Be Grateful

How often do we value what we are blessed with? Today in this busy world, do we even spare a few minutes to be thankful and grateful for what we are blessed with? I am sure for many of you the answer is a hesitant yes. It’s a fact that most of us remember God only when we are facing troubles or in need of something and not when we are happy with the way our lives are going. True?

Well, I just want to convey one message. What you value in your life increases in value. When you are grateful, you radiate feelings of happiness and you automatically feel happy from within. What you focus on , grows. Try implementing this small yet powerful exercise: Every morning when you open your eyes, say to yourself either in a soft whisper or aloud,” I am so grateful for another beautiful day in my life, Thank You God !” or either create  your own similar affirmations.  Trust me, you will feel a state of bliss and energy throughout the day.  Put this into a habit by doing it for 21 days and see how great you feel about yourself and your life. Your perception will begin to shift.

Maintain Your Perspective

When we come across difficult situations, we tend to over-react and that just makes things worse. The problem is never going to get any better, instead worse. We should stop for a minute and look at the situation from a different perspective, rather be solution-focused and not problem-focused.

I want to share a small story with you that best describes what I mean by maintaining your perspective.

One day, a man with a serious illness was wheeled into a hospital room where another patient was resting on a bed next to the window. As the two became friends, the one next to the window would look out of it and then spend the next few hours describing his roommate the beautiful view of the outside world. Some days he would describe the beauty of the trees in the park across the hospital and on the other days, he would describe to his friend the step-by-step replays of the things people were doing as they walked passed the hospital. However, as time went on, the bedridden man grew frustrated at his inability to see the wonderful things his friend described to him. Eventually, he started to hate him.

Thank You

Thank You are two words that have the power to change your Life as well as others too.  In today's busy World, we very rarely take the time to stop and say thank you which and that is unfortunate because as Mother Teresa simply puts it …

     "There is more hunger for love and appreciation in this world than for bread.”

                                                                                      -Mother Teresa

We are human beings, we all have emotions and we all have that deep desire to be recognized and appreciated for what we do.  Going a little out of the way to say these two precious words will cause no harm but will only make the other person feel recognized, appreciated and you also automatically put yourself in alignment with how grateful you are for the people and things around you. Here’s a small story one of  my close friends shared with me that changed my perspective. (in his very own words)

Take Action

It's an irony- we all want to achieve our goals but we don't want to take action. Instead we just keep procrastinating giving ourselves more time to doubt.

                                  "You want something, go get it period."

  Why make things complicated when we know how simple it is. We know what we have to do, but we don't act upon it.                            

                                                                  

                                                         Why?

 Consider this: While watching a movie, we get inspired by the actor's amazing six pack abs and body, we say to ourselves, "I am going on a diet from tomorrow and I will go to the gym regularly." Next day what happens, we either forget about it or we find some excuses.

 This happens because we were inspired but not motivated. There is quite a difference between the two. Inspiration is a feeling usually gained from external sources, it's a feeling of excitement and a let’s do it now attitude. Inspiration leads to motivation. Where as Motivation is a push from within to take action after being inspired.

Our Deepest Fear

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us - it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Marianne Williamson - Used by Nelson Mandela in his inaugural speech, 1994.

Talking to Yourself

Do you ever find yourself talking to yourself? Either out loud or quietly in your mind? A lot of people associate talking to yourself as a little strange. Some even say that if you talk to yourself, you’re just a lonely person with no real friends and that you may need to seek a psychiatrist. But I don’t agree with that. I don’t even agree with anyone who has anything negative to say about talking to yourself. The reason being that anyone who has a healthy mind will find themselves talking to themselves more often than not. But how does it affect us?

It’s been discovered that talking to yourself is not only normal, but may in act, help a person to become a better problem solver as well as have a more enjoyable life.

When you are talking about yourself, Are your thoughts negative ones or positive one? Many people talk negatively about themselves and have negative thoughts about themselves. Have you ever heard someone say something like, "I just cannot get that right. I am a complete idiot." You have said or you have heard someone say something like, "How could I be so stupid ?" This is a common thing to hear, especially if someone is feeling down about themselves at a particular point. The unfortunate thing is that these people probably don't know what a huge impact that negative self talk and those negative thoughts are having on their lives.

Just Be Nice

How often do you notice random people being nice to you? A waiter at a coffee shop or a shop attendant going out of their way to serve you? Not so often right? But wouldn’t it be great if they did so? And if they did, you would definitely visit that place again and again, right? That is because they made you feel great!

We all have our own busy Worlds in which we are engaged in and never care to do something different. That is because we are on autopilot, doing the same things everyday. Change is all about growing and it starts by creating a new habit in our life. "If we want to grow, we gotta step out of our box." How?

The Power of Acceptance

Very often we find people around us complaining about various things in theirlives. Health challenges, financial difficulties, relationship problems and the list goes on. The only reason they do so is because they do not accept those particular problems or situations and all they do is just complain. Complaining is not going to do any good to the problem but, is only going to make things worse. The law here is simple, "like attracts like", if you are complaining, you are only going to get more of it.

Take a while and think hard. "Problems are only perceived in the mind", if you focus on the problem, you will just aggregate it, but if you focus on a solution to solve it, that is where you choose to be a fighter. Be a solution oriented-person.

But it all starts with one thing, Acceptance. You must first accept a particular situation or problem in your life, this will help you stay calm and get focused on what needs to be done next.

Increase your Value

   In today's world, you will find yourself being compensated not by how hard you work but by how much value you add to the World around you. True?

Think about it. Let's say if you are currently being paid $20 an hour, this money is being given to you not because you showed up at your desk for those sixty minutes but because you have added that much worth of monetary value during those sixty minutes. It is the monetary reward you receive that is determined by not how much you work but by how much value you add.

This is why a brain surgeon is paid so much more than a Mc Donald's employee. Is the brain surgeon a better person? or a harder worker? or a smarter person? Not necessary. But one thing is certain is that the brain surgeon has accumulated more specialized knowledge and specific know-hows than the Mc Donald's employee. 

Learn to Say No

    Ever noticed yourself saying "yes" to others just because you care about your self-image/reputation going down?? 

 This is where we make our biggest mistakes!

I too have said yes to many and regretted it and still do at times. It is indeed easy to yes to every request on our time and that is because our priorities are not clear to us. When your days are not guided by an inspiring vision for your future, a clear image of an end result will help you act more intentionally and it is not hard for the agendas of those around you to dictate your actions. 

"If your priorities don't get scheduled into your planner, other people's priorities will get put into your planner." 

The solution here is to get yourself clear about your life's highest objectives and then to learn to say No gracefully. I know this seems a bit tough, but trust me this will not only help you become the person you've always desired to be but the feeling of that fulfillment will advance you.