How to Love your Life .....

Erase Negative Programming Do away with all the old, negative messages we were given about ourselves. If someone has told us that we are worthless, undeserving, dense or unattractive, that is their problem. No one has a right to judge us or belittle us. We are all struggling to get by in this world, and no one else has all the answers. Honor our own truth. In our own heart, we know who we are . . . don't let another take that power away from us. Love yourself. Everything in Life Happens for a Reason Life is full of peaks and valleys. Even though they are more difficult, we learn more during the valleys or the challenging times. When we are in a valley, we might not see the value of it; but later, when we look back, we will realize that we have learned a great deal. Know that nothing we experience is an accident. Everything we experience and everyone we meet teaches us something or holds a lesson for us. Know That When One Door Closes, another Opens Change is good.This is how we grow. Eventually we will see that sometimes we have to lose something to gain something else. Even illness, death, and financial loss have a purpose. Did a tragedy bring us closer to our family and friends? Did the community reach out to us? Were we forced to switch gears? Faith is knowing that everything is okay and works out. we will grow stronger from all that we experience. Trust Your Instincts All our life, we have been taught to invalidate our feelings. This is wrong. our subconscious mind continually picks up and processes cues from our environment and from other people. This is valuable information that we should not disregard. Don't let people talk us into doing something that doesn't feel right to us. Trust our gut. If something doesn't feel right to us, then it probably isn't. And we don't have to justify how we feel. Just say, "No thank you," or "I'd rather not," or "I'm busy." Everyone else does not know more than us. Being Alive Is Enough Just ask people who almost lost their lives and they will tell us that most of the stuff we fret over isn't that important. Being alive is a great gift. Don't define ourself in such narrow terms as our work, our body, our house, your kids, or our relationships. Learn to see what is precious around us each day. Do not take our good fortune for granted. Be thankful and humble. we do not have to justify our life with a big list of accomplishments. Try to experience just being alive. Love Your Body It houses our spirit; it gets us what we need. Appreciate what our body can do and stop focusing on what it can't. No one else's body would be better for us. (Being thinner or better looking is not more valuable.) If we are not the most stunning person in town, then perhaps this makes us more approachable to others. Even if we have a physical disability, there is a reason for this. It is not to cause us suffering, rather it is an opportunity for us to grow or to understand or appreciate something in life. Perhaps this will be the vehicle through which we meet a kindred spirit or discover some hidden talent within us. Be at peace and trust that our soul is beautiful and so are we. Enjoy the Beautiful Day What is the weather like? Is it hot? Rainy? Windy? Enjoy getting where we are going. Are we walking, driving, riding a bus? Are people talking, music playing, birds singing? Take notice of the colors, smells, textures, buildings, sounds, people . . everything around us. Take pleasure in the freedom we have to go from place to place. Stop and smell the roses. This day will not happen again. Experience it. Take pleasure in the moment. It's great to be alive. Enjoy Feeling Fine Remember when we had a toothache, the flu, or a migraine. Remember the relief we felt when we first started to feel better? Until we are sick, we rarely appreciate how good it feels to feel well. Be glad we are well. Lighten Up and Put Things in Perspective Having a mini-crisis? Is the world crashing down around us? Hey, relax. First of all, panicking never solved anything. Second, most things are not that bad in hindsight. we are tougher than we think. we'll get through this, and we'll probably learn something valuable in the process. I'll be okay! Let Yourself Be Happy. Count Your Blessings Every Day There is always someone else worse off than me. Look around us: our life is full of blessings. Make a list of things we are thankful for: our sight, health, family, food, shelter, a pet, our kids, friends, a good book. If we could even get out of bed this morning, then we are blessed. Do not take all this good fortune for granted. Be thankful for all these blessings. Use Positive Language. Think Positive Thoughts. Try not to use negative words too much like hate, disgusting, sick, ugly, etc." Notice how things have improved in the world, in our town, in our life. Look for beauty. Try not to be sarcastic. Sarcasm is a "put-down"of something or someone. The way we act in the world is basically a habit. we can retrain our behavior and our thinking, and we will benefit by doing so. Being considerate, kind, and positive is contagious and worth the investment. Notice the Positive Side of Life Even though we are surrounded with love and positive things every day, the negative side of life seems to get a lot more publicity. Too many negative images sap us of our optimism. So don't make a constant diet of negative people, newscasts, angry music, violent movies, and conflict. (Kids do not benefit from watching too many news shows and we are not alone in our hour of need. Open our heart and be observant. we may hear a radio show, find a book, or meet a person who has our same illness. Just as we cannot see the whole flower until it opens, it is all there waiting to be revealed. So are the answers to our problem. "every day is a new day... " It's a beautiful life!!!