Christmas Song #1 - "These are a few of my favourite things"

I love Christmas songs, and I recently posted this message in the FB group "HOPE - Helping Other Patients Everywhere." I hope to share the same message with the rest of you.

One of my favourite movies to watch during the Christmas season is the Sound of Music...I don't know why this movies was always being shown on the TV around Christmas time - especially when there wasn't any Christmas scenes in at all. But as a fan of musicals, I fell in love with the movie and its story.

One of the songs in this movie is, "My favourite things" - and has come to be considered a "Christmas song" - it's probably not a common Christmas song, but you can find this song in Christmas music books.

In the scene of this song, Julie Andrews is trying to cheer up the children, who are afraid of the storm, by helping them to remember their favourite things. She says, "When the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I'm feeling sad, I simply remember my favourite things, and then I don't feel....so bad."




This line just doesn't have to apply to being afraid of a storm. It can apply to us, who live with an illness, and worry about its consequences, its symptoms, its potential outcome. This line can apply to the parents, a spouse, or  friend, of an ill loved one, when they are waiting for a doctor to give them news, a new prognosis, or tell them about a new treatment.

For those who have learned not to fear their illness, and have overcome worry, this line can apply to you when you're in the middle of a painful treatment, an infusion of chemotherapy, when the pain today is worse than yesterday, or when you feel simply overcome by today's symptoms.

When you feel anything of what is mentioned above, I encourage you to think about your favourite things, and although the symptoms or the pain might not go away - the negative thoughts and feelings will. And then you "won't feel...so bad."

If you want to take it one step further, do a favourite activity to cheer you up, whether it be reading a book, playing a musical instrument, or watching a movie with a friend.

Think about your favourite things today, and feel free to comment on it here, or on Facebook- perhaps we can give each other ideas on new favourite things to do!

My favourite thing to do when I am feeling down is playing the piano.