positive thinking
How To Practice The Art Of Gratitude
My life has not been without its challenges. Nevertheless, I love my job, have a beautiful son, an adorable husband and supportive friends and family. Therefore, irrespective of current world events, I genuinely have a lot to be grateful for!
Gratitude is beneficial for all of us, including physically, emotionally and spiritually. For one, appreciating the good things in our lives helps us to be more tolerant and forgiving, with a higher sense of life satisfaction. Grateful people also tend to have more hope and inner peace and feel less anxious and alone.
God, Spirit, the Universe loves gratitude! Those who are sincerely grateful are blessed with even more to be grateful for. Like attracts like.
How does one ensure that you practice the art of gratitude ever day? The following guidelines should help:
Seek Out The Positive
In my own personal research into positive psychology, I became aware of something referred to as negativity bias. In case you have not heard of this, it means that our negative thoughts tend to be more dominant than the positive ones.
An excellent way of counteracting this negative way of thinking is to seek out at least three things in your life every day that you are well and truly grateful for. Try to make this a daily habit. By doing so, it should have you smiling in next to no time!
I remember when I was about 26 years old and in a particularly challenging place in my life. I was advised by a psychic, whom I reached out to with my troubles, to watch the film or read the book, The Color Purple by Alice Walker. It is some of the best advice I have every received. Once I had read the last chapter, I felt so grateful for whatever I had in my life.
Find The Eye Of The Storm
Your relationship is falling apart, you have lost your job, your finances are in a shambles, you suffer an unexpected loss due to a global pandemic. Chaos comes in many forms and at times it touches multiple areas of our lives at once.
The ripple effect starts in one area and then spreads insidiously, until every aspect of your life begins to look very bleak. Your emotional reserves are drained, confusion sets in and you feel stuck, powerless…reeling from the shock.
When things turn bad in your life this way it can have the force and power of a hurricane or tornado. It can be devastating.
Perhaps you sensed it coming. Your intuitive radar was ‘pinging’, sensing imminent danger, or maybe it caught you completely off-guard. Either way, the results are the same.
Now what? How do you get your bearings, recover your sense of direction, recharge your battery and get the inner strength to move forward?
All tropical storms have a center, or an eye. The stronger the storm the calmer the eye, which is characterized by lighter winds and a clearer sky. So, take a breath – a deep breath – and find your center. Find the eye of your storm.
Making decisions from fear or chaos always increases the strength and ferocity of the storm. Remember, all storms do pass. The beauty of life lies in the newness and change each moment offers us.
How To Clear Your Karma
Karmic cycles are repetitive patterns in consciousness that emerge through a belief that is contrary to the laws of the Universe.
Some religions and spiritual teachings refer to humanity as the ‘children of God.’ When I use the term ‘God,’ I do not mean some off-world deity that is separate from us mere mortals. To me God is the All. It is the Creative Force. Being a ‘child’ of this Creative Force means that we have the same nature and creative capacity.
Many wisdom traditions also equate words, thoughts and consciousness with God’s ability to create. In other words, thought has a creative function in the Universe. Thoughts are words, images, and stories that are repeated in the mind and they have creative power.
Another way of saying this is that whatever we choose to think or believe about ourselves and others, and about the world around us, ultimately becomes true for us. This is important when discussing how to clear away old karmic patterns.
Karma are patterns of thought that are repeated in the mind and influence how we create our life experiences. Free will means that we have total freedom in what we choose to think and believe.
This is not to say that a specific thought, or even a behavior, is wrong or bad. In fact, the Universe or God always takes us at our own value and says yes to all our thinking and feeling patterns.
Karma is a secondary spiritual law to the Law of Attraction, that allows us to evolve continually into our higher potentials. From an esoteric or spiritual perspective this relates to the expansion of love, joy, and peace within our mind.
Karma and the Law of Attraction are also separated by a protective buffer, in that we often experience less damage than our minds can produce through thought, and we also receive more good than our minds can produce through thought. In metaphysics this is known as the Law of Grace. Continue reading
Unlock The Power Of Your Subconscious Mind
We are problem-solving beings, which is why we have thrived on this planet for so long. Where do the ideas for solutions come from?
Well, our conscious mind can come up with a lot of simple solutions to everyday problems. However, when it comes to more significant issues, it is our subconscious that saves the day.
As incredible as it may seem, experts claim that only 10% of our mind power can be attributed to the conscious mind, whilst a whopping 90% can be credited to the subconscious!
The subconscious mind is a mysterious, powerful phenomenon. I call it the ‘genie within.’ It is our gateway to universal intelligence and infinite wisdom. It is our pathway to higher consciousness. It is also a powerful aspect of our ability to create and manifest through the Universal Law of Attraction.
For example, when my son was small, my husband and I bought a beautiful yellow car. The car was indeed a pleasure to drive. However, my husband used to tease me and say things like, “You have a posh car – I wish I had a car like that! He would say it time and time again, but with no malice intended.
The problem was not so much what said, but rather how my subconscious interpreted his words. Inside I felt unworthy of such a car and guilty for having one far better than my spouse.
Unfortunately, within less than a year of owning my beautiful new vehicle, it was hit by a massive truck and smashed to smithereens. No longer did I have a ‘posh car.’ While I felt terribly sad about this and incredibly out of pocket at the same time, I did feel more at peace.
Helping Others Is A Great Way To Help Yourself
Ten years ago was a very difficult time in my life. I had a lot of time to reflect and put my own needs in perspective. My experience with that stress gave me coping skills that I want to share with you in today’s difficult times.
We all have choices in life when we believe that we have hit ‘rock bottom.’ We can choose to stay at that bottom and focus on that negative energy, or we can look for the positive side and see that there is nowhere else to go, except back up to the top.
A decade ago my mother was fighting cancer. She was strong and healthy and had always focused on a healthful and active lifestyle. Why did this happen to someone who does all the right things in life, when there are so many people that do not take care of themselves and then live a longer life?
In those days, I could choose to focus on such negative thoughts about how unfair life was, or I could choose to find the positive in that situation. Spending time with my mother, taking her to doctor’s appointments, cooking her favorite meals and offering my listening ear instead created a positive spirit for both of us.
I tried to spend as much time with her as possible, giving her time to live, love and laugh. We focused on one day at a time, but also made plans for tomorrow. Keeping busy and reminiscing over the positive memories we shared, truly helped me through that very stressful time with my mother.
On top of dealing with my mother, I also had a nine year old Doberman dog that was very close to me. He had just been diagnosed with liver disease and his prognosis was not good. The added stress of my dog’s health made matters even more challenging. I still think sometimes that if it wasn’t for bad luck, I would have no luck at all! But I make an effort to snap out of this kind of thought process as quickly as possible. It serves no purpose in the long run.
The Manifesting Power Of Mindful Mornings
Mornings are special. The energy of the morning is different than at any other time. When the sunlight is still fresh and gentle, the world is calm and quiet, there is a magic to this time.
The first few moments of our day help to set the tone for our experiences throughout. Becoming aware and attuned to this fresh universal energy can be as simple as creating a small morning routine.
Now, I realize not everyone loves the morning as much as I do. If this is the case for you, the idea of creating a morning routine may not sound appealing at all. Starting with small, quick steps can make all the difference here.
Your morning routine is meant to set you up for success. It is about doing things you like in the morning, that get you in the right frame of mind and heart.
Bringing a bit of mindfulness into your morning can set you up energetically to respond more effectively to your experiences throughout the day.
Below is a list of things you can do in the morning to create a personalized routine that works for you. You certainly don’t have to do all them! Just pick one or two to get started and build from there.
While consistency is important, if something is not working for you, change it up and try something new. This routine should be fulfilling and meaningful to you.
Affirmations – Start saying ‘I AM’ affirmations. As you are getting ready in front of the mirror, look yourself in the eye and speak aloud three ‘I AM’ affirmations, for example: I am learning to let go of fear and negativity. I am worthy of abundance and fulfilment. I am grateful for all the good things in my life.
Gratitude – Place a note somewhere you are going to see it in the morning that reads: ‘What am I grateful for today?’ Every morning you see it list three things aloud.
Work Through The Fear, Obligation And Guilt (FOG)
Reflecting on my life I have found how many of my early life experiences have subconsciously influenced me, mostly due to a lack of awareness that allowed fear, a sense of obligation and guilt to remain hidden.
These hidden influences mostly come from my formative years and became obstacles I had to repeatedly struggle with in my adult life with regards relationships, career, finances, family and community.
Once I discovered these non-empowering beliefs, it was time for me to get out of the FOG (Fear, Obligation, Guilt). In hindsight, several things I was unaware of in my family’s dynamics, were actually ‘seeds’ hidden beneath the surface that in time sprouted into personal challenges and self-sabotage.
Fear
Fear and insecurity are frequent visitors for many of us in all areas of life. I was constantly focused on the negative and worst-case scenarios. This is because our brain is wired this way for the purpose of survival. Much of it also depends on our upbringing. So, we must recognize this and catch ourselves early on, in order to shift our thoughts and emotions in a positive direction.
We must be cognitive of our behaviors and explore where in our life we have learned these negative, fear-based responses. Fear is a natural part of life, but can easily become a ‘whack-a-mole’ of frustration, anxiety, uncertainty and indecision, always showing up at the most inconvenient times.