Personal Growth Archives - Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Light Into Yourself (Soul vs. Spirit)

When you’re staring at hundreds of candles, you have a chance to see inside your soul. As the individual lights flicker, they eventually blend together into one thought-feeling kaleidoscope piece. That’s what one night at a candlelight concert showed me. And it was a reflection into my lady soul. The sad parts at times. Maybe the Dark Knight part that gets brought up?

The soul is our mind’s will and emotions. It invites in the subconscious whether we like it or not. And the soul reference I hear about is often confused, described, or used interchangeably with the spirit.

…But from my life experiences, the spirit is totally a different place. The heart or gut is closer to the feelings associated. So maybe that helps clear it up better for you too, by body part distinction and feelings.

Spirit is love and peace.

But not always the soul in my experience.

The soul is where the sad thoughts can stir up. It’s sometimes a deep window into who you are when the camera is off or you’re off of work, that’s not always your best self.

…A Former You showing up in the shadows. Or what you’re trying to grow away from, but maybe aren’t ready to grow up yet into.

And when confronted, like I was when watching a candlelit string quartet event, it can be a sobering downer to see life metaphorically flash in front of your eyes, the window into your soul.

There after a few minutes, looking out, everything inside me wasn’t moving like the air in the closed room. The thoughts were trapped and frozen. The opposite feeling of helpful meditation that’s relaxing and inspiring (breathing in new air).

While the mesmerizing light dancing show was happening, it was playing with my soul.

And as minutes went by, I was losing touch of myself like gradual slipping sand, and letting the forces take over… I was feeling smaller. Away from love.

Maybe I was even pouting in the back of the dark room? I don’t know.

I was reminded of distant relationships that didn’t work out as evidenced by my thoughts blending into the candles that represented life. My life.

Time felt warped like the Dali clock.

…But was definitely not standing still.

It was only minutes that went by, and I didn’t know the exact time, or if it mattered at all… as I was swirling further away from my conscious thinking Everyday self.

I felt a sense of longing for the season to end in some ways, and a new one to begin. With subtle hints of progression in areas that were flourishing. But it wasn’t a lost feeling.

Candlelight Experience – A Meditative Trance

In my candlelit concert space staring at a sea of lights, I was deeper in my soul, letting ego thoughts sink in, get fuzzier, and more confused.

My mind was drifting into a mini-meditative trance with eyes open.

Did I blink? I couldn’t tell you.

What if that’s what it’s like for people who lose their memory? Or those who no longer dream about the future? Or people in a form of addiction?

That’s kinda how I imagined it felt.

For an hour, it’s doable and at times enjoyable being transported to this external sensory experience.

But for a longer period of time, like daily life, it would be a present reminder that life is passing by… and it’s possible to tune out of the essence of life… away from feeling alive and fresh oxygen like I was used to.

Admittingly, I’ve never been good with nightclub environments that this venue was in. They were just as popular as today’s beat of the drum when I was adult growing up, where the do-drum repetitive techno beats reverberated.

The minds goes in a mini-coma, apart from self-awareness.

I’m not sure I’ve ever been comfortable or safe in those places, and in that place.

Even though I used to talk myself into liking the idea of it as my friends were going.

And similarly at other experiences like staring into an outside warming bonfire… where the night darkness in the background is casting shadows to the light in the foreground that’s running the show.

Even back in those experiences years earlier, I felt the shadows as cold and negative space. The void could be fear or blindspots I didn’t know about or hadn’t addressed yet. Post-trauma that hadn’t surfaced and healed.

Those light flames showed up as symbols of burning questions left in life that I hadn’t met or crossed yet in life’s discovering journey.

And in those moments, I similarly left my conscious self and glared into the subconscious-thinking blurring abyss…

Where I forgot about my current season and my entire past.

My thoughts were similarly stopped like this at this recent concert I attended.

…Where I felt no identity.

No thought to the work done earlier that day.

And I certainly wasn’t a writer.

Or in a writer’s frame of mind.

The Soul As a Writer

…Which btw, often writers have a tough time calling themselves writers from the get-go. They often hem-and-haw against proclaiming their natural gifted identity role because a clear line hasn’t been established…

A writing certificate or certification hasn’t been earned.

Or no one in the field has personally called them a writer. That’s how it was for me.

I also believe, you’re a writer if you just write. Just like you’re a reader when you read. And an avid reader if you read a lot or the same type of books.

But saying “I’m a writer” for some writers is a professed title that creates anxiety. And staying humble about it until something significant happens is common.

The hesitation I think is in the soul of a writer.

One that I’m now aware about. Lemme explain…

Like many new writers, one day in 2019 I just started writing and that continued into the next few days, until it became consistent.

In my case, it was decades after one college creative writing class I was in, where I wrote my heart out in a paper describing my wild Red Hot Chili Peppers concert experience in my 20s. Where the one reader audience, my professor, expressed in writing that he enjoyed reading my paper.

And before that, I received big red “NO” Sharpie pen marks on my turned-in papers from my senior high school English teacher, where I then concluded math was my strong suit. And that was confirmed by my SAT scores.

I was diverted into using my stronger skillsets in other careers.

But today, decades later I call myself a writer. Why? Because I write. Daily. Weekly. And I have a relationship with the words on the page I write on.

It started one day from my brewing hot tea and burning my finger on a teapot. That led me to writing an article. Which led to another article the next day, and then a writing challenge to myself. And since then I haven’t stopped writing.

And calling myself a writer (even if it was started as an experiment) got me there.

And if you write, you can call yourself a writer when you decide you wannabe… and that’s the best thing you can do for yourself…

It’s an ego booster – in a healthy way!

Even if you’re a blogger: that counts as writing. So does journaling. It’s cathartic and putting words into context gives meaning to your world.

It’s a way to express your thoughts and feelings, and have a voice in what matters to you in this world.

And the sooner a new writer adopts the new role identity, the sooner he/she (you?) writes daily and ends up with more written words at the end of the year.

…Or else will figure out pretty quickly, it may not be right for him/her/you, and that’s totally okay.

It’ll be forgotten soon. With nothing lost. It was just and experience and something to try. Like tasting a new pastry or joining a new group.

But what stops some writers from declaring themselves writers, brings me back to my point in this article (about the soul)…

Which is: writers are often more in tune with their ego thoughts than most out there. That’s a plus in writing and life in general… To be thoughtful.

And to be aware of fear, sad, and dark sides, so you don’t go there unaware.

Writers don’t often want to go there and confront the soul or baring one’s soul experience. It would be equivalent to standing almost naked in front of an audience, and risking lookin’ like a fool.

And pre-mature, the soulful information presenting itself is often muddy and unclear in meaning.

For me, that’s where the meditative concert candles burning showed up.

…Where thoughts were entering fuzzy as one unison (candle art?) piece.

I couldn’t have written then even if I tried. And if I did, that would jinx any clarity on paper. But thankfully I was at a concert, so I was set free to enjoy.

…Which I kinda did, feeling happy and sad at times.

But it’s with those candlelight concert sentiments that I confronted my ego darkness and decided that awareness and spirit is where I belong.

…Where I could clearly see potential regrets of my past that my ego used to protect me from when I didn’t have ego-awareness…

Where maybe I missed some life opportunities that called me in life even though I thought I tried. There were disconnects. “Alignment” wasn’t a word I could form in my mind or send out to the roof of my mouth.

Ego made sure to keep that clear and present danger away from me in its gaslighting ways.

Ego confronted me with failures, that weren’t my fault, but maybe I could’ve said or did something different in those situations.

They’re the raw and vulnerable self thoughts that writers don’t naturally feel comfortable with in writing, but run in the back of the mind. (And maybe why there are so many fiction writers to write about characters outside of themselves?).

And if anyone can get out that pre-first draft junk out, it’s therapeutic.

Vomiting a jumbled mess of thoughts journaled on paper is the start of personal healing.

But keeping thoughts trapped is ego’s trap to regurgitate the same old negative story lines to protect Numero Uno (ego self).

Or leave the writer person outside stuck in writer’s block, staring at a blinking cursor.

That pauses writing altogether. It’s like a perfectionist confronting imperfection head on. Where the result is inaction.

And for a writer, it would be way too sad and possibly real to sign up for that willingly. And hence, hard sometimes to say, “I’m a writer.”

No one would set themselves up for that kind of failure. (Even though that does happen in the process of first draft discoveries. And simply writing out messy thoughts gets you over the hump of overthinking analysis-paralysis.)

But when you get away from the soul (or staring into candles in my case) and let your spirit (heart or gut) guide and take over at least for a little while, you move into loving thoughts and loving-writing possibilities.

You look at the bright side and the you-won’t-know-unless-you-try possibilities, as corny old as that may sound.

…Or whatever the possibilities are of your specific work or purpose is if you’re not a writer.

In spirit love to yourself (that’s an inward solo experience), you assume you have nothing to lose. And everything to gain.

You can crumple up the paper or just hit the trash can button and feel accomplished for typing, as you know it’s getting you closer to bullseye. And you keep going and growing, one page at a time until (not if, but when) it clicks.

Today, I realize being in the present daylight moments, heals what’s lost. It’s being in touch with emotions and thoughts.

Looking back to the concert event as now the past, I see it as a way to bring in more light this season. More love and awareness.

I attended because I had a curiosity. And our need to escape and dull our inward senses is human.

I suppose that’s why people like watching entertainment since the spotlight is not on them.

And when I got on my spotlight yoga mat this week to do deep breathing, I was brought back to appreciating more of what I have (and not focus on what I don’t have without a productive loose plan for change).

I was aware of the in-touch breath, and that the blissful light in each of us has our answers. It also has our love and truth (and our back). It’s always present no matter how we feel that day or when we’re not present (when ego shows up).

It’s wise and insightful for you to get to know all of you (roses, thorns, and roots).

I hope this inspires you in your path this season.

Let In Some New Light ✨

Letting in light in your life is a bright way to your future (and to let go of the holding back past).

Someone needed that.

…I know I did.

On my life journey, letting go was not a natural skill of mine.

Even through my 30s, I let my mind embellish on the past.

For better or worse.

Better is good past and happy memories that are meant to be kept and linger on. Because happy thoughts make a happy day.

And good is good, so don’t mess with good.

…But some days, I would let my ego run circles around me, ruminating in sour thoughts.

That’s what most of us do unknowingly, until we catch on and decide to exercise our healthy mind’s power.

When struck, rumination sometimes used to take up hours if I was lucky, possibly a whole day, or rob my entire weekend while I kinda did something else.

These days, I snap out and decide to change thoughts much faster, sometimes within nanoseconds with mind self-awareness.

That btw I was never taught. And most likely, you were never taught.

But one day (where I can’t pinpoint the exact day or year), it happened.

It was a gradual light bulb that turned on in me.💡

It started with self-reflection and self-awareness.

And that’s where any of us can begin.

But realize there are different kinds of self-awareness.

The most common type that made its pin drop on the map (and hopefully is part of you and your practices 📍🗺️), is the self-awareness kind where you know how you come across to others in work, personal relationships, and encounters with strangers.

It’s when you’re not just doing or saying whatever is on your mind.

…A very important skill to have in better relationships.

Because being thoughtful and thinking-before-acting in safe environments breeds kindness, humility, and all the good qualities that people want to be around, and especially for employers seeking new employees that customer face.

It separates us from animals that act on instincts in any surrounding.

And self-awareness is one quality described in the hospitality quotient (soft skills) that Shake Shack’s owner Danny Meyer came up with for businesses looking for their next employees.

One that I can personally relate to having managed hundreds of events in several DC restaurants.

And maybe you waited tables or worked in customer service which I think is one of the best training grounds for prioritizing demands quick on your feet.

So that’s one type of common self-awareness.

Then there’s another kind, the (deeper) thought-mind self-awareness, that helps you out the most. And helps others secondarily.

It’s a must-have skill for those who want to improve personal and life development.

This is where you catch all your thoughts.

And kinda like when you’re reading a nonfiction book and you’re aware of your thoughts about what you think of what you’re reading. You know if you’re being judgmental or if what you’re reading is helpful to you.

You’re forming thoughts about new thoughts coming in.

And similarly when you’re not reading, thoughts like this enter throughout your day, invited in or not.

Most thoughts are either loving or fear-based and unloving.

…Positive or negative themes.

…Helpful or not helpful.

And your thought-mind self-awareness (quotient) I’m describing here is determined by whether you can quickly label the thought as black-or-white (and not leave as gray-fuzzy), as an Observer with a capital O for an important role in life.

Like when you set filters in your inbox to decide if certain emails are worth ruminating or elaborating on.

Negative and unloving past thoughts (like junk messages) are usually not worth your time because they are time hogs and reel you down emotionally… unless they help you noodle something out to your next growth step.

Worry is another thought category. It’s another way to ruminate especially if it’s a go-to habit. But incessant worry is unhelpful and unnecessary.

Instead getting to the root of worry thoughts help you problem solve and come up with better answers.

And after you’re aware why you’re worrying and have come up with a few ideas on how to handle the situation (you’re worrying about or that could arise), you’re best to let it go, pray it off, and change your thoughts.

This is one way to exercise your power of healthy mind self-awareness… and so that you can get to the higher thoughts that lead to bigger dreams you want to manifest in YOUR life.

…And also so that you can be healthy, whole, and thriving,

And as you learn to better let go of unproductive thoughts that don’t serve you today and bad parts of the past that the younger brain recorded, REWRITE your ruminating thought endings as they enter.

Give those fuzzy past situations a happy and successful ending.

That lightens your load.

Like, you got an “A” and not a “D” on the project, or you turned your knots in the stomach into challenging yourself into an experience that made you into a better you today.

Let in the light to replace what you’re letting go. This allows fresh, new, and healthy ideas to birth… and old, tired ways to die.

But hold on, it’s not so easy… your ego doesn’t want those sad thoughts to die, so it will keep finding ways to drudge up past thoughts and make it stick to you like wet plastic wrap.

Be aware of your ego, and l’ego!

You have to be super intentional and aware to peel off ego’s thought and ways and disassociate, or else the same wrap just comes clinging again.

So when that negative thought situation arises, write down what you did to change your thought (because the ego doesn’t want you to remember that you already crossed that small win finish-line before).

Unaware, a similar thought will show up again in a different situation and sour your day… unless you consciously are aware to stop it again.

Connect the dots in wonderment. Don’t leave it as an open puzzle.

That’s the way to wholeness and getting a light waterfall of a-ha answers.

If you can get to the place of changing your subconscious ego thoughts (and head in a quicker-than-before direction 📈) to a new replacement thought despite the stubborn thought trying to edge back in at every curve, then you know you’ve got this!

You get this.

And if you’re being humble like me here, you can practice on all the other dissimilar thoughts that try to derail your life.

Like thoughts that try to make you more busy (and important that ego loves)…

One way to test yourself is how you interact with strangers.

I meet a lot of interesting people on my journey these days.

And where my younger self would’ve kept on going and stayed busy on my task list, I now (wisely better) stop and converse.

I can spend untimed minutes talking with new people, when edging in 20 minutes used to be impossible.

The metro city culture where I came from, local people just don’t do that.

They’re self-absorbed and quick in every turn and way. They run circles around people and they’re also movers and shakers helping our world move in other ways.

If you slow them down, they think you’re retired or from the South.

The value isn’t placed in slowing down. It’s encouraged to walk away and get ahead.

It’s rude, but accepted.

But that’s not a good way to get the most out of this life.

In a slower living, mind-aware way, that’s how you learn to let light in and grow.

That’s where the healthy good is in life.

Because if you gain wisdom and listen to people who have slowed down, they take time to give good words to you.

And if you let in the new information, that helps you grow.

Good people strangers speak wisdom, share valuable tips, and sometimes even help you see sides of yourself that’s eye-opening.

They don’t know you, but they can say profound things to you that make an impact on your future if you think about it from your past encounters.

In-person, you can make no mistake that face-to-face, from being-to-being, the message is for you.

Their words somehow swirl their way in your mind later in the day as the way the Universe can speak visually and audibly to you. Through people’s faces that will later fade in memory.

Soothsayers birth new ideas in and for you. And you probably do the same for others without knowing it.

And unlike people you know, in these good chance encounters, there is no motive from the stranger as it’s as surprising of a meeting for you as it is for them.

Most likely you’ll never see this person or people again.

Here they are and poof! there they go. And there you go.

Out into your rest of the day and life.

Where today and daily you choose to purposefully listen to specific outside people in our world, media, or from podcasts.

…When well-paid speakers often share stories about lessons they learned from strangers they met on the plane or out and about everyday life.

The kind I just described to you.

Most of us are looking to learn and be influenced…

To be more knowledgeable, grow as a person, and be better in how each of us define.

And with those intentions, thought-mind awareness can be part of that self-improvement and personal self-development process.

If you fully adopt a thought awareness mindset, you won’t just drift into your busy world and wonder years later where your life went.

Because shifts are happening daily all around us without our consent. The tectonic plates are even shifting under our feet now and likely wherever you are, as I wisely learned from a traveler I met and stopped to exchange ideas with.

So maybe for an intentionally better year this year, challenge yourself with a mindset shift and a determination to be thought-mind self-aware, to let go and let in some new light. ✨

I’m rooting for you! 🎉

Guilt Replacements For Happiness

Guilt is not a good feeling. But subtle, it’s often missed and takes away from happiness. So recognizing it exists in your life is helpful so you can then replace the lesser feelings with higher ones.

Guilt shows up in so many different ways in each of our unique lives.

But in common, so often guilt arises from the upbringing ingrained in you from childhood.

It’s not easy to shake off.

Early on, you were limited in the changes you could make. But today you can and should make the necessary changes for a happy life that free you and make you unstoppable.

Because guilt can have a dark cloud grip on your life.

I realized this in my own life…

When I was younger, I enjoyed reading. And I felt guilty being cooped up inside under a reading light instead of playing outside.

I felt disciplined but I also felt the pressure to be a more social kid.

So I was at odds about enjoying learning when it wasn’t cloudy outside.

Then all grown up, I looked back and realized I love learning and growth that I had set myself up to do from a young age.

And today I’m still all about personal development that to me is living life to the fullest potential.

And I’m sure when you look back in your life, you can see some of the sacrifices you made that help you today!

Even though while going through those times, it probably didn’t feel that way.

It felt like pressure.

That’s where you and I learned and felt the concept of guilt from an early age.

And in Brene Brown’s Daring Greatly, she teaches that guilt is behavior-based and feeling like “I did something bad” while shame is identity-related and “I am bad”.

Both live in the mind but are changeable in our thoughts.

But guilt subtly creeps up in today’s thoughts. And the dots are not connected to the root.

…And that robs daily joy.

It’s not easy to let go of those guilt feelings from the past that apply to your situations today.

And if you were able to le-go of the ego then that would be easy.

But none of us can do that as part of our makeup and built-in equipment.

The ego (or my new made up French word l’ego) can play any of us all day in our thoughts if we allow.

Like in the example I gave of…

When it’s nice weather outside, I still feel those initial guilty feelings that I should be outside.

That developed in my inner child.

I initially almost wish that it were rainy or cloudy out so I didn’t have to worry I’ll regret or miss a beautiful day.

And something as simple as that is how the brain can get stuck if allowed.

But wiser and more evolved, I take those feelings and replace them with better ways and thoughts, so I feel accomplished no matter where I am… indoor or out.

I change my perspective with my thoughts.

I find something positive about my choice.

It’s a fight with the split mind (that we all have), but replacing those lesser thought-feelings with something better and higher is how to change those ways without looking back.

…And make decisions quicker without second guessing.

You learn that your mind is not always your friend.

There’s you.

…And then there’s your mind.

That’s in your body.

So aware on that (as observer to my thoughts), today when I’m inside on a full blue sky day, I crack open my back door so that I can feel the inside-outside living.

Problem solved.

And I give those guilty feelings an ‘ol heave-ho back seat.

They no longer exist until they pop back up another time. And then I’ll rinse and repeat the same or find an even better way.

It keeps getting better until the guilt no longer has you.

That’s aspiring, yes? 😊

And well, I know since you and I have the same human mind instrument, you can do the same for your guilt areas!

…Where you already have all the answers inside you to change them to positive or loving thoughts.

So, now to make yourself aware, all you’ve got to do is figure out: what areas in your life do you hold guilt for?

Because they’re there.

And when you bring them to view when you’re not impacted, you are prepared to address them when they show up again. You’ve got this!

It probably takes a ‘lil intentional thinking initially, but if you can capture what you are still holding onto as guilt, you’re well on your way to replacing them and putting them to rest.

And how I concretely know that for you (as well as me) is that our ego is where these fuzzy areas are lost and stored.

That’s clear so you and I can be on guard.

And when the triggers and thoughts are brought back in the same fuzzy manner, you can de-fuzz them at the gate!

We all have an ego (just like we all have a brain) and it never goes away. And we can protect ourselves from the daily damage.

Keeping our thoughts healthy is the way to empowered happiness.

And awareness is always the first step.

So on that best self-aware intention, if your lingering guilt is from not doing something where you had been asked to, another good step is to ask yourself: why don’t I want to do that?

Because doing what others want you to do isn’t always your best.

Usually there’s a good reason for you choosing or wanting to choose another route. Because you and your inner self know better what you need in your life.

And sometimes at odds, you don’t know why you made some choices until you look back.

Trust yourself and signs you get in this life as life tries to route and re-route you. For Your Best.

That’s the better way than doing everything you plan out of fear or a roadmap someone else laid out for you.

Getting over the guilt of letting others down is sometimes all that is needed from you to get past feeling bad… that can easily cross into the boundaries of shame.

…Or lead to a pity party.

Clearly and intentionally justifying your reasons turn the love back to you and makes whatever you end up doing even more compelling-worthwhile.

Because you and your ideas are worthy and should never be discounted because of others.

And you should always be able to look at yourself in the mirror and say, “I am worthy” no matter what’s going on around you.

That could be a good place to start.

And you can make what you choose (sometimes against what others say) to be your greatest weapon advantage.

Replacing your guilt feelings becomes your new-next growth level.

You teach yourself to evolve into better and higher ways that helps your life. And helps you not miss a daily happy beat.

That’s the next level challenge to beat.

And if I can do it, I know you can also rise to the occasion.

Living happy and with no regrets in mind is worth the effort.

And always remember, you and your life are worth it! 🎉

Positive Attitude is Everything

Positive attitude (aka optimism) has always been the better way to make good things happen in life. But so often, easier said than done.

Like when dropping a box of spaghetti where you can look at it as an extra chore… or spending a few minutes playing a fun game of pick-up sticks.

But it’s easier to magnify our natural responses, complaining, and being with the realities of life.

Where you maybe mutter something that doesn’t help the situation.

It’s an automatic response…

But automatic responses can be changed like past phases (and phrases you used) going through life.

They were place holders until you found a better way for your snap! uh-oh situations.

…Where those and anything in life could change your mood in an instant.

And when you run into those sudden moments, you can practice your better ways.

Use those as prompts to change your auto-reactions to situations.

That helps to shape your positive attitude.

And enrich what you want to grow in your life, like your opportunities and relationships…

Which btw, have you ever noticed that leaders and successful people are positive and motivational?

It helps them and then others are attracted to them.

But like all of us, they’re not always happy… but a positive attitude also helps them to reach deeper within for answers. And rise above what could drag them down.

That can go either way.

And it’s not the situation they get that’s the downfall… it’s their attitude that can make or break what happens next.

It’s the positive attitude that carries them through and over the hump.

Their positive beliefs turn into good reality.

And in turn, they become what they believe when they look in a mirror.

And if what you believe is positive, growing, and happy then, that’s where you’ll go-al. 🎯

So finding the positive out of negative situations is still the answer to success, but getting there isn’t always easy.

One good way to grow that area is you can choose to find the comedy in life-in-play situations and laugh more… with a positive attitude (that’s not cynical).

Then by laughing, you’re spreading joy that’s positively contagious.

…I’m serious.

It helps to gain a reality check.

…Is it really that bad?

It’s usually not as bad as the moment of impact.

And having a positive attitude to survive the moment is everything.

Because most situations move on and become a memory.

And I know myself what it’s like to have to change the attitude side and run 180 degrees in the opposite direction from my initial thought reactions.

…Because cynical and sarcastic was the realistic culture I grew up in. And was probably what you grew up in if you lived on watching television sitcoms before the turn of the century.

Realistic was pessimistic.

And the word attitude used alone meant you copped an attitude where more words added could cause trouble.

People didn’t know they had an attitude until it was brought to their attention.

That zeitgeist wasn’t set up yet for mindset shifts, daily enlightenment, meditation, and quiet time that today are times to look forward to… and maybe even get a little excited about! 🎉

Today, thankfully attitude is reframed into more positive attitudes.

People are much more conscious and will forwardly say, my attitude is: __________.

An easy way to test your own attitude (and practice) is to see how you view the daily weather.

In climate change days, most of us are often tested as the weather can re-route our day’s activities and how productive we are.

If the daily weather is not so favorable and you have to change your plans you were looking forward to, how do you view that?

…Does it make you sad, disappointed, or discouraged? Or do you see it as a way to step into possibly better plans?

If you adopt the latter, then you become less stuck in your ways… more nimble, and open to what life could bring in your favor at any moment.

Flipping the script is how you rewrite the thoughts in the situational moments.

…And thrive in your day.

And one day at a time becomes your life.

So changing to positive attitudes in your life helps you for the rest of your life. …Making responses automatic and letting those healthy ways penetrate deep down in your core.

…Where you bypass negative emotions and bridge straight toward the positive and loving thoughts and feelings.

I know this because that’s what I practiced in life situations to be the better version of myself. 🙋🏻‍♀️

This week, when the power unexpectedly went out for a few hours because of a hurricane storm that came up the coast, I discovered a new coffee shop. And from that small re-route, I may have a new potential partner to work with.

And another example this week was I had a ticketed event and found out that it wasn’t what I thought it would be.

So I ended up re-routing myself to a store where I met new friends.

👉 But the main lesson here is that before I let any of those two sour situations affect me, my attitude was automatically re-routed to a good place. My auto-thought now is: there’s a good reason for this… and I don’t know yet what that is, but the day will play out and I will figure it out.

And that’s because of the practice I had been doing leading up those events.

So now that I did that practice, I also believe that good things are rigged for my favor.

If you too believe that for your life, and that your re-routes are to help you, then you can bypass frustration feelings and look for more good in your day.

And in return, your energy radiates as attractive to the world. 🎉

So if this sounds good to you and you’d like to grow more of a positive attitude (to be the better version of yourself), this is one attitude habit you can practice daily…

Anytime you catch yourself complaining or have a complaining thought, try to catch that right away.

It might take a few tries in the beginning like any new habit and natural way, but (by being self-aware) eventually you’ll be able to change that.

👉 What’s tricky is that most of us are self-aware about our attitudes in the places we’re already aware of… but the ones we’re not (e.g. ego blind), those are the ones we want to change for out better lives.

We’re blind to what we don’t see.

So those areas take more effort to discover.

But if you practice in the small daily stuff like your weather re-route attitudes and hearing yourself complain-talk, then they become visible.

They become your natural way one situation at a time. And you can change your overall attitude.

And with a positive attitude, you get to focus on bigger, brighter, and better things!

Gratitude Practice of Not Wasting Anything

Gratitude is a word we all know.

Gratitude for cotton candy pink flowers that are reminders of life as a gift. — Cotton candy flowers can spark gratitude as reminders in what we have.

I have gratitude for pretty in pink cotton candy color flowers, reminding me that it’s a summer season of life.

The flowers are a gift from nature and the people who planted the bush. Both are gifts in this life…

And life works in our favor when we treat life as a gift.

…When we say “thank you” and are grateful when we’re given something like a present, compliment, or other kind words and gestures.

…And when we feel gratitude in what we have and what’s around us that we get to taste, touch, see, smell, and do.

My first memorable grips with what gratitude meant in words was in a book I saw and picked up that was different than others around in the bookstores at the time.

In Sarah Ban Breathnach’s Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy, she wrote, “how could I expect more from the Universe when I didn’t appreciate what I already had?”

That was curious wisdom and encouragement for me. It helped make me wonder and evolve to become that person who could gain those deeper inner perspectives.

The 365 days of inspiring words in the book had new meaning and concepts I had never heard of before.

Back then, I didn’t know what a gratitude practice was.

Those were pre-New Age law of attraction days.

That today is Old Age stuff 😊

And we know what’s old often becomes new again.

…Like a gratitude practice.

These days, it’s common for many of us as our culture has evolved.

Back then, I only aspired to those simple abundant life practices, so that was something I worked toward without knowing it would become so.

That’s how life is rigged in our favor… setting us up before we even know what we want in the future.

Which btw, no past experiences you have are wasted in your life. They are there for a reason.

…And for some reason, I picked up the book again over 20 years later.

And in this life influencing book, the entry on January 21 reads: “Today, be willing to believe that a companion Spirit is leading you every step of the way, and knows the next step.”

…Back then, I had no idea what those words meant when the book sat boldly on my night stand in 1996 (a year after it was first published).

But my soul felt good reading over those words.

And today I know exactly what those words mean.

Today I have gratitude that my Spirit is aligned with those words.

And that’s one special way of how this life can be so awesome… when you discover that-secret-something that’s so profoundly deep and bigger than yourself and everything else in life you’ve known so far.

How can you not celebrate?

…When a discovery is bigger than yourself..

And this inner discovery was bigger than myself.

It was life changing.

And I needed a life change and a kick in the pants from the Universe to make some changes.

Journaling helped unravel me along with many self-help books on my journey.

Those were my life teachers.

…What books helped shape your ways?

Plus, the Simple Abundance book mentioned gratitude journaling.

And the book also mentioned abundance concepts (besides being part of the title of the book).

That was the first time I ever remember the concept introduced to me.

Because I didn’t grow up thinking of abundance.

But I aspired to abundance… dreaming about what that could be like someday! 💭

Dreams become reality when you let the bigger Universe work in your life and inside you.

…And you then purposefully stretch your mind muscles enough to go there.

That’s how I slowly let open space in and reframed abundance from a previous crowded, limited and victim mindset.

And within the new space, I invited more gratitude in.

Like with a simple way to show gratitude that anyone can do with the concept of not wasting… where you’re grateful for daily abundance in everyday things such as food abundance (that happens to be my passion place 🍽️).

So imagine all the vegetables growing and coming out of a summer garden. Or if you don’t have one 🙋🏻‍♀️, what’s available to you at abundant (indoor garden) grocery stores you shop in.

Either way, you have the option to save or waste food that’s not consumed.

And if you save, then you’re preserving food for another time or purposefully not wasting food.

In some ways, that can sound like a scarcity mindset (that builds up a limiting mindset), where there’s not more coming in or not enough.

…But the difference in message comes from inserting in Gratitude.

I’m grateful for this food.

…AND believing there’s plenty to go around.

And I’m thankful I’ve got unlimited access to new and different foods daily.

Then you’re allowing abundance in food to flow freely in your mind and life.

(Btw, you can do this for anything and everything to help yourself grow).

Where you’re taking belief into action, showing gratitude by not wasting.

Then you’re fully aligned with words matching actions.

Re-purposing and celebrating are ways to show gratitude and abundance.

…Oh, and when you think and live like that, you can be pretty darn sure that you’ll have plenty more coming your way! 💕

Gratitude is such a simple and powerful daily exercise for building up an abundant mindset… and to manifest your bigger dreams. 💭💭