Are we awake or dreaming? Perhaps we are dreaming we are awake? Maybe yesterday we were dreaming or tomorrow we'll be awake. Whether awake or dreaming our consciousness as an integral part of existence goes on. Here is where I try to sort out my understanding of what just is. Namaste!
If you continually find your point of focus is on the negative parts of your life, abundant bills, low checking balance, frustration with family, friends, traffic, work and the world at large, what do you think you are asking the universe to send you more of? You guessed it…reinforcement of all of those negatives. It is of vital importance that you shift your focus to gratitude, do things that make you feel good about you and find something to do or see that makes you happy. Then see money coming in abundance, see bills taken care of, see family stepping up and taking control of the things you may be doing too much of for them.
Make no mistake…what you think about most, you draw to you. Like attracts like in more important ways than you can possibly imagine. If you are ill, see yourself well and not dwelling on the pain or illness. If you are broke, see yourself comfortably making ends meet and be open to new ideas that will help that come to fruition and do your part physically to create that reality, if you are frustrated by family and friends it may simply be time to set boundaries—so set them lovingly. Be careful how you discuss your struggles and your motivation for doing so. Are you telling stories of woe to invoke sympathy in others?...to thoughtfully consider other solutions?...to vent?...to get someone elses perspective? How you talk about negative things and your motivation for doing so dictates whether you will draw more negativity to you or helpful solutions.
If you are not careful with your thoughts and focus, you invite your woes to become a part of who you are and once that happens and you’ve identified over-much with those woes, you will have a very difficult time overcoming them and will always be in a depressed reactive state in life. You won’t be affirmatively creating happiness. You will be creating a continual battle. So stop and rethink your thoughts, your stories and the things that are happening to you. Life doesn’t throw you curve balls because you’re unworthy of getting the ones that come right into the sweet spot that you could knock right out of the park. Life throws you curve balls to get your creativity flowing. You can believe in victors and villains and you might be justified based on your perspective but from such a perspective you are not participating in life. Life, with such thoughts, is something happening to you instead of something you are living. So, stop it. It is that simple. Just stop it and decide to affirmatively participate in your life…shift to a higher focus, one with meaning, one with inspiration, one that affords you more opportunities. The only thing that holds you back is your thoughts.
So, focus on the positive and think creatively about solving negative challenges and you will begin to notice a shift in how you feel. Looking for silver linings is not something people in denial of reality do. It’s something smart people do so they can maintain focus on the positive, remain open to happiness and abundance and actually create happiness and abundance in their lives.
Focus on the positive, create in the affirmative and be serene, happy and grateful for the wonderful things you do have and the wonderful things that are uniquely you! Much love and many blessings.
Ahem, you know who you are…the beautiful kind souls that resist every conflict by sacrificing a part of your very souls in order to make sure everyone continues to love and care for you. So, people pleasing can make you many friends and admirers but it can also leave you plenty exhausted. It’s hard work being kind to everyone, saying yes to everyone while denying or even losing sight of your own wants and needs. So, take a break today. For just one day, know this: You have a right to be here. You have the right to be loved without doing anything for anyone. You do not need the praise of others as an indicator of your incredible value in this world. You do not have to sacrifice yourself for anyone else ever.
So, somewhere along the way…maybe in childhood, you learned that the only way for you to feel loved or be loved, respected or honored was if you selflessly took care of other people—people who should have had the brains and sense enough to respect you and honor you for who you were. Now, those people likely did not know the unintended consequences of their actions. So, to get along and to feel good, you sacrificed your authenticity for people who did not know about unconditional love and respect. So, all of that is over now. Those tactics you learned way back when no longer need to be employed today. You don’t have to please everyone any more. Right now, I give you permission (and you must too) to please yourself first. If you are not happy, how on Earth could you influence anyone else’s happiness? Really! So, today, do something that you want to do and tell others that they must wait. Do something for yourself.
If there are those around you who refuse to take care of themselves and expect you to step up and take care of them instead, just step back and create some loving space for them to come to their senses. If they don’t and they lash out at you verbally …realize that just isn’t about you, it’s about them. Be strong and do not take criticism to heart unless you truly believe it has a basis in reality. Stop taking care of everyone and take care of yourself. You learned how, right? How will others learn to do that wonderful thing for themselves if you do everything for everyone?
Today I challenge you to put down the burden of taking care of everyone else at the expense of yourself. I challenge you to stop, think and consider what would truly make you happy and give you a sense of fulfillment and what would fill you up with love and happiness without involving other people. Do those things or that thing first today and let others fend for themselves. IT IS NOT SELFISH! Hear this…If others continually expect you to take care of them (and I’m talking legal adults here) and you stop, and they get angry because you stopped and they have the audacity to call you selfish…think about it…who is more selfish? You, who is just trying to take care of yourself or them who refuse to take care of themselves and demand you do it for them? Really! It isn’t right that other people demand you continually do things, care for and support everyone else when they should and could do that for themselves as a show of love. That’s possession, emotional slavery and so many more ugly words. Sometimes people don’t know better. So before you get defensive when the people you continually go above and beyond for get angry or upset that you are taking care of you first today, step back and don’t react to what they say…reassert your focus on taking care of you…reassert your knowledge that you have the right to be here…to be loved and respected for existing…to be considered when conflict is raised instead of continually expected to sacrifice your authenticity to make conflict go away.
Now, if you like the feeling of putting down the burden and those around you just cannot accept it, they have choices to make and so do you. You can go back to care-taking and exhaustion and maintain the status quo or you can lovingly assert your new found freedom and let others take accountability for themselves. Sometimes when you decide to stop “people pleasing,” the people who continually demand that of you will either shape up or leave you. If they shape up, fantastic. If they leave, it may hurt but its for the best. It’s better to be alone than in bad company. But alone isn’t a challenge for long. Once you start to respect yourself, hold others accountable in a loving way and treat yourself with love and respect, you will draw to you people who will love and respect you for who you are and not what you can do for them.
Okay, that’s my rant for the day. And, BTW, I am a reformed people pleaser. I have had loved ones leave me, verbally attack and vindictively get even with me for deciding to take care of myself instead of carrying them. It hurts but I’m accountable for me…they are accountable for themselves…I love them but I’m prepared to let go of anyone in my life regardless of their position if they will not treat me with love and respect. Its because of that that I am surrounded by wonderful and amazing family members and friends that do love and respect me for who I am and not what I can do for them. I treat them with that very same love and respect. (Also, I’m not saying you should never lend someone a hand…but in that hand that you lend…be certain of your own motivation for helping, be certain that you are not creating unhealthy dependencies in others, be certain that you are helping in a way that teaches people to fish and not to be continually dependent on you to eat, be certain to set loving boundaries, reasonable boundaries and no matter what, be authentically you and know, it’s okay to be you). Okay, I’m really done with my rant now. If you’ve got comments or stories to share on this topic, I’d love to hear them. Take good care of you today and put yourself first, honor yourself first, love yourself first and then you can truly love, honor and help others in a healthy way. Peace!
Life can be so challenging sometimes. There are so many things happening all at once and with society forcing us into multi-tasking in epic proportions every day always. How does a soul have any time to “fill back up?” I’ll tell you it’s damn hard some days. It really is. But there is a little short cut and one that is easy for everyone to do. Do something you really like to do every day even if its just for a few moments. That something could be walking outside in nature and just breathing in fresh air or soaking in sunlight, gardening, taking pictures, writing, reading, cooking or exercise. You just have to find that one thing that makes you feel good and do it every day.
We were not sent here to pay for all of the sins of man-kind and so are condemned and forced to accept suffering as its dished out by life. The real objective, I believe, is to take all the conflict, adversity and pain or suffering and transform it into something useful or good. Maybe it’s a simple realization that pain or suffering has a message for you…a life-lesson to teach you. Maybe it’s to show you how bad life can be if you allow yourself nothing but suffering reinforced by negative thoughts. Thinking positive is a good remedy but in order to reap it’s real benefits, you really have to find some things to do to make you feel good.
I love to write and document the crazy things I see, feel and internalize. That makes me feel good. I also love to look for beauty in the world and capture it with my camera. I love to read and talk with friends. I love taking care of my kids and cleaning my house even. These are things that give me a feeling of accomplishment, a sense of usefulness and a sense of peace. When I feel good, I can keep thinking positive and the world around me becomes more positive. I had a long stretch this past week were I did not have time to do the things I loved and negative thinking set in fast unfettered with no defense and suddenly I found myself feeling really bad. The real antidote for me came by spending time alone and recuperating from a busy week, reading good books and getting outside to shoot pictures of a gorgeous sunrise or sunset before I went to work. Thank goodness the dark day last just that…a day. I know that positive thinking is just one step. The next is getting yourself to a place where you feel good. When you feel good, those positive thoughts are easier to believe and put more energy into and when you couple positive thoughts and good feelings, there are no limits to what you can do.
Our limits are just that…ours. They are our perceptions and perspectives. So, think your way through them, around them or make them disappear so you can think more positive thoughts about what you see, you can loosen the stranglehold that limited thoughts and perceptions can place on you and then get out there and have a great day, every day!
