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Creative Visualization Affirmations

Take time for what matters, and take time to manifest some creative visualization affirmations.  You don’t need to sit cross-legged in a yoga posture (my knees simply don’t bend like that anymore!) You don’t need solitude, or a special candle, or incense.  For creative visualization affirmations, all you you need to do is daydream.  That’s right – daydream.

First day on the job

First day on the job

Say that you want a new job.   You know where you would like to work, – a particular company, or office, whatever the environment – visualize it.  If you can, visit the worksite, so you know what it looks like.  Then, daydream about seeing yourself there.  At the desk in the right hand corner.  See yourself walking in each morning, saying hi to the boss and your coworkers.  Daydream for a few minutes and plan out your first day at work.  Walk yourself through it.  Where will you have lunch?  Who will you have a coffee with?

Travel Plans

Now, you decide you want to travel.  Where?  When?  Daydream about walking along the river in Budapest.  Or the left bank in Paris.  Find photos of your dream vacation, and make a vision board about it.  Then, close your eyes, and visualize yourself getting off the plane in Costa Rica.

Where do you want to go in life?

Where do you want to go in life?

Whew – it’s more humid than I thought!  Oh look – over there, under the palm tree, is a stand selling guava drinks.  Icy cold.  Oh, that tastes so sweet and good!  Walk along the beach, sandals off, warm sand between your toes, soft ocean waves lapping at your feet.

If you can hold it in your head, you can hold it in your hand

Once you daydream your vision, think of one phrase that you can repeat over and over that will help you focus on manifesting your dream.  Something like: “what will it take to visit Kuala Lumpur?” That is the first step in making your dream a reality.  Money? How much? Call a travel agent, go online, find a trip you want to take, know what it will cost, and see yourself saving the money, week by week – a trip jar, perhaps.  Then, put all  (ALL) your spare change, every night, in the trip jar.  A clear glass jar, so you can see the money grow.  Visualize the jar filled to the brim.  See yourself taking the jar to the bank, to convert the change into an airplane ticket. Then, as your creative visualization affirmation, repeat that phrase, “what will it take to visit Kuala Lumpur”,  over and over, maybe 30 times throughout the day, as you go about your day.

Be specific and know it will happen

Think of it like placing an order for a meal in a restaurant.  You order the salmon.  You know you will be served salmon.  You don’t say to the waiter “bring me some food” and wonder about what you will get.  You specifically say “bring me salmon” and you get salmon.  The more

Be specific in setting your goals

Be specific in setting your goals

specific you can make your daydream, the more it will become a reality.  See, feel, taste, hear everything in your daydream that you expect in the manifestation of the reality.  With a few creative visualization affirmations, and deciding what it will take to make it a reality,  you will have the life you want.

Harness the Power of Change

In her book, Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway Dr Susan Jeffers speaks to the result of habituation: “If you always do what you have always done, you will always get what you’ve got.” In other words, unless we break habits and re-focus ourselves to change with mindful purpose, we will Screen Shot 2015-04-03 at 9.15.30 PMalways feel frustrated because we will not be able to break patterns that don’t serve us.

We cannot rely on others to do the changing for us. Self belief and self empowerment, by their very definition, come from within. Living mindfully, with purpose, gives you an opportunity for you to look inside and change any behavior that does not support you in being the best version of you. Here are a few tips to keep you on that path:

AWARENESS

First become AWARE of what you need to change. What habits are blocking you from realizing your full potential? What do you want your future to look like? What is your vision for yourself? The first step is AWARENESS.

BELIEF

Second you must BELIEVE it is possible to change. Many people entertain change in their minds as a kind of fantasy. But it is a reality that lies within your power.

COMMITMENT

The third is COMMITMENT. Motivation is the key to commitment. We must want to change, rather than feel it is our duty to do so. Change can be very challenging when we feel we have to instead of Want To.

DISCIPLINE

Finally we have to have the DISCIPLINE to change. We cannot change ourselves unless we are able to maintain a steady course over time. Think of each step in the process of change as an achievement or major landmark passed. Even if we find ourselves slipping into old habits, that achievement cannot be taken away. We do not have to cover the same ground again: every time we step forward we are covering new road.

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Be Mindful of the Signposts Sent to You

Living a Fearless Life

Screen Shot 2015-03-17 at 9.05.50 PMOnce there was a man whose house was in a flood. He stood on the porch as the waters rose. A boat came by, the driver urged the man to get on board but the man said he knew God has a purpose for him, and was waiting on the Lord to save him. The waters rose, the first floor was flooded and as the man looked out his second story window, another boat came to rescue him. The man turned the boat away, saying he knew God had a purpose for him and  would wait for God to rescue him. Finally he was clinging to the chimney on the roof. A helicopter flew overhead and dropped down a ladder. The man waved it off, saying Jesus would save his life. Finally he was swept away in the waters and drowned. At the pearly gates, he saw God and said, Lord, all my life I lived with purpose, doing as you asked, but when the time came you did not save me. And God said, “I sent you two boats and a helicopter, what else did you want?”

Achieve Stillness in your Daily Living

So, why am I relating this classic joke to you in a blog about finding stillness and balance in your life? As you run through your busy day, holding on to your iPhone which you cannot allow to get more than a foot away from you, think of meeting your Maker like this:

Screen Shot 2015-03-17 at 9.13.09 PM“What’s with the heart attack?” I demand.

“What did you want from me?” He replies. “I sent you yoga, Buddhism, Shakespeare, dolphins, mindful meditation, Brahms, Monet, roses, sunsets…[He talks for a really long time]…and even that Certified Professional Life Coach!”

It’s pretty obvious that knowing what’s good for us isn’t terribly helpful. Ever meet an alcoholic that didn’t know he needed to quit drinking? A sixty-hour-a-week businessman or woman who didn’t, at a very intimate level, know that each evening ended in a sunset–and that the cost of missing those sunsets, night after night, was going to be very, very dear? No one ever ended up on their death bed saying, “I wish I spent more time at the office.”

Repetition is the Mother of Learning

I feel like I should be writing just one very short blog, and posting it over and over: ”You remember all those things we’ve already said? Do that.” Try as you might, no matter how fast you go, or how much you multi-task, you are not going to be able to read everything, absorb everything, figure everything (or anything) out. Instead, just try slowing down enough to be able to hear that voice calling to you through the megaphone from above.

Think of abundance as a car engine.  You put the car in first gear to get started.  If you stay in Screen Shot 2015-03-17 at 9.18.27 PMfirst gear, and try to go faster, the engine goes faster and faster, but the car really doesn’t gain much speed.  Switch to second gear and the engine slows down, allowing the car to go faster.  Third gear – the engine works even slower, and the car goes even faster.  It’s the same with your mind.  Slow down your thinking to go faster towards your goal of more abundance in your life.  Find purpose in life; be mindful of what you think about, and whether you call it meditation, or prayer, or reflection – take the time to slow down your mind, to achieve your goals through purposeful thoughts which will lead to living your purpose.

(with thanks to Psychology Today magazine for the inspiration)

Tree Frogs; Mindful Leap of Faith

I watched a tree frog jump from the safety of the honeysuckle vine, through the air, and Screen Shot 2015-03-14 at 7.44.34 AMland on a leaf of a lily. Tree frogs are tiny. About the size of my thumbnail. Yet, he leaped, after a bit of preparation, straight through the air from a secure perch to a leaf that wobbled and bent as he landed on it.
His preparation consisted of a bit of a neck stretch, a little bit of backside wiggle; he shifted his back feet a bit, and whoosh. Now that is an example of living with purpose! Through the air, several feet off the ground. I thought, what if he were the size of me? How far would that leap be for me?

Getting Ready to Get Ready

I tend to spend too much time preparing for something. Getting ready to get ready. That little frog got me wondering. What am I afraid of that I postpone a leap with busy work? What if I fail? Or, even more frightening, what if I succeed?

Overcome The Fear of Failure

What if I leap and my landing is wobbly, or I fall? How many times does the tree frog fail? Screen Shot 2015-03-14 at 8.04.20 AMJudging by the number of tree frogs in my garden – not very often!! Any leap in life means new directions. I have often read the phrase “take the road less travelled”, which is a leap of faith. Having done that enough times in my life, is there a point where the leap of faith becomes hard wired in me; to leap forward regardless of the possibility of failure?

Take a Purposeful Leap

The tree frog launches himself into the air with no possibility of returning during that leap. So, take a leap of faith, see where you land, and decide where you want to go from there. Make it a purposeful leap.  Make it with mindfulness. Make it a habit to leap forward, and step by step, leap by leap, the distance between where you were and where you are now is a measure of your success.

Take a Mindful Walk and Live with Purpose

Take time for yourself; be mindful of your purpose

Be Mindful with Purpose

be-mindful-with-purpose

This post might be a little out of alignment; and since I am writing with purpose, the visible format is really not terribly important right now.

In my journey to live with purpose, it became apparent that I had lost sight of the very purpose that got me started on the journey.  Re-learning, re-tooling, re-energizing, re-inventing the very essence of me has led to some major soul searching, and my biggest ah-ha moment occurred.  I am afraid of change, leery of success, wary of the new future me.

Overcome the Fear of Success

So, here is where the rubber meets the road.  Or, in the case of the title above, – where I go for a walk, in solitude and contemplation.  How can I possibly know anything about living mindfully if I overlook the very core of living with purpose?  My journey begins afresh, with a very short post today, and much much more to come in my new, refocussed future.

How to Be Mindful at Work and Still Keep Your Job

Once you have started on the path of mindful living, it’s amazing how quickly it becomes a part of your day.  Most of us go through the motions of living, and forget to be conscious of living with purpose,  only to discover at the end of the day, – that you can’t even remember what you had for lunch!!

What do I mean by that?  Well, look at the commute to work.  Many times, you have probably stopped for a traffic light, and thought, “I don’t remember the last couple of minutes of the drive.” You are on automatic pilot, and while, fortunately, you are a competent driver, it’s a bit of a jolt to realize you were driving in a state of unconscious competence.  When we become so immersed in the routine of daily living, that we go through certain parts of it, like driving to work, on automatic pilot, – that’s where the departure from living with purpose occurs.

So, what should we focus on, while going about our day?  This will sound odd, but focus on everything.  Don’t allow the automatic pilot to take over.  Be aware of your surroundings, of sights, sounds, smells.  I work very near a coffee roasting company.  Every day, I smell the incredibly rich and robust smell of coffee being freshly roasted.  When I meet a fellow worker on the way in, I say ” doesn’t that smell wonderful?” and the response is “what smell?”  They are so out of tune with being in the moment that they don’t stop to enjoy the state of being that we spend every moment of our lives in.  Whether awake or asleep, it is our state of being that matters.

If you are a file clerk, or a bank manager, or an astronaut (well, especially if you are an astronaut), focus on every detail of your day; be consciously aware of the purpose of each activity you undertake, make every moment the most important moment of your day.  It’s been often said to live each day as if it were your last.  That’s a bit extreme, really, because it focuses on a somewhat gruesome thought.  I find it much more uplifting to consider each moment as singularly important, because all we have in life in the present moment.

So why not honour that moment.  You will never have another just like it.

 

 

Watching the Sun Rise

I was opening the curtains in the bedroom this morning, and caught a glimpse of the rim of sunlight just washing the tips of the mountain range to the east.  I stopped.  I stood there, relishing in the change of colours on the horizon; inky blue, to deep cobalt blue, to purple,; while the sky rimming the mountains was deep coral, the peach, then the warm butter rich colour of the sun just over the horizon.  I knew it was coming —- in just a moment —– THERE !   The rays of the sun, flooding over the top of the mountains, growing by the second, but so quietly, – like a cat stalking a mouse.  You never see the actual movement, but when you blink, or look away, the cat is in a different place, – a different position.

I stood there, watching the effect of the sun on the valley below.  Magic.

I spent, maybe 10 minutes doing this mindfully.  My mind empty of the tasks ahead today,  I stayed focussed on the beauty of nature opening to the day around me.  It’s important to my state of being in this world to take 10 minutes when they are handed to me, – because it is an unseen force giving me the moment’s gift.  You’ve heard it before.  “Stop and smell the roses”. Listen to that inner voice, whether you call it God, or the universe, or the angels, put whatever title on it that speaks to you.

I know the universe has great plans for me, just as I knew the sun was going to appear.  I may not know the exact moment, but I know abundance is mine, waiting for me to be ready for it.

Today’s Tip for Achieving Your Goals

The very first thing to do, in order to achieve any goal, is to BE HAPPY.

Trite?

I don’t think so. You’ve heard the cliches. “Birds of a Feather Flock Together”. “Great Minds Think Alike”. “You are Your Thoughts”. This translates to “you become what you think about the most”.  In becoming what you think about, birds of your feather will begin to flock to you.  If you have sad thoughts, if you hate the lack of abundance in your life, and wish you had more; as strange as it sounds, you get more lack, and attract sadness.  Because that is what you are thinking about.

So, in order to manifest any of your goals, remember : Don’t Worry – Be Happy.  Just spend five minutes today, telling yourself you are happy, you have abundance in your life, and you can begin to unravel the worry from your life, and…..Be Happy.

Mindfulness – a definition

P1010246

mind·ful·ness
ˈmīn(d)f(ə)lnəs/
noun
1.
the quality or state of being conscious or aware of something.
“their mindfulness of the wider cinematic tradition”
2.
a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique.

Sounds pretty lofty, doesn’t it?  Imagine trying to “calmly” acknowledge and accept one’s feelings.  Gee, really?  But my smart phone is ringing, the kids gotta get up for school, my boss is texting me about today’s crisis (at 7 am? – does she even ever sleep??)

Here’s the shorter definition.  Stop.  Breathe.  Repeat.

That’s it.  Just be.

Join me in the journey to seek ways to achieve mindfulness in daily life.  Follow me as I pass along tips, leads, and suggestions so that you can, step by step, re-learn what you learned so long ago.  And I invite you to share your thoughts on this emerging trend which will soon become a necessary part of your life, every day.