New Beginnings

You are only confined by the walls you build yourself.

Imagine you are standing in the middle of a field.  There is a forest to your right, a stream to your left, a farm behind you, and a city in front of you.  You can do anything you want with the space you’re in.  You are close to everything and far enough away that you don’t have to make it part of your world.  What would you do?

Your life is like the field.  You can make it anything you want it to be.  The only thing stopping you are the excuses in your head.  If you get rid of the excuses, you can find a way to make anything happen.

If anything were possible, would you build in your field?  Stop allowing the excuses in your head and find a way to make your dreams come true.

With the new day comes new thoughts and new beginnings.

When you believe that every day is a new beginning, you allow the mistakes of the past to dissolve away and begin each morning with a fresh start.

When I was a child, there was a field behind my house.  In the middle of this field was a beautiful yellow flower.  This flower was trampled by playing children and animals.  It was scorched in the hot sun.  No matter how much it endured, it lived on.  

When I think of starting each day anew, I think of this flower.  I think of all that I have endured throughout my lifetime, yet I am still here.  Every morning I wake up to a new day and am thankful that I am alive and looking forward to my new beginning.

Be like the yellow flower and don’t let the issues of your past cloud your new day. 

You need to learn a new way of thinking before you can master a new way to be.

Where have you been stuck in life?  What did you do about it?  Did you actually take action or did you just complain about it? 

Remember, life is happening “for you” not “to you”.  When you look at life from that perspective, you can make the changes necessary for you to be happy.  Once you are happier, your whole life changes. 

When your life changes for the better, your happiness is infectious and you spread it without even thinking!  So, take responsibility for the actions in your life.  Make the changes necessary and become the happiest you that you can possibly be!

Mistakes are proof that you are trying.

I am a recovering perfectionist.  Like most perfectionists, I believed that everything in my life had to be just so.  When I found something that wasn’t perfect and I couldn’t make it perfect, I got so hard on myself.  My view of the world was a little warped by what I thought perfection was supposed to be.  I spent so much time trying to fix things that I forgot to stop and enjoy them.

What I learned was that perfection does not exist.  Every time you think something is perfect, you will find some fault to prove yourself wrong. 

I have also learned that when I make mistakes, I feel like a failure.  I have been so hard on myself and set unrealistic expectations. 

Do you know that you learn from your mistakes?  Failure is just a part of the learning process.  Making mistakes means that you are trying.  Trying is progress.  And, according to my life coach, progress is perfection.  Hmmmmm…

You don’t get results by focusing on the results.  You get results by focusing on the action that changes the results.

You go to the doctor and have to step on the dreaded scale.  Of course you will hear that you need to lose weight – it’s what they always tell you. 

So once again you go on a diet telling yourself that you need to lose ten pounds by the next appointment.  You have to quit eating your favorite foods and you have to do the grueling exercise routine you saw online.  Every day you tell yourself that you must lose that weight and it puts so much pressure on you.  What do you think the result will be?  My experience has taught me that this line of thinking makes me resistant and depressed.  I keep focusing on those numbers and am so discouraged that I just keep eating the stuff I shouldn’t be eating.

However, if I think to myself that I need to drink more water or maybe decrease my portion size by a little (not have seconds or thirds) it doesn’t seem like I’m asking that much of myself.  And, so what if I do have seconds or thirds today, I didn’t yesterday.  That’s an improvement. 

When you take your focus off of the big picture and focus on your small victories, you tend to be happier and do better…one step at a time.

When I let go of what I am, I can hold on to what I will become.

This is a lesson I keep learning.  I am a daughter, a sister, a wife, a mother, a grandmother, and a friend.  I am the responsible one.  I am the person people come to with all of their problems.  I have been held to their standards for so long I started to resent it.

But once I let go of the resentment and the stuff I was told I “should” be doing, I made room for the person I was always meant to become.

You can do that, too.  Let go of the things other people think you should be doing and start focusing on what makes you happy.  Now, I’m not telling you to be selfish, I’m telling you to think of yourself too.  If you don’t put yourself first, who is going to?  When you look at life from that angle, you realize that your dreams are important, your life is important, and you are important.  When you realize that, you will become even more amazing than you ever thought possible!

When in doubt, take a vacation.

Now this doesn’t necessarily mean you have to travel.  But if you are stressed out or have no clue what should be coming next, take a break.  Take a few moments to regroup, or a few days to relax, or a few weeks to recharge, or whatever you need to reset your mind.

Sometimes it just means that you need to step away, close your eyes, and take a few deep breaths.

When you call it a vacation, it makes it feel more relaxing.  But, call it whatever you want as long as it relaxes you and recharges your energy.

It’s okay to cry as long as you move on and focus on where you are headed.

Everybody has those days where they want to curl up into a ball and cry.  Crying is good for you.  It releases oxytocin and endorphins which reduces stress and helps improve your mood. 

So, have a good cry and make yourself feel better.  The important part here is to remember to move on once you have cried.  Don’t stay stuck in the upset or you will become depressed. 

Name one thing you have coming up in your future that makes you happy.  Look forward to that and put your focus on the good things that are heading your way. 

Don’t have something to look forward to?  Can’t think of anything?  Well, then sit down and make a list of five things you want to do in the next few weeks or months.  There, now you have something to look forward to.  Focus on one of those goals and make yourself happier.  You’ve got this!

Take a few minutes every day to appreciate the miracles happening around you.

You may be thinking - miracles…huh…I don’t see any miracles happening around me! 

Of course there are miracles happening all around you.  You are breathing, right?  Do you consciously move the air in and out of your body or does it happen automatically?  You can see – another miracle.  You can hear – miracle number 3!  And those are just the things happening within your own body.

Look around you at the sun shining, hear the birds singing, even the thunderstorms happening are miracles. 

When you look at the world around you as if everything were a miracle, you start to believe in the miracles that surround you.  When you believe in the miracles, you become happier.  When you are happier, you cause people around you to be happier.  That entire process is a miracle in my eyes! 

What you focus on controls your life.     

Have you ever noticed that when someone you know has a baby, everything you see has something to do with babies, children, or pregnant ladies?  If you want to go on a beach vacation, you notice pictures being posted by “everyone” about their trip to the beach.

This happens because you are focused on those specific topics.  Since you are focused on that topic, you will notice it more.  It doesn’t mean that those topics weren’t around before then.  It just means that you were focused on something else.

How do you change your focus?  Well, you have to make a conscious effort to move past the bad things that are happening in your life and focus on the good things.  Once you change your focus to something happier, you will become happier.  Notice the good to see the good!

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