Are you facing a difficult challenge?

It’s a nice thought, and very comforting to know that regardless of how tough times get, that you can make it through while maintaining a positive outlook.  Knowing yourself and trusting your inner being helps you to understand the ups and downs of life and to persevere during challenging and difficult times.

You can go farther than you ever imagined when you believe and trust in yourself.  The first step to having a positive outlook is to simply believe you are capable of being positive.  A firm belief in yourself helps banish negative thoughts that try to sabotage your thinking during trying times.

The Ups and Downs of Life

You already know that life is made up of many ups and downs.  When things are going great, you almost hope that it lasts forever. When things aren’t going so well, it’s sometimes hard to even imagine life getting better again.

No one expects you to bounce back immediately if you are going through a particularly trying time.  It’s important to take time to grieve and to feel the emotions of life.  By allowing yourself to feel, your positive outlook will return quicker making room for good times.

At just the right time, you will begin to start working towards a better future and be able to experience more “ups” in your life.  When you are honest to yourself, and are open to this idea, you’ll be well on your way to a positive outlook on life.

Believing in Yourself

The key to living a happy and prosperous life is believing in yourself.  Some people believe that phrases such as “If you can dream it, you can do it”, lack truth an meaning. However the sentiment is true. Don’t allow others to put limiting beliefs into your head. If you believe something is possible, you can achieve it with a strong driving force!

While you are going through trying times, it may be difficult to believe you are capable of moving forward.  It’s during these challenging times that you need to take a good look at yourself and muster up your strengths.  Discover your inner strength and learn to trust it.

Using Affirmations

Repeating affirmations to your self daily is a great way to get and keep a positive outlook.  You can use these short, positive statements to communicate with your unconscious mind.

You can write your own affirmations or repeat those that you’ve found in a book or on a website.  The affirmations need to be appropriate for your situation.  Affirmations are an effective way of continually reminding yourself of your strengths and good qualities.  The more you practice saying affirmations, the more effective your results.

Recognizing Your True Self

Every situation, whether positive or negative, carries opportunities for you to get in touch with your true self.  Difficult times are challenges, and if you’re ready to face them with a positive outlook, you’ll discover more about yourself and your capabilities to thrive.

Difficult times can give you the ability to get in touch with your values. Seek the deeper meaning of it all, and always search for the silver lining. Even the toughest and most depressing situations can be opportunities for learning, as long as you open yourself to see the lesson.

Learning for the Future

Use the life lessons you learn during difficult situations to help you cope with future obstacles and to help others. Enjoy your life in the moment to maintain a positive outlook and the happiness your deserve.

The voices in my head tell me …

We all get a kick out the saying “The voices in my head tell me …” statements. This statement isn’t too far from the truth in regards to how your mind works.

Your thoughts are constant. In other words you “talk to yourself” ALL day – every day. These thoughts are the “voices in your head.” You’re probably familiar with the various commercials and cartoons that illustrate an angel on one shoulder whispering in the ear and a devil on the other shoulder whispering in the other hear.

This is the way your mind works. You have one voice telling you:

* You can do it
* You are strong and confident
* Go for your dreams

And then you have that other little voice in your head telling you:

* You can’t do that! Are you kidding me? What happens if you fail? You’ll be labeled a laughing stock
* Do you really want people knowing how weak you are? You are not as confident as others. People will know that you lack confidence.
* Remember when you tried something familiar and failed? Do you want people to know you’re a failure? It’s scary to take a risk.

This is simply the inner struggle of your mind.

The first voice is your inner spirit. It’s telling you your dreams and inspirations. It really wants to guide you in achieving all of your dreams. Your inner spirit wants you to open up the box and jump out of it with arms spread open to embrace all that you can receive and all that you can accomplish.

The second voice is ego. The job of your ego is to keep you safe. However the recordings that the ego relies on – are not necessarily true. These recordings are made of everything that you’ve been told, everything that you have seen and everything that you have experienced. The ego is normally full of self-limiting beliefs. The ego wants you to stay in the box where it’s warm and comfy.

This is where habits are formed. Your habits can either help you or hinder you. They either keep you in a vicious cycle of doing the same things over and over again – while hoping for different results. Or your habits can help you create the life you want and achieve all of your dreams and goals. It’s your choice.

Start listening to the voices in your head. Use your conscious mind to determine what is true and what is not true. Use your conscious to record and establish new positive beliefs about yourself and your future.

Is it time to Spring Clean your mind?

Spring is here! And with it comes new beginnings.

What new beginning would you like in your life?

What would you change?

How do you want your life to be different?

Your dreams can come true – as long as you’re ready to spring clean your mind.

Just like your home – your mind can get chaotic with too much stuff! The clutter in your mind includes old ideas, old attitudes, old conversations, old dreams, old hurts and old habits.

Are any of these thoughts actually benefiting you now?

How do you spring clean your mind?

It all begins with choosing to purse a happier lifestyle that benefits both you and your loved ones. It means that you will need to be willing to get rid of anything that no longer works for you. When you let go of the old you are making room for new and exciting opportunities and challenges.

Your mental spring cleaning will require both a conscious choice and dedicated effort on your part.

The first step is to get rid of the weeds you’ve allowed to grow in your mind. Weeds consist of self-limiting beliefs, hanging onto your past and negative emotions. These thought patterns will only lead to more of the same. If you want your life to be different – It’s imperative that you change your thought patterns.

Why are you hanging onto the past?

You could be hanging on to positive or negative memories. Put the past in the past. It is gone. You cannot relive it.

• Clear out the self-doubt. You are worthy of achieving any of the dreams and goals that you have.
• Clean out the blame in your life. Blame is just an excuse for you not to take responsibility for your own life.
• Clean out the anger, hatred and jealousy. It serves no purpose. It does not harm anyone but you. Let it go.
• Throw away impatience and replace it with patience. Remember patience is a habit. Good things will come to you in the right times. Don’t try to rush them.
• Show love and kindness to everyone – even those that have hurt you in the past. Forgiveness washes your mind clear and allows love to flow.
• Stop procrastinating. All it does is set you up to be frustrated and scrambling around while playing “catch up”.
• Laugh! The world can be difficult and scary at times – Find humor in it. Laugh out loud a few times every day – even if you don’t feel like it.
• Maintain a positive attitude. You may not have control over situations or other people – but you can control your reaction and your attitude towards them.
• Count your blessings. Begin each day being grateful for all that you have and carry your grateful heart with you throughout the day.
• Make a list of at least 10 of your dreams. When stress starts to creep in, refocus your mind and energy on your dreams.

You only have a certain amount of space in your heart and in your mind. When you spend your time thinking, doing and reacting to things in the past, planning for and worrying about the future, you are not focusing on the present.

Live in the present.

Don’t miss out on your wonderful life by reliving yesterday or dreaming about tomorrow.

The Battle

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.

He said, “My son, the battle is between 2 “wolves” inside us all.

One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather,  “Which wolf wins the battle?”

The Old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”

Author Unknown

The wolves simply represent our thoughts

The thoughts we choose determine our attitude and our actions

You feed the one that you think about the most.  This is why it is so important for you to be aware of your thoughts!  We have up to 60,000 thoughts each and every day.  What are you thinking about the most?

If most of your day is spent blaming others for your life … Or if you’re caught in the “Could’ve and Should’ve” mentality, you are feeding the evil wolf.  If you’re like me you may not really like the word evil, but this  type of thinking is bringing everything into your life that YOU DO NOT WANT – so isn’t that evil?  The sad truth is that you are bringing it on yourself.

I also wouldn’t consider your “ego” to be necessarily evil.  Your ego simply tries to keep you safe from harm.  Maybe the author meant an over-inflated ego …

On the other hand, if your thoughts focus on kindness, love, generosity and truth your life will mirror back the same.  You need to be true to yourself.  Find your authentic self.  Feed the good wolf – the one that will ultimately bring you peace and happiness.  The one that will inspire and enrich your life.

Your thoughts and your attitude are what create your life.  Which wolf do you choose?

The simplest way to understand what The Law of Attraction is that your thoughts create your reality. Everything you are right now is based on your thoughts in the past.

The first step to making the Law of Attraction work in your life is to understand your thought patterns.

Both your conscious mind and subconscious are constantly busy with thought. It’s believed that the average person has about 50,000 thoughts per day. That equals 35 thoughts per minute!

It would be impossible for you to monitor each and every thought you have. Based on the understanding that like attracts like, you can control the stream of your thoughts.

Example: You’re going along happily with your day. Somebody snaps at you for no apparent reason … you have two choices ….

1. Realize that the person that snapped at you has the problem – don’t make it yours. Wish the person well; think of 10 things that you’re grateful for. And your day will stay on positive note.
2. Get mad at the person. Yell back at them. You think revenge is sweet. You start thinking of all the bad things they’ve done or said to you in the past. You have just ruined your perfect day.

You can see in the example above that your thoughts will continue in the path that you choose.

Many people think of the Law of Attraction as simply creating wealth. It’s far more than that. It’s creating a happier fulfilling life. Wealth in of itself cannot create a happy life…

In matter of fact the Law of Attraction is not the only Law of the universe at work in your life. One of the teachers of The Secret has put together a wonderful audio series “The 11 Forgotten Laws” which teaches you about the laws and how they work together for you to create the life of your dreams. This series taught me how to make all the laws work for me and how to grasp the true meaning of the Law of Attraction.

Regardless how gloomy things are, you can find things to be grateful for.

If you are in a pile of debt … You can be thankful that the creditors entrusted you with credit when you needed it.

If you hate your job … You can be grateful it puts a roof over your head, it gives you benefits, it’s providing you an education for future job possibliites etc.

I once hated my job so much, that every night when I got in my car, I would call a friend and scream for 5 to 10 minutes on how much I hated my job! Every day I would meet with irate people. I got cursed at constantly. I was always behind in my work.

I then started being thankful for my job. Every day I would state how grateful I was to have great customers who appreciated what I did for them. I was thankful for the opportunity to help serve them.

Within a couple of weeks, I was caught up with my work. My clients always thanked me and told me how great I was. I even got thank you cards from them. This was truly the Law of Attraction at work.

It’s Your Choice

Open the door to negativity, anger, doubt; fear etc, and you are in for a lifetime of heartache.
or
Open the door to positivity, gratefulness, love, joy, confidence and you are in for a Lifetime Full of Happiness

Gratitude is the key to your happiness. When you are grateful for what you have, you are opening the door for more good to come into your life.

“Gratitude is an attitude that hooks us up to our source of supply. And the more grateful you are, the closer you become to your maker, to the architect of the universe, to the spiritual core of your being. It’s a phenomenal lesson” Bob Proctor

Self limiting beliefs are the root cause of what is holding you back in life. We all have them. The first step to defeating self limiting beliefs is understanding that …

Your thoughts are not always true!!!

Don’t you think that it’s good that all of your thoughts aren’t’ true?

A lot of thoughts can be silly and crazy, some depressing or grim. Other people might not understand your thoughts. How many times have you thought … What if the sun didn’t shine?” ” What if that car pulls out in front of me?” or “Wouldn’t it be funny if …”

Wouldn’t it be horrible if all of your worrisome thoughts came to pass? It’s believed that 92% of what we worry about never happens.

We have over 50,000 thoughts every day. Many of your thoughts repeat themselves throughout the day, the week, the month and the years …. Your subconscious begins to accept these repeated thoughts as fact.

This is where a lot of our self-limiting beliefs come from. At some point we hear something or get some thought in our head from an outside influence. It could be that you overheard someone say that you didn’t write or speak well. It could be that you talked too much, were too shy, too thin, too fat, too slow, too clumsy …

The list goes on and on.

As this thought keeps replaying over and over in your head –you begin to believe it and will act accordingly. You will develop habits that keep you aligned with this belief.

Here’s a funny story about me. I am 8 years younger than my sister. Sometime in my life I got it in my head that she had my nephew when she was 16. For years I believed my nephew was 8 years younger than me. A few months ago he came out to visit me – a week after my 50th birthday …

We argued about how old he was. I kept telling him “Marty, I know you are 42! I am 50 and you are 8 years younger than me!!!”

Marty replied “Aunt Cindy, I am 41 years old! I know how old I am.” His children were telling me the same thing.

I was so adamant that he was trying to pull my leg that he finally pulled out his driver’s license out of his wallet and said “Look at my birth date – I am 41 years old!”

I was taken aback. It really hit me how we can totally believe something that isn’t true. Marty lived with me off and on from the time he was 2 to 18 years old. We were/are very close. At one time I had to know his real age.
At some time I got the thought that he was 8 years younger than me and kept repeating it to myself. A thought that was totally untrue – that I convinced myself was fact.

Affirmations work the same way. The problem that many people have with affirmations is that they have thought the negative so long, that their brain simply refuses to believe the positive. This doesn’t mean that affirmations don’t work. They most definitely will work as long as you are ready and willing to release the negative thoughts.

People that struggle with affirmations do so because they have a conversation going on in their head …

A whisper “I am worthy”

A shout “You are no good for nothing and will never amount to anything!!!”

The shout is so loud and has been playing so long that it can be a challenge to overcome, but the payoff is well worth it.

Dick Sutphen’s Sleep Programming is an extraordinarily powerful audio experience that will super-charge your subconscious to positively change your most basic beliefs about personal success and happiness at the level where it matters most: your subconscious mind. And it does it all while you enjoy a calm, restful sleep!

One of the techniques to “Let Go” of self-limiting beliefs is through meditation and relaxation. Listening to Sleep Programming High Achievers Mega-Kit By Dick Sutphen helps you to achieve the results you want while you sleep.

You owe it to yourself to let go of self limiting beliefs that are holding you back, keeping you from the relationships you desire, the career you want and the life that you deserve

Have you ever sat back and thought how wonderful it would be if you could just wish things true?

We are brought up with these fantasies, as they are embodied in the fairy tale of Aladdin and the Magic Lamp. TV brings us the reruns of I Dream of Jeannie; Many movies and books also feed our imagination with genies, witches, and ghosts.

The dream of instant riches is evident in the popularity of gambling and state lotteries. Countless numbers of people spend their last dollar – or their rent – for the slight chance of winning millions and having their entire lives change in the course of minutes.

The irony of all of this is that we humans have always had the power to obtain our dreams all along. How? By working with The Law of Attraction. This law has been around since the universe began and is working in your life right now – whether or not you know about or believe it.

What is The Law of Attraction?

You get what you think about, your thoughts determine your destiny. Thoughts have an energy all their own, and they attract things which have a common energy. It is one of the Laws of the Divine Universe and it applies to everyone. It is as unbreakable as any law of science or mathematics. It does not even require your belief to work. Only to control it, to seize your destiny, must you believe in the Law’s power.

You’re probably asking how you can use the Law of Attraction to create the life you dream of. Here are some guidelines to help you get started …

1. Decide EXACTLY what it is that you want. You want to have a clear specific thought of what it is you want to create. If this is hard for you, you might think of what you don’t want – the reverse will more than likely be what you do want.

2. Set time aside each day to meditate. Concentrate on FEELING like you already have what you desire right now. You are living in your dream home. You are driving your brand new red sports car. You are financially independent. etc …

3. Show GRATTITUDE for what you already have, as well as what you are attracting. Say “I am so happy and thankful now that …” This helps you to obtain and maintain the positive vibrations needed to attract good things into your life. Often times, we don’t get what we want, because we are focusing on the negative. If we are waging war in our minds about what we don’t want – we are thinking about it.

Remember: The Law is working in all places at all times. It’s up to your to use it for yourself, rather than allow it to use you.

Growing up I used to love to watch “Bewitched” and “I dream of Jeannie”. What fascinated me so much about those shows was the magic of having whatever you wanted. As with the rest of the world I was taught that it is all “Make Believe” and that Magic is not real.

Over the last few years I have come to believe that “Magic” is indeed real – when used appropriately with the Law of Attraction.

When we learn to harness the power of our own thoughts and feelings we can in essence attract that which we desire. It doesn’t come as fast as Bewitched snapping her fingers and ending up in New York …..

But, stop and think about it. If you have a burning desire to go to New York, and begin thinking about New York, planning your vacation, deciding which hotels you’d like to stay in, etc–then you are in the beginning stages of making it happen. Note: I haven’t said you’ve purchased the tickets, set a date or have a definitive plan.

What you are doing is putting the positive energy out into the universe, stating that you will visit New York, stay at a particular hotel, see specific sites, etc…. As you continue to send out this positive energy into the universe, Magic will happen.

You will find an incredible opportunity to go to New York, stay at the hotel of your choice, see the sites … And at the same time as the opportunity comes to you – a means to pay for it will appear. The trip might even show up as a gift or as a prize in a contest you entered.

In Bewitched, you’ll notice that Samantha is forever trying to teach Tabitha the ins and outs of magic. She is teaching her daughter how to be responsible and how to use her powers wisely.

The same goes for us! We need to learn how to use the power of The Law of Attraction wisely. The Law of Attraction is truly a simple process – we just like to fumble it up in our minds.

First – You need to DECIDE exactly what it is that you want.

Second – You need to FEEL like you already have it.

Third – You need to ALLOW the universe to provide it.

Begin practicing these simple steps of the Law of Attraction and you will begin to see MAGIC happen in your life.

Everyone has an imagination …

So why doesn’t everyone use it for their own benefit?

If you want to create the life of your dreams it is imperative that you use your imagination.

What comes to mind when you think of your imagination?
Do you think of children conjuring up monsters in the closet or imaginary friends?
Do you think of children playing with dolls, Legos, Tinker-toys or other games?
Do you think that imagination is something that adults never use?

According to Dictionary.com: Imagination – “The faculty of imagining, or of forming mental images or concepts of what is not actually present to the senses.”

“Forming mental images” – now that’s something most of us can relate to. We form mental images in our heads all of the time – How to decorate our home; What our vacation will be like; What we plan on doing over the week-end etc.

Using your imagination makes it possible to experience any and everything just by forming the mental images of it in your mind. Everyone – regardless of age possesses the ability to imagine. Though some people have developed it into an art form.

Children naturally use their imagination. As they grow older, they constantly hear adults telling them to “Stop Daydreaming”. Children believe what they are told, and as they grow older begin to lose the power and the wonder of their imagination.

Daydreaming may seem impractical to some, but without creativity and imagination where would we be today? We wouldn’t have the luxury of electricity, televisions, computers, phones, cars, washing machines etc. We also wouldn’t have the luxury of reading – after all without imagination, Harry Potter, Gone With the Wind, The Wizard of Oz, Star Trek etc would not exist. Our own imagination is what allows us to enjoy reading and being whisked away to faraway places.

Your imagination allows you to not only see mental images in your mind – You can also imagine physical sensations, feelings and emotions. Taking a “mental vacation” reduces stress as it frees your mind from tasks, difficulties and unpleasant circumstances that are currently challenging to you.

Why do so many adults lack imagination?
The answer may lay in the fact that it gets squashed and put down as we get older. When children begin the pre-teen stage it’s no longer acceptable to play with imaginary friends, to create a life with dolls or to build imaginary characters and building with Legos.

The older we get, the more we are told to be “realistic”. We are told we can’t go to a certain college because we aren’t smart or rich enough. We’re told to stop dreaming about visiting faraway places – because it will never happen. We are told we have to work hard for a company with benefits. We become slaves of what other people think and say we can or cannot do.

#1 Reason Why You Must Use Your Imagination
Is simply to CREATE THE LIFE You Desire! Your imagination is what will allow you to visualize your dream life. It will allow you to see, feel and taste the kind of life you want to live.

Visualization has helped millions of people achieve goals. And it can be the most powerful tool for achievement you have ever used. Whether it is for decision making, problem solving, heightening creativity or controlling a specific behavior, The Power of Visualization can transform your life. Let Dr. Lee Pulos teach you that, truly, seeing is achieving.

By developing a strong imagination you will be strengthening your creativity. Through the art of visualization when you learn to work with your imagination you will be on the path to making ALL of your heart’s desires come true.

You can begin to develop a strong imagination by using “The Power of VisualizationBy Lee Pulos, Ph.D.

Stress is a natural and positive adaptation. Stress is what pushes us to get stuff done; however in our modern lives, the stress has built up too much and we don’t have enough releases. If we don’t get rid of this stress and anxiety, it can lead to serious health problems. There are many techniques out there to get rid of stress, but why not try one of the simplest options: positive thinking?

How we think controls what we do and how we handle our lives. If a negative thinker is in a stressful situation, they’ll spend their time worrying about the situation, anticipating the worst, and ignoring the positives.

When a positive thinker is faced with a stressful situation, they instead focus on how they can overcome the situation an what they can learn from it.

A negative thinker gets bogged down by anxiety while positive thinkers are busy solving and learning from hardship.

Coincidentally, people who think positively are not only less stressed and better at coping, they’re also less likely to get communicable and non-communicable disease, have a greater sense of well-being, and they even live longer. So cut off those destructive negative thoughts and think positively.

You’re probably thinking “That’s nice, but how do I actually change my thought from negative to positive?”

The truth is that most of our thinking is automatic. This means it takes time and effort to change our thoughts, but it doesn’t mean it’s impossible.

Take time to stop regularly throughout the day and reflect on your thoughts. Take specific negative thoughts you have and write them down. Next to them, write a positive version of each negative thought, then get rid of the negatives and keep the positives.

Keep telling yourself the positive thoughts throughout the day. If you keep telling yourself the same things over and over, you’ll eventually start to believe them and start to think about them automatically.

If you have an anxiety disorder, you may find there are so many negative thoughts swirling around in your head they’re just impossible to get rid of.

While you make one thought positive, 10 more negative thoughts pop into your head. Such an overwhelming amount of negative thought can be difficult to overcome. If you recognize this problem, then you’ll probably benefit from meditation. This is a breathing and focusing method used to relax your body and clear your mind. Once you remove obsessive negative thoughts from your head, then you can then start to replace them with positive thoughts.

The road to less anxiety is long, and it’s not easy. If you keep at it, you’ll eventually learn to live a happier, healthier, longer life.