HOW TO STOP NEGATIVE THOUGHTS

How To Live a Full and Juicy Life – Without Changing a Thing – May 2016 

Clients ask me, “How can I live more fully? More happily? I feel like time is flying by and next thing I know another month has disappeared. I’m rushing from one thing to another. I wake up and think, ‘Oh great. Another day. Same old, same old.’ Even though some things are going really well in my life, I’m still stressed out and unhappy. What can I do to feel better – fast?”

When I hear that, I know that Mind Loops of “I should…” “I’m not good enough” “I’m too busy” and “Maybe one day…” are all stopping them from living the life they desire.

Those are the Mind Loops that tie our hearts up in knots – because we know if we could get past them, then happiness, adventure and a life fully lived wait for us on the other side.

De-looping is the process of stopping those negative thoughts from recurring over and over in our heads. That’s the first step towards a living a full life. Also required is taking time to think about what we actually want for our lives. That’s the first step of the reprogramming part.

But even without doing either of those things, you can experience a full, juicy existence – right now.

What does living a full life even mean? For some, cliff diving is a full life. To others, it’s cuddling up on the couch with a loved one and watching a movie together. It doesn’t matter how grand or over-the-top the dream is for your life. What makes it full… is noticing it while it’s happening.

This basically means Mindfulness. Presence. We hear a lot about those words these days. What do they mean exactly? Simply observing what’s happening in the present moment, from a variety of different senses and angles, without negative judgment.

A study was done recently that showed: The people who are the happiest are the most present. It doesn’t matter if they’re stuck in traffic or taking a shower or sitting in a boring meeting. If they notice they’re actually there, their happiness goes up. And substantially.

This isn’t easy to do if you’re late for an appointment and you’re stuck in traffic. But you can’t force the cars to move more quickly anyway. So might as well sit back and get present.

Notice the trees slowly moving in the breeze at the side of the road. Turn on music and really listen to it. Feel how the car’s bucket seat kind of cradles the shape of your bum. Take a deep breath and feel it enter your lungs and how good that feels. Tune into the fact that you have a heart that pumps without you even asking it to – and it’s giving you life, one moment, after another moment, after another moment.

What about your energy? Can you lift your energy and mood with your thoughts? If you think about what you’re grateful for, you can. Know that if you lift your mood and energy now, while you’re stuck in traffic, by the time you get to your appointment, you’ll be in much better shape for the task. You’ll even have the ability to lift others.

Being present and mindful is also a way to slow down time. Instead of rushing about and purposefully distracting yourself with constant outside input… See what happens when you slow down time, right here, right now.

When you think about it, our lives are made up of millions of tiny moments, like pearls on a string. To live a full life: Look at, turn over, smell, feel, notice, take joy in, and feel appreciation for… every little pearl.

(And by the way, this is one of the best methods to stop a Mind Loop. Just sayin’). 😉

Wishing you a week of stunning, juicy moments!

To your happiness,

Barbara

photo credit: String of pearls by Bobby McKay via Flickr Creative Commons