Thought For Today - April
 

Footprints in the Mind

Like footprints in the sand, imprints in the mind also get left behind.

For a calm sleep & a fresh start the next day, take a few minutes at the end of the day to clear the footprints in your mind.

Just as footprints in the sand are washed away by waves, imagine waves rolling through your mind & washing away the imprints of thoughts & emotions from the day.

The One Skill

Think about when you are traveling or living abroad; you're thrown into a new culture, new environment, new everything. The one skill that enables you to make the most of where you are, is your ability to adapt.

Now apply the same skill of adaptability in your everyday life. Adapt and keep adapting. Not only will you better handle the unexpected, but you'll also make things less challenging and more enjoyable.

From Jungle to Safari

Life often feels like a jungle! Hazardous and arduous; threatening and unpredictable! Well, the next time life feels like a jungle, go on a safari! Anticipate. Look around carefully. Enjoy the unpredictable. Savour the mundane. Marvel. And feel exhilarated. Change how you see things and you’ll connect with life in a different way.

The Way out of Confusion

Feeling confused? Let it be! As you go about your day, your confusion may automatically start resolving itself. If that doesn’t work, then write down all the jumbled up thoughts. As you write, you might find your way out of confusion into clarity.

Recipe for Inner Peace

Here is a recipe for inner peace: 500g of joy, 2 cups of love, 5 tbsp of patience, 3 tsp of serenity, pinch of humour. In a large bowl stir all the ingredients together. Mix well and share with everyone you know. Today create your own inner peace recipe. What ingredients, spices and seasonings will you add?

No Strings, No Expectations

Generosity gives without expectations and gets everything. So avoid attaching strings to any generosity you extend. Give without wanting anything in return and simply accept whatever comes back, or doesn’t come back! Actually, what is right and what you need comes to you naturally, at the right time.

Someone's Being Negative

When someone's being negative towards you, understand:
1. The negativity is not yours, so choose not to take it.
2. If you react, you feed the negativity, so act, not react.
3. There's a lesson here, about yourself, so learn it.

Then determine if & what you can do to protect your positivity & positively influence the other person.

Improv to Improve

Improv, it’s not just for actors or comedians. We all improvise in some way or another, every day. It happens especially in those moments when we have to respond instantly, we just go with our intuition and improvise.

So, be less busy in your head, be more present and improve the way you improv and respond.

Still the Restless Mind

When the mind feels restless, think of it as a lake and the movement of thoughts and emotions as the wind that stirs up the surface of the lake.

Slowly calm all the movement and take your mind from restless to restful. Now, there’s no wind, and as the surface of the lake becomes completely still, let the mind rest, even if it’s just for a moment.

What's the Takeaway?

There’s always a takeaway from every situation, event, lecture, meeting, conversation…. from everything you read, see, hear, experience….

Not the food ‘take-away,’ but a point, an insight; something that resonates or something that’s relevant. And as there’s information overload, the challenge is to walk away with just one takeaway.

Feel Good Fix

Feeling out of sorts? Need a quick fix? Reach out and find a way to help someone.

When you help someone, you help yourself. Do good and you feel good. Feel good and you're more likely to do more good!

Today think of simple ways you can help others, especially when you're not feeling good.

Stretch Yourself

Ever noticed how wildflowers stretch above the crowd, towards the light? The unexpected reward for this natural process for the wildflower is a broader view of its surroundings! How far are you prepared to stretch yourself in order to 'grow' and gain a wider perspective?

Overcooked Broccoli!

Overthinking is like overcooking.

Overcook something and not only does it lose its nutrients, but it also doesn’t taste good. Overthink something and not only do you lose energy and happiness but you also make things complicated.

Think but don’t overthink. Remember, no one, and I mean no one likes overcooked broccoli!

Involve to Evolve

Every day, we continue to grow, develop and evolve. Here are 3 ways to evolve, involve yourself in:

1. A conversation. Listen & engage fully to enrich your perspective & understanding.
2. A challenge. Leap out of your comfort zone to expand your capacity & experience.
3. Your community. Offer a helping hand, a smile, or something when & where it is needed, & you'll walk away a little wiser.

How will you involve yourself to evolve?

Stretch your Stress

Feeling stressed? Do the muscles in your neck, shoulders, arms and lower back feel a little tense? Stretch. Release the tension, relieve the discomfort and you’ll feel much better.

Why wait for the tension to build up? Find stretches that work for you and take one or more short stretch breaks daily. Cats and dogs do it, so come on, stretch!

Tapestry of Relationships

Relationships are like a tapestry!

What threads do you weave into the tapestry of your relationships?
Respect, acceptance, trust….? Rethink the threads you use.
Get creative to create vibrant, strong relationships.

Enjoying This Moment?

Are you enjoying all that’s happening at this moment?

If not, then think: everything that happens, happens for my personal growth. Even if you can’t see it, feel it or believe it. Just hold this thought in your awareness and start recognizing the magic and the humor in all that that’s happening at this moment.

As a result, you’ll start to enjoy and make the most out of all that’s happening at this moment.

Appreciating Beauty

We come across beauty in a number of shapes and forms. Sometimes in people, in buildings, a brilliant sunset, a work of art... When we appreciate beauty it stirs the essence of beauty within. For the essence of who we are, is beauty. So the next time you say, "Wow...that's beautiful," remember that when you appreciate beauty, you're appreciating yourself too.

Opening the Closed Mind

Sometimes we're quick to make assumptions and fast to close our minds. Rather than rushing to close our minds, let's open the mind to learn more and understand better. Being open minded doesn't mean that we shouldn't stand by the truth as we know it, or that we must accept every point of view. Being open minded means that we're willing to reconsider and revise our assumptions. When we open the closed mind, we discover the delight of playing with possibilities!

The Empathy Challenge

When someone is angry or behaving badly, or when you're not understanding someone’s point of view or where they're coming from – a skill you can practice is empathy.

Practicing empathy is a challenge because it requires us to:
- step back from our busy minds, and give our attention to listen to the other person.
- stop from our fast paced lives, and give our time to ask what the other person is thinking or feeling.

Empathy not only enhances our understanding and interaction, it also makes the other person feel heard and valued. Are you ready to step up to the challenge and give your valuable attention and time to practice empathy?

Tips for Waking Up Early

The early morning hours are so quiet. There’s space to breathe, reflect, meditate, read, write.

If you’re like me, and you want to make an early start but you just can’t, then here are 5 tips:

Wake up a little bit earlier everyday until you get to your goal wake up time.
Think, “I am a morning person. I love waking up early.”
Put your alarm out of reach, so you have to get up to turn it off.
Motivate yourself with an inspiring reason to rise early.
Go to bed early!

Turn Regrets into….

We all have some kind of regrets, opportunities we didn’t take, ideas we didn’t act upon, things we wish we’d done differently.

Regrets keep us stuck in feeling bad. Stop feeling bad and instead use your regrets to realize what you need to transform now; to do things differently in the future.

Turn your regrets into realizations.

Overused Words

Often the words we use in our conversations are over used. Over used words make conversations, boring and bland.

Pick and play with words to make your conversations more vivid and colorful.

What words do you over use? What will you avoid and use instead?

Do You Trust Yourself?

Do you trust yourself? When you don't trust yourself, you'll always doubt your ability and look to others for validity.

Today, make an empowering decision to trust yourself.

Trust in your capability to do and be whatever you choose. Trust in your capacity to handle whatever happens.

Be Like Peppermint Tea

There's nothing more comforting than a peppermint tea! Sip away and it'll soothe an unsettled tummy, relax your nerves, relieve the tension out of your muscles, refresh you in warm weather....

Did you know that our presence too, can be as versatile as peppermint tea? Our presence can create the right atmosphere. Cool, when the heat is on. Calm, when things get tense. Soothe, when hearts are anxious.

Open Loops and Getting Things Done

All the little things that you’ve been procrastinating over become an open loop in your mind. Until you get things done, the open loop will suck your time, energy and mind space. Open loop stoppers are simple: take one thing that you’ve been putting off and do it now. When you finally do it, you are freed from the stress that it was causing you, a reward in itself.

Outdated Assumptions

If you see someone sitting quietly, do you assume they're upset or just shy? We're so quick to make assumptions but, most often, our assumptions are out-of-date, not valid, not helpful or even relevant.

As assumptions determine your attitude, behavior and choices, how about, reconsidering your assumptions? Whenever you can, reconsider and update your assumptions.

Get Back On Track

We all want to feel like we’re on the right track, moving in the direction of our goals. Yet it’s so very easy to get off track.

Try the following the next time you get off track with your goals:
- Identify what got you off track and learn from it.
- Decide if you still want to go for your goals.
- Clarify the next steps needed to get yourself back on track.
- Get started and get moving in the direction of your goals.

Consider Yourself a Guest

We don’t mean to, but once we get used to things, we start taking them for granted. The antidote for this is to consider ourselves to be a guest, a guest in this world, at work and even in our own home.

Today, consider yourself to be a guest and see how that changes your experience.

You may find that you are more:
1) respectful in your interactions
2) careful about not leaving a mess behind you
3) grateful and appreciative of everything

What to leave in, what to leave out?

What you leave out, is just as important as what you leave in - whether it's a painting, a blog, a CV, a photograph, a book, a movie, a 'Thought for Today'.

Leave everything in and it gets in the way of creativity. Crop, edit, leave the right things out and you enhance what you’ve created and make it work better.

The art is in knowing what to leave in and what to leave out!