Daily Gratitude: Think back over your life and see if this has proven true for you. I bet you’ll find at least one example. But it’s interesting that even when we’ve seen it in action, we don’t seem to recognize it as a principle we should follow or a practice we should employ every day. And I think that’s because we’re programmed to look at the here and now and we forget the past – when it’s convenient to forget it. Ha. We’re really good at remembering when things didn’t go so well. Anyway, how do you think books or songs get written? Not all in one day but with continual effort. And a book doesn’t usually get written by talking about a different thing every day. Usually there’s a theme or idea or plot that all writing is centered around. Each day. Every day. Exercise is like that. Why do you think there’s so many “couch to xxx” programs where the xxx can be a 5K or a marathon or whatever. These programs are built around doing something every day that works toward the end result. What end result do you have in mind? It could be anything. Once you know what it is and have determined the best way to get it then put that action on the calendar for at least 6 of the 7 days a week. I’ve recently started writing every day thanks to having found an accountability partner. But I had to miss one day that wasn’t planned. The next day you wouldn’t believe how hard it was to “find the time” to do my writing. I had all sorts of reasons (aka excuses) why I couldn’t write that day. It shocked me. But it shows this effect too although in the opposite manner. It was more of the doing nothing will create more of the same – nothing. Fortunately I did pick up the computer and did write. That made it easier the next day and so on. Start with small actions and keep doing them. You can do decluttering that way. You’d be surprised how much you can get done in 10 minutes. I amazed myself one year when I decided I was going to declutter 10 minutes every day. I’m pretty sure I was just doing this to say “I told you so” (I guess I wanted to say it to all those who said it was possible). And guess what? I got a lot done in those 10 minutes repeated daily. Try this and let us know what happens. It works with anything.

Daily Gratitude: Too many of us spend too much time on this. It handcuffs and hamstrings us in so many ways. If we keep our eye on the road ahead of us and stop worrying about the traffic around us, the way before will be spread for our taking. We can see better if we look ahead without worrying about others. If, though, we spend time wondering what others think, our attention is removed from that which we want and should be paying attention to. In a sense we need to don artificial blinders so we simply look forward. As with all else, awareness is the key here. We have to be aware that we’re feeling concerned with what others see or think. Once we’re aware we can use our simple “so what?” Question to snap us out of that other world back into what we’re doing.

Daily Gratitude: This is something I wish i knew, or rather, understood when I was younger. I only had two waves – hurt and anger. And of course, the anger was simply my defense against having to feel the hurt. My parts reacted to everything as a criticism and thus were hurt by everything. I was raised never to let anyone see what was going on inside of me. I was also raised under the cloak of constant anger. That was just how you were supposed to be. It’s taken me a long time to understand that most of our instantaneous reactions are physiological and not something I can (or should want to) control. What I should want to control, however, is my RESPONSE to those reactions. That is something i can (and should) control. I like to look at is as chemicals create the reactions and thoughts create the responses. I may not be able to do anything about the chemicals but i sure can do something about the thoughts. It takes practice – a lot of practice to undo (I like to call it editing) the automatic thoughts I learned to have. But it is possible. If you monitor your thoughts and then evaluate them, it will help. Ask yourself “is this a positive or negative thought?” “Where did it come from?” “Is it something I’ve just ‘practiced’ so much it’s automatic (meaning has it just become a conditioned response?)?” Once you’ve answered these questions and I recommend you start with something simple, ask yourself how you can change those thoughts to serve you better. Then practice thinking them – as stupid as it sounds. Do you think that I automatically believed “everything always works out for me” when I first started to say it? Heck no. But because I so respected the woman who taught me this and so much more, I kept saying it. Do I believe it now? You bet! But it was just through practice that I came to believe it. You can do the same by practicing the things you want to turn around. As I said, though, start with simple things and then work your way up. Record your progress too so you can see what has worked for you.