Posted in books, Communication, Non-Fiction, Personal Growth, Power of Attraction, Self-Improvement, Uncategorized

The Art of Waking Up: Four Books

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You have the same power as any other human in the world. The main difference between you and someone else is how you apply your power, what you create with your power. You may be similar to others in many ways, but no one in the whole world lives her life the way you do.

Ruiz, Don Miguel. The Mastery of Love: A Practical Guide to the Art of Relationship (A Toltec Wisdom Book) . Amber-Allen Publishing. Kindle Edition.

The way I lived my life this week has opened the doors to my natural, happy self. It wasn’t clear to me in the beginning of the week. My knee swelled up and became painful, I lost my emotional balance, depression began to ooze into my time.

I found myself irritated and short fused. And, worst of all, the messages of the book I struggle to promote reminds me to turn around and find something more pleasant to think about and do.

Fortunately, there is a force within me silently tending to my well-being. I can struggle or not struggle, this force continues to vibrate as constant as my heart. I have a friend in me. — if I can take time to wake up!

Another lucky thing for me: good habits always come in handy, when challenges arise within my days. One of these habits is to call my younger brother on FaceTime. We’ve known each other all of his life, maybe longer I don’t know. We like to share the videos we’ve seen and the books we’ve read. Finally after numerous conversation on the latest book he is reading, it occurred to me I could also read more books if I used the public library.

So, I resurrected my library card and went online to the Sno-Isle Library. Remember I said I was dangling my feet in depression, and with these gloomy attitudes, I had difficulty remembering my login data. I refused to give up and called a librarian for assistance.

As soon as I made this call, the sun shone through and I was on-line, registered, and ready to browse through thousands of books. I began reading, from self-help to romantic fiction. All uplifting books! Each intuitively drew me toward my approach to heal and I was not disappointed.

The first book I chose was, Getting To Yes With Yourself and Other Worthy Opponents, by William Ury.

The second, When Breath Becomes Air, by Paul Kalanithi

The third, Cottage by the Sea, by Debbie Macomber

I looked back over the books previously purchased and was drawn to Ruiz, Don Miguel. The Mastery of Love: A Practical Guide to the Art of Relationship (A Toltec Wisdom Book) . Amber-Allen Publishing. Kindle Edition

So many times I forget to feed myself by reading. I entertain a thought of wasting time? Yet any amount of depression is a higher waste of my time. I take breaks and magically begin to change the look of our house. Without buying a thing our family room becomes a cozy and happy place to hang out. Each break seems to make a difference within our environment. I could feel the change of attitude.

All I can say at this point is thank you, force within me. And, thank you, authors, who break through their personal challenges to share insights, their lives. Authors help us realize we are not alone in our struggles and temporary disappointments. The author’s life experience is generously shared with us. And, we are better people because of them. Not to be redundant, but the initial quote in this blog bears repeating.

You have the same power as any other human in the world. The main difference between you and someone else is how you apply your power, what you create with your power. You may be similar to others in many ways, but no one in the whole world lives her life the way you do.

Ruiz, Don Miguel. The Mastery of Love: A Practical Guide to the Art of Relationship (A Toltec Wisdom Book) . Amber-Allen Publishing. Kindle Edition.

Reading can never be over-rated. During this past week, it has been my saving grace! Best to you!

Posted in books, Non-Fiction, Power of Attraction, Self-Improvement, Uncategorized

The Power of STOP

The Power of StopOne of the interwoven themes in the book, Getting To Happy: Learning to Read Emotional Messages, is the recommendation to STOP in your tracks the moment you recognize uncomfortable emotions.

Powerful emotions overwhelm us at the moment.  When we do not understand their message, when we fight against an emotion, the emotion gets louder, stronger, more intense.  We can work ourselves up into a tantrum. Tantrums affect the well-being of ourselves and those who suffer our outburst.

There is power in stopping.  Getting To Happy recommends that we STOP, LOOK, and FIND SOMETHING THAT FEELS BETTER.  Why does this work so well?

1.  STOPPING.  The brain can think of only one thought at a time.  If you stop the thought of annoyance, you can replace the thought with something that feels better. Feeling good always brings about better outcomes!

2.  STOPPING allows time for a new thought.  Think of the brain as a computer.  We can exit one window and enter another; we can open an additional app to help us with the task at hand.

3.  STOPPING gives us a moment to reset our brain, if needed.  Restarting a computer reorganizes data back to a workable playing field.  When we stop in our tracks, we take ourselves back to first gear.  Sometimes our ignored emotions  are unconsciously embraced and become so loud that we need to put our gear in neutral.

4. The louder the emotion, the farther you are away from your goals.  Achieving your personal goals feels good.  You can think uncomfortable feelings of frustrations, jealousy, loss of control of as STOP SIGNS.   Stay loyal to these emotions and watch them turn into a storm.  But you can learn to read the intensity of a negative emotion as a navigational sign.  These signs show how far away you are from your goals.  Change your direction toward something that feels happier and the uncomfortable feeling will subside. Every time!

There is another trick that will help the STOPPING process.  This is the 5-Minute STOP Rule.

For 5 minutes you do not move forward within the negative feeling. Put the thought triggered and now sustaining the negative emotion on-hold.  Tell it to wait for 5 minutes until you can decide what to do. Tell your brain to wait while you load data.  In the meantime, search for more pleasant ways to think about the situation.  If this search brings more unpleasant emotions, STOP.  Put yourself in time out.  No thinking.  No talking.  Quiet.

Tell yourself: In five minutes I will know how to proceed in a way that allows me to feel happier.  I always can come up with a new solution if I am quiet for five minutes.  I am stopped.

If you find it hard to sit still here are some additional tricks:

  • Read a book.
  • Play an instrument.
  • Catch up on a favorite episode.
  • Look at your photos.
  • Walk around your yard or your neighborhood.
  • Wash your car.
  • Wash your face.
  • Call and cheer up a friend or family member.
  • Change the furniture in your living room.
  • Look in the mirror and renew your friendship!,
  • Read Getting To Happy: Learning to Read Emotional Messages

“Stop the words now. Open the window in the center of your chest, and let the spirits fly in and out.” ― Rumi, The Essential Rumi


Posted in Art, books, Creating Your Dreams, Power of Attraction, Self-Improvement, Uncategorized

Pre-Order “Getting To Happy”

Commit to a happy lifestyle!

Getting To Happy — Learn to Read Emotional Messages has a release date!  You can pre-order on Amazon and have it downloaded to your kindle devices November 21st!  If you are a prime member, you can read it free from the lending library.

I am so pleased to have worked on this project.  Now, I’m planning to create an audio book as an enhancement.  These are satisfying times!

Hello Again! I am still happily writing Getting To Happy and am making great progress.  Here’s a draft of questions and answers  readers might have about this book.  If you have others, please leave a comment and I’ll address your question or comment in this book!  Thank you in advance for your participation!

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Q: How do I know if I am headed in a direction that will provide fabulously fun times?

A: Easy! Look for what feels good and follow that path!

Q. Why this particular topic?

A: See what will happen when we place a moratorium on negative thinking. Become aware of how we feel when we hear negative thoughts. How will we feel when we turn them into alternative positive viewpoints? Let’s ease into awareness of our surroundings. Our goal is to let your positive attitudes lead the way for the sake of happiness, not for getting things we want, and think we don’t have. We will focus on our peace, our abundance and quality of life. I have never regretted time spent looking at the brighter side of life!

Brighter

Q: I don’t have any serious problems, what good will this book do for me?

A: We all have concerns from time to time. We’re brought up to think this is the normal way of living. Many of us focus on health issues, family issues, lonely issues, work issues, dissatisfaction issues, money issues, fix-it syndrome and always a what’s next energy going on. All of these issues come as thoughts to us. We have opinions about our particular situations and our opinions affect our lives. There will always be a what’s next opportunity urging us along. We are here to enjoy life. These sessions will help us expand our understanding of what it means to enjoy life!

Q: I’m happy until someone comes along and makes my life miserable. I don’t see how you can help with that!

A: I can help you realize that what you interpret about another person comes from yourself, not the person you focus upon. You will learn to recognize your attitudes that led up to this irritation. We will focus on just this topic. You probably think it would be wonderful if you could hide away and not have to meet up with anyone who irritated you, but then you might be missing opportunities for growth and great, wonderful experiences with people, places and things that irritate you but could expand your life! We will take time to see if this might be true for you!

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Q: I’m happy until someone tells me I’m naive. I feel pretty stupid to want to be happy and not face reality. I feel life is meant to be hard. Can you help with this?

A. Yes. No one knows you the way you know yourself. No one has lived your life up to now. You are to create and choose your path whether or not others agree with you. Of course, you cannot do others harm, but we are not talking about negative responses to others. We are talking about having the courage to follow your dreams, your desire to live a happy life, no matter how many people chuckle at your endeavors. Never give up! Stay on your course!

“As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live.” – Goethe

The chapters will cover your feeling that life is meant to be hard. Is that what you really feel? Perhaps you have learned to give up trusting your own judgement. You can never allow the happy life you were meant to live if you give up your happiness in order to be friends with others. This is a great question and we will spend time developing plans to allow happiness even when it appears to offend our friends. You also brought up another important premise that gets in our way. You said life is designed to be hard. Actually, negative thinking is a lot harder than positive thinking. You can move pass struggle and pain to a better more satisfying world of cooperation, ease with the flow of energy and create well-being. This will be incorporated into our chapters.

Q: How do these chapters help me in leading my company to a new level?

A: It has everything to do with great, inspirational leadership. When you use your emotional navigation system, you will teach this system to those you lead by example. You will refrain from complaining to your colleagues, acquaintances, confidants and family members about your day. Complaints will keep you right where you are, in a situation you want to get out of. You will not solve your complaint by complaining (one negative plus one negative equals two negatives. But one negative plus two positives is heading in the right direction). When you learn your emotional navigation system, you are able to navigate to a solution that almost seems magical. Not only will those you lead benefit, you will notice a more successful organization and profitability. We were not meant to struggle. We were meant to enjoy the act of creation. It is meant to be fun. You have experienced this exhilaration, or you would not still be a leader. Use these chapters to enhance what you have started.

Q: I have recently lost my job and I am panicked I won’t find another job. I can’t imagine this book can help me?

A: Well, it can. You may not realize it, but look at your words,“lost” and “panicked”. These words are holding you hostage to a situation you really don’t want. Is there a softer way to talk about your situation. Let’s try.

My job has recently terminated. I’ve had new circumstances before and they have been life-changing. I found myself in situations that were better than the one I felt I lost. I am feeling a bit excited to see what new experience awaits me! I know I’ll have to watch my nickels and dimes a bit more carefully for a while, but not for long. I’m free to expand! Wow, that feels better. Life always treats me with such joy and I know this is true now. Here’s my new statement:

My job ended unexpectedly. I realize now that I was ready to move on, even if it is now uncomfortable. Each time I accept the situation I find myself in, life opens up new, exciting horizons! I know I’ll be fine as I explore new opportunities that are ready for me! I feel comfortable in knowing I always am in control of my attitude. I am ready to enter a new phase of my life. It feels fun. It feels exciting.

Re-word your thought process, especially when it comes to conversation with others. This will open up new opportunities for improving your situation.

Set a date to begin this book. You might invite a colleague or group, perhaps a book club, a faith-sharing group, a hiking or camping group, or the like, to join you in your quest for happiness and watch what transpires. I recommend you meet after each chapter, if you are using this book within a group setting. This book is meant to be practiced. Each time you read you will understand a deeper level.

Congratulations on taking this step toward greater enjoyment while you are on earth.

_________________________

Looking forward to publishing this book by December.

Q&A on Getting To Happy

Posted in books, Communication, Creating Your Dreams, Education, Excellence, Non-Fiction, Self-Improvement, Uncategorized

Getting To Happy

Hi everyone!  I’m looking forward to the completion of a work-in-process:  Getting To Happy.  It should be ready for print in December!  What a wonderful, fun project.  It just keeps getting better.

Here is a partial draft as an introduction.  Enjoy!  And, keep smiling!

My Loyalty To Happiness

This book is written for me, and offered to you! I find myself struggling when I unconsciously observe situations around me. I often observe sickness, aging, repetitive suffering, misunderstanding, inability to relate in ways that inspire and allow happiness. I know happiness exists eternally somewhere deep inside. I want to revisit my natural inclination to live a happier, more satisfying life. I want to develop physical representations that are pleasing to me by elevating my attitude. I invite you to come along with me. If you are serious about living a happy life, this can be the book to visit often.

I have been told repeatedly that all good things must come to an end. Family members have insinuated that you can’t be happy all the time. Even though I find myself sinking beyond my natural state of happiness, I firmly believe it is always present. It is up to me to allow the frequency that matches happiness. Happiness is my natural state of being. It is possible to live happily ever after. It is possible to conduct myself within certain attitudes that match happiness. There is little to be gained for me to resonate with the lower vibrations of negative thinking. Happiness doesn’t live there. You can disagree with me. You may consider the pursuit of happiness an immature way to approach life. We are free beings capable of choosing any number of thoughts and attitudes. These writings will help you recognize the connection between your thoughts and attitudes, the guiding force of emotional energy and your physical and material outcomes.

I leave the world of happiness whenever I block my natural pathway with negative illusionary thoughts such as irritation, frustration, worry, apprehension, anger and despair. The experience can be like finding myself within a pinball game where my thoughts bounce back and forth against bumper synapses. I may find myself a long way from happiness, when I am comparing myself to family and friends. As I become aware of these thoughts, and reign them in, I can immediately enter the world of satisfaction and peace. When I am not focusing on fears and concerns provided me by the world news, I can immediately enter the world of quiet, cooperation and love.

Happy thoughts cause life-changing,  waves of vibration that travel well beyond what I could ever do with actions stemming from duty or guilt. I have taught myself to replace negative words with those that hold positivity. Then any actions will collaborate with joy. Your world will always be what you imagined.

….more to come!