Use Your Words

When was the last time you thought about where your life is heading? If you are experiencing success or failure the way you think about your life has a lot to do with your position in life.  Your thoughts and words have formed a thinking pattern that has set the course of your life’s circumstances in a certain direction.  We frequently say, “Use your words.” to my three year old grandson, to be used instead of crying.  While searching for a title for this column it occurred to me how often we say this and that more specific instruction should go along with this statement.

Most of our actions begin with ideas received from our brain. Once you have created a thought, you use words to describe that thought and that gives it energy to create action.  Every single word you have thought or think, speak or have spoken has raw power. Not just the ability to hurt or heal, frighten or express or enlighten, but the power to truly shift your reality?

If you are not satisfied it’s time to become more aware of your thoughts and learning to change your thoughts before turning them into words, can and will change your world!  Imagine changing the course of your life simply by using the right words. Like Dorothy in The Wizard of OZ, who ended up safely back in Kansas by saying the magic words, “There’s no place like home,” you are shaping your destiny every single day through the energy of the words you speak. The words you use on a regular basis, whether thought, spoken, or written, are constantly creating your reality.

Why do you get up in the morning?

(Article repost of  September 2013)

Recently, I have had a number of surprises and changes in my life, which has caused me to ask myself am I living my life with purpose or “Why do I get up in the morning?”  Specialists in the area of finding your life purpose, Richard Leider & David Shapiro indicate that our life purpose is “the spiritual core that helps us find the aliveness in all our day-to-day experiences.”

Without vision and purpose in life our daily activities seem meaningless. Our lives become merely an endless succession of challenges to face and they become routine and uninspiring. We may have good intentions but the monotony of the day-to-day, the responsibilities and the “busy-ness” can leave us just trying to survive, much less giving us any margin to thrive. Days turn into weeks and weeks turn into years and if we aren’t careful we can find ourselves living but not being truly alive.

I believe that each of us has a definite purpose in our lives.  Some may call it ‘career’, some say ‘vocation’, others call it following your ‘calling’ – doing something that you’re perfectly naturally suited to do and fulfilling your life purpose in being here.  Some people find their way easily and naturally early in their lives and live a passionate life on purpose. Others find their way and make changes years later, or in mid- life. Yet the majority struggle and never figure it all out. With purpose clearly in mind, we are able to confront life’s challenges and move past them, knowing that we have something important to return to. This keeps us centered and strong. With purpose, our decisions come easier. We make decisions based on what best fits who we are and aligns with purpose. 

The Power of Success & Imagination

We can create whatever we imagine in our minds.  If you are experiencing lack or failure in your life it is because it was first imagined in your mind.  Albert Einstein said, “Imagination is everything.  It is the preview of life’s coming attractions.”  Imaging or visualizing what you want can have almost magical powers. French Dr. Emile Coué states that when the imagination and will are in conflict, the imagination always wins out.

We are constantly creating our futures through visualization, as the mind thinks in mental images. For example,  if you are thinking about, talking about and imagining financial lack (I.e. I am unlucky, I could never have that, I’m  and so on), then that is what your mind will produce for you. When a mental picture is repeated the mind has no choice but to accept it as true and bring it into reality.

Power of Celebration

How happy and excited are you when you celebrate something?  You celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, holidays — all kinds of personal and special occasions. You give a card or gift, call the person, throw a party, go to lunch or dinner and surprise someone with your love. Those emotions, ceremonies, giving and feelings of love are all gratitude.

Any birthday with a “0” in it, is a big event for me.  I ponder my past and formulate my future, as I am turning 60 years old this month. It struck me that I was not really noticing and enjoying my present life, my today.  A friend of mine texted me, “Congratulations on (whatever it was)! What are you doing to celebrate?” That stopped me dead in my tracks. I forgot to celebrate. To me, first and foremost a celebration of myself. It means taking time to recognize and acknowledge what I’ve done.  It is an act of self-love.

I have not always thought this way.  I used to live a world full of achievement without acknowledgement.  I didn’t think taking time to celebrate my accomplishments was necessary.  After all, I knew what I had done.   So I asked myself, If I want the process of creating and making and doing to feel energizing and inspiring — What do I need?  By not celebrating, I realized I was missing out on rewarding myself for my hard work. 

In Pursuit of Happiness or 7 Habits of Happy People

Happy people: What in the world is their secret?

Are they wired differently? Or are they just luckier than many of us?  2014 was a roller coster ride of experiences, most of which where not that great. I have never been so anxious to see a year pass.  So much so that my intent for 2015 is to be happy.

Whenever I come across a concept that I want to integrate into my life I always start with, what is it?  I look at a number of definitions. I follow-up with research from a variety of sources, including: science, psychology, religion and of course spiritual that provide me a better ability to understand the causes and effects of my topic. Finally, I determine how I can incorporate what I have learned into my life.

So exactly what is being “happy”?  First of all, most of us probably do not think we need a formal definition of happiness; and that we know it when we feel it.  I have learned that happiness is a fuzzy concept and can mean many different things to people.  Research on happiness indicates a number of similar concepts, ideas and theories, including: that it is personal, covers a range of positive and pleasant emotions, it deals with your overall life satisfaction and that it is partially genetic.  The good news is, you have the ability to control how you feel—and with consistent practice, you can form life-long habits for a more satisfying and fulfilling life. The following are the top seven methods shared by most studies.

1. They make exercise a priority.  Exercise has been shown to ease symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress, thanks to the the various brain chemicals that are released that amplify feelings of happiness and relaxation. Plus, working out makes us appreciate our bodies more. One study published in the Journal of Health Psychology found that exercise improved how people felt about their bodies — even if they didn’t lose weight or achieve noticeable improvements.  If you don’t have your physical energy in good shape, then your mental energy (your focus), your emotional energy (your feelings), and your spiritual energy (your purpose) will all be negatively affected.

Where is Olivia Pope When You Need Her?

My October 2014 article for the Capital City Hues newspaper.

My theme for 2014 was and still is is “manifest”.  I selected this attribute with the intention of manifesting lots of health, wealth and love. However, to-date 2014 has bought two maybe three personal scandals into my life.  I could not, still can not believe the twists and turns involved in my life and these stories.  One is out right fiction and the other two are unique personal situations that only exhibit very few facts or truths and hindsight reveals that yes I could have handled these situations better.

My initial reaction was shock that rumors and scandals were circulating about me and disbelief that people, who I thought I knew well, believed and repeated these stories. Emotionally, each event felt like a gut punch to my self-confidence, increasing my self-doubt, depression. I have also experienced sadness, fear, anger and so on.  My behaviors included leaving my job and move to another state with just what would fit in my car.  The move provided deep insights and understanding into the statement “where ever you go, there you are”.  As if that were not enough, I  moved back to Madison.  I will not go into a lot of detail, but needless to say this was not my intention for 2014.

I was experiencing what is called the “dark night of the soul”, an experience that is apparently cleansing and that must occur before I can live within the NOW of my life. This soul event is when you go through your daily life being fully aware of what you are doing wrong, aware of your fear, aware of your anger, aware of your pain. To truly see yourself and to find true self insight you must be aware of what you are thinking, what you are saying, what you are doing and WHY. Why are you thinking that? Why are you saying that? Why are you doing that?”

We like to give the appearance that our communities are made up of perfect people who live scandal free and undamaged lives. However, my friends, if we’re honest, our communities are actually filled with people who’ve had to deal with difficult situations that have threatened their very livelihood, reputation, dignity, and respect. Whether it is the scandal of a divorce, tax evasion, home foreclosure, bankruptcy, employment termination, unwed pregnancy, sexually transmitted disease, or some general failure in life, most of us will face situations in our private and public lives that require us to know how to handle our scandal.

Nearly everyone has something in his or her past that they wish wasn’t there,  I am taking a play from what I think Scandal’s Olivia Pope would do to handle a scandal: