It’s that time again. Time for the Encourager of the month, where you get to meet and greet brilliant beings who shine their light for the rest of us to enjoy. Today’s guest author is the lovely Sandra Pawula author and founder of Always Well Within. Thanks Elle, it’s great to be here. Ever feel like you’re chained to a stress treadmill and there’s no way off? I understand. I’ve been there! I’ve led a high stress life so I know stress can feel insurmountable. And, ironically, there’s a seed of truth in this feeling because the chronic activation of the stress response can actually decrease your ability to cope with taxing experiences and gradually impair the biochemical feedback loop that turns off the stress cycle. Even so, I want you to know it’s not hopeless at all because science has demonstrated you can change your brain. You can learn…
[success]Plant seeds of expectation in your mind; cultivate thoughts that anticipate achievement. Believe in yourself as being capable of overcoming all obstacles and weaknesses. ~ Norman Vincent Peale[/success] Would you say that you’re so strong that nothing can get between you and your peace of mind? Do you have tactics that help you manage that feeling of being battered by the storms of life, by overwhelm? Do you tend to speak of health, happiness and success and how everything is easy? Or do you tend to speak mostly about how busy you are and how you don’t have enough hours in the day. We’re all living busy lives and heaven knows we’ve probably got more demands placed on us than ever in our modern world, all of which are, of course, uber important. Whatever is going on in your life right now, this minute, whatever facts you’re faced with, however…
[success]The big challenge is to become all that you have the possibility of becoming. You cannot believe what it does to the human spirit to maximize your human potential and stretch yourself to the limit. ~ Jim Rohn[/success] The whole point of life is to live the way you want to. Not to be overly concerned with fitting in. Not to try to be what other people think you should be. And most certainly not to allow your current experiences to sway you from following your heart. You want a brighter tomorrow, to live free of pressure, to be in control of your own life, to be unafraid. And living a trouble free live would be a huge bonus. Yet we can’t live the way we want to whilst we are: Slaves to outer circumstance Too often we let outer circumstances determine our thoughts and if we keep on thinking…
[success]Most of what we say and do is not essential. If you can eliminate it, you’ll have more time, and more tranquillity. Ask yourself at every moment, is this necessary? ~ Marcus Aurelius [/success] When we first begin to grasp that the life we lead is all our own work, we might panic. Gulp, now I’m in charge. Heck, what comes next? Or we might turn into overnight dictators…follow me folks, this is the way to love and enlightenment. And then there’s that other route…the one that leads to overwhelm and a dispirited soul. Probably more vice than virtue here. We devour books and learn new practices, we attend every spiritual class within easy access and many that aren’t so easily accessed. Think retreats in Peru…lovely…but a long way to travel for most of us. We want to experience it all, preferable in one gigantic mouthful. Swallowing life and spiritual food as quickly…
Incredible change happens in your life when you decide to take control of what you do have power over instead of craving control over what you don’t. ~ Steve Mariboli Who else loves a list? I have lists of things I want to read (someday), places I want to visit (now please), people I need to contact again (been too long) not to mention the more mundane grocery and to do-lists. Sorry, didn’t mean to mention them. As a list lover I thought it might to fun to have a list of things that could lead to more happiness. Some as designated by psychologists, who should know these things, and some designated by me who just knows what makes me happy. My desire is that some of them make you happy too. Although, truth be told I think if we just copied number 10 pm from Ben Franklin’s list below,…