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Monthly Archives: January 2019
Have you ever been through a struggle or a difficult time in your life and you dwell on all the trials and tribulations you have faced? It is so easy to focus on the negative. To only see the bad. Learning to see the good or the positive is so much harder! Our brains are wired to see the negative in things as a defense mechanism. You know, from back in the day when we were cavemen and we had to watch for dangers everywhere! Well now that’s not normally an issue for us, but our brains have not evolved from looking for dangers or the negatives, so they are easier to find, thus making it easier to focus on. But what if you put in the effort and asked yourself, what am I learning/have learned from this journey? How have I evolved? How have I become a better person at this point? Has it strengthened you in a place you were previously weak? Find the good and leave the bad behind. Seeking out the positive aspects will help you in so many ways!
I will not sugar coat this. If you tend to be a more negative person, or even if you are normally positive, but you’ve been stuck in a negative rut… It will take some elbow grease to pull yourself out of that hole. But get to pulling dollface! It will be worth the work. It will take an almost constant reminder to yourself in the beginning not to dwell/think negatively/create scenarios in your head that aren’t there, lol. But quickly it will require less reminding and become a habit of being more positive. Change the way you think! Pay attention to your thoughts and your words… You may be shocked in the beginning to realize how often negativity pops its ugly head out! When you notice that, contradict it with something positive. For example: When Stephanie walks into your office in the morning if you catch your first thought being “Oh great what is she in here to complain about?” you are putting that vibe out there! Grab yourself and set the tone! “Good Morning Stephanie! What can I help you with?” You now have changed everything to a much friendlier, inviting setting than what your thoughts started off as.
This is something that takes work, and lots of it! I try to keep little reminders at my desk, in my car, my calendar/journal… so I have a glimpse of something positive and reassuring at different times of the day. It just seems like when you need it, you notice it. Positivity is like bathing… you need it daily. I am not always good at “looking on the bright side”. I realize that my surroundings tend to have a lot to do with that. I let my self get so engulfed in those around me or what is going on around me, that I very easily, can become consumed with the bad vibes that I am “breathing in”. I have been working on being more aware of my surroundings and limiting my exposure or giving myself a chance to detox from it. Sometimes that may be a situation or a person. And not to say this person or situation is always bad, but it may be bad, for me, at the moment. You must be able to realize this and do what is best for you. Which could be taking a step back for a minute and assessing is this person/place/thing just having a bad day? If so give them their space and reevaluate another day. When the evaluation time comes up… Make the best decision for you. Be sure it is the vibe you need and not something you have to tolerate! That’s not healthy and it won’t help your journey.
Exercise! Eat well (aka eat your veggies!)! Get some rest! I know this sounds crazy but taking care of yourself, will in turn help you in this journey. These are all things that will get you in a good mind set and help you to see the best in everything. You can’t make everything around you right if you have started with yourself! So, start there! Make the best version of you and it will help everything else fall into line.
I have in recent months discovered podcasts! I. Love. Podcasts. Not all of them, but certain topics, podcasters, etc. are so interesting to me. I will play these at my desk while I work or in my car when I am driving. Some, I take more from than others. But there have been a few who truly resonate with me. Some of my very favorites have been The Chalene Johnson Show! When I tell you, I have become OBSSESSED with her… you just don’t know! I drug Jody to Dallas to see her show. It was a live tapping for one of her podcasts. I am pretty sure at this point she is my spirit animal! I thought it was Khloe Kardashian… which still is partially true, but Chalene Johnson is my spirit animal!
If I did podcasts… they would almost mirror hers. I like to think about things from a psychological point/analytical place. I like to think about human behavior and what drives people and makes them think certain ways. So many topics she hits on, come from this same place I feel. She did one podcast that touched on the fact that the way you end up as an adult could be because of things you subconsciously retained/were told as a kid by your parents/family. An example… Are you a shy adult? It could be because when you were younger and someone would try to talk to you and you wouldn’t respond (or didn’t do it fast enough) you parents/siblings/etc. would say “oh, she’s shy”. This helps engrain that thought and if you weren’t shy, it may help you to believe you were. And if you believe this growing up, you can “keep this shyness” until you believe and live the fact that you are shy. It is really an interesting thought. It proves how powerful our thoughts are. What we can manifest by thinking in a positive or negative way.
I follow Chalene on Snapchat and Instagram. For the next 21 days she is giving tips to declutter your house. Because once again she believes she is an organized person, therefor she is. So, she is giving tips that help save time and to create these habits of be organized and clutter free. This is something I have been trying to do for quite some time but have been unsuccessful thus far. In the lead up to doing this, she gave some tricks she has figured out to help with storage, downsizing, organizing, and decluttering. Even things as simple as buying matching hangers, because not only does it save on room, but it is aesthetically appealing to the eye, so it makes the eye and the brain happy! I started evaluating what I could do to help get my house in order! And then on one of her Instagram stories she said something that seem to kickstart things for me. She said one problem people have is they try to tackle something to large for the time frame they have. Meaning don’t take on a 3-hour project when you only have 30 minutes-1 hour. You will walk away feeling like a failure or displeased with yourself that you did not complete the task you started. Well that right there spoke to my soul. Because I do that! I think of what’s the largest task I can tackle in my house (or my life in general, lol, let’s be real) to get stuff done… and then I give myself, oh about 13 minutes to complete said task! And I have questioned why I go crazy! It’s self-inflicted! But I took her advice. Late Sunday evening I decided I needed to kick off my decluttering journey and pick something small to start with that I could complete at a descent hour and feel like I made headway! So, I looked around and decided to tackle our washer and dryer area. It was completely cluttered with junk, clothes, Christmas gifts that had yet to find a home and other odd and ends. I spent about 30-45 minutes and had the entire thing organized, cleaned, and everything put away. Once I completed that it had trickled over into organizing my shelf in the bathroom. This felt great! I threw out so much “crap”. Things that I didn’t want or need. It felt so uplifting and freeing to clear out all this trash and organize!
I would recommend doing this for anyone stuck in a funk! Trying cleaning out the things around you! It will be like a breath of fresh air! It’s great what “purging” your surroundings will do for you! That may be in a physical sense or emotionally. It could be friends/relationships that are emotionally or mentally draining. There are so many scenarios you could apply this to. But if it is harmful to you mentally, physically, emotionally, etc. PURGE IT!
Now do yourself a favor and go check out Chalene’s podcasts! If nothing else she should make you laugh at least once in each episode!
