Sing Out Loud!

I was driving along in my car today listening to the CD when I suddenly became aware of the fact that I was singing along to it too.

Nothing new in that you might think.  Sadly, just lately, there is.  I honestly can't remember the last time I sang to myself or, apart from in church, out loud. One way and another life has been a little challenging of late and although I didn't acknowledge it it's also been quite stressful.  So stressful in fact that it has affected my happiness.  I didn't actually realise to what extent until today when I was pondering why it had been so long since I last sang to myself.  I then realised that actually, today, I was feeling quite happy.  Now that can't be bad can it?

All this thinking got me thinking some more (as it does!).  I remembered a particularly difficult time in my life, when my marriage had irretrievably broken down.  I was besides myself with grief for what had been lost, rejected and in effect thrown away. Months after I had been left alone with my baby daughter I had one night been talking with a friend on the telephone.  The conversation had progressed to being rather amusing and we had enjoyed a good laugh together.  The first time I had laughed (& I am a girl who loves to laugh a lot, all things being equal) properly in a very long time.  I suddenly realised - in the same way as I have today with the singing - that the muscles in my face were aching.  It was so long since they had been properly used to laugh that they actually pained me.  Now that is sad.

I made my mind up today that never again am I going to allow myself to stop singing out loud and you know what I found out later in the day?  If you sing out loud, whether or not you actually feel like singing when you start to sing, that it lifts your spirits and you do feel better for it.  Go on try it for yourself and see!  Don't blame me if your face begins to ache too though!