Life sure has its challenges. That is something we are all aware of. One very powerful way we can take away a lot of the sting of those challenges, is to change the way we view them. This sounds all too simple, but that does not make it any less true. Our choice in how to view life is one of our greatest powers. Sadly, it is often one that is little used.
This quote by Wayne Dyer is very powerful if we put it to use. Think of people who try your patience. It could be a rude coworker. Perhaps one of those souls who are ignorant on how to use a turn signal. Whoever they are, they can drive us crazy ðĪŠ if we let them. What if we viewed them as trainers for our emotional state. It is easy to be happy and grateful when things are going great. Much like lifting weights in the gym, our ability to maintain our emotional state only comes through resistance.
I would love to hear about situations you have changed, or could change, just by changing the way you look at them.
Last post we discussed the importance of having ways to cheer yourself up. I would still love to hear any ideas you have for that. One of our readers (lbeth1950) mentioned she loves to call her best friend.
This reminded me how important it is to both have and be someone who brings joy into life. Do you have one of those friends you just feel better after spending time with? Are you one of those friends for someone else? It is vital we keep a group of people around us who brighten our spirits.
It is also important to have friends in all avenues. What I mean is to have friends you can call, friends you can message online, but most importantly, one’s you can physically connect with. Sometimes these friends will change avenues. My friend Curtis I enjoyed having coffee with and solving the world’s problems. He, and his wonderful family, moved to Las Vegas. Now it is more of an online friendship.
The point being, if you have a great friend, keep them even if you have to make some adjustments. One of the best ways to assure you have a group of amazing friends is to be one! Make sure whenever you have an opportunity to bring joy to the life of another you take it!
What things do you do to encourage yourself when you feel down? What things have you seen others do to encourage themselves? It is important to have a list of ways to encourage yourself because we don’t always have a cheerleader close by when we need one. Share the ways in which you encourage yourself in the comments below so we can all get some new ideas!
I love to fill my day with moments that make me smile. Better yet, I like to be fully aware and appreciate those moments. Too often we fail to understand the value of simple moments of joy until they are gone. This is just one of many reasons to be present during your day.
When we are not slaves to distraction, we can feel the joy in our hearts that these simple moments bring. Another way is to reflect on moments in your day that bring you joy. As I’m writing this, I am doing just that. Let me tell you, it is making me smile just thinking about, and being grateful for them.
Some of these moments for me are waking up to see comments from readers of this site like you. It is that first sip of coffee in the morning. One of my favorites is coming home from work and first setting eyes on my beautiful fiance. What are your simple moments of joy and how can you better appreciate them?
Monday is not everyone’s favorite day. I truly get that. I usually get less than 3 hours of sleep, followed by a 10 hour workday. It can be tough to get up mentally after enjoying a great weekend with family and friends.
When starting any project, including the work week, our attitude at the beginning goes a long way to deciding if we will succeed or fail. That is why it is so important that you find any means at your disposal to create a positive attitude on Monday morning. Sounds impossible? Here are a few things to try. You can begin by focusing on what you have to be grateful for. Life isn’t always what we would like, but it could always be worse. You can focus on the purpose of why you are going to work. Whether that is being able to spoil those you love, or keeping a roof over your head and the lights on. Imagine what it would be like without those things.
Starting the week with a good attitude will increase our chances for it being a successful week. Above we listed 2 ways in which you can make that happen. I would love to hear any ideas you have for making Monday, or any other day, a positive one.
Depending on its use, one phrase that can drive me crazy is, “It is what it is.” This is true in some regards which we will get to later. When used as an excuse not to take any action to change how it is, that drives me crazy. The only thing worse is people who constantly complain about their circumstances and expressing their desire that they were different. This takes away valuable time from making the most of them.
On a personal level, I was born with a few health challenges. I have asthma. This prevents me from doing some of the physical activities as good as I would like. I have a deformed heart that I was born with. This not only forces me to take a few more precautions that the average person, I also have to be routinely tested. Neither of these did I contribute to. They came with birth. Many people tell me how sad and unfair that is. In this case, I do say “It is what it is.” Nothing will change the fact that I cannot breathe that well or that I get nervous every time I have a pain in my chest.
That was the fate I was born into. I can choose to despise it, or I can love it. Why on earth would I love the fact that I was born with these issues? One, it helps me relate to others who have these, and other, medical conditions. It also motivates me to take as good of care of my physical health as I can. On the days when going to the gym does not sound like the best idea, I think about the fact I could die. When I don’t want to do cardio, I know the more I work my lungs, the better they will function. Not to mention, I have no urge at all to start smoking. If I didn’t have asthma, sometime along my 23 year journey of bartending or my time singing in a band, I would have picked the habit up.
When it comes to the life we are dealt, there is no use in crying how unfair it is. That may very well be true, but now what? If life knocks you down, that can often not be your fault. Finding a way to get back up is entirely your responsibility. Fate can be kind, it can be cruel. When we can’t control that, we can control our reaction to it.
Today is Friday the 13th. Many people view this day as a scary superstition. Do you know what I think is scary? Walking around with a dirty mind. No, not that kind of dirty mind. One that is filled with negativity and unnecessary worry. We are all a little guilty of that at times. If we look around at the world we are living in, it is no wonder. News, some things on the internet, even members of our social circle can have us seeing the storm in every rainbow.
What is the big deal about having dirt in your mind? Not much if you clear it out. If left to fester long enough, like real dirt, the consequences can start to mount up. It will affect your mental health. You may find yourself more on edge. You might experience brain fog or have difficulty concentrating. This can only add to the negative experiences in your life. Keep it up long enough and you will see physical results. You will feel tired and run down. You might develop ulcers or have a depressed immune system.
How on earth can you clean your mind? It is not like you can stick a cleaning brush in your brain. Consuming any kind of bleach product is not recommend, despite what you may have heard. Above we have some really good ideas. I would like to touch on a few. I would love to hear your suggestions as well. We can all benefit from sharing our ideas.
The first is to take a hard look at your social circle. I devote an entire section to this in my book, Living the Dream. It amazes me how many people tell me social media is negative. What they see is only drama and negativity. The same is said for what they hear from people. I stare at them blankly and ask them who controls what they see on their social media page? If there are people and pages that do not bring you joy, get rid of them! Better yet, add pages that bring joy to your heart. That could be things that make you smile or even just hobbies you enjoy. As for people? Keep your circle small. If someone is a constant source of drama, limit or eliminate the time you are around them. Better yet, spend more time around people you find uplifting!
Above you will see other amazing suggestions. These range from meditating to going for a walk in nature. I would love to not only hear which one is your favorite, but if you have any suggestion or ideas which help clear your mind.
I want to talk about your health for a second. Not your physical health. Not even mental health, which finally is getting the attention it deserves. I want to talk about the health of your spirit and how important it is to pay attention to. Have you ever “Woken up on the wrong side of the bed”? You know those days you wake up feeling irritable and you might not even know why? I am sure it is a feeling we all have.
I get up for work 6 days a week at 4am. Let me tell you that I cannot recall a day I felt like jumping out of bed looking forward to going to work. For someone who loves to have a social life and enjoy time with his beautiful bride-to-be, getting up that early is quite a task. However, I also light keeping the lights on and getting gifts for the afore-mentioned beautiful lady. By the time I get to work around 5, the coffee has kicked in and I am usually in pretty good spirits.
This morning was different. I woke up and felt beyond irritable. Like I was mad at the world. This is a very rare state to find myself in. As I sat up in bed, it was apparent that something in my spirit was quite disturbed. I made a decision that I rarely, if ever, make – I called into work. I knew if I were to approach my coworkers in such a state, or if my boss made a questionable comment or decision in regards to me, I might be tempted to say or do something I would regret and be unable to take back.
I am not advocating calling in sick every time you do not feel like going to work. For the year, I believe this is only the second time I have called in sick. What I am telling you to do is to take care of your spirit. Not doing so can not only create some of the negative situations I mentioned above, but it can affect your mental and physical health as well.
The picture and the title of this post may seem not to go together, but they do. How can an Italian sausage be a miracle of life? While it is…and then again it isn’t. Confused yet? Let us clear all of this up and show you how every day can feel like a miracle. The Italian sausage stand pictured above exists at the Wisconsin State Fair. Anyone who knows me, or follows this blog, knows that is one of my happy places on earth. As you can see by the sign, it has been there since 1932. That is almost 100 years. The owner even wrote an amazing book about the Wisconsin State Fair. Their sausages are so delicious, that I make a point to have one at least once a year. They were available in select stores, but nothing tastes as good as having one fresh off of their unique vertical grill!
If you noticed I did you the past tense to describe their availability at the stores. The reason being is that without warning, it was announced they would no longer be in business. The family that owned, and served these delights, was calling it quits. On the second to last day of the fair, my mother and I got one to share. As we sat enjoying it together we mentioned how we must get one the next day before they were gone forever. As the next day came, Margie, my mother and I approached the stand to enjoy one last, mouth-watering Millie’s Italian Sausage. What we were told broke our hearts, they had sold out. There would be no more to be had. They had sold out in the store as well. Unknown to us at the time, that sausage we had enjoyed the night prior would be the last we would ever have.
Another owner has bought them out and will supposedly keep the same recipe, but we all know how that can go. Here is the thing, we were not expecting that to be the last one we would ever eat and would have savored it more had we known. This touching story about a man and his sausage is but merely a microcosmof the world at large. In a world of fast-paced change, so many things, and people, can be here today and gone tomorrow. Each moment is special and a miracle in its own way. When you think of how many people, places and things change, tomorrow is always new and different. That means today is always unique and a miracle.
In the United States, today we are reflecting on the terrorist events that took the lives of 3000 innocent people in 2001. None of those people expected not to make it home that day. The loved ones they left behind will remember the last moments they spent together as a miracle. It may not have been appreciated or viewed as such at the time, but that is what it was. We never know when our world will upend our lives. It happens to people every second of every day. That is why we must realize that every second is a miracle. As I sit in Starbucks writing this and sending messages to my lovely FiancÃĐ, I realize any of these things could change. This moment is a miracle. Not to mention, my lovely lady is my little miracle. How about you? How are you appreciating all the moments that are miracles in your life?
SECRET 2 AN AMAZING LIFE 