It may come as a surprise to you but gratitude is one of the most effective ways to increase your own happiness—and the happiness of others. Did you know that practicing gratitude can also make you healthier, less stressed and more optimistic? Embracing gratitude may not be so difficult when things are going well, but it is important to realize how extremely powerful it can be when going through difficult times. The more we can focus on being thankful and expressing gratitude, the less time we have to sit in our stew of worries. Now this isn’t something that comes easy for a lot of people. I think of thankfulness and gratitude like a muscle that needs to be exercised and strengthened. MINDSET MATTERS. The daily activity of looking at your life through a Lens of Gratitude can be just the thing to help shift our mindset to from HUM DRUM LA- DE- DA to SHA-BANG WOW! DIRECTIONS: It takes 21 days to make something a habit. Your challenge is to complete the DAILY GRATITUDE JOURNAL for the next 21 days. By doing this you can train your brain to recognize things throughout your day to be grateful and thankful for. At the end of the 21 days, you should notice a BIG difference. Are you living a BRAVE life? Might seem like an easy question to answer but hold off just a minute. Really sit back and think about your life, your goals, your dreams and your relationships.
NOW are you living a brave life?? Or are you too scared of disappointing others to be your true self. It took me MANY years.... like 30 years... FOR REALS Y'ALL!!!... to finally get to a place where I was OK with who I was and I was ready to live authentically as who I wanted to be. I was always scared of upsetting family and going against the grain of who they WANTED me to be or who they THOUGHT I should be. The last 8 years of living my life for me have been the most liberating and I have truly learned the most about myself. Was it hard?? YES!! Was it easy?? NOPE!! Did I lose some relationships with friends and family?? I sure did. But... I learned a lot about the people around me also. Those who stuck around truly wanted what was best for me, They supported me in being the best me I could be and accepted me unconditionally. And THAT meant the world to me. Some finally came around, after some time. I hope it's because they were able to see how truly happy I was and that the choices I made were actually good ones. I hope that my ability to make the decision to live my life for me inspired some of them to do the same. To not give in to the pressure to conform-- instead to be true to who you are and what you WANT and NEED in life. To DEMAND the ability to define that for yourself. Disappointment from other will happen regardless of the choices you make. There is no way to make everyone happy. Remember its NOT THEIR LIFE---- ITS YOURS! Don't waste it living for others. So---- are you ready to start living your life for you??? Not sure where to start?? If so--- let's chat!! I realized something about 2 years into my relationship with my husband that I found comfort in a strange place... his feet!! FOR REALS y'all and I don't even LIKE FEET!!! But there was something about climbing into bed and having his foot brush against mine. Even in those times if conflict-- I know I know never go to bed angry-- but we are human and shit happens-- so that happens sometimes too. Anyway-- even in times of conflict I noticed we would climb into bed and his foot would slowly (sometimes S-L-O-W-L-Y!!!!!) find its way to my side of the bed and brush right up against mine and this feeling of comfort and calm would take over my body.
The funny thing is a few years later in a heartfelt conversation I mentioned to him how much that random act meant to me and he looked at me like I was CRAZY! LOL he had no idea he was even doing it. But LORD it meant the world to me! MORAL OF THE STORY: Start touching feet!!!!! Just kidding-- find your own version of "feet"-- what is it that your partner does to make you feel comfort? Is there something you consciously do to help them feel comfort? If not-- what can you start doing? Do it-- do it some more- and do it often!! BONUS!!!! Acts like this done on a consistent basis can help build intimacy!! (BowChicaBowWow) Not just the sexy kind but the emotional kind too (DOUBLE BONUS!!) |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
September 2017
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