My ten gratitudes for today are:
1) The wind. I love how it feels on my face.
2) Laughter. Either by me or anyone else. The sound of laughter makes me smile.
3) Clean clothes just after they get out of the dryer. The smell and the feel is comforting.
4) A nice hot shower.
5) The ocean. The sound of the waves as they hit the shore. The feel of the ocean spray. The sandy beach on my feet. Love it!
6) Good shampoo. There is just no substitute for a good quality shampoo.
7) My phone that is kind of my brain in the palm of my hand.
8) My sister. I don't get to see her very often and life is so busy but I think of her all the time. She is someone I look up to.
9) Hugs. Yes I'm one of those people LOL
10) I'm going to say my family, friends and my boyfriend. I know they come up a lot but...always thankful for them. :) They all inspire me and encourage me.
One day I was out doing yard work and pulling weeds. Something I don't completely enjoy but know that it is part of the whole home ownership thing and I do like to have a nice looking yard so I do it. As I was pulling weeds I noticed that a small blade of grass had grown up through part of the concrete on my back patio. I pulled it out not thinking much at first but then as I continued about my chores I found my mind wondering back to that blade of grass. I started to think about how amazing it was thtat something so small and fragile could still be strong enough to permeate something as hard as concrete. A part of me almost felt bad for yanking it out and throwing it away. LOL
Sometimes it is easy for us to think that we are small and too fragile to acomplish much. We may tend to run in to obsticles in life then stop or even run the other dirrection. We may listen to our drunk monkey when it tells us that this obsticle is too much for us to handle. Even small blades of grass don't let obsticles prevent them from rising up. It has a job to grow and it just does it without taking any outside circumstances in to consideration.
A blade of grass is pretty impressive! I want to be a blade of grass!
Have a fantastic weekend everyone!
Friday, March 18, 2011
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
A Promise to yourself.
I am going to begin each and every day with my own gratitudes at the suggestion of someone very special to me. Then I will follow with the topic of the day.
My gratitudes for 03/15/11 are:
1) Quiet mornings
2) exercise ( mainly yoga)
3) Brook and her sense of humor
4) Jim and how I think we can joke about anything and it would be ok.
5) A warm fireplace.
6) Kristy and how I know that we will always be there for eachother.
7) Green tea.
8) People that smile first or even smile back at you. You are good people.
9) Music. It motivates me, takes me places, and helps me to express myself.
10) Good sleep when it happens.
I wanted to let you know that I have an actual Gratitude journal that I found in a shop in Ashland, Oregon a few years ago and I love it. It has a place to write my gratitudes but also many other things. I will share the name and contact info of the company that makes them in the chance someone might be interested.
http://www.journalsunlimited.com/
They have lots of different types to choose from so please check them out!
On to todays topic. A Promise To Yourself
Todays topic is titled this because this is actually the title of some great words of wisdom written by Christian D. Larson. I will close with them. However, to begin with I would like to discuss You and achieving greatness in your life. I truely believe that one person can make a difference and that successful people understand this concept. They know that it is vital to invest themselves in deep friendships. To have people that you laugh with, cry withm achieve and fail with, dance with, grow with, live and die with. People don't spend enough time focusing improving the depth of their relationships. Another thing they regretfully fail to do is to start by making sure they have a great relationship with themself. I'm sure you have all heard it before. It is impossible to love someone else if you cannot love yourself. It is true. So in order for you to make a connection with others, you first have to be able to form a solid one with yourself. Greatness flourishes from the desire to improve and you can begin by taking a look at yourself in the mirror everyday and greeting yourself with a smile. I know it sounds silly but it really does lift you up and start your day off good.
People really never improve unless they look to some standard or example higher or better than themselves. Do you want to look around for that person? Or do you want to be that person? I say the latter. :) Going back to that puddle that you may find yourself continuing to step in. What path have you been taking in your past that has continuously brought you to that same puddle? The answer to this question may be hard to swallow but it is a necessary one. The way you have chosen to react to circumstances, the way you took in information, the people you chose to associate with have all played a role in getting you where you are today. Are you a getter or a gopher? One makes things happen and the other just waits for things to happeen. You are valuable to people in your life and you need to recognize that you are valuable too and that you and your dreams are worth the effort. If you dont invest in yourself, who will? Be good to yourself and nurture others. Be grateful to all those who build you up as a person and be an example to others that life is great. Being good to yourself involves being mindful of your self talk. One seminar I attended called it your drunk monkey. Everyone has a drunk monkey and I can prove it. Have you ever heard that little voice inside your head that tells you that you can't do something? It usually happens when you are just about to step out of your comfort zone. It tells you STOP! GO BACK! HIDE! so then we do exactly as it says and therefore squashes any possible positive advancement we could have made. That my friends, is your drunk momkey. He also says such things as: YOU ARENT PRETTY ENOUGH, YOU ARENT TALENTED ENOUGH, YOU WILL NEVER BE GOOD ENOUGH. sound familiar? You need to lasso that drunk monkey and toss him in a cage somewhere because truth be told if one of our friends ever spoke to us the way we allow our drunk monkey to. Well lets just say we'd be doing time. Speaking postive words to yourself on a daily basis and giving yourself a sincere pat on the back when you've hit a goal is vital. You first need to achieve genuin belief in yourself. True greatness comes from being able to add impact to another person's life including your own. That being said. Here are the words of wisdom I mentioned at the offset of this blog. I love them. They are a great aid in achieving greatness.
* To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
* To talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person you meet.
* To make all your friends feel that there is something worthwhile in them.
* To look at the sunny sid of everything and make your optimism come true.
* To think only the best, to work only for the best and to expect only the best.
* To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.
* To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
* To wear a cheerful expression at all times and give a smile to every living creature you meet.
* To give so much time to imporving yourself that you have no time to criticize others.
* To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.
* To think well of yourself and to proclaim this fact to the world, not in loud word, but in great deeds.
* To live in the faith that the whole world is on your side, so long as you are true to the best that is in you.
-- Christian D. Larson.
Have a positively beautiful day!
My gratitudes for 03/15/11 are:
1) Quiet mornings
2) exercise ( mainly yoga)
3) Brook and her sense of humor
4) Jim and how I think we can joke about anything and it would be ok.
5) A warm fireplace.
6) Kristy and how I know that we will always be there for eachother.
7) Green tea.
8) People that smile first or even smile back at you. You are good people.
9) Music. It motivates me, takes me places, and helps me to express myself.
10) Good sleep when it happens.
I wanted to let you know that I have an actual Gratitude journal that I found in a shop in Ashland, Oregon a few years ago and I love it. It has a place to write my gratitudes but also many other things. I will share the name and contact info of the company that makes them in the chance someone might be interested.
http://www.journalsunlimited.com/
They have lots of different types to choose from so please check them out!
On to todays topic. A Promise To Yourself
Todays topic is titled this because this is actually the title of some great words of wisdom written by Christian D. Larson. I will close with them. However, to begin with I would like to discuss You and achieving greatness in your life. I truely believe that one person can make a difference and that successful people understand this concept. They know that it is vital to invest themselves in deep friendships. To have people that you laugh with, cry withm achieve and fail with, dance with, grow with, live and die with. People don't spend enough time focusing improving the depth of their relationships. Another thing they regretfully fail to do is to start by making sure they have a great relationship with themself. I'm sure you have all heard it before. It is impossible to love someone else if you cannot love yourself. It is true. So in order for you to make a connection with others, you first have to be able to form a solid one with yourself. Greatness flourishes from the desire to improve and you can begin by taking a look at yourself in the mirror everyday and greeting yourself with a smile. I know it sounds silly but it really does lift you up and start your day off good.
People really never improve unless they look to some standard or example higher or better than themselves. Do you want to look around for that person? Or do you want to be that person? I say the latter. :) Going back to that puddle that you may find yourself continuing to step in. What path have you been taking in your past that has continuously brought you to that same puddle? The answer to this question may be hard to swallow but it is a necessary one. The way you have chosen to react to circumstances, the way you took in information, the people you chose to associate with have all played a role in getting you where you are today. Are you a getter or a gopher? One makes things happen and the other just waits for things to happeen. You are valuable to people in your life and you need to recognize that you are valuable too and that you and your dreams are worth the effort. If you dont invest in yourself, who will? Be good to yourself and nurture others. Be grateful to all those who build you up as a person and be an example to others that life is great. Being good to yourself involves being mindful of your self talk. One seminar I attended called it your drunk monkey. Everyone has a drunk monkey and I can prove it. Have you ever heard that little voice inside your head that tells you that you can't do something? It usually happens when you are just about to step out of your comfort zone. It tells you STOP! GO BACK! HIDE! so then we do exactly as it says and therefore squashes any possible positive advancement we could have made. That my friends, is your drunk momkey. He also says such things as: YOU ARENT PRETTY ENOUGH, YOU ARENT TALENTED ENOUGH, YOU WILL NEVER BE GOOD ENOUGH. sound familiar? You need to lasso that drunk monkey and toss him in a cage somewhere because truth be told if one of our friends ever spoke to us the way we allow our drunk monkey to. Well lets just say we'd be doing time. Speaking postive words to yourself on a daily basis and giving yourself a sincere pat on the back when you've hit a goal is vital. You first need to achieve genuin belief in yourself. True greatness comes from being able to add impact to another person's life including your own. That being said. Here are the words of wisdom I mentioned at the offset of this blog. I love them. They are a great aid in achieving greatness.
* To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
* To talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person you meet.
* To make all your friends feel that there is something worthwhile in them.
* To look at the sunny sid of everything and make your optimism come true.
* To think only the best, to work only for the best and to expect only the best.
* To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.
* To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
* To wear a cheerful expression at all times and give a smile to every living creature you meet.
* To give so much time to imporving yourself that you have no time to criticize others.
* To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.
* To think well of yourself and to proclaim this fact to the world, not in loud word, but in great deeds.
* To live in the faith that the whole world is on your side, so long as you are true to the best that is in you.
-- Christian D. Larson.
Have a positively beautiful day!
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
We Become What We Think About.
Ford summed it up beautifully by saying " Whether you think you can, or think you can't, you are right." What do you think about? Are you in search for a happier life or are you just content with letting life drag you along? Or are you ready to gain control over your life and make changes?
If your answer to that last question is yes then you have some decisions to make. First you need to decide what is wrong in your life and change it. I know, easier said than done right? As human beings we do tend to be creatures of comfort and even though we aren't happy with our daily life, we resist change. I sometimes think it is out of fear that we do this. The pain we live with now is familiar and since we have been living with it already day in and day out we already know the feeling. The thought of changing brings about the fear of the unknown. However, if you continue to do the same things, you will never achieve different results. According to Einstein, that makes you insane.
Today you leave your house and as you walk to your car, you step into a huge mud puddle getting mud all over your best shoes. Then tomorrow you again leave your house and step into that same mud puddle. How many times would it take you to change your course to prevent getting mud on your shoes? I love shoes so I'm telling you once would be enough for me. Time to stop being an insane person and stepping in mud puddles!
You must take action and I'm not saying to go out, buy wood and build a bridge over your mud puddle. I'm simply saying to step to one side. Make a plan and then start taking baby steps to get there. Even slow motion is better than no motion, don't you agree?
You must begin by again focusing on your gratitudes and taking control over your mental diet. Think positively throughout each day until it becomes a habit. What you thought about got you to where you are today and what you choose to think about from this day forward will get you to where you will be in the future.
Spend some time every day evaluating your mental diet. Ask yourself if you did something today that moved you closer to your goal. There are times when the answer will be no and you will be frustrated with yourself. When this happens, go back to WHY you want to change. Remember to always give yourself a pat on the back for any steps you have taken toward your goal. There are no large or small steps....only steps.
it is important to be concious of that fear I spoke of earlier. It can sabotage your success and then before you know it, you are back to being drug along that same old path with that same discusting mud puddle. Also as I had mentioned earlier, we are by nature creatures of comfort so the fear steps in when we find ourselves out of our comfort zone. The good news is that once you practice something for a few times, it becomes part of your comfort zone. If we want the change we have to be willing to be uncomfortable for a while. We all have obsticles in our life, don't let yours control you.
Someone once said ( sorry, I cannot remember who.) Never let someone define your world because it will always be smaller than the world you would have created. This is so true. I'm going to end this with one more bit of advice. Beware of the life Leeches! Don't be content to hang around with people that will suck the life and energy from you. They can be tolerated in doses but please limit your contact with them. Find people who share your vision and beliefs. People who will be your greatest fans and celebrate you and all your accomplishments throughout your journey.
You have greatness within you!
If your answer to that last question is yes then you have some decisions to make. First you need to decide what is wrong in your life and change it. I know, easier said than done right? As human beings we do tend to be creatures of comfort and even though we aren't happy with our daily life, we resist change. I sometimes think it is out of fear that we do this. The pain we live with now is familiar and since we have been living with it already day in and day out we already know the feeling. The thought of changing brings about the fear of the unknown. However, if you continue to do the same things, you will never achieve different results. According to Einstein, that makes you insane.
Today you leave your house and as you walk to your car, you step into a huge mud puddle getting mud all over your best shoes. Then tomorrow you again leave your house and step into that same mud puddle. How many times would it take you to change your course to prevent getting mud on your shoes? I love shoes so I'm telling you once would be enough for me. Time to stop being an insane person and stepping in mud puddles!
You must take action and I'm not saying to go out, buy wood and build a bridge over your mud puddle. I'm simply saying to step to one side. Make a plan and then start taking baby steps to get there. Even slow motion is better than no motion, don't you agree?
You must begin by again focusing on your gratitudes and taking control over your mental diet. Think positively throughout each day until it becomes a habit. What you thought about got you to where you are today and what you choose to think about from this day forward will get you to where you will be in the future.
Spend some time every day evaluating your mental diet. Ask yourself if you did something today that moved you closer to your goal. There are times when the answer will be no and you will be frustrated with yourself. When this happens, go back to WHY you want to change. Remember to always give yourself a pat on the back for any steps you have taken toward your goal. There are no large or small steps....only steps.
it is important to be concious of that fear I spoke of earlier. It can sabotage your success and then before you know it, you are back to being drug along that same old path with that same discusting mud puddle. Also as I had mentioned earlier, we are by nature creatures of comfort so the fear steps in when we find ourselves out of our comfort zone. The good news is that once you practice something for a few times, it becomes part of your comfort zone. If we want the change we have to be willing to be uncomfortable for a while. We all have obsticles in our life, don't let yours control you.
Someone once said ( sorry, I cannot remember who.) Never let someone define your world because it will always be smaller than the world you would have created. This is so true. I'm going to end this with one more bit of advice. Beware of the life Leeches! Don't be content to hang around with people that will suck the life and energy from you. They can be tolerated in doses but please limit your contact with them. Find people who share your vision and beliefs. People who will be your greatest fans and celebrate you and all your accomplishments throughout your journey.
You have greatness within you!
Monday, March 14, 2011
Pay it forward.
Many times when we are feeling depressed or sad it is because we are not only spending too much time focusing on the negative but also too much time focusing on ourselves. There are many people out there that could use your help. Find a cause or organization that you can stand behind and get busy! Put your time and energy in to helping others. Not only will you have less time to focus on what ever negatives exist in your life, in addition you may develop a different perspective regarding your own circumstances once you see what others deal with. Pay it forward.... you will change the world and yourself.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Change the way you look at things and the way you look at things change.
Have you ever got a new car then went for a drive to suddenly notice that your same car is everywhere? It didn't even seem to exist before you bought it but now it looks as though there was a huge sale and now everyone went out and purchased your car. In reality we are noticing our car because now that we ourselves purchased it, that is the particular car we are focussed on. What we focus on in life expands.
Diet tip number two is changing your focus toward the positive. Hopefully you did your ten gratitudes for today which will aid you in this stage of the diet. Let's spend the day focusing on the positive. There are many things in life we have no control of, especially other people. The only thing we truely have control over is ourselves and how we choose to react to any given situation. We can expend a lot of energy toward the negative and get nowhere good or we can slow down, take a deep breath and gather a new perspective. This is not always an easy task to begin with, however if you take the time to ask yourself, What do I want to invite more of into my life? The answer should clearly be positive things. This is why it will be of such great benefit to you if you do your ten gratitudes first thing every morning. It helps to give you positives to focus on throughout your day.
Lets try eliminating the word but from our vocabulary today. It is one of those words that are hardly followed by anything good. It's like someone saying you did a great job but.... or.... thank you for cleaning your room but....lol you just know nothing good is following that.
Have a beuatiful and positive day!
Diet tip number two is changing your focus toward the positive. Hopefully you did your ten gratitudes for today which will aid you in this stage of the diet. Let's spend the day focusing on the positive. There are many things in life we have no control of, especially other people. The only thing we truely have control over is ourselves and how we choose to react to any given situation. We can expend a lot of energy toward the negative and get nowhere good or we can slow down, take a deep breath and gather a new perspective. This is not always an easy task to begin with, however if you take the time to ask yourself, What do I want to invite more of into my life? The answer should clearly be positive things. This is why it will be of such great benefit to you if you do your ten gratitudes first thing every morning. It helps to give you positives to focus on throughout your day.
Lets try eliminating the word but from our vocabulary today. It is one of those words that are hardly followed by anything good. It's like someone saying you did a great job but.... or.... thank you for cleaning your room but....lol you just know nothing good is following that.
Have a beuatiful and positive day!
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Welcome
Good morning! I would like to welcome you if you have managed to find me on here. Today is my first day of blogging. Never done this before but am very excited to start. The reason being is that I have a lot to say so here we go. My mission here is to help you to move toward the positive in your life if you haven't already done so or are struggling each day to do so. This will be a place that you can come for inspiration and maybe sometimes a laugh which is bound to happen here on most likely quite a few occassions just knowing how my mind tends to work. :) So all of that being said, let's get started shall we?
Today is the begining of a diet for you. One of positive energy and one of gratitude. I honestly believe that we all hold such great power and control over our day. We just need to start it off with the right mind set. To do this we are going to spend some time focusing on the things we are grateful for. What are you grateful for? Ten gratitudes is the begining of your diet. I am going to begin by sharing mine. You will see that at times it may seem difficult to come up with ten things to be grateful for. I have been there and it is okay. This is all a part of the process .
My gratitudes for the day:
1. Green tea from Starbucks.
2. My beautiful daughter.
3. My absolutely amazing and loving boyfriend.
4. My dog.
5. Good friends.
6. The unconditional love of my family.
7. Comfy sweats.
8. pedicures
9. Bacon
10. comedy
As you can see by my list, it can be any random thing that you are grateful for. No matter what happens throughout my day, these gratitudes won't change and they are something that I will continue to think about because they help to remind me of the good things in life and everyone has good things. The good things make us smile and help us to shrink the not so good things that may arise. Which leads me to diet tip number two which will be discussed tomorrow. Tomorrows topic will be: Change the Way you look at things and the way you look at things change.
Have a zestful day and remember to be grateful!
Today is the begining of a diet for you. One of positive energy and one of gratitude. I honestly believe that we all hold such great power and control over our day. We just need to start it off with the right mind set. To do this we are going to spend some time focusing on the things we are grateful for. What are you grateful for? Ten gratitudes is the begining of your diet. I am going to begin by sharing mine. You will see that at times it may seem difficult to come up with ten things to be grateful for. I have been there and it is okay. This is all a part of the process .
My gratitudes for the day:
1. Green tea from Starbucks.
2. My beautiful daughter.
3. My absolutely amazing and loving boyfriend.
4. My dog.
5. Good friends.
6. The unconditional love of my family.
7. Comfy sweats.
8. pedicures
9. Bacon
10. comedy
As you can see by my list, it can be any random thing that you are grateful for. No matter what happens throughout my day, these gratitudes won't change and they are something that I will continue to think about because they help to remind me of the good things in life and everyone has good things. The good things make us smile and help us to shrink the not so good things that may arise. Which leads me to diet tip number two which will be discussed tomorrow. Tomorrows topic will be: Change the Way you look at things and the way you look at things change.
Have a zestful day and remember to be grateful!
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