When the world around us tends to look darkness, perhaps it is is who need to be the light. We can be like the lotus in mud. A bit of beauty in an ugly world. When you find yourself in a negative situation, do not only look for the light, but think of ways in which you can be the light!
I would love to hear any of the personal examples you may have.
It is often when we are down that we fail to appreciate, and sometimes even notice, the little gifts that life provides every day. This can be when we are hurting, when we are exhausted or in my case Monday mornings, when we are tired.
Most of you know already that going from being a DJ to my day job on Monday I get about 2 hours of sleep. It can be tough to look around and appreciate the Miracles of life when you are that tired. It is exactly that which will give us the energy and keep our vibration from slipping lower. Draining us physically, mentally and emotionally.
This past Monday serves as a good example. As I was driving to work, cursing the lack of sleep and energy I was feeling my favorite song came on the radio. Being it is not one of the 10 the are paid to play on repeat all day, in fact it is quite rare, made it stand out. I felt grateful.
It was also a wake up call to remind me to focus on what was working and good in my life instead of what was lacking. After over 20 years of working in self-improvement and with the law of attraction you would think I should know this. As stated earlier, being in a depleted state can make you forget what you know.
The great thing was after that initial noticing, I started to notice other things to appreciate. The great cup of coffee that not only tasted great but would help me wake up. The car that helped me get to work. Even the work I was going to as so many others are looking for work. Make sure you are always on the lookout for the little Miracles life sends you.
I saw this on a friend’s page and thought, “That was nice of them to share. ” Honestly, I couldn’t even tell you which friend it was. This message did bring something to mind. It was posted on my friend’s social media page. It was a wish for all of their friends to see, not just me.
As I thought how nice and refreshing it was to read something pleasant, with no ulterior motives behind it, I wondered why this doesn’t happen more often in real life. How come we do not share genuine messages with heartfelt encouragement with more people. “Have a good day.” not withstanding, how many other encouraging greetings do we offer?
What can be fun about this, is that it is an area we can be creative in. One of my favorites is “Drive careful and stay healthy.” I’m going to make an effort to share more specific greetings with people that encourage and uplift. I would love to hear some of yours.
Who among us does not have a to-do list? There are things like taking out the garbage, doing the dishes and laundry. In all the craziness, how many of us add ourself on the list of things to take care of. This made sound cliche, but if you do not take care of yourself you will not be able to take care of anything else.
Think of when you have a schedule full of events. Kids soccer practice, dinner with friends getting an oil change or whatever it is you have planned. Suddenly, you get the flu. All your plans come to a crashing halt. You would think the one common denominator in all of our to-do activities (you) would be something we would put at the top of the list. Most of us, however, keep self-care as an item we will do if we have ‘extra time’. How many of us have any of that?
Today, make sure you take care of yourself so you can take care of everything you need.
We always like to post encouragement on Wednesday. We are going to ask two questions of ourselves today. Feel free to share your answers in the comments below if you would like to add to the encouragement.
The first question is who are you proud of today? Is there someone you feel good above and beyond? Someone who makes your life better by what they do? Let them know and spread a little cheer.
The second question is often more difficult. Why are you proud of yourself? What amazing things have you done? How do you make the world a better place?
I have a few relatives that come to mind with this phrase. I have a grandma who talks…a lot. She is imperfect. I have an aunt that says the most inappropriate things at the most inappropriate times. Again, imperfect. Don’t we all know people like this? In some ways, unique to us, we are all people like this.
Yet in this imperfections, these people are at the same time perfect. My grandma, for example, will share so many amazing stories of her life. There are never any awkward silences in the conversation. My aunt and her inappropriate comments often break the ice at stressful times. Think funerals as an example. She makes others feel comfortable expressing themselves. Perfect!
Whatever perceived imperfections you may struggle with within yourself, know that they are perfect in their own way. Each of us bring something vital to the world that nobody else can. We are a blend of perfect imperfections.
How many of these amazing things do you make it a point to put into your life? The more of them we add, it is like watering a plant. The more we are likely to grow! In each of these items, there are also many options. Take ‘kind words’ for example. You could write affirmations for yourself. You could listen to an encouraging meditation or you could read secret2anamazinglife.com!
Out of these ways to water yourself, which is your favorite? Use as many as you can. The more you use, the more you will grow. You deserve it and you are worth it!
Something I heard Sadhguru say made total sense to me. He said that the past and the future don’t really exist. You can’t live in the past or the future unless you have a time machine. When they say someone is living in the past, they are actually remembering. When we say someone is living in the future, the are imagining.
This is so true. You can only do anything in the present as well. You can do anything in the past. It is over and done with. You can’t do anything in the future because it is not here yet. You can get lessons from the past. You do this in the present. You can prepare to set up better possibilities for the future. You also do this in the present.
How, in a world of a million distractions, do we stay present? There are a million different ways out there. Here is a good one I came across the other day. I hope it serves you. Call it the “5,4,3,2,1 method” When you find yourself slipping away from the present use this method. Sit up, take 3 deep breathes and begin. Start by finding 5 things you can see. It can be the windows across the room, people walking by, the sun shining. Don’t stop until you have 5. Next find 4 things you can touch. It could be the feeling of the material in your clothes touching your skin, the warmth of the coffee mug you are drinking out of. Then move on to 3 things you can hear. People talking, wind blowing. Next,2 you can smell. Could be the spring air, the scent of books in a bookstore. Finally, 1 you could taste.
I like this method because it uses all 5 senses. It forces you to really notice your environment. I would love to hear how you manage to get back to the present.
Here is a powerful and quick reminder. We should always do our best. Work to be the best spouse to our partner. The best parent to our children. The best servant to humanity. Here is the caveat – your best does not have to be perfect.
In the course of doing your best to guide your children in the right direction in life, you may slip up. Perhaps you will speak to them too harshly. How about being the best spouse? Some days you might have your partner floating on clouds. Other days, there may be quite a bit of thunder between you two. The important part is to be able to look in the mirror and say, “It might not be perfect, but I did my best.”
Do not lie to yourself. If you didn’t do your best, you know where you can improve. If you did do your best, but with hindsight you know what you could do better, don’t be too hard on yourself. You learned how you can be a better version of yourself next time. As the picture says, you’re doing your best and your best doesn’t have to be perfect.
I want to give a shout out to my kind of people. People who are just kind-hearted. Not for the want of getting anything, be that material or favors. No, just kind because that is who they are. It is my sincere hope that we all know people like this.
Do you know what hope I have that is even greater? That at some point, we all become one of those people. I can promise you this – your life is a lot more magical and full of joy the kinder you are to people. People treat you better when you treat them better. You get less stressed. You stress other people out a lot less. People smile more at you when you smile more at them.
With all of this being the case, why would you not want to live a life of kindness? I would love to hear your experience with a kind person and what you think others can do to be a kind person.
SECRET 2 AN AMAZING LIFE 