Manifest Your Desires by Taking Action

Gram’s Wisdom 14: Manifestation motivation

My Gram told me if you are motivated enough you can have whatever you desire. This statement probably always came after I said, “gee I wish I had…” Having raised 6 children as a young widow during the depression, I’m sure she knew a lot about what children wished for. But she always took me seriously and would ask me how badly I wanted that thing, and what was I willing to do to get it. Then she would tell me, “you work harder to get what you want when the motivation is there.” But along with the hard work, she believed a good plan was also important. “Without a plan, you are only wishing” is what I was told.

No, she didn’t call it manifestation or law of attraction but that’s exactly what it was.

Manifest your reality

Manifestation is the action you take to create a new reality or accomplish a goal by using the power of your thoughts. But, one of the largest misconceptions and most misunderstood principles of manifesting a dream is that it ONLY involves thinking. In other words, many people believe that, if you think it, it will happen. Or just dreaming something will cause it to appear magically out of thin air.

These misconceptions are why so many remain skeptical of manifestation as a legitimate strategy for improving your life. While your thoughts and beliefs are indeed the foundation for manifesting your goals, without action, they continue to stay in the realm of dreams. Manifestation is about using your ideas to transform your efforts to get what you want. It is about Being, Doing, and Having, not just thinking. Let’s look at how taking action affects your ability to manifest your desires.

“A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination, and hard work.”

— Colin Powell

Your thoughts into action

Whether or not you believe in manifestation, you likely would agree that actions get results. And that those who expend the effort to do something are much more likely to achieve a goal than those who just sit thinking about doing something. After all, if thinking about losing weight worked, the diet book and weight loss market would not exist!

So, there is no denying that by acting in a specific way you can cause a particular outcome. This is known as cause and effect. Do this, cause that. What manifestation theory tells us is that you can indirectly cause things to happen, as well, through using your thoughts, values, and goals. The results are not all arising from a direct cause nor action but by the effects of your focused attention, desires, and intention, which can change how you behave as well as the choices you make.

What you believe and who you are will inform your choice, habits, and behaviors. Therefore, when you want to manifest something, you must believe that you can achieve it, which changes your desire to try, your awareness of opportunities around you that could help you reach your goal, and much more that influences the actions you take.

So, your thoughts can nurture your actions. But does it work the other way around? Yes! When you actively work on attaining your goals, by doing the things that need to be done, you are learning and gaining confidence, which will change your beliefs and inform your values. When you are successful in making progress toward a goal, you want to reach it and become more invested in its success.

Other essential components of manifestation

While your action is an important ingredient in manifesting what you most desire, it is not the most essential component of this powerful process. To manifest your dreams, you must embody the desire; you must believe that you are capable and worthy of achieving it, and you must focus your thoughts and energy on making it come true. Your thoughts and beliefs guide all your actions and choices, so without the right mindset and outlook, your efforts could be wasted or ineffectual.

All the action in the world can’t make you happy and help you accomplish what you most desire unless your mind is ready and willing to accept it. Having clear intentions, positive expectations, and focused values will drive your actions in the right direction and help pave the way to realizing everything you have always wanted.

My final thought

Action is just one of the necessary steps of the manifestation process. You must also have a plan to guide you toward your goal. And, you must believe you can get the results you want if you consistently take action and work your plan.

I hope this post was valuable to you and you will share it with your family and friends.

Benefits Of Using The Law Of Attraction

Law of attraction?

What have you heard about manifestation? With so many people manifesting these days, someone you know must be using the power of their thoughts to attain their dreams. What about you, are you interested in accomplishing more and having more happiness in your life? If you feel that you are ready to learn more about the Law of Attraction and how it can benefit you let’s dive in.

The law of attraction and what it is

Simply put, the law of attraction is your ability to attract the results you want in your life by focusing on what you want. The idea is based on the supposition that we attract those things to us that are a part of our intentional focus. So, applying your energy and care to something you aspire to will help it to come back to you. Here is how this works in plain words.

Your positive view and use of positive energy to engage with the world and other people will get you positive effects in return. When you display a negative outlook and use negative energy, you will receive negative consequences in return. It’s simple. But why does this work?

All our thoughts manifest themselves into reality, sooner or later. When your belief, for example, that you are bad at sports, takes hold of you, you become less enthusiastic about playing any sports, you resist the need to practice, you don’t try as hard to overcome the challenges you have on the playing field, and eventually, you stop playing altogether. In essence, you become bad at sports because you believe you are bad at sports. Your thoughts manifested into your expected outcome.

Attracting things into your life is possible, but you must focus on what you want if you expect to realize the intended result. Your choice of what to focus on and that outcome will begin to have a more crucial role in your life, will become the focus of your subconscious as well as conscious thought, will control your choices, and will, over time, lead you to your desired objective.

“Accomplishment of your dreams requires personal sacrifice and hard working. May you have a determined spirit, will power, and a great passion for the accomplishment of your dreams.” – Lailah Gifty Akita

Benefits from the law of attraction

The precepts behind the Law of Attraction can be used to manifest anything that you want into your life. Once you see the power of this force at work for you, you can use it to realize whatever dreams you can imagine.

For example, the Law of Attraction can help you create healthy relationships and attract lasting love into your life. When you use the Law of Attraction, your confidence in yourself and your subconscious will be redirected to help you make better partner choices, and you will be more open to accepting love from people.

The Law of Attraction can also help you to attract prosperity or financial freedom into reality. Whether you are looking to increase your wages or pay off debt or save for the future, the Law of Attraction can be used to help you attain more abundance in your life. Most of us have negative thought patterns when it comes to wealth and money so, by changing your thoughts and energy surrounding these into something positive it can help you attract more resources into your life.

The Law of Attraction can also help you improve your health and wellness. By transforming your outlook, your focus on healthy living can help you make better lifestyle choices, spend time with people who are also interested in healthy living, and learn to listen to and honor your body’s needs. Focusing on health and wellness is a positive mindset that in and of itself can have many healthy side effects, as well.

The Law of Attraction can assist you in your search for a more satisfying career, the right place to live, a new car, or friends who care for and are supportive of you. Whatever you can imagine, the universe is waiting to hear your dreams.

My final thought:

Whatever your dreams, wants or desires are, they can be yours if you keep your thoughts positive and if you consistently put in the work. This shows that you are not just wishing or hoping, but that you truly want it to happen.  

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. I hope you will share it with your family and friends.

Is Patience Still A Virtue?

Tolerance behaving as patience

I believe the most important aspect of tolerance is patience. Instead of patience and kindness, what we see are people seemingly frustrated at every turn and behaving badly. Why? Because they believe they are entitled to instant gratification in every situation and that it’s acceptable to bully others.  

I am pleased to be able to say I am a fairly patient person, but that has not always been the case. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I can wait in the longest of lines, I can get caught in a traffic jam, or wait to finish a project because the person who was to hand it off to me hasn’t finished their part yet.

What I can’t tolerate is the person who huffily waits in the same line as the rest of us making nasty remarks, or the crazy driver who tries to get around everyone else just to sit at the same traffic light, or those who complain that if Bob’s kid wasn’t ill, he might have gotten his portion of the report completed earlier.

Yep, you heard it right. I had a hard time dealing with other people’s impatience. I used to be more confrontational with them and call them out for it. It riled me up, and made no difference. But about 7 years ago I concluded that it was a useless waste of time on my part. So, I stopped.

“Tolerance and patience should not be read as signs of weakness, they are signs of strength.”

— Anonymous

Unfortunately, it seems there are more and more people who take advantage of the patience and tolerance of others. Me, I never mind waiting until it’s my turn, but just to be clear, I want my turn. Just a couple of weeks ago I overheard a woman at the grocery store in line tell another who cut in that she had been waiting. The woman who cut in line told her to shut up and mind her own business.

Guess what? The cashier called the manager. Kudos to her.

Here are 4 quick tips about patience:

1 | Societal views of impatience. People will generally see the impatient person as being selfish, bad-tempered, arrogant, irritable, and insensitive to the feelings of others. But that doesn’t mean you can’t change. Patience is a learned skill that anyone who desires it can gain for themselves.

2 | Success comes to those who wait. We hear it all the time, “there are no quick fixes.” Hand in hand with that is the knowledge that some things just can’t be rushed. Which is not to say you should sit on your hands and do nothing. Instead, patience in these instances allows you to make better decisions.  

3 | Become more mindful of your world. Mindfulness helps you to be increasingly thoughtful and introspective. This helps you to slow down and see where you and others fit into the world more clearly.  

4 | Journal your feelings. Write down what frustrates you and how it makes you feel. This type of self-reflection written daily can aid you in observing yourself objectively. Work through those things that recur most often first.

A final thought

I am going back to calling people out. Because someone needs to stand up to bullies and remind them that we all can’t be first and that others are just as important as they are.

I hope you found this post of some value. I would love to hear your opinions. Please share this with your family and friends.

Tolerate The Large Challenges In Life

Grams Wisdom 13: Tolerance as endurance

Here is another lesson Gram didn’t overtly teach me and yet, I absorbed it by observing her actions. She of the fix it or forget it mentality for happiness also faced major challenges in her life, as we all do. These types of crises often have their own timeline, lasting a year or longer leaving us few choices and must therefore, be endured.

This is not like enduring the lengthy line at the Honey Baked ham store the day before Christmas or any other line where you can see its end. We accept and tolerate these conditions because we want what is at the other end of those lines.

Most of us will come up against a devastating illness, ours or someone we love, infidelity and divorce, a mountain of debt or the death of a loved one. These examples or any number of other possibilities can derail your life at the least or send you into a tailspin at the worst.

Like my Gram, I embrace a fix it or forget mentality and believe that even the worst of situations can be if not fixed, at least be reduced in severity. Keep in mind it may take you some time before you are prepared to tackle your situation and of course, some fixes will be very hard work.   

Here are some general tips to help you become ready:

1 | Honor your feelings. They are yours. So, don’t pay attention to the well-meaning friend who tells you she went through xyz last year and felt better in a week. Good for her, but we all recover from hurt, shock, anger, and grief at our own pace. Never try to force yourself into feeling what someone else deems is an appropriate feeling for your situation.

2 | Be truly brave. Don’t go it alone. Ask for the help and support of your family and friends during your crisis. They want to help you if you allow it. If this isn’t enough, then seeking professional advice should be your next step.

3 | Take care of yourself. Especially if you have the responsibility of caring for others as part of your daily routine. Allowing yourself to fall prey to neglect helps no one. Food and sleep are of paramount importance to your overall well-being. Just know self-care is never selfish.

4 | Acknowledge your situation. Coming to terms with what brought you to this pass whether you had a hand in it or not, will aid your understanding. Which in turn allows you to move forward and make plans to fix the problem and begin the healing process.

“The task we must set for ourselves is not to feel secure, but to be able to tolerate insecurity.”

— Erich Fromm

In Conclusion:

Larger life crises will most often take more than a quick fix and done. They generally bring high-intensity emotions into play that can wear you down and fog up your thinking. By taking the time to ready yourself you will increase your endurance for the long haul.   

I hope you find this post valuable, and that you share it with your family and friends.

Find Gram’s Wisdom post for fix it or forget it below

Happiness Begins Within You

CHOOSE A WORD SKIP THE RESOLUTION

Choose your word for 2020

I have chosen the word tolerance as my word for 2020. I have in mind though, several of its meanings, the more common broad-minded, as well as patience, endurance, and forbearance. My phrase is I am strong.

Words are beautiful. And I absolutely love the ones that roll off your tongue, or ones that leave an image in your mind’s eye. While those kinds of words don’t seem fashioned to make words of the year material, every dictionary or thesaurus is full of many possible choices.

So, keeping that in mind I would urge everyone to come up with a word to describe how you want to be inspired during the year, or a word that will make you feel a particular way, or a word that shouts out your intention for the year. 

It’s not too late for you to choose a word, a phrase, or both for this year. Words have the power to resonate beyond their ability to describe things, or when used for communication with one another. When used for your year, it’s meaning will be special to you and as unique as you and your life are.

For example:

I chose to use simplify as my word last year because an ongoing situation in my personal life determined that it would be the best fit for me. It was the right word and it served me well as I simplified how I ran my home and business so I could spend my time on something more important to me.

“I am a lover of truth, a worshipper of freedom, a celebrant at the altar of language and purity and tolerance.”

— Stephen Fry

Of course, if the above doesn’t suit you there are still those people who go the resolution route, though I don’t advise it.

Skip that resolution

Let’s begin with a raised hand if your New Year resolution has gone by the wayside, never to be seen again. Kudos to those of you who are still on track with your goal.

For those of you who have failed to stick with it, you’re certainly not alone. Most of you will have either bitten off more than you can chew, chosen a goal not your own because it’s popular, or made zero effort to plan and follow it through.

Every year that you don’t complete your resolution makes it that much more likely you won’t complete the next one either. Please do yourself a favor and don’t set yourself up for failure at the beginning of each new year.

I hope you found this post instructive. Please share it with your family and friends.

10 Tips To Live More Positively

Are you a positive thinker and action taker? Maybe you want to be, but instead, you often fall prey to the negatives you see and hear around you. It’s your life. It’s time to throw off any negativity you feel and replace it with a positive outlook that makes your life feel less reactive and more under your control.  

How you view life affects your physical and mental health as well as your emotions. It also raises or lowers your blood pressure, cholesterol, and stress levels. Feeling negative about things makes your life harder. You may get sick easily and find it difficult to face the adversities and hardships in your life.

Thinking negatively makes it more difficult for you to enjoy the little things in life. Whether it’s by focusing only on the negative, or by blaming everything that goes wrong on yourself, making things seem even worse than they are, or seeing things in only black and white. If you do one or some of the above, then you’re setting yourself up to fail even before you begin.

But anyone can instill positivity into their lives if they so choose. The power of positive thinking might seem the typical cliché, but it truly does work wonders for your self-esteem, overall mood and thereby reduces the risk of chronic diseases.

“Start each day with a positive thought and a grateful heart.”

— Roy T. Bennett

Here are 10 ways to assist you to cultivate a more positive life.

1. Learning experiences not failures

Acknowledging that no one is perfect puts things into perspective. You’re going to make mistakes, we all do, but instead of focusing on your failure, break down what went wrong so you can learn from it, and use it to your advantage.

2. Positive friendships

Surrounding yourself with people who are grounded, upbeat, and positive themselves, helps you to maintain a positive outlook. Positivity, as is negativity, is contagious. So, choose your friends wisely.

3. Know what you are grateful for

Every night before going to bed, write down 3 things you’re grateful for. It may be as small as a pleasant walk or something bigger such as getting your project done on time at work. It’s a fact, that the more you declare your gratitude, the more you have, to be grateful for. Making gratitude a habit, is one of the most beneficial additions to your daily routine.

4. Laughter is still the best medicine

Watching stand-up comedy routines or funny movies opens you up to laughter which signals the brain to release ‘feel-good’ hormones. This reduces stress levels and allows you to see the silver lining, even in the most difficult of situations.

5. Appraise what you need to change

This could be hard to do at first and may require several attempts, but it gets results and you’ll feel empowered. Maybe your job is ill-fitting and fills your life with negativity. You may want to do something else, but fear is holding you back. Maybe it’s your car, your apartment, the color of your walls - many things affect the level of negativity in your life, but once you put your finger on it, you can consciously change it for the better.

6. Start your morning with positive affirmations

Begin your day on a high note by affirming that this is a great day and you are confident that good things will happen throughout your day. Pessimists tend to start their day worrying and thinking about all that can go wrong. This makes them see everything in a negative light and causes a series of unfortunate events like a domino effect.

7. Cease the stream of negative thinking

It might need lots of practice at first but be patient and make the effort. Observe your thought patterns. You can do this by taking down notes each time you focus on the negative. Every time you feel negative self-talk creeping in by being overly critical or judgmental, or focusing only on your failures, write down a positive affirmation to counter each negative thought.

8. Discover a new hobby

Hobbies are something we don’t hear of so much these days since we’re all so busy. But taking the time to engage in something you’re good at and enjoy, fills you with a sense of joy and fulfillment.

9. Lead a beneficial lifestyle

Eat right, exercise regularly, and sleep more to see a definite boost in your mood. Plus, you’ll feel more confident and this helps you see things in a brighter, more positive light.

10. Practice until it’s natural

Reinforcing positive living requires practice. Like anything the more you do it, the better you’ll become at it. Then, one day when you’re facing a crisis, you’ll find that the first thing that comes to your mind is not what can go wrong, but how can I use my strengths to overcome this challenge.

No one ever said life was easy and sometimes we become overwhelmed with what life throws our way. But the choice belongs to us as individuals whether we are to meet life with a smile in a positive way or a complaining negative manner.

I hope you found this post beneficial and will share it with your family and friends.

Forgive Old Injuries And Let them Go

Gram’s wisdom 12: Offer forgiveness

My Gram saw forgiveness as an extension of kindness. Just as you would offer your hand in friendship to someone who needs it, you should offer your forgiveness to people who ask. We are all human and we are all prone to making mistakes she said.

From my Gram, I learned we frequently see ourselves as more aggrieved than necessary and nurse the wounds needlessly. Instead, she told me we are the beneficiaries when we forgive others, and let the hurts go.

The end of the year is a particularly good time to forgive old injuries. Don’t begin a New Year with thoughts of past offenses. You deserve to forgive yourself and others and begin with a clean slate.   

Forgiveness in everyday life

The easiest path to forgiving big things is by routinely forgiving small things. Practicing the art of forgiveness in everyday life makes it easier to draw on those experiences when you need to forgive bigger offenses.

People who forgive easily have some things in common:

●       They see life as fallible and know everyone takes missteps

●       They see people as generally good rather than bad

●       They understand that their perceptions play into whether they feel offended

●       They don’t sweat the small stuff

●       They don’t expect perfection

●       They are not overly sensitive people

People who find it easy to forgive have a corner on the happiness market because they use their underlying morals and values to move through the day and offer forgiveness inwardly and outwardly and let it go.

Here are some ways to forgive and adopt an emotionally mature mindset each day:  

For poor service- when you are treated poorly by waitstaff or a clerk at a store, consider what might be driving their negativity. Having compassion can make it easier to forgive poor behavior. Instead of assuming the clerk is a disconnected jerk, imagine he/she is working overtime and has been berated by many customers.

For rude gestures- If someone cuts you off in traffic, takes your parking space, or gives you a smug look - forgive them. Try to not to take things personally. The sooner you can let it go, the sooner you can replace anger with a better-suited emotion for your day. Being able to forgive rudeness frees you up for a better mood.

For mistakes- Mistakes happen it’s a fact of life. You make them too. Berating someone for a mistake rubs their nose in it and makes them defensive. To the best of your ability, forgive mistakes quickly and appreciate any gestures to make amends. Allowing grace and a chance to do the right thing should help wipe away the sting of a mistake.

Learning to let go of righteous anger or sadness that comes from being offended does yourself a world of good.

“Forgive others not because they deserve forgiveness, but because you deserve peace.”

— Jonathan Huie

Ask for forgiveness when the mistake is yours

It’s easy to stand behind your own anger and offense when someone has hurt you. It isn’t nearly as easy to be the one who needs forgiveness. When you’ve made a mistake, many things come into play - anger, shame, defensiveness. These things make it hard to ask for or receive forgiveness.

One of the keys to receiving forgiveness is to practice it. Forgiving people are better able to understand that mistakes and missteps happen, and sometimes we step in it metaphorically. By offering forgiveness regularly, they see that it is possible to do something regrettable and be absolved.

You can ask for and receive forgiveness. Consider these tips as you go:

Tip #1. Make a Sincere Apology- Forgiveness comes best following an apology. The sooner the better and the more specific the apology the better. If you know what you did, be sincere and specific about why that was wrong and how you plan to ensure it never happens again.

Tip #2. Hear Your Impact- Forgiveness usually comes after an apology and clearing of the air that includes the offended person feeling heard and validated for their pain. Be willing to hear the impact you made and don’t let pride or defensiveness diminish the feelings of the other person.

Tip #3. Be Willing to Not be Forgiven- Asking for forgiveness is a question, not a command. That means hearing “no” can be one of the options. It is entirely possible that the person you hurt is unwilling or unable to move on now or yet. Be patient.

Asking for forgiveness is a mature and humbling experience. If the person you offended is unable or unwilling to forgive you, you have done the most important thing you can for restoration by atoning and asking for grace. You can sleep well knowing you’ve done what you can. Modify any behavior that got you into that mess and become a bigger and better person. Offer forgiveness to those in need and realize it is all a cycle and what you put out into the world will eventually come back.

I hope you enjoyed this post and will share it with your family and friends.

For more forgiveness look here.

How Forgiveness Makes Us Happier And Healthier

Reflect, Change, And Grow

Grow beyond your comfort zone

With a New Year just around the corner, many of you are forming plans for what you hope to achieve, and who you hope to become in the future. It’s important that before you finalize those plans, you have spent some time in reflection on this year’s accomplishments.

You will want to ask yourself these questions first. How have you have grown this year as a person and what did you contribute to the world? And lastly, did you bring your previous year’s plans to fruition or are you still the same person who had big dreams last December?

If you succeeded in your aims this year, then I am positive you know the amount of effort it will take to repeat it. If not, it’s time for you to move from your comfort zone because it’s not serving you. Make some scary changes, or just one, if more seems too overwhelming.

Here are some reasons to change:

1.     Growth takes change

Change is necessary for growth, in fact, growth is impossible without change! You can choose to stay safely in your familiar comfort zone, but if you do, you’ll be missing out on all life has to offer.

The challenge of a new job or moving to a different city might be uncomfortable, especially at first. But it’s guaranteed that change is likely to lead you down all sorts of unexpected paths, with rewards you could never have imagined, just waiting for you. Wouldn’t you rather be a butterfly than remain a caterpillar?

“Without reflection, we go blindly on our way, creating more unintended consequences, and failing to achieve anything useful.”

— Margaret J. Wheatley

2.     Flexibility aids resilience

Change forces you to become more flexible. Faced with large unexpected changes, you learn to adapt and move with the flow. And once you’ve learned to roll with whatever the circumstances are, you begin to see the positives and rise to the challenges. Even something as negative as losing your job can open you up to new prospects and exciting opportunities, such as changing industries, furthering your education, or starting your own business.

3.     Focusing on your values creates change

There’s nothing quite like change either good or bad to make you focus on what’s genuinely important in your life. Negative changes like illness, divorce, or business reverses can help you recognize the importance of relationships, with family, and friends. Having to make tough decisions can sharpen your focus on what your ethical framework is, what you will and won’t stand for in your life.

4.     Small steps can accomplish big things

Not all changes are big or life-changing. Small incremental steps, made over time to your habits and routines, can add up to huge changes in the future. You might start getting off the bus one stop early and after a few months find yourself walking to the office every day.

Making small changes often has a snowball effect and before you know it you have accomplished that big, seemingly impossible task.

5.     Confident as you meet life’s challenges

You might be surprised to discover how strong you are. Your confidence will increase as you deal with life’s challenges and you’ll quickly learn what you can handle and what you can’t.

And as a bonus, change can make you a more compassionate and kinder person and give you more insight into other people’s circumstances and choices.

Learn to see change as an opportunity, not a threat, and you will live a much more fulfilled and exciting life.

I hope you find this post valuable and share it with your family and friends.

For further reading check out this post from a year ago.

Using Self-Reflection To Your Advantage