Practice Makes Perfect: What Are You Practicing?

Well, it seems that we’ve gone from a long, drawn out winter to a hot summer overnight.  And certainly, folks all over the country and world are experiencing extremes of weather.  In my work every day I am able to see how the changes in the weather affect the moods of my clients. Too cold, too hot, too rainy, too sunny, beautiful flowers and trees causing uncomfortable allergy symptoms, it seems that we’re never happy. Or if we are, that can change as quickly as the New England weather. Without thinking much about it we easily fall into a complaining mode were the weather is involved. It seems to be an accepted topic to crab about with our friends, neighbors, store clerks, and strangers alike. While this may seem harmless enough, it can really effect us negatively in ways we don’t realize.

Last year I wrote a chapter for a book called Incredible Life titled, “True Joy is an Inside Job: Steps to Uncovering Your Essential Joy.” In a nutshell, my chapter shows how all parts of ourselves, our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual bodies are interconnected and how each influences the other. For example, having  negative thoughts or worrying about something can cause anxiety or insomnia, can lead to physical aches and pains and can make us feel alone and unconnected to personal or spiritual support. All systems are impacted by what you focus your attention on.

Recent studies tell us that few American adults report feeling joy or happiness as a regular part of their life experience. It’s been reported that only 20% of American adults experience on-going joy or fulfillment. Those fleeting moments, usually brought on by some external occurrence such as the birth of a child, the sight of a beautiful sunset or the embrace of a loved one,  are far outweighed by feelings of anxiety, depression and overwhelming obligation. Life feels more like a series of “shoulds” and “have tos”, accompanied by an aching sense of “there’s got to be something more.”

The good news is that it is possible to experience a consistent internal state of well-being rather than a random, fleeting occurrence, dependent on outside circumstances. Helping people to understand that how they feel is a conscious choice, a state of being that they have the ability to create and sustain despite outward appearances to the contrary, is an integral part of my work. Creating a life of joy, gratitude and peace is an inside job. It takes work and requires developing a relationship with all parts of your Self: mental, emotional, physical and spiritual.

Here are a few tips to help you be more conscious of your thoughts, release the ones that are holding you back or limiting you and practice staying in the energy of well-being more often.

The first step is to realize that you are not your thoughts. You are a spiritual being with an essence of pure love; your thoughts are mental constructs taken on from other people and institutions. They have nothing to do with the truth of who you are. Once you realize this and begin to see your thoughts as being outside of yourself, you take back your power over these “mental delinquents.” Then you can begin to exercise choice over which thoughts you will allow into your head and which you will evict. If a thought is not helpful or supportive, toss it out and choose a new one. Each time you become aware of an old thought creeping back in consciously choose to replace it with a new, empowering thought. This takes consistent practice but over time you will notice the positive effects in your life.

Next, it is necessary to become clear about the things that you wish to be, do or have in your life. Everything that exists in physical form existed first as a thought in someone’s mind. It follows then that it’s impossible to create the things in your life that will bring you joy if you don’t know what those things are. Begin to explore what you are passionate about, what makes your heart sing, what you do just for the love of it.

According to The Law of Attraction, everything is energy and like energy attracts like energy. Whatever you put your attention on, consistently and with feeling, eventually shows up in your life. For many people, their thoughts are focused on the things that they don’t want, don’t have or are afraid of. Whether your attention is on what you want or what you don’t want, you will receive exactly that!

Well, that’s all for today. This week, why not set the intention to stop complaining.  Sounds easy, but try it for a few hours, a few days or the whole week and see how challenging it can be.  And be sure to tune in next time for more helpful hints on how to move from habitual negative thinking to intentional positive thinking.