Week 3 Day 3: You Are What You Think!

We often hear you are what you eat, which makes a lot of sense doesn't it? Well if you are what you eat, then you are also what you think. And more than likely what you think about yourself determines what you eat. So at the end of the day, you are what you think. Yesterday we talked about self awareness and how answering questions about ourselves can help us to better understand our thoughts, feelings, actions and reactions to our external and internal world. We will continue with this process and today talk about how these thoughts create either the life you want or don't want. As you become more aware of what you think you will be able to become more aware of when you have a choice to think differently about something.

Many of us go throughout our day acting and reacting to things and we are not even aware of what we are thinking about that causes us to react the way we do. We think negatively and experience negative things, call our friends complain about those negative things and then we wonder why our lives are they way they are. You can either create a life you want or a life you don't want based on your thoughts. If you are dwelling on bad stuff, it will find you more quickly and readily. The more negative we think the more negativity we generate.

The opposite is also true. The more positively we think the more positively we will experience life. Life is always a choice. We always have the option to chose suffering or learning, to choose anger or happiness, to choose to think positive or negative. Buddha said, "We think, we become." If you think you can you will, if you think you can't you won't. It truly is that simple.

We all have an inner dialogue that goes on and on all day long. Sometimes we are conscious of this dialogue and other times we are so disconnected we are completely unaware of what we are thinking. This inner dialogue is what creates either a positive or negative outlook on life. In doing research for this article I came across an adorable little story.

TINY FROGS:

There once was a bunch of tiny frogs ... who arranged a running competition. The goal was to reach the top of a very high tower. A big crowd had gathered around the tower to see the race and cheer on the contestants...

The race began... No one in the crowd really believed that the tiny frogs would reach the top of the tower. You heard statements such as: "Oh, WAY too difficult!!" "They will NEVER make it to the top." The tiny frogs began collapsing. The crowd continued to yell, "It is too difficult!!! No one will make it!" More tiny frogs got tired and gave up... ...But ONE continued higher and higher and higher... This one wouldn't give up! He was the only one who reached the top! All of the other tiny frogs naturally wanted to know how this one frog managed to do it? A contestant asked the tiny frog how he had found the strength to succeed and reach the goal?

It turned out that the winner was DEAF!!!!

The wisdom of this story:

· Never listen to other people's tendencies to be negative or pessimistic. They take your most wonderful dreams and wishes away from you -- the ones you have in your heart!

· Always think of the power words have. Everything you hear and read will affect your actions!

· BE POSITIVE! And above all, be DEAF when people tell you that you cannot fulfill your dreams! Always think: I can do this!

Start to take notice of your inner dialogue. Are you telling yourself you can't do something or are you allowing others to tell you, you can't do things? What thoughts are running you? Your thoughts become your words, your actions, your habits. "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is habit." Socrates. So then failure is also a habit, which can be reversed. We can reverse our habits, by reversing our thoughts.

You can change your attitude, your perception, your life by changing the way you think. To change your dialogue you must catch it in action, which means you have to be paying attention to yourself. The next time you start to feel angry, mad, bad or upset, don't start asking yourself who did this to you, don't try to point the finger at someone to blame, ask yourself, "what have I been thinking?" "What have I been telling myself?" You may notice that your thoughts are what is leading you to feel a certain way. We like to blame others, but we always have control over our own emotions. When people say things that are hurtful, we must stop and ask ourselves why we believe what they say, unless this is something we are telling ourselves. We always have a choice! We can choose to not let someone else's words hurt us or effect us. We don't have to make a mountain out of a mole hill. We can stay calm in the face of crazy if we chose to, if we chose to think positively, if we choose to stay present. Our thoughts are a choice, what do you chose?

One way to overcome negative thinking is to use positive affirmations. I love to do this. Actually all around my desk I have quotes and poems that remind me to think positively. I have a vision board of what I want out of life. I had noticed that for me, I was more ungrateful for what I didn't have, instead of being grateful for what I did have. We must start focusing on what we want out of life, not what we don't want, on what we can do, not what we can't do, on what we are good at, not what we are bad at. When we work on our positive qualities we create positive habits and old, negative qualities and habits will fall away. Always focus on the positive. There really is good in every situation, even if you can't see it in that moment; trust that is what is meant to be, will be and you will find the worry and negativity will slip away more and more each day.

Daily Affirmation Challenge: Over the next week each day pick an affirmation, write it down and put it in several different places. You can pick as many affirmations as you want really, but what I want you to do is to tell yourself this affirmation at least 20 times a day. Keep a record of it somewhere. Notice that as you fill your head with positive thoughts you begin to experience a more positive life! You can wash out the old, by bringing in the new. Like a dirty glass of water, it does not need to be emptied and washed to be clean, just fill it up with clean water and eventually the clean water will clear out the old naturally!

Positive Daily Affirmations for Abundance

1. All the things I want and need come to me.

2. I always receive more than what I need.

3. I have a bank account with more than enough.

4. I am an abundant person.

5. I create abundance in all that I say and do.

6. I accept abundance.

7. I welcome, and am open to receive all abundance that comes.

8. I draw abundance to myself today and every day.

Success Affirmations

I am Successful

Positive Daily Affirmations For Success

Examples of positive daily affirmations for success include:

1. I am successful.

2. Everything I do turns into success.

3. I am filled with success.

4. Success comes effortlessly to my direction.

5. My success is contagious, other people like it, seek it and respect it.

6. I attract positive-minded people to me; I draw all things positive to myself.

7. I am very fortunate to work at what I love to do.

8. I make powerful and enjoyable business relationships and many of my business contacts are now my friends.

Relationship Affirmations

I have happy relationships.

Positive Daily Affirmations For Relationships

Examples of positive daily affirmations for relationships include:

1. I am a confident and positive person, and confident and positive persons gravitate toward me everyday.

2. I know who I obviously am and what I like in personal relationships.

3. I am attracting powerfully positive and healthy people into my life.

4. I am caring, smart, supportive, loyal, and fun to be with.

5. I feel completely at ease and comfortable with all types of people.

6. I am winning in all my relationships.

7. I am a positive and valuable contributor to my relationships.

8. I possess complete ability to articulate my thoughts and feelings to everyone, and I express myself wisely.

Self Esteem Affirmations

Positive Daily Affirmations For Self Esteem

Examples of positive daily affirmations for self esteem include:

1. I am sure of my ability to do what is necessary to improve my life.

2. If I make mistakes, I am able to give myself the benefit of the doubt.

3. I feel basically worthy as a person.

4. I am able to take risks and try new things without fear.

5. I feel good about the way I do my job.

6. I feel about myself pretty much what others think of me.

7. I have compassion for myself and the way my life has developed.

8. I am deserving of all the good things in my life.

Health Affirmations

1. I am healthy

2. I am strong

3. I am whole, perfect and complete.

Positive Daily Affirmations For Health

Examples of positive daily affirmations for health include:

1. I am glowing with health and wholeness.

2. I behave in ways that promote my health more every day.

3. I deserve to be in perfect health.

4. I am highly motivated to exercise my body because I find exercise as fun.

5. I love nutritious healthy food, and I enjoy eating fresh fruits and vegetables.

6. I am healthy since my practices are healthy.

7. I let go of the past so I can create health now.

8. I create health by expressing love, understanding and compassion.

Week 3 Day 1: Awareness

Welcome to week three! This week we will talk about awareness. Now that you are working on accepting yourself for who you are, I am sure you are beginning to become aware of who you are. Awareness and acceptance go hand in hand, which one should come first is hard to say. I personally believe if you don't have any acceptance for yourself you are going to have a hard time being aware. As we go through this week remember what we talked about last week: learn about yourself without judgment. As you become aware of certain behaviors and traits, don't be harsh on yourself for them accept them and either move on or figure out what needs to be done next. Ok with all of that said what is awareness?

Awareness is a state of consciousness that allows one the ability to perceive, to feel, be conscious to events, objects or sensory patterns. It is having clarity about who you are and who you want to be. Awareness is having a clear perception of your personality, knowing your strengths, weaknesses, beliefs, thoughts, motivations and feelings. It is a way for you to explore your individual self so that you may learn how you react to things, how you learn and how you process information. Awareness is the process of understanding who you truly are.

Why is awareness important? Awareness is important because it allows one to know who they are and then it allows one to make changes in their thoughts, reactions, and perceptions in their minds. It allows one to become fully aware of who they are. Many of us go through life reacting, talking, thinking and we never slow down enough to know what it is we are reacting to, who we are talking to or what we are talking about or to even know what we are thinking. We cannot make changes in our lives if we are not aware of where changes need to be made.

Developing self awareness allows you to practice focusing your attention on the details of your personality and behaviors. When you become self aware you automatically begin to see things about yourself you did not notice before. You will begin to see where you have choices, where you create more drama or where you ignore certain things. You will begin to understand what truly upsets you or angers you. You will learn how to manage and control your emotions. You will be able to become aware of what you think about all day, what your subconscious mind is telling you and how you react and feel about these underlying thoughts you never even knew existed. Self awareness allows you to be truly successful and happy in life.

Awareness is a gift we have been given. Being aware in each and every moment allows us to be present to the life we have created. If you don't like what you see the next question is then, what I am doing to create this image and what can I do to make these changes possible? Awareness is power! "Knowing others is wisdom, knowing yourself is Enlightenment." - Tao Tzu

Day 1 Awareness Challenge: Today just begin to start being aware. Start first with notice your feet on the ground. Take time out today to be fully present and aware of all your surroundings. Start with your external environment today. Notice the color of the car next to you, the way the sun feels on your arm, the feel of your child giving you a hug, the smile of the guy on the street smiling at you, notice the trees, and the clouds, notice colors and feelings. Use your 5 senses today!!

Take time today to use each sense: Taste, Touch, See, Hear, and Smell. Today just become aware of your ability to become aware!

Week 2 Day 2: Accepting Others

Yesterday we talked about self acceptance and how important it is. Today we will talk about accepting others, because truly you are not accepting yourself if you cannot accept others. We are raised in a society where everything is categorized. We are always trying to either avoid or fit into a specific stereotype. We judge certain actions and behaviors that we swear we would never do, we carry ourselves around picking and choosing what works for us. which we should do, yet we should also then understand, accept, and cherish that other people will find their own way, their own corks, and do things in their own style. We should not judge them for not doing what we are doing or doing things differently. We must accept others for who they are.

This is so important because people come into your life as some sort of reflection of yourself. I'd like to take a moment here and explain that your mind is very powerful. Your mind creates what you experience. So when you find yourself annoyed, hurt, bothered or angry with someone, stop for a second and think about what it is that is truly bothering you. Are they zoning in on a quality about yourself you have yet to accept? Are they acting in a way you are too scared to act yourself? We often times get annoyed with people for doing things we are too scared to do ourselves, or things we believe we should not do, but deep down we want to. When you stop and use your mind for a moment to analyze the situation, you will begin to see more clearly that either what you are upset about or angry about isn't going to get solved by being angry or upset. (sometimes we do have to cry I am not saying that lol) But we have to remember that a lot of times are reactions to people are automatic and we really aren't sure why we are reacting the way we are until we begin to look inward. Until we begin to look at how our brain is wired, it will continue to operate without changing. Through other people we are able to learn so much about ourselves. When we admire qualities in a person that is a reflection of the good in us. When we see the beauty of another person that is the beauty with in you. When we see the love between a man and a woman, a mother and her son that is a reflection of the love we have within us.

When we accept others we are accepting ourselves. We are each an individual reflection of perfection. We are each beautiful and full of life, strength, courage and knowledge. We can all be who we want to be if we chose it. If we chose to accept ourselves and chose to accept each other. We must chose to accept each other with gratitude and love. For if we were all the same how boring would that be? What new inventions would be created? What new world would be explored? Remember we are all perfect in our own way, there is no one way.

Accepting Others Challenge :

Meditation: Sit in a quiet place, feet planted on the floor. Close your eyes and begin to breathe and relax. Allow the energy of the earth to flow through you. Let your mind find quietness and just breathe. Once you feel quiet and relaxed bring into focus a person you love. Notice all the good qualities about them admire them. Really feel gratitude and love for this person. Spend a few minutes doing this with however many people you chose and write down all their qualities you like. Then look at each quality individually and picture yourself with those amazing qualities. Accept yourself as awesome, just like you accepted your friends as awesome. Enjoy the good feeling, give your friends love and give yourself love. Once you have accepted it for what it is, let it go.

Now bring to mind someone you may have tension with. Do the same thing but this time focus on what it is that hurts, bothers, annoys etc. Picture them and understand these behaviors and write them down, now look at your list and see what it is about yourself that could be found in that behavior. Don't judge yourself and don't judge others, just learn and accept. Also realize how this reflection of your behavior means it is a reflection of someone else's behavior and you can also learn how to accept them for them by finding the connection. Deal with these behaviors. Then watch them float away. Accepting it for what it is and moving on. Accepting those you love and those you don't love, but realizing in the end we are all equal.

In the end we all have good qualities and bad qualities. You will probably have people who show up on both lists. Especially those closest to you. This is how we can begin to see and connect with those in our lives and learn how to better communicate within ourselves and with others. By accepting others we not only accept ourselves and find more peace in our lives, we can find more peace within our relationships as well. We have the ability to have everything we want in life if we just accept you can't have the good without the bad, and the good always wins!

Week 1 Day 2: The Human Body

Yesterday I introduced the idea that the key to happiness is forming a connection between our mind, our bodies, and our souls. Now in order for us to do anything with this connection we have to know what it is we are connecting in the first place. The mind, the body and the soul make up the foundation of what we experience, what we perceive, how we perceive, how we react, how we move, why we do the things we do; whether we do it consciously or not, these three parts are constantly at work within our world.

Today I am going to focus on the body. To me the body is our resting place, our home base; it is where we spend all of our time. The body is our temple… I have heard this many, many, many times, and in my profession I have to say I agree. Our bodies are our temples. They are amazing pieces of machinery that can do so many amazing things. The body is what allows us to be able to move, to touch, smell, see, hear, feel, and many other things we do every.

So, What is the body? The body is a composite of cells and neurons that creates bones, organs, muscles, skin, blood and joints. The body is our physical being. The body allows us to manage, create and dispose of energy and waste. Our minds use our bodies to accomplish goals, desires, and needs. The body is what keeps us alive. It regulates our water and food intake, digestion; your heart pumps blood to keep it circulating and the lungs take in oxygen and dispose of carbon dioxide. The body can run, pick up things, reach for things, create and destroy even. The body is complex and amazing.

Knowing your body is a key factor to happiness. We must understand how our bodies operate, understand when they are telling us to hold back or when we can give more; we must be able to communicate with our bodies effectively in order to connect with our body.

Our bodies are made up of 3 complex systems that make it possible for us to move. The cardiovascular system, the skeletal system, and the muscular system; all of these systems are controlled by the central nervous center. These 3 systems work together to allow our bodies to perform exercises, clean the house, pick up our children, get dressed, go driving etc. Our central nervous system also controls our organs. Our organs perform many spectacular events for us every day, all day, even while we are sleeping. Being aware of these functions helps you to get to know your body.

Meditation Exercise:

Most of use our bodies day in and day out without even noticing or giving our bodies much credit for all the hard work they do. Today focus on your body, pay close attention to it. Take a moment to feel every part of your body, find a quiet place to sit feet flat on the floor palms up and eyes closed. Breathe deep for a few moments and relax the mind. Don’t think and don’t try not to think. Be gentle with yourself and don’t judge any thoughts that will come up. Simply acknowledge them and move on. Now feel your toes, feel your feet lift your toes and then press them down into the earth. Feel the connection with the earth, allow the energy to run up your toes to your ankles, notice your legs, feel your calves and your shins. Notice your knee, bring the energy to your things, and feel your bum pressed on the seat. Let the world support you. Relax and be still. Bring your minds eye to your abdomen, suck it in, and give it love. Pay attention to your organs; thank them for all they do for you. Feel you chest and your heartbeat, feel air going into your nose and down your throat and into your lungs. Be thankful for the hard work your body does to keep you alive. Feel your heart and your lungs working together. Give them love. Breathe and relax. Feel your lips gently pressed together, breathe and relax. Now feel your ears. Breathe. Now breathe into your brain, give it attention, love, respect and gratitude. Now bring your vision to the middle of your forehead, this is your spiritual eye. Look at the world through this eye, through this vision; the vision of being one with your body. Feel every cell, feel your blood pulsating through your veins. You are your body and your body is you! Feel this connection and just be with your body for as long as you can.