The Gratitude List

THE GRATITUDE LIST

I would say that almost every night for the past few years I have written out a gratitude list. It is basically a laundry list of all the people, places and/or things that I am grateful for in my life. This exercise was suggested to me by my spiritual mentor and it has shifted my mindset into another dimension.

By focusing on what we have - those people, places and things become brighter and more prevalent in our lives. WHATEVER WE FOCUS ON GETS BIGGER. So for example – if I focus on the stack of bills on my desk – they become more daunting and ominous. On the other hand if I focus on getting another job or focus on who, what, when or how can I bring even more money in than I already am bringing in – my energies automatically shift to the solution and the solution gets bigger.

There are some nights where the gratitude list never ends. I am in such gratitude for the people in my life, the opportunities that are afforded to me, and the beauty I see and experience everyday. But such is life – there are days when it is a complete struggle to get a list of 10 on paper.

For example: I was in a bad mood and I couldn’t find anything I was grateful for. I got up to get something to snack on and realized that if I didn’t have a handle on the fridge door, I wouldn’t be able to open it. It then dominoed from there. I was grateful to have food in my house, to have electricity to keep it from spoiling. There was gratitude for the fact that I had a home to store this fridge and electricity. The home is a place where people I love come to visit and it is my sanctuary.

Life is full of incredible gifts if we just open our minds to see them.

What are you grateful for today?

M

Surviving the Holidays? Really?

Yes – it is that time of year folks. Time to be jolly, eat tons of food and spend money. Woo Hoo – Bring it on! As soon as we see those Halloween costumes and candy for sale at Target – we know on Nov. 1^st the Turkey paraphernalia and Christmas/Hanukah push is upon us.

Let me start by saying: PRESUPPOSTIONS!!! A presupposition is a term or word that implies a meaning or feeling. For instance – If you say “I really want to make money to take away my stress.” The presupposition is that you have no money and that you are stressed. If you focus on scarcity and fear - that will show up in your life until you change your thoughts and language.

What I am getting at here is even having the title SURVIVING THE HOLIDAYS presupposes that we have to fight to enjoy – struggle to have peace – find a way to trudge through this season.

So – because I am your resident LIFE COACH/NLP PRACTITIONER… I’d like to give you some tips on ENJOYING THE HOLIDAY SEASON.

1) Pay attention to your thoughts. If you start to have thoughts of dread, stress, and frustration – those situations will present themselves. Your brain is extremely powerful – your subconscious will always give you what you are thinking. If you are having those thoughts – write down the complete opposite on a piece of paper. Even if it means you are writing it down 20 times a day on random pieces of paper – you are actually rewiring your thoughts in order to attract what you want into your life.

2) Holiday Vision Board - Start leafing through magazines or books and see what you are attracted to for the holiday season. I am going out on a limb here but would say most people think they should gravitate to the colors of orange and brown for Thanksgiving and red and green for Christmas. If you find yourself leaning toward pics of a beach in Hawaii – acknowledge it – cut it out – paste it on what will become your holiday vision board.

3) Budget Budget Budget…. If you decide you want to spend Christmas at the beach – go for it and know – YOU DON’T HAVE TO GIVE ANY PRESENTS ON CHRISTMAS OR CHANUKAH. Take time for you and your loved ones by creating memories – not clutter.

4) I will leave you with this:

Watch your thoughts – they become your words. Watch your words – they become your actions. Watch your actions – they become your character. Watch your character – it becomes your destiny. Words like “looking forward to,” “excited about, “ “an opportunity to” are great presuppositions to attracting joy and peace into your life.

JOY AND PEACE come from within.

Much Joy and Peace to you and yours….

M

Pride In Reverse

PRIDE IN REVERSE....

The meaning of this is thinking about ourselves - thinking that everyone else is thinking about us - but the clincher here is that it is all negative.

Do you relate to this? Ever walk into a room and assume that people are thinking you look fat or old? Have you ever given a presentation and assumed that you were boring the crowd into oblivion? Or maybe this one... ever go on a date and assume that he/she wasn't attracted to you at all?

Well this my friends is what we call Pride in Reverse. Thinking about ourselves in a negative light. We are so consumed with what others are thinking about us - what we are thinking about ourselves that it robs us from our present lives.

There is a book that changed my life in this arena - "THE FOUR AGREEEMENTS" by Don Miguel Ruiz.

1st Agreement - Be Impeccable to your word.
2nd Agreement - Don't make assumptions
3rd Agreement - Don't take anything personally
4th Agreement - Always do your Best.

If you always do your best to not gossip, speak ill of others, spread rumors and instead encourage, keep your comments to yourself, and spread love - you will live a blessed life.

If you always do your best to not assume you know what others may or may not be thinking about you - your mind will be quiet and peaceful. You will never know what someone really thinks about you and quite frankly - it's none of your business.

If you always do your best to not take anything personally you can stay present and live your life being validated internally vs. externally.

We can't do these things all the time everyday of our lives - we are human after all.

But try your best and you will see miracles occur.

This book is amazing - I suggest picking it up.

Much Love and Light to you today.

Being Interested vs. Being Interesting

This concept really resonated with me. If I were to be truly honest - I would have to say That most of my life I concentrated on BEING INTERESTING. Do you like me? Do you think I am pretty? Do you think I am smart enough, funny enough, fun enough? After much seeking and self awareness I have thankfully come to the place in my life where I am more INTERESTED in you than being concerned about if you find ME INTERESTING.

Concentrating on being interesting is what I call pride in reverse. When one is prideful - they are thinking about themselves in a good way. They walk into a room and expect everyone to look at them - admire them - approach them because of their greatness. This can have it's good and bad consequences. Pride in reverse is - "Everyone is thinking about me and what a loser I am." "Everyone is noticing how much weight I have gained." "Everyone feels sorry for me because I lost my job or my marriage fell apart."

Trying to be interesting is EXHAUSTING. We cannot control what others think of us. To go one step further, we will NEVER really know what someone is or isn't thinking - so why spend our precious time and energy on it?

If we exert our energies into finding out about others, learning new skills, reading up on someone that interests us - doesn't that in itself make us more interesting? We don't have to try so hard.

The concept is quite simple to grasp but sometimes not easy to implement.

FOR TODAY: I will work on being interested in others vs. being interesting to others.