Being Me: Week 46

"You don't have to control your thoughts. You just have to stop letting them control you." 

Being Me:  Week 46 What consumes your mind, controls your life

November theme: Small seeds of gratitude will provide a harvest of hope

I always regret the time I wasted worrying over something in the future, the way my mind plans how things will unfold, causing a worry I cannot control. A few words from a conversation can plant the seed of worry that grows until my mind leaps towards tragedy and sleep is no longer an option.

On those nights I often get out of bed and distract myself until exhaustion, but I know there must be a better way to not allow my mind to get to this extreme.

Worry does not predict the future any more than we can, so learning to find ways to distract my mind was my only option. I begin by staying in the present, being mindful of my feelings and labeling them as the worries they are. They are only thoughts not facts of my future. Even repeating a mantra of positive thoughts each time my mind wanders begins to create distance from worry.

Just as a few words can discourage us or cause worry, we can uncover positive encouragement through thoughts and mantras that ignite change. Practicing mindfulness can pave the way to peaceful thoughts.

 Themes for each month to journal, create or contemplate on your journey

• January - The best time for new beginnings is now

1. Morning routine
2. Mission statement
3. Create your YES list
4. Goals, baby steps, tiny promises
5. Putting it in motion

• February - Before anything else, find yourself, be yourself and love yourself

1. Take care of your body
2. Meditation and solitude
3. Food choices and ideas for change
4. What makes you happy

• March - All you need is tea and warm socks

1. Enjoy the simple things
2. Letting go of thoughts and things
3. Both hands
4. Mindfulness (social media and smart phones)
5. Setting intentions

• April - Water your roots so your soul can blossom

1. Water and other things we need to grow
2. Time to blossom
3. The 3 R's
4. Forgiveness

• May -  The difference between a flower and a weed is judgment

1. Stop judging yourself and others (why we judge)
2. The grass isn't always greener
3. Love is the absence of judgement
4. Stop judging yourself if you don't want to be judged

• June - Believe you can and your halfway there

1. Believe in yourself
2. Believe in others
3. What thoughts have distorted our beliefs
4. Invest in yourself

• July - Bold stripes, bright stars, brave hearts

1. Integrity
2. Taking risks
3. Abundance
4. Let your light shine

• August - We are who we choose to be

1. Who do you think you are

• September - Sometimes we can learn and study & know, and sometimes we have to believe, trust and hope

1. What do you know to be true of you
2. Books that create thought
3. What holds you back
4. Trust yourself
5. Hope means your ready to see the good in tomorrow

• October - We can't become what we want by remaining what we are

1. Do the work if you want change
2. A mind stretched can never go back
3. Healthier is not just what your eating, but what you think and say
4. In the end we only regret the chance we did not take

• November - Small seeds of gratitude will provide a harvest of hope

1. Count your rainbows not your thunderstorms
2. What consumes your mind controls your life

• December - Unexpected kindness is the most powerful, least costly, and most underrated agent of hope

 Mission Statement:  I will improve my overall health and wellness, use kindness and inspiration with a vision that creates  a community of giving and in doing so achieve my purpose in this life.   

Weekly post links