Every once in awhile I come across a day that is not filled with deadlines, priorities or phone calls. My color coded calendar will have tasks that are mostly muted colors of grey or light blue, with nothing dramatic to catch my eye. They become a blur of suggestions for the day, not absolutes.
This morning, my journaling started with a little grumpiness about a few minor things going on in my life before shifting into gratitude and appreciation. As I wrote from my heart about what I was grateful for I had a realization.
The life I am living now was in many ways one I would have called a dream in my earlier years. I decided to play with this idea and write a vision for the years to come from the perspective of my 40ish self. It included things like:
I was talking to a client last night about living his values and he brought up a code he was taught when taking karate lessons as a kid. It reminded me of when I created a program for teenage girls called, Living as a Samurai. A big part of that experience was to create their own Samurai code to live by.
Honor codes have been around for years, but in my generation they were mostly in the world of men. They are common in martial arts, the military and sports. Some businesses have them too, but they might call them something else.
These codes of honor can support us in feeling stronger within ourselves and committed to how we want to live our lives. Using them as a guide can reduce stress, bring clarity, make decisions easier and help us stay focused on living as our best selves.
Your brain loves the number three.
For one thing, it can only hold about 3 things in your short term memory at a time. The number 3 is also the lowest figure that can create patterns in your mind – and your brain loves patterns.
Productivity experts rave about doing things in threes. Keeping things limited to this amount allows for greater focus without overwhelm. That sounds good to me.
We are always thinking something. More often than not, those thoughts can be negative. We can get so used to them running in the background of our minds that they feel normal and we simply accept how they make us feel.
Thoughts are just thoughts, not who you are, and you have control over them. That means that you can audit them and choose ones that serve you better.
Here are some simple ways to shift your thoughts so that you can think and feel more positive.
Not many people know that I was once an AFAA certified personal trainer. This was back in the days when fitness training was a new thing. I didn’t plan on helping people exercise, I just wanted to learn. And, I learned a lot.
I feel pretty strongly about keeping commitments I make. Maybe too strong. Maybe even to the point of being rigid.
This morning I had an appointment to pick up groceries in a city about half an hour away from my house. They have a bigger selection than the local store and bring my online order out to my car, so it’s contact free shopping. It feels worth the drive every other week.
It is commonly said (even by me) that our thoughts create our feelings. While it is true that what we think impacts our moods there are other ways to influence how we feel.
Your mind and body share energy and work together. When they are aligned toward something positive is when you feel your best. When they aren’t, you can use one to influence the other.
Life is truly unpredictable and it can be fun to look back and realize how little we knew about how our lives would play out and who we would become.
For instance, I never imagined:
Sometimes I think I’m an expert at creating negative fantasies. They may be about someone doing me wrong, my house burning down, a car accident, a fight with someone I care about or any number of things. The one thing they all have in common is that they make me feel sad, depressed or bad about myself.
Living a heartfelt life is one of the most peaceful and joyful ways to experience this world. It’s pretty much the opposite of what we see around us. Most people are too busy, too worried, and completely disconnected from their heart’s wisdom.
Once you start experiencing heartfelt moments you will crave them more and more. But, how is it possible to shape your entire life around them? It’s not as hard as you think and when you do it will feel like coming home to the life you were meant to live.
With all of the things going on in our world today, most of us are experiencing an increase in anxiety. I know I am. My clients are talking about it too.
I’ve been a little hard on myself lately. Since I moved to Missouri, I have learned to respect the seasons and the sometimes short windows of opportunity for outdoor upgrades and home maintenance. I start each spring with to do lists and somehow they never seems to get done.
There was a time in my life when I was a little girl that I felt very insecure. One of the ways I coped with this was to tell people made up stories that made me sound more important than I felt. I told so many falsehoods that I couldn’t keep track of them, which became a source of extreme stress. Eventually, I was found out and became more ostracized than ever.
That was when I became a lover of truth.
If you know me, you know I like to keep things simple and this may be one of the simplest posts I ever write.
After decades of learning, studying, supporting clients and working on myself, I think I’ve found the secret to living the life I want. It might be something you will want to try, too.
As I write this we are experiencing a global pandemic and there have been racially charged riots around the country. It feels like there is a lot going wrong in our world and if you are like me, it can impact how you feel.
In the early weeks of staying home due to Covid-19, my microwave broke. I panicked. My first thought was literally, “How will I eat? I’m going to starve!”
I realized very quickly that I was over-reacting and started problem solving instead, but it made me wonder why my mind would even go there.
I work with a lot of women who have creative minds. Their creativity is a gift that allows them to do amazing things, but sometimes they get lost in their thoughts and ideas and find it difficult to stay focused.
This happens to me too. I am an idea person. Brainstorming is one of my favorite things and my clients would tell you that some very interesting things can come out of my mind when I do this. But, I can get lost in it.
Now that it has been almost 2 months of living within a global pandemic, I am realizing there are additional consequences I hadn’t previously considered.
One is that I seem to have lost my sense of direction. Self-direction, that is.
If you are human, you are likely experiencing some ups and downs during your Covid-19 experience. I know I am. My worldview and thoughts are mostly positive, but last Sunday I ended up having a good cry. The next day I was back to normal again.