this is how you change your world: becoming mindful

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

You say you're interested in saving the world, but what are you doing about it? 
You say we need to save water, but how much have your recently saved? 
You say things are really terrible these days, there is so much hatred and violence, but what are you doing to make things better? 



Making things better starts at home. Making small changes in your environment, in the way you treat the people around you. You will know which changes to make by becoming mindful. Being mindful or becoming more mindful is easy and can be instant. It's about becoming more rooted in the moment, more in control and essentially just being more aware of just being. Mindfulness can change you life, because it changes each moment. You become more aware of the blessings in your life, your way of thinking starts to change, you become more and more grateful. Gratitude and mindfulness stem from each other, they are inter-linked. One will grow the other or strengthen the other.



This is how to be more mindful today. Here. Now.
Take yourself out of your negative thinking patterns by noticing them and then choosing to change them to a grateful thought. Over time this will soon become a habit and negative thinking will be a thing of the past. Negative thinking steals life energy and enthusiasm and joy. It takes you out of your present moment rich with possibilities and opportunities and either propels you forward or backward - into the past which you can do nothing about and must accept or into the future and growing worry there instead of planting seeds now, today, in this moment.

Seeds of joy and happiness and gratitude. This is how you save tomorrow. This is how you make your contribution to a better world. By being better and you can only be better, be happier when you begin to think better and by better I really mean more positively. Which is a choice. So much will happen when you decide to free your mind from the heaviness and the uneasiness of constant, ceaseless worry.  I know, things can be tough. Days can be long and lonely and grueling. But there is so much to be thankful for each day. Choose to focus on that.


Most happy people are happy because they are mindful and refuse to live in any place else than the present moment which we are blessed with again and again and again. Now and now. And now. Another moment. Become thankful for each new moment, every new day. Embrace the unknown and the many forms each day could take on. Where the next few steps could lead you.

Never go to bed without giving thanks. No matter how bad the day was, it was another day. So many are not granted another day each day. Gratitude starts in the morning, waking up and greeting the day joyfully and treating it as a precious gift. Your grateful attitude will be contagious. You will glow. Your thoughts will be lighter, easier to carry. Your life will begin to be a little clearer, even if you are lost. You will gain perspective. You are in control. Take control. 

Notice the plants in your garden - water them. Notice the pets in your house that love you more than you know. Notice their need for love and attention. Notice the people in your street. Your town. Your country. Notice the problems within the social constructs of today. Decide to be an agent for change, in your own way. Be mindful. Be grateful. Be the kindness you wish to see in the world.


self-eficacy

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

if you've been looking for inspiration or motivation, this is it. This is going to be me telling you what you need to hear. This is the truth. Here it is:
  • if you believe you can, you can
  • you decide how to respond to every day 
  • you are capable 
  • you are more than capable
because:
  • you are enough 
  • you are loved
  • you are open to what's to come
  • you are hopeful 
  • you will not let yourself become a black-hole of negativity 
  • you will choose happiness every morning
Life can be beautiful, or it could be boring and monotonic. The fabulous thing about life is that you are living it, and your life is YOURS and you are able to change, no matter how old, no matter how young. Leave what you have been pre-conditioned to believe behind, form your own healthy coping mechanisms, walk in your garden, or outside, or stare out of your window up at the sky and think, wow! This is the sky. This is this day. I get to look out of my window today and look at this sky, isn't it beautiful. Isn't this beautiful? Won't the sky still be beautiful no matter the amount of money in your bank account or the brand of jeans you're wearing? Whether you are young or old? The sky will always be there, being beautiful and you can choose to open your eyes to see that beauty today and for every new day to come. 

The sky's beauty and the beauty in nature, in everything around you has always been silently waiting for you to notice it, so that it can begin to carve an appreciation for the small beautiful things into your heart and make every day a little brighter. 

Do you know that people will be attracted to your positive life-outlook, you have the power to inspire change in others, change for the better. A better world starts with a self-aware, self-evaluating individual who is able to think independently and form their own life path, regardless of circumstance or what others believe is possible for you. Only you get to say what is possible for you. Show them that anything is possible for you. The sky is the limit. 

talking hands

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

I have always been fascinated with people's hands, and the way they carry themselves. I think that hands are the most personal part of ourselves, at times also the most expressive. If you make it a habit, you can without much effort tell a lot about a person's state of being, or state of mind by watching what they do with their hands. People often say it is the eyes that are the window to the soul but the hands I believe are the indicators of emotion, the moment to moment states of existence.  

Strangers are the most complex group of individuals, they are my favourite. People have absolute control over what they project out into the world, little things for others to pick up on, somehow painting a picture of the essence of this person. Some people are extremely hard to read or examine because they do not share much with the rest of us, they "keep to themselves" and I urge you to not overlook people such as these as they are often overlooked or categorized as boring or uninteresting, but these are the people who are watching you and already have you figured out. They would have lots to say, if you would only ask.  


on putting it out there

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

days are given meaning from the things that we choose to do with them, essentially how we spend our time. I feel as though many people these days live as though they are going to have a million days and a million more after that.

This is not true. Our days are finite. Limited.

So, quickly- what is your dream? What do you wish you were? What kind of a world do you wish this world could be? A lot of people's replies would have something to do with being kinder.

But this is the simple truth. To be kinder you should just be. Be kind. Just let yourself be kind. It comes naturally to us.

We have constructed these huge walls and barriers between us and others. We live in physical and emotional separation. I wish we could all be a little kinder. I wish we could live in a kinder world. I know that a revolution of kindness starts with no one other than me.

I choose kindness. I choose to mindfully and actively participate in every day of my life and live this life out with as much kindness in my heart as I possibly can. See the best in people. Be an encourager. Talk about what you love. What moves you. Put yourself out there. Put kindness out there. Kindness will always find its way back to you. Kindness works in strange ways.


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