We know we are very silly to get so worked up over snow down here in the southeast. But we don’t ever get snow. Ever. And they don’t take care of our roads at all, so it’s like a big skating rink for cars. So it’s a big deal to us. That picture over there > is what my backyard looks like right now. So beautiful!This whole snow event actually ties into why I’m writing. See, growing up, we hardly ever had school cancelled for snow…much less chilly temperatures. Living here, I’ve had to learn that since the roads don’t get treated and the schools aren’t prepared for extreme cold, things are done differently. And that’s okay. I had to shift my mindset about how that should be handled. Otherwise I started to judge the situation.A word of caution: when you start to judge a situation (ANY situation), you are entering dangerous territory. These moments are an invitation to take a look at WHY you feel this way and what you might be doing to contribute to it. Take a look … more often than not, the situations we find ourselves giving our attention, energy, anger, judgement and emotions to are quite obviously triggering something for us. Good or bad. It’s up to us to figure out WHY that is happening. Have road rage? Ask yourself if you are really that attentive on the road after all. Or why a 5 second interaction drives you into a tizzy for half the day. What’s the point? What do you get out of that?Constantly annoyed by your significant other? What is it really that they are doing to be so annoying? Why can’t you let it go? Why do you judge their actions? While they remain blissfully ignorant of their impending blow up of a fight where you tell-all…why DOES that get you so worked up? And it is really them after all?
What other situations do you find yourself being judgmental about? Or unhappy about? Or disappointed with? I invite you to take a look at what is behind that. Then I invite you to choose something different.
Last month I said 2014 was the year to choose happy. These are those moments. These tiny changes that all merge together into this thing we call life to create what we call habit. Life is much more about the day to day routine than the overwhelming blissfully happy moments. Our job here is to make our day to day routine pretty darn pleasing. What is your default habitual state of emotion? Is it happiness? Is it joy? Is it curiosity? Is it annoyance? Is it judgement? Is it anger?
Whatever it is, it’s okay. You’re human. I just want for you to be a happy human. And that means creating enjoyable habits, memorable moments throughout your days and choosing positive thoughts.
I’ve been very diligent in this practice actually. For the past year or more, my default emotion has been judgement and/or annoyance. For no particular reason. My life has been incredibly blessed with amazing friends, clients and family. I just felt low. And unhappy. And I knew it. And I knew that with every judgmental thought, angry emotion and sad reaction that I was creating a new norm for myself. One that I did NOT want. So, slowly, I began to open up to the joys of my day to day routines. The beauty in the ordinary. The amazing vulnerability of expressing when life is not amazing, incredible, or noteworthy, but rather, just…normal. And I came to realize that I can turn that around with just a thought whenever I want.
So, I invite you to choose positivity. Little by little. Moment by moment. When your consciousness knocks, answer it with a new way of thinking. Choose patience instead of annoyance. Choose empathy. Choose curiosity. Choose a new experience – something you might normally say no to. Choose to believe that someone else’s actions towards you might just be a reflection of how their life is going right now. Choose forgiveness and love. Choose a better life for yourself. |