Tag Archives: gratitude

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Pay Your Bills With JOY…

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pay your bills with joyIt’s time to take a different look at your prosperity. We talked about this a few weeks ago when it was time for your taxes. But it’s pertinent all the time. We just need to expand our vision and get a bit out of our own little world.

If you want more prosperity, you have to feel prosperous. The best way to do that is to be thankful and joyful when you are paying your bills. You should write on the envelope “thank you” or “I am grateful for this statement”. If you use the word “bills”, it’s even more important that you feel deep gratitude. Why? Remember that your subconscious does not have a Merriam-Webster dictionary inside of it and does not know the difference between bills and bills – meaning the currency you carry around in your wallet and the pieces of paper that come from companies asking for money. Thus, the more gratitude and joy you bless both types of bills with, the more the Universe will bring prosperity back to you.

If you look beyond your wallet and bank account when you are responding to those statements (paying your bills), you’ll see how many people have been (and will be) positively affected by what you are now paying for. There are the people who worked hard to make the product (or provide the service) you purchased. You have helped them. Maybe this was a single mom who has 3 jobs and just barely making it from paycheck to paycheck. You have helped her and perhaps even bought a meal for her child. Then there are the folks who are sending you the statement. You know they don’t make a lot of money either. You have helped them with their income. And so on down the line. Try to imagine ALL the people you are helping by paying this one bill and be thankful that you are helping other folks even if you don’t know them. Imagine that you do know them and that you are there handing them the payment and seeing the smile and perhaps some tears on their faces.

Frequently we tend to only think of those in “power” who run the corporations that are “charging outrageous prices” etc. All that does is make the process painful for you and increases your despair, disappointment and resentment. I encourage you to look beyond all those “people in power” (PIPs). I don’t know about you but I work for a BIG power corporation (the government) and if people stopped paying what they are supposed to pay, I would not have an income. What about you? If you’re in business for yourself, it’s as bad or worse if others just didn’t want to pay the bills you send because they don’t think they “should”.

Try it for a few months. Bless your bills, write on them “Bless this bill and I’m grateful for this”, and visualize giving someone on the other end their money. Then pay the bill, smile and move on. In a short while this will be contagious and you’ll be blessing everything you pay for and you know what? You’ll start reaping the benefits. Gratitude is the strongest force in the Universe.

Terrie

 

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What Matters Most?

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iStock_000014201661Small I was in Whole Foods yesterday looking to get my lunch – I’m a creature of habit so my lunch is always a salad and chicken.  I go to the salad bar first and then to another section to get the hot chicken. Easy, right? How much more simple can it get?

But lately there must have been a change in the management or something because the selections have changed (not to my liking, of course) and frequently they don’t have chicken.

Well, yesterday was a double whammy – there was no spinach so I put the other components in the box, knowing I had plenty of spinach at home and could use that. Things were not so bad at that point. I headed off to the “smoked” bar (no, not that kind of bar) and on the way I wanted to get some more protein powder but they didn’t have the size that I wanted so I didn’t get that. By the time I got to where the chicken should have been I was already bummed out. Then I found out I was too early for the chicken (if they even had it that day) because only one item was out on the display. So, my whole day was ruined – wasn’t it?

It could have been “ruined” if I’d let it. And I was starting to let it get to me. But then I went to get my weekly supply of Salmon jerky and one of the guys who is so pleasant waited on me and we talked a bit so my disappointment was a bit further back in my mind.  Then I headed to the checkout line.

It was a bit busy so I scanned the checkers (I have my favorites – going to Whole Foods is like a ritual for me – stop laughing). I didn’t see anyone I knew so I decided on the lane closest to the door. But as I was walking toward it, I heard “Terrie, I’m open”. I looked up and it was one of my favorite people (she’s a runner too). We had a great conversation, as usual, and laughed a lot. It was fun and uplifting. Contact with these folks is great. Some of them have even become friends.

I left Whole Foods feeling great!

Much different than I was feeling just a few minutes prior. Why?

What matters most? Whether or not a certain object or food was in stock and available OR interaction with a human being – where you might learn something about someone or you might even cheer them up and make them happy? Which lasts longer? The object? The feeling you get from being with others? Of course it’s the feeling and emotions you have when you interact with others. The food is just that, food. It will be ingested and be gone. Same if it were an object.

So next time you’re feeling disappointed by something, examine what it is that’s disappointed you and go find someone to interact with (email, phone, text, talk – just be with a living being) and be grateful for their being in your life and bringing you love, joy, satisfaction. See how long the feelings last and how you feel all day long. I bet it will be alot longer than if they had the “object” you were initially disappointed in.

Always ask “What matters most?”

Terrie

 

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Find A Way in 2014

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practice1 Welcome to the greatest year of your life – EVER!

Why have I “waited” so long to write this? Why didn’t I get it out there on 1 January?

I’ll tell you why and there are two reasons:

1) I was doing a six day run (and am proud to say that I covered 200 miles during those 6 days – it was a terrific moment for me) called “Across The Years” – meaning it started in 2013 and ended in 2014. So, I was a bit out of commission at the first of the year.

2) I really loathe the hype that surrounds the New Year. People make it out like it’s the only time of year you can (or should) make changes in your life. Why? Why can’t you decided today to make changes? Why can’t you decide that you don’t need to make any changes, you don’t need any resolutions, that maybe you’re ok as you are? Why oh why does everyone HAVE to make some sort of resolution to change every year on 1 January?

This superimposed “you must change” edict that you see all over the TV, the papers, the internet (must be true of course right?), and in the conversations all around you is enough to make you feel guilty if you don’t want to participate in “changing your life forever”.

What happens if you’re just not “in the mood” at this time of year (which many people aren’t – it’s a big time for depression but that’s not talked about as much) so you don’t make any New Year’s resolutions? You feel guilty and unworthy and not “part of the crowd”. You feel as if you don’t belong. It seems that making resolutions keeps you in the mainstream of human nature so you do belong and are just like everyone else.

But the other thing that happens if you don’t participate in the “New Year’s Resolution” process is that then you feel that you can’t ever make any changes, any alterations to your life until “next year” – where you will probably repeat this same process and set of emotions. So 1374635_10151938781002408_1738297909_nyou put off making any changes even when you ARE motivated for it – because it’s NOT the New Year.  Why don’t you do it then? Because there’s no hype, no being part of the process, no belonging if you decide in June that you have something in your life that you want to alter. You feel foolish telling people you’ve made a resolution. Their response might be “now?, why?” And that will help defeat you before you even start. You won’t have the support that you would have had if you had started when everyone else did – even though your heart wasn’t really in it.

So, let me ask you this – did you make resolutions? Where are you with them now  that we are half way through January?

More importantly – have you taken an inventory and listed everything that’s great about you and that you’re grateful for? That should be your first step for sure. Because you have to focus on the good parts of you more than the “bad” things, the things that you think have to change and have to change right this minute.  Once you’ve taken this inventory and expressed your gratitude, you can list the areas you want to examine that might show you areas you’d like to concentrate on. I don’t want to say change because that word often implies significant effort and obvious (to others) alterations.  To concentrate on something might mean simply focusing more on a process such as keeping a gratitude journal or making sure every day you say your “gratitudes” even if you don’t write them down. So what can others see to know you’ve accomplished something? Probably nothing immediate and the change  in you they might not attribute to this action/concentration. You might not either but it will most likely be because you have paid attention to gratitude.

iStock_000005883875XSmallI want everyone to spend January thinking and writing about how great they are and all their terrific qualities. Write them down. Make a list of all you have accomplished – you can start with 2013 but go back all the way through your life and write, write, write.

This is your starting point. You can alter how you feel and think about things just by taking this life inventory and dwelling on all you have and all you’ve done. Stop focusing on the bad or negative things.

2014 will be the best year of your life and you will NOT have to put much effort in it. Stick with me and I’ll show you how this will happen. Are you willing to take that risk?

Terrie

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Gratitude and Gifts

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stick_figure_giving_bouquet_flowers_400_clr_3592As you know all weekend I was writing about Diana Nyad and the many aspects and lessons from her 53 hour swim (and more importantly all that went behind it). And you know what? I’ll continue to write about her (and it) because the number of lessons in this story is amazing – and the lessons about the Law of Attraction in this story are worthy of revisiting for sure.

How do you express gratitude?

Do you keep track of all the “gifts” you receive and have received in your life?

How do you define a “gift” – after all it’s an individual definition.

  • Although folks usually think that a gift is something meant directly for them, I look at a gift as being something that was bestowed upon me  – and sometimes even around me but it touches me even if it wasn’t meant directly for me. That’s often the way it works. We do not live in a vacuum and almost everything that happens in our surrounding environment will have some effect on us.
  • Often people think that a “gift” as being something positive, like flowers or gift card, etc.
  • Also, a gift is commonly considered to be a material object (not always but usually that’s the first thing that people think about)

 

Let’s take each of these individually.

  •  We can learn so much from what goes on around us. Look at the people and circumstances around you. Did someone say something near you that gave you a great idea or that made you smile even though they weren’t directing it to you? That’s a gift! Did a neighbor do something to their house that raised the property value of your house perhaps? That’s a gift to you even though your neighbor did not do it for you. Get the point?
  • It happens that our most important and valuable gifts are what we might consider “negative” at the time. But remember the “everything always works out for me” mantra. Look back at your life and see the “bad” things that happened in your life and see the good things that actually came from it. My primary example has to do with medical school and my diagnosis of epilepsy. I did not get into medical school the first two times I applied. I was so depressed because that’s all I  ever wanted since I was 4 years old. Picture this tiny little red headed, freckle faced girl standing with her hands on her hips and proudly announcing to the world at large “I am going to be a doctor”. And I never wavered from that. But then, oh my goodness, what was I going to do – I’ve been “rejected”. I did what any person who didn’t have any alternative goals would do – continue to apply year after year..LOL.  During this dry spell of rejection after rejection, I developed these strange events. To make a long story short – this was diagnosed after a year as epilepsy. About a month after the diagnosis and start of treatment I got into medical school. The gifts here are multiple. I didn’t get into medical school because my epilepsy would have interfered with my studies (and probably would not have been diagnosed much earlier even around a bunch of doctors). By the time I started school, my condition was under control and there was no further problems. It was a gift because it made me understand my patients with chronic disease much better and I could help them more. My understanding of medicine, diagnosing and what people experience with the medical encounter was enhanced (although I didn’t know it at the time) which helped me with others. It was a gift for me to get the diagnosis of epilepsy because my neurologist had said “you either have epilepsy or a brain tumor”. As you can imagine, epilepsy was a much more favorable option for me. There are many other gifts in this experience too but I won’t go into them all. The point is that most people would NOT consider being diagnosed with a chronic, life-long illness as a “gift”. But it was.
  • The last point is also exemplified by my epilepsy – it wasn’t an object, it was a diagnosis but it was a “gift”. A smile or laugh or a stimulated thought is also a gift. It does NOT have to be put in a box to be a gift.

Your work is to make a list of all the gifts you’ve received in your life. That will take some time if you do it right and take this seriously. Write down the “bad” things too and see what gifts came from them. Do this in a journal and take your time. Give gratitude for each and every gift and see if you can see what great things came from that gift. Do that this weekend, ok?

When you express your gratitude, you will empower yourself even more because gratitude is the most powerful force in the universe! Diana knew that and when she had been in the water for almost 50 hours she gathered all her boats around her and thanked her entire crew. She was exhausted and hurting and yet she knew how important gratitude is. How classy is that? Can you just express gratitude after looking at your list? Of course you can – you haven’t been swimming for 50 hours, you’ve just been making a list (and checking it twice…LOL).

Enjoy this exercise please – I promise you it will be fun! Let us know in the comments how things turned out.

Terrie