This morning I woke up about 15 minutes before the alarm went off. One of our cats was already settled on my stomach and one of our dogs jumped up onto the bed to snuggle under my arm. For 15 minutes I was in total bliss. Not only was I appreciating the comfortable warm bed, the soft fur under my fingers, the purring cat, and the love that I have for these animals, and that I believe they have for me, but I used that time to appreciate my life. I even felt appreciation for those things that frustrate or annoy me, because they’re helping me focus and grow, and they help me appreciate how great my life really is. Too often we spend most of our time dwelling on what’s wrong in our lives, wishing things were better, wishing we had more. I suspect many of you may have woken up this morning wishing it wasn’t Monday, wishing you didn’t have to go to work or school, wishing you had more money, wishing you had a differing lover, wishing the traffic was better, wishing, wishing, wishing. While that may feel like you’re focused on what you want what you are truly focused on is what you lack. You lack relaxation time, a job that you love, enough money, the love you are seeking, even an easy way to travel from place to place. When you take into account the Foundation Principle that “Energy Attracts Like Energy,” also known as the Law of Attraction, you begin to see that focusing on what you lack actually attracts more Monday mornings just like today. As a society, we have been well-trained to focus on problems and what […]
How Abundant Are You?
In yesterday’s blog, I wrote about my awareness of a few cranky moments that I experienced while on vacation, and how I shifted that energy. Today, I want to write about those moments that stood out because I had a new and more positive perspective. We caught our flight to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, from Atlanta, Georgia. We drove down the day before and spent the night with my brother. He advised that because of the city’s heavy traffic, we needed to leave his house at 6:15 a.m. to catch our 10 a.m. flight. Even though we left at his suggested time, traffic was already backing up. Because I have that issue about being on time, in the past I might have stressed and worried. This time, however, as I noticed all the cars, I was overwhelmed with a feeling of abundance. I acknowledge the abundance of all those people who had the means to purchase cars. We passed neighborhoods—both rich and poor—and I felt the abundance of homes for so many people and the accumulation of love generated by all those families. As I looked at the high-rise buildings in the distance, I felt the abundance of jobs that people were headed to, the opportunities people had in those jobs, and the ideas that were being generated and acted on. I acknowledged the abundance of the sunshine and the beauty of the dawning day. I even gave thanks for the abundance of time that we had to make our flight. At the airport, I felt the abundance of so many people who are able to fly to their destinations. I could see the abundance of the airport itself—the jobs it’s providing, and the food, shops, […]
Happy, Thank You, More Please!
A friend of mine recently posted on Facebook a preview for the movie, HappyThankYouMorePlease. While I have no idea if this movie is worth seeing, I love the title! It expresses the absolute best mindset for creating the life of your dreams. Happy—True freedom comes when you realize your joy is totally within your control. Thank You—Focusing on gratitude and appreciation generates positive anabolic energy that aligns you mind, body, and Spirit. More Please—By asking for and focusing on more of what you do want in your life you are consciously tapping into the Foundation Principle that “Energy Attracts Like Energy,” also known as the Law of Attraction, and are literally drawing more of what you want into your future experience. One of the cool things is that you can get to this mindset by tapping into any one piece, or by joining all three together. For instance, you can decide to be happy regardless of what is going on in your life right now. If that doesn’t work for you, you can try to come up with as many things to appreciate as you can and stay as long as possible in that feeling. Or you can just focus on those things that you want more of—more Spiritual connection, more love, more wellness, more inspiration, more abundance, more fun. And when you put all three together, watch out! That incredible feeling is letting you know that you are generating anabolic energy that is building your body at the cellular level, is attracting more of what you want into your life, and is connecting you in a profound way to Source Energy (God, the Universe, All-That-Is, Higher Coach, whatever works for you.) What can you […]
Feeling Generous?
As we were getting ready for bed last night, my husband David shared an unexpected experience he’d had in the dentist’s chair that afternoon. While the doctor was busy in his mouth, there was a TV screen for him to watch, but with the sound turned off. The program was the Ellen DeGeneres Show and he watched as Ellen gave a young single mother a stack of cash tied in a bow, and a new car that had yet another stack of bills stashed in the glove compartment. Even with no sound and no idea of the woman’s story, David was moved watching this demonstration of generosity, and we both marveled at how much fun it would be to give so abundantly. As I contemplated giving before drifting off to sleep, I realized that whether we know it or not, each of us is giving all day, every day, in ways that are more profound than the gift of money, things, or even our time. You are the gift. And how you show up in life is the gift you are giving. The question is, are you giving the gift you intend? Imagine being in line to check out at the grocery store. There are people in front of you and behind you. Are you giving them the gift of impatience and frustration, which is emanating out of you at a frequency that can be measured, or are you perhaps giving them contentment or peace? What do you want to give? How about when you get to the checkout person? Are you giving that person the gift of a smile and appreciation, or gruffness and criticism, or perhaps even indifference? How do you think what […]
You Hold the Key
I woke up this morning with a song in my heart. There is nothing special that I have planned for this day. There is no event or occasion. I feel happy for no reason at all, and it feels wonderful! So often we feel like there has to be a reason to be happy. Often that reason is out ahead of us. We tell ourselves that we will be happy when we lose weight, get that job, have a certain amount of money, meet that deadline, recover from an illness, etc. How would your life be different if you could let yourself just be happy anyway. How would it be different if you could be happy on your way to losing weight, getting that job, meeting that deadline, recovering from that illness? Every moment that you deprive yourself of feeling good is like putting yourself in jail and refusing to set yourself free, even though you have the key in your pocket. Wouldn’t it be better to be happy while you are losing weight, applying for that job, meeting that deadline, recovering from that illness? And if you really need a reason to be happy, what can you use right now? Regardless of what else may be going on in your life, some ways to be happy anyway might be: The sun will rise. You are receiving these words. Someone somewhere loves you. (Probably a lot of someones.) You are alive this moment of this day. You have some form of nourishment available to you. You have clothes for your body. You have a body that is working well-enough for you to understand these words. There is an abundance of air to breathe. No matter […]
Situations for Appreciation
Admittedly, I don’t watch a lot of television, and I watch even less sports on television. But thanks to social media, even I know something of Tim Tebow, the quarter back for the Denver Broncos who has been cheered and jeered for getting down on one knee and offering up a prayer of gratitude every time his team scores. Last night, my husband had on a football game that I was ignoring as I read when all of a sudden the game had my full attention. Tebow and his teammates put a sudden end to their playoff game against Pittsburgh with an 11-second throw, catch, and run that accounted for the quickest overtime win in the National Football League’s history. And I got to watch Tebowing—as Tebow’s prayer in the end-zone is now known—for myself. Religious debate aside, it is brilliant on so many levels and has lessons for all of us to learn. Focus On What You Want If you consider that one of life’s foundation principles is that “Energy Attracts Like Energy,” also known as the Law of Attraction, what is more powerful than focusing your energy on what you want? And in Tebow’s case, what he wants is to score and win. By kneeling down and offering up a prayer of thanks every time his team scores, Tebow puts his energy—mind, body, and spirit—into what he wants. It doesn’t get much better than that. The Power of Gratitude and Appreciation Our emotions are way more powerful than people often realize. They literally affect our bodies, minds, beliefs, and spirit. If you are focused on negative, catabolic emotions, you are generating destructive chemical processes in the body that literally eat away at your […]
On the Eve of the Year 2012
On the eve of the Year 2012, I wish for you much love, laughter, wellness, and wellbeing. May you be present to the adventure of right now, and delight in delving into each opportunity—even if others call them hardships, problems, or obstacles. May you marvel at what you have and maintain your confidence in what you are becoming. My you tackle each endeavor with enthusiasm and eagerness—from washing dishes, to typing an email, to relaxing on vacation, to engaging in your truest passion. May your mind be mostly engaged in reflecting on the good things that happen and all that you appreciate. And as you lay your head on your pillow each night, may you look forward to tomorrow with happy anticipation. These things I also resolve for myself. Happy New Year! May this be the year where you allow all your dreams to come true! Together we can do it! Photo by Felixco, Inc./freedigitalphotos.net
Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Body
Most people know that eating healthy foods and moving our bodies is pretty darn important to achieving optimal wellness. But how important is what you think about your body—and yourself? This is the missing link at the heart of why so many people try to lose weight and fail. Our thoughts are directly linked to our body processes. Negative thoughts create draining, destructive catabolic energy that releases stress chemicals and other harmful processes that literally eat way at your cells. Positive thoughts release constructive, anabolic energy that generate physical processes that support—and rebuild—your body. Often, changing your underlying thoughts, emotions, and beliefs is necessary to sustain lasting weight loss. And an added benefit is more positive thoughts also improve the quality—and enjoyment—of your life! Your life won’t get better as a result of losing the weight. Your life will get better as a result of changing your thoughts about your weight. If you don’t change the underlying thoughts, your life will be the same whether you lose the weight or not. Not only do I see this in my clients, but I know it from personal experience. My negative self-perception—and my resulting struggle with my weight—raged for more than 35 years. My negative thoughts bled over into all areas of my life. I was often depressed. I shied away from taking leadership roles at work, and I had a hard time making close friends. So in addition to consistently moving my body and eating healthy foods, I began looking for inaccurate thinking and practicing new thoughts of appreciation, praise, and support for my body—and myself. Successfully making these internal changes helped me reduce my weight by 35 pounds, and to keep it off now for […]
Happy Holidays!
Wishing all you Fabulous Readers the happiest of holidays! You are at the top of my appreciation list! Love, Hanna
A Time of Abundance
No matter where you are or what’s going on in your life today, look for and acknowledge your abundance. Even if it’s that you have an abundance of air to breathe, an abundance of love in your heart, or an abundance of being alive in this moment. These are things that do not cost money and that nobody else can give you. They are there waiting for you to receive—and acknowledge. The magic of acknowledging your abundance is that the longer you focus on it, the more abundance in your life that you are able to see. Perhaps you have an abundance of family and friends, or an abundance of time in which to reflect, or an abundance of beauty to admire. You may have an abundance of laughter and excitement, or an abundance of peace and quiet. You may have an abundance of parties and commitments, or an abundance of freedom to live and do as you wish. While money and gifts can be a part of abundance, there is so much more of life with which to fill our trays. It’s all there waiting for us to look for and allow ourselves to see and receive. What abundance can you find in your life right now? No matter what it is, acknowledge it and let your heart overflow with appreciation. Together we can do it! Photo by dan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Stay Connected!