Daily Gratitude: I talk about this a lot but it’s never enough it seems. There are some things we need a constant reminder about. It does you no good to say affirmations and have positive and useful mantras IF you’re not acting in a way that’s consistent with those affirmations and mantras. You can say all day long that you’re the luckiest person in the world while at the same time you’re cursing out the traffic in front of and around you. Or repeatedly asking “why me?” Can you see how one negates the other. These affirmations are not only meant to get you to believe in something but they are meant to spur you to action that is consistent with their meaning. You can’t use an affirmation of “I am at a healthy weight” and then spend your evenings snacking. It’s important that you realize this and become aware of what you’re doing but not so you can criticize yourself but so that you can stop one or the other event – preferably stopping the counter action. Maybe when you make an affirmation you could take time to determine what actions are consistent with achieving this goal. It’s also helpful to recognize that all the conflicting thoughts and feelings are parts (of course you knew I’d bring IFS into this). If you understand that, then you can recognize that in many ways, you’re like a school principal trying to herd your students into the auditorium so you can instruct them on the do’s and don’ts of the coming year. Some will abide and others will rebel. You have to get to know those that are rebelling and figure out what’s happened to them to make them be like that. Then you can help them become happier and more in line. It’s a process but even if you don’t know “how to do” IFS, you’ll have come so far just by being self-aware. This is also where journaling comes in. People who are opposed to journaling sometimes don’t realize the value of putting thoughts out on paper – the connection of the brainwaves to the fingers to the pen. I know I can identify my parts (issues) so much better as I write them down. The goal of IFS, just like the goal of making affirmations and plans is to get things into alignment just like your tires. Once you do that, your ride is so much smoother.

I am beginning my 10 day 314 mile race across Tennessee and I don’t know if I will be able to posit these every day. They will be on Facebook though. If I can’t connect enough to post here during the race I will upload them after.

Daily Gratitude: If you’ve ever tried to meditate but think it’s useless since you end up with more thoughts than when you’re not trying to “still your mind” (ha), then try this. Many people tell you to imagine you’re a mountain and all the thoughts you’re having are like clouds flowing past you, the mountain. This works-sometimes- for me. But sometimes a thought or two just hangs out over the mountain and doesn’t move. I’m sure you’ve seen that when looking at a range of mountains. So, I was thinking of my addictive experience on Amazon where they show “more” books all in a row and you can see them when you swipe left. If you want to to see more about one book, you can click on it instead of swiping. But I look at my thoughts when trying to meditate as “oh that one is interesting but I want to see the one next to it and oh wow, there’s another…and another. All i need to do is keep swiping.” That way you can acknowledge you had this thought and then swipe left to het to the next one. Try this if you have issues with “too many” thoughts.