joyful Springers have a tropical temperament.  They know they don’t need to have the world be a specific way to feel what they want to feel.

If you want to experience the peace and fun that tropical vacations conjure, don’t think you have to take a Caribbean cruise to get what you want.  Just CHOOSE to feel relaxed and happy now.

[Meet Delta.   This sweet five-year old from Monroe, Wisconsin, loves the snow and obviously has a keen fashion sense.   Her momma, Joan Howe, says that last winter, "If she wasn't chasing through it (with a toy) (notice her toy matches her coat), she was rolling in it and coming in the house, completely covered in snow."  I don't usually put snow pictures in the summer, but I thought the outfit screamed "summer."  Thanks, Delta, for being a Guest Star on The Joyful Springer.]

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