Month: July 2024

THE SUN IS COMING! 🌞

Here is a quick reminder that whatever you are going through will pass. The night always gives way to the dawn

Some nights may seem like they last forever, but the sun always rises. Hang in there. You can outlast the night!

TODAY IS MY BIRTHDAY!!

Today is my birthday! Celebrate with me by using one of the many wonderful tools and strategies we discussed on this site. Spend some time on self-care, pursue your purpose, or best of all, spend at least 5 minutes in total gratitude. Feel free to look back and pick something that speaks to you.

Feel free to share whatever you pick and what you plan to do. One of the greatest gifts I receive is the engagement I get from the community here. I look forward to hearing from as many of you as I can. Spend some time with those you love doing what you love as you celebrate the birth of this soon to be best-selling author.

QUIT THE RACE 🏁

Did you ever wonder why they call it a rat race? Who really wants to be a rat? I certainly don’t. Today, whatever day you are reading this, take some time out of the race. Focus on winning what is really important. That would be your health, your family and your friends. Take some time for self-care and you will win the race.

DON’T BE AS SHEEP 🐑

Here is a post I could do in this country every four years. That would be election time. In this country, there is two main political parties. There are really several others, but people do not usually bother to learn about them. In fact, when it comes to voting those who are to lead our country, there seems to not be a lot of thinking at all. More so, is picking a party and gathering facts to support the party you have picked. This is then usually used to post on social media or start disagreements with family and friends. On occasion, perhaps a complete stranger who may be foolish enough to ask our opinion on politics.

This is not only true of politics, although that serves as a great example, but in many areas of life. People accept what those in positions of authority, whether that is parents, political or religious leaders. We are like the sheep Seneca spoke of. That is not to say that many of these people are not good leaders who have our best interest at heart. We should, however, step out of the crowd and find out for ourselves. Seek a little higher ground so we can get a better view of the big picture. Learn facts from unbiased sources. Do our own independent judgement. Even more important, approach the subject and world with an open and compassionate mind.

Do not be like a sheep following the crowd. Instead use your head to think and develop opinions that are your own. Most of the people you are following have little or no knowledge of your own personal situation. Remember to approach life with an open and compassionate mind. Others can hold different opinions and still be right. What is right for them and their situation can be different than what is right for us.

NEGATIVE THOUGHTS 🎞

Who hasn’t had the occasional stray thought? If we are to believe what science tells us, that would be nobody. It is said that we have roughly 60,000 thoughts a day and that roughly 80% of them are negative. Both of those numbers really depend on the person. I know several people who manage to maintain a positive disposition in the face of the most challenging odds. I also know people who somehow manage to keep the number of thoughts they have well below the 60,000 mark. Some I wonder if they ever get to the double digits. Most of us fall into the numbers that science puts out.

It may be next to impossible to fight off the arrival of negative thoughts. Doing so can often make them push harder to arrive. What are we to do? Adjust how we view negative thoughts. We can ask ourselves what these thoughts may be trying to teach us. We can ask ourselves why we are reacting so negatively to them. There are a million lessons we can learn from our negative thoughts. It can also be helpful to turn it into a game of sorts. Noticing and adjusting to negative thoughts can be a challenge, but it does not have to be a negative one. Start timing how long it takes you to overcome a negative thought. Start keeping track of the time between negative thoughts and see if you can’t go just a little bit longer next time. When you do, celebrate!

Negative thoughts are a part of life and they can serve a good purpose. Let us put them to use for us. Have fun with the journey. Be calm in the knowledge that your life is improving with each positive thought you have. Let us know any tools and strategies you have for dealing with negative thoughts.

A VULGAR MISTAKE 🙅‍♀️

Mr. Emerson uses a great term, in my opinion. It is a ‘vulgar mistake’ when we confuse being contradicted with being persecuted. There are far too many people who perceive any difference of opinion as a personal attack on them. This is simply not so. We can differ, and others can differ with us, without it being an attack. This can be hard to keep straight emotionally when we are in the heat of the situation. It may be good to practice asking the question, “Is this person just expressing a difference of opinion, or are they personally attacking me?” If I were to guess, 90% of the time the answer would be the former.

How about in your life? Do you have people who every time you disagree with them they perceive it as a personal attack? You might work on a gentle way to remind them that you are not attacking them, you are just disagreeing with them. How about yourself? Have you been guilty of this in the past? Start asking yourself the question now.

A GOOD WEDNESDAY 👍

Today, instead of focusing on doing a lot,  let us focus on doing a few things well. Putting attention into detail instead of putting a million things on our to do list. It will increase our satisfaction and decrease our stress.

DROP IT! 🫳

It is Tuesday! Instead of adding on to what we have to do or worrying about what we didn’t do on Monday, let’s shed a few things. Let us look for things that are negative in our life and work to limit or eliminate them all together! It could be little annoying things, people or places. If we can’t find a way to change them, can we find a way to change how we view them?

These are good things to consider the second day of the week. Let us find things we can shed from our life to make us lighter and happier. Most important, let us have fun doing it!

YOU CAN MAKE IT SO! 🤔

This is another one of those big secrets to an amazing life. Old Willy Shakespeare hit this one on the head. The happiest people in life, and often the most productive, have a great way of looking at their world. They see the opportunity in every challenge. The realists of the world will be quick to point out that this will not change the situation. I beg to differ. It may not change the past, and the circumstances leading up to the current situation. It will, however, change the present and the future. How you view circumstances will dictate the actions you take in the face of any situation. If you leave this up to chance, you are doing the same with your life.

It is all too easy to view certain events as good and view others as bad. That would mean sometimes you feel good, sometimes you feel bad. What happens when you can view everything through the lens of gratitude and hope? Your life becomes more enjoyable. You lose less time to melancholy. You are more likely to take advantage of the opportunities hidden in challenges.

One of the greatest examples I have heard of in recent times is Inky Johnson. He was an athlete ready to turn professional and bring his family out of generations of poverty. Right before this was going to happen, he suffered a career-ending injury. This is bad right? When asked if he could go back in time and undo that tackle that ended his hopes, he is quick to say he would not. Why would someone not want to undo an injury that not only cost him and his family millions of dollars, but altered his life completely? Simple, through that his father was able to come to spiritual enlightenment. He was able to serve as an example to members of his faith and inspire countless others. None of this would have happened if he had become a professional athlete. While the injury was certainly a very trying turn of events in his life, he views it as a blessing.

How about you? Are there situations in your life that you view as terrible? I am sure there are in all of our lives. The challenge is to find the good in those. This is not denying the challenge, but choosing to see the opportunity in it. It will not change the past or what occurred, but will change the feeling in the present and the trajectory of the future. How you think of and view the world makes all of the difference.