Happiness is Contagious

www.imcontagious.com
This little site came to my attention recently via a link sent by a friend. The original link was focusing on how the media have a strong tendancy to lean on the side of fear when reporting the news. This is evident in the curious answer of a news reporter to a question about when was the last time a story of hope similar to the Chilian miners had so much coverage. His response was, Apollo 13...back in the 1970s.
It is a curious thing that often good news isn't reported. It tends to be more about what jobs are going down the shoot and then kind of leaps on from there. Imagine how much more energy you could generate for yourself by hearing some news that focused on hope and happiness?
Either way, one daily thought on a happy note might be a good place to start! :)

Being an Artist

Born like an Artist - by a Norwegian artist called IdaEva (Jellyvampire.deviantart.com)

A rare little jem of a comic, which simply, beautifully and gently embraces the ups and downs of realising your artistic mind. Creativity is a wonderful thing, and all too often we either suppress it or ignore it or try to fit it into a shape that simply doesn't work.
Visit the link to give your soul a rest and enjoy! : )

Poetic approach to changing habits

I came across this beautiful little story/poem on a site recently and had to share.

There’s A Hole In My Sidewalk

(Autobiography in Five Chapters)
By Portia Nelson
(1) I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost ... I am hopeless.
It isn't my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.

(2) I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don't see it.
I fall in again.
I can't believe I'm in the same place.
But it isn't my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.

(3) I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in ... it's a habit.
My eyes are open.
I know where I am.
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.

(4) I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.

(5) I walk down another street.

Life happens when you're busy making plans

It's been January since I last blogged on this spot. I had a number of amazing plans for the site, for the blog and for advertising my business. In fact, the year was planned for great things, ranging from really pushing my coaching to branching out and learning new skills and developing existing ones.
The sky, so to speak, was the limit.
Then a close family member became ill. They'd been ill for some time, but were managing to get through their routines, their life and their daily existence with a good sense of gusto. In January it just went rapidly downhill. February, they finally passed away to a new journey and hopefully new adventure.
In the blink of an eye all the lovely plans just became null and void. Life and family became the focus. There was no room for business, no room for hobbies and no room for plans. The future was put on hold. It was simply a case of living day to day with doing the best you can and dealing with the various emotions creeping up from grief.
On top of all this, suddenly living arrangements changed. A move of house was on the cards, an unplanned move. The energy hadn't fully returned and this now demanded a lot of attention and time. Throw in a husband studying an intensive course while just having changed jobs and you can see the stress levels were pretty high!
It is now the end of April, and I'm amazed how for nearly four months, I've managed to cope. Things become sharper, they become clear in terms of what is important and what isn't. In a way that clarity removes a lot of drama, excess baggage and uneccessary things that you might have ordinarily put up with.
The last while has been a roller coaster of emotions and feelings to say the least, but only now can I begin to see that the journey has developed my character. It's nice to see a clearer glade ahead where I can relax and gather my energy again and find out how this new character development fits into the bigger picture of who I am.
Sure I want to have plans, I want to plan ahead in some way and have a focus and direction. I just don't want it to be so misguided that the important things get overlooked and only focused upon when a death occurs or someones ill. I want to enjoy life, enjoy planning and just roll with it all. I'm going to start by taking a walk on the beach while the sun is still out...we'll see how the rest of it goes! : )

Review January...isn't that a good idea?

January is often considered one of the most difficult months. It is the longest month between paycheques, and often the coldest. It doesn’t exactly inspire many and when you make resolutions that you don’t stick to, it can have a detrimental effect on your self esteem and willpower.
So what can you learn about yourself and your habits from the last 31 days?
Let’s divide it into 4 different categories to help you learn more about yourself.
FINANCES SUPPORT WELLBEING COMFORT ZONE

Taking each category separately, answer the series of questions below to assist you to find out how you used your TIME AND ENERGY, for the month of January. The questions below will be often repeated over the next year, as a way to offer some focus.
Finances:
• How did you manage your finances over the last number of weeks?
• In what areas did you find your finances taking the biggest hit?
• How can you reduce this hit for the next month?
• What do you like or dislike about money?
Wellbeing:
• How often did you exercise or get out and about for the month?
• What type of foods gave you energy and what took away your energy?
• What type of interactions with others gave you a boost?
• When did you find yourself lacking in enthusiasm and will power?
Support:
• How do you define support?
• What type of support do you give to yourself?
• Where does your time go every day?
• If you had a team of supporters for the day, how would you use them?
Comfort zone:
• What challenges did you encounter during January?
• Can you outline any type of stress you dealt with this month?
• How was your most productive day spent during January?
• Where or When, did you find yourself out of your depth?
So, going into February, is there anything from your answers that might help you towards making it a better month?
If you can look back on 2011 as the year you broke some old patterns and bad habits, wouldn’t that be a successful year! Let’s aim to get each month working for you to make better use of the time and the energy that is currently available. Get to know yourself, be honest with your answers each month and trust in your ability to change.

Being mindful

Over the last couple of weeks I have noticed an uneasy pattern forming. Watching the news and having weather disrupt the daily routine, seems to have been mostly negative in nature. The reports in this country for most of the time have been largely ones of doom and gloom about the economy, cutbacks, taxes and living in general.
I felt myself becoming hopeless, and found my mood down and my mind distracted with fearful thoughts. It fed into the whole situation and highlighted stress in other areas of my life. This frenzy of downward thinking continued until today.
For some time I've had this nagging feeling that meditation would be a good idea. Exercise and yoga would be a nice addition, but the whole act of meditating seemed to resonate quite loudly with me. So the internet helped in my research to fing out about some of the various forms of meditation and how to start it off.
What struck me having waded through many sites on it however, was this one aspect of mediation outlined in a lovely document on the site www.swarmij.com. I've taken a portion of it to give you an example, but recommend you visit the site to read it in its entirety.
"Once my Master said, “Stand there.” We were talking about destiny. I stood. He said, “Will you please lift one foot off the ground?” And I lifted my foot. He said, “Now lift both feet off the ground.” I said, “I’m sorry, I cannot do it.” He thus taught me that 50% of your destiny is in your hands and 50% is with Providence. Will you please play your part so that Providence helps you?"
The above story made me sit up and take notice, as I realised that the 50% that is in my hands is around my thoughts. These thoughts can focus on negative or positive, and as such actions can arise out of these thoughts that will help or hinder me and how I live.
In days like these, isn't it good to consider that we can be mindful and gain some peace from simply taking the time to be still and watch our thoughts?

What illness might you be creating?

An interesting book that raises some questions about how your emotions can manifest into illness, is the Louise Hay book, 'Heal your body'. In it, she outlines various emotional distresses that are linked to a variety of common ailments. She also lists a variety of relevant affirmations that can assist with you clearing out the emotional stress and thus create self healing in the body.
The reason I bring the book up, is because recently I noticed something odd. Going for an eye test, I noticed that there were quite a lot of other people waiting to get glasses or tested. The shop also promoted hearing tests, and there seemed to be a reasonable amount of people waiting for this too.
I've also noticed an increase in the amount of people that are suffering from ear problems, myself included. The weather and various other factors can always be taken into consideration. However, what struck me is the following. What if, in the last number of months, with the various projections for the coming budget and doom and gloom, we simply don't want to see or hear about it any more? What if, after prolonged exposure to it all, listening to the forecast for employment and seeing the effects it has had on various people or yourself, you just want to stop listening and stop having it in your life.
Could it be that after many months of dealing with it, we are now seeing the emotional stress of our countries situation manifesting in everyone? It was interesting that there seemed to be a lot more people on crutches last year for some reason...quite possibly due to feeling ungrounded perhaps?
Either way there is something to consider in all of this. The biggest thing being that if such outside circumstances can take its toll on your health in any way, isn't it best to take control and release the dis-stress associated with it. In case you read this and find it resonating with something inside you, perhaps Louises book might be the best investment for a present this year!