Tag Archives: positive actions

22

Feel Better

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Many times, we all wish we could wave a magic wand and feel better, happier, and more engaged in life. Unfortunately, I don’t have a magic wand, but we all can change our mood from bad to good by making the correct action choices. I can’t guarantee these actions will lead to a better feeling, but they might make you a happier life.

It doesn’t take any specialized training or skill to do this, other than the ability to take the actions at the right time. None of these things are beyond you or me, and that is an excellent thing. So find your way to the enjoyment of life and happiness on the path and follow one of these simple steps. The satisfaction you gain is going to be your own. These are methods to create a definite bounce in your life.

You’ve Got To Move It.

Exercise is important. Not only for the length of your life but the quality

jogging

of living, you are experiencing. We are all given a body at birth, and that mechanism functions best when it has regular exercise. If exercise isn’t a part of your program, that is when many issues with your body crop up. There is a long list of these illnesses, from heart disease to obesity; all of them are going to diminish your quality and enjoyment of life. The sad part is that a simple walk three or four times a week could enhance your physical and mental experience.

The choice to exercise gives immediate and long-term benefits for your body and significant short-term benefits to your mind, mood, and feelings. When you exercise, your body releases endorphins into your system, which leads you to feel good in the short term. There have been studies done where exercise has been proven to decrease feelings of depression over the long run. Your body is a mechanism that was made to move, so move, and you will see your mood enhanced today and for the long-term as well. Any exercise will do, so choose what resonates with you. Biking, jogging, lifting weights, aerobics classes, yoga, martial arts, hiking, or any other physical activity that gets the heart pumping will work. Get active and get happy.

Take Actions Big and Small

This is simple advice, but how many of us do what we love as a mood enhancer. Each of us has things we love to do. For me, it is writing about the things I think about; for others, it may be painting, cooking, tinkering with engines, or anything you connect with. When you do this thing, time will most likely disappear and seem to fly by—feeling low? Take some time to find these activities to carry you through.

Sometimes simple activities can provide us with a sense of happiness as well. Doing chores like making the bed, doing the dishes, or folding laundry can provide people with a sense of satisfaction and even joy. There is peace in doing these activities, a chance to focus your conscious mind on a task. This direct focus allows your subconscious mind to work on and give you answers to issues in your life. So don’t avoid the chores. Use them to make you happier, because believe it or not, they will.

Practice Intentional Kindness

Being kind to others leads to an increase in a positive mood—no doubt about that. When you are not feeling overly optimistic, it is usually because you are trapped in your negative thoughts about life. Something didn’t go right, or that might go wrong, and how will that affect me? Will I experience suffering? When you purposely seek out opportunities to be kind, you move your focus from inside to outside yourself. This change in direction brings a natural evolution in mood and attitude.

A straightforward practice I have heard about is the five acts of kindness. That means that you choose a day and must find at least five specific compassion points for others on that day. You don’t have to make them enormous, grand activities, but simple acts of kindness that enhance the lives of another human being. That act by itself will increase the joy in your life and, of course, make the experience much more enjoyable to you.

Retrain Your Mind

It is estimated that it takes about 21 days to establish a new habit. If you are mentally straying to the negative and want a favorable bounce, then start to notice things to be grateful for. I have heard that seeing and charting just three new things every day to be thankful for will allow you to change the way you think. Your mind will naturally start to look for the positive things and let the negative slide. This bounce can be immediate but will also become that habit after 21 days.

Imagine changing your whole outlook in just 21 days and seeing the world from an overall different perspective. Each moment we have in life is precious, and it is totally up to us if we spend it in anger and misery or joy and happiness.

So there are a few of the positive bounce methods that I have used to improve my outlook and attitude daily. I hope that you can use some of these methods too. Look at your mood and thoughts, and if they continually land on the negative, then it is time to make some changes.

“I always like to look on the optimistic side of life, but I am realistic enough to know that life is a complex matter.” — Walt Disney

“Pessimism leads to weakness, optimism to power.” — William James

“I’m a very positive thinker, and I think that is what helps me the most in difficult moments.” — Roger Federer

22

Take Action

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Taking Action

Taking Action
Take action, there is no telling what will happen, but you know what will happen if you do nothing.

Many things have stopped people from taking action in life. There are dreams that people have wanted to chase that they thought about but left untested because taking action appeared just a little bit too scary or confusing. The lesson learned was clear that no matter what a person is dreaming of accomplishing or experiencing, it can only be realized by implementing action to do the thing and see what happens.

Each day, thousands of people look at their lives and have big dreams about what they would like to do, but the lack of action leaves these things in the fog of thought and out of the clarity of reality. Choosing to do things that are a part of that dream or bring that dream to life will allow you to realize your dream.

Action Time

Action can be taken at any time and will provide those who take it with many adventures and exciting experiences in life. Inventions will be invented, books will be written, and knowledge will be gained as soon as you decide to take action must happen. The best thing about it is that anyone, as far as I know, is capable of doing it. If you have been hesitant or fearful, taking action is the cure. Fear is erased with action because then, at least you know.

Many people can do great things and think great thoughts about how the world should be run or different businesses. All possess the capacity to take action on those thoughts and create them in this reality, yet very few do this.

Please Don’t Leave it for someone else.

Too often, we want to leave the chores to somebody else and conveniently forget that we are We are what we dosomebody else and can do everything. Why not us? Why don’t we take action and make the change? First, in our own lives and then to the benefit of others.

Gandhi was just a man living in India who saw racial injustice and remote control. He specialized in organizing non-violent protests that raised awareness of the cause and won the support of the world. Gandhi has been one of the most often quoted human beings from the 20th Century, and one of my favorites is, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” Meaning that if you want something to be different, then act like that yourself.

Some will read this and think that they don’t want to change the world or that they don’t want to lead a revolution. That is fine. Not everyone was cut out for that type of life, but is anyone too busy or too meek to institute an action in their lives that will provide a positive

small actions define the world you live in
These define your world

change?

Taking Action of Kindness

One of the most significant actions that a person can take is to perform an act of kindness. This positive feeling doesn’t have to cost money, and it doesn’t even have to take a lot of time. It merely has to be kind and thoughtful. Hello, and a smile to someone who feels like nobody cares can buoy their soul for an entire day. Giving someone a sincere compliment can make them feel better about how things are going. All of these acts, which are pretty small in the massive scheme of things, can be done by you every day. And without you, they will remain undone. The person who receives the compliment will continue to be sad, the person who needs a smile will be going without that human comfort, and your small actions can make a massive difference in someone else’s life.

When you move through your day and you see an opportunity to make the world a little better place, you can be the change and start taking action. In the most severe cases, one small, seemingly trivial act of kindness could save a life or, at the very least, make the experience a lot more pleasant for everyone you come in contact with but most importantly for yourself. It all begins with taking action.

  • “You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.” ~ Joe Sabah
    “Don’t be afraid to take a big step. You can’t cross a chasm in two small jumps.” ~ David Lloyd George
  • “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act, but a habit.” ~ Aristotle“
  • The superior man acts before he speaks, and afterward says according to his action.” ~ Confucius
    • “The superior man is modest in his speech but exceeds in his actions.” ~ Confucius
    • “You cannot score a goal when you are sitting on the bench. To do so, you have to dress up and enter the game.” ~ Israelmore Ayivor

21

Responsible

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Responsibility- the state or fact of being accountable 

One of the constant challenges people face is accepting responsibility for the choices they make.  The finger of blame is often the first thing people do when a situation arises. To be responsible is the best way to find solutions to problems rather than clear ourselves of wrongdoing.

Avoid excuses and look for manageable actions that you can undertake to find solutions to problems. Energy spent on anything else is going to be a waste of time.  It all begins by looking at your thoughts, words, and actions when any situation arises that is deemed harmful or positive, and you are in control of creating your response.  Be accountable for your location, and you have power.

Excuses are the nails in the house of failure.

When a situation arises, it is human nature to want to distance ourselves from all things negative. Pointing the finger at someone or something else is one of the earliest lessons we learn. We don’t want to be punished as children, so throwing someone else under that bus is a good strategy.  But it isn’t a healthy or positive one. We are only as strong as the most plausible excuse we will accept from ourselves. We learn to use reasons to avoid taking responsibility.  When this process is transferred to other parts of our lives as we grow, the first thing we look for is a plausible excuse and deniability.

What you are saying when you accept an excuse is that “I couldn’t help it. I am weak and helpless.”  That is a message that will resonate with you in all areas of your life.  You will believe that you are weak and helpless.  The fact is that you are just about as frail or disabled as you choose to be, and that choice lies in any plausible excuse you accept about yourself or your situation.  Learn to leave the reasons behind your thoughts, words, and actions. The method is responsibility.

Manageable Actions Equal Responsibility

When you are looking at any situation, begin by seeing the result as positive or negative. Then look at the causes that brought the case about. Which objects are manageable, and which are not?  For example, acts of God are not compliant, broken beyond repair, or depleted resources are out of your control. What is never out of control is how you react to it. Use that factor as an excuse, and you will fail. Find an activity that you can take, and you will most likely succeed.  Find a manageable action.

There are always actions you take or inactions you choose that help or hinder any circumstance you may find yourself in.  Identify the actions or inactions that led to your current situation. If the condition is favorable, repeat them; if the state is negative, change them. Either way, accept responsibility for where you are at. Use your power rather than give it away in the form of excuses.  You are as solid and robust as a person, as you are willing to accept responsibility for being.

Improvement Is a Choice

Therefore, it is up to you to learn to repeat the manageable actions that lead to favorable circumstances in your life.  Along with that is the talent to see the plausible excuses you are using to weaken yourself. Accept your strength with responsibility and move away from your weakness of plausible explanations. There are many good excuses for failure. If you accept one as your own, failure is where you end up.

It all starts with a focus on your thoughts, words, and actions. As you develop your consciousness and become more aware of the forces you allow to control your life, look for the steps you can take to move forward rather than the excuses you can accept to justify yourself.  The result will be success, contentment, happiness, and reliability.

“The price of greatness is responsibility.” ~ Winston Churchill

“You must take personal responsibility. You can’t change some circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself. That is something you have control of.” ~ Jim Rohn

 

21

Joyous

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Joyous- a good, affirmative, or constructive quality or attribute.

positive thoughtToday can be a good day, or this can be a bad day. Positive thinking will make sure it is a good day. The decision is yours to make. A pretty simple choice, isn’t it? You have total control over what kind of experiences you will have only by how you look at the circumstances you find yourself in at the moment. Positive thinking allows you to be hopeful through all sorts of situations. It sees the long game of benefits in a short set of experiences. It is choosing to be a force that helps others in the world. Positive thinking is a chance to be a positive change in the world. It starts with a conscious awareness of how your thoughts move you today toward the positive or the negative and how your corresponding emotions, words, and actions stem from that. I have experienced many images over the past year, betrayal, loss, lies, and selfishness. My conscious choice is to look ahead and leave the past in the past. That is what I was supposed to do all along.

Positive Thinking Determines What you Will Accomplish

It is said that “your attitude will determine your altitude in life.” What this implies is that what you get from life is what you put into it. When it comes to your career, if you expect to find the work you love and develop the knowledge and skillsets required, you are well on your way to achieving that goal. The next step is action. It would help if you took action; without it, you would not reach your destination.Positive Thinking

I was once told that life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent of how you react to it. The ratio may be wrong, but the general idea is correct in its meaning. Many things in life happen to us that we have no control over, but we always do have control over how we react to them. Positive thinking allows those reactions to be helpful and productive rather than unhelpful and destructive.

How do you put this into practice? Well, it is as simple as making a decision. It can be anything from losing a job to getting a flat tire. There can often be things in our lives that are not pleasant to experience. Still, they allow us challenges that would enable growth and increased self-awareness that we would never have had if these unfortunate events had never occurred. If you can manage your anger and the urge to indulge in self-pity, you will be able to find a bit of good in anything. That is positive thinking.

This is How Positive Thinking Works

How can the loss of a job possibly be a good thing? Because when the injury occurred, you were forced to branch out and explore options you would never have explored or looked at had you never lost the previous job. You positive thinkingwould never know if you have the strength or will to survive something until you do. That is positive. All of life is a constant movement of change. It is difficult to see the long-term benefits until you are looking backward. But they are there. Your choice is to be optimistic about the future or be cynical about past experiences. One will lead to growth, and one will not.

How can getting a flat tire be a good thing? You never know what is waiting for you down the road. You might have gotten into a horrible accident if an annoying flat tire hadn’t waylaid you. It could have saved you from destroying your vehicle or even protected you from significant bodily harm. It is all a matter of perspective and outlook. Often we see the problem and focus on that because of the stress of the immediate situation. How you deal with issues in life determines the experience you have in life.

Being Positive doesn’t Ignore the Negative

I hear many people look at the prospect of being positive and seeing the bright side as being unrealistic. All events happen, death, crime, accidents, and they can happen at any time. Each brings with it a set of challenges to every human that faces them. Our thoughts and emotions are intertwined. So we need to grieve, and that is not a “good” thing, but it is a necessary part of living and enjoying life. No matter what or who has left your life, life is still moving forward. What will you do with your time remaining?

Some will choose to sit and look at what is lost and never move past it. Others will see the loss as a change in life, but life still has a lot of good things to give to your experience. Many times it is up to our consciousness to notice the good things that are remaining. We only have a finite amount of time to have this human experience. Each of us decides for ourselves if it is spent in fear of what life may bring or in love with what life is giving us. Always your choice and nobody else’s.

Positive Challenge

So I challenge you to put this into practice and choose to make today the best day that you possibly can. Enjoy the good things in your life, from the cup of coffee at the beginning of the day to the caring thoughts that others send your way throughout the day. This day you have a thousand choices of what you think, feel, and do. Be conscious of your positive protonreaction to all things. Is it positive or negative? Why is it that way? Then take it into the next day.

Make someone else’s day a little better, compliment them, or be kind. It’s free! Practice positive thinking and make your reality a little bit sweeter and gentler today. If you are thinking in a positive direction, don’t let someone else’s negative thoughts influence you toward the negative. Use them as a springboard to become more positive. Only a positive frame of mind will allow you to enjoy life and all it has to offer. A negative mindset will let you fear life. It is your choice, and it starts with a greater awareness of the thoughts you entertain. The emotions they bring to the surface. The words you speak to others because of your dreams—your actions because of your positive or negative mentality.

“Each day, I come in with a positive attitude, trying to get better.”- Stefon Diggs

“Your positive action, combined with positive thinking, results in success.” Shiv Khera

“Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson.

 

21

Technology

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Raising My Consciousness One Word at a Time

Technology– machinery and equipment developed from the application of scientific knowledge.

Electronic devices surround our lives.  Virtually all people carry their own devices to allow communication with the world.  Technology has given us amazing things.  A greater ability to communicate, transfer information, travel, and create at a capacity only dreamed of 30 years ago. Now there are problems which have risen as well. Our devices seem to run our lives, as we are all “connected” on social media sites, are we really connected?  Or is it all an illusion?  The challenge in life is to use the technology and not have it use us.  That begins with a focus on our thoughts on using our phones and corresponding social media sites.  Recognize the emotions that result from that and your words and actions, which all come from your technology.  How much of your time is yours? How much belongs to your device?

Attachments to Devices

It is a relatively recent phenomenon that people have developed a significant attachment to their personal communication devices.  They didn’t exist 20 years ago. Now we are all attached to the technology our phone provides to some degree.  It is a one-stop interaction stop, but that attachment brings problems with it—a significant lack of real interaction with other people and the world around you.  The phone provides a link to the world through social media, Facebook, Snap Chat, Instagram, Twitter, or whatever your choice of communication is.  That is addictive.

The addiction can become real, someone likes your picture or shares your story, and your brain reacts chemically to that in a positive way. That leads to seeking more, which leads to more time looking into the false light of your phone, scrolling endlessly through posts to like and judge and like and judge.  The attachment to this activity is solid and real.  The problem is that you are looking at a fantasy of what life is, not life.  Looking at a picture of a beach is not visiting that beach yourself.  Visit the beach!

Building Real Healthy Attachments

How to improve this issue should be easy.  First, you have to become conscious of what you are doing and why you are doing it.  How many times do you scroll through your Facebook feed for no reason?  Start to build attachments to people and things outside of the electronic world.  For example, have real conversations with people.  Real interaction with people is better than any form of social media. I think that people have forgotten this.

Set a bit of time aside each week to be totally electronically free.  No access to the world in any way other than through your five senses in the natural world.  This will wake you up to the things you are missing each day.  What great things do you see every day that you never notice? Start to notice them.  Go for a walk with your eyes directed all around you and with no concern for the things happening in the electronic world.  Allow your consciousness to become aware of real people, sights, activities, and places right in front of you.  Break the electronic attachment, at least for a while.

Awareness of Problem

So now you are aware of the attachment you have to the electronic world of likes, shares, and follows. It is important to become aware of how this can enhance your life.  Social media can be a good thing, but it seems like the negatives are piled high against it.  The process seems to force people to develop unhealthy thoughts that worry about what others think of you and what you are doing.  Then you have to ask yourself, “Do I do this because I want to or because other people will like it?”  The honest answer is probably a little bit of both.  Learning to function for our own approval and nobody else’s is one of the most powerful experiences in life.  Tough to do with social media.

Another of the things people need is to express themselves creatively. This can come in almost any creative form from writing, painting, drawing, woodworking, or any other form of expression.  Creativity is your soul speaking to the world.  Time spent in the vortex of social media is time spent away from creating or learning, or developing yourself as a person. You don’t have to drop off social media, but become conscious of your attachment to it and let that attachment go.  Develop who you are, not what people see about you online.

Letting Go of Attachments

When you let go of all attachments, not just electronic but also those to unhealthy ideas, you open up space for you to develop as a thinking human being.  Then you can let situations be what they are without expectations of your attachment to them.  Each day then contains a little more potential to become whatever it can become.  It all starts with a conscious choice to see the attachment you might have with your phone. Looking at it 900 times a day, seeking validation and support. Those things are already in you. All you have to do is choose to see and pursue them.  It all begins with an awareness of your thoughts, emotions, words, and actions today because of that heightened awareness of technology and its hold on you.

“The word ‘friend’ has become so utterly void of meaning in a world governed by social media. How can anyone truly claim to have eleven hundred friends? In my book, that would involve making time to meet at least three of them every day of the year.”? Alex Morritt

“Social media sites creates [an] illusion of connectivity .”   – Malay Shah

 

 

 

 

 

21

Challenges

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What would your life look like if you were more positive in your thoughts?

challengesNo matter how confident and successful you are, life has a way of throwing challenges at you that will push you to make decisions redefining who you are and your substance.  In everyone’s life, there will be events that force a constant expression of this experience and force you to take actions that will bring growth in your life.

In the end, even after facing a challenge,  I like to think that we have found a more galvanized understanding of who we are, and we hold on to this self-image with a more critical and realistic passion. Sometimes the challenges are so overwhelming that it takes quite a bit of time to find your equilibrium and look at things with a more open mind and accepting heart.  Will you find positivity at the end of a challenge in life? Only you can tell that for yourself. I have always thought I would. But recently, my life has taught me many things from challenges. I have experience loss, betrayal, poor judgment and found a perspective of forgiveness and, hopefully, positive growth in all areas of my life because of it.

Being Positive, When the World is Negative

Even though I have spent a lot of time learning about the power of being positive, I know positive thoughts produce positive energy. I have, on positive_redcoccasion, slipped into being judgmental and critical of others for no reason other than because I was experiencing something negative. When you are experiencing fear of any kind and are afraid of your needs not met, this can happen.

Being positive becomes difficult when you look at life and the people in it as things that affect you, rather than seeing them as people who are just doing the best they can to survive day-to-day.  All people have weaknesses, and from time to time, they are annoying and rub you the wrong way.  One of the biggest challenges in life is accepting these negatives and still supporting and highlighting the positives of every individual in your life. The things that annoy us the most are the weaknesses we see in ourselves. We are maintaining a focus on love, understanding, acceptance, and kindness, which can be a challenge, and the reward in accepting others is a better view of ourselves.

It becomes challenging to do this when an atmosphere of negativity engulfs you, focusing on the negative features of things like judgment, sarcasm, and just being plain mean.  That is when you have to work a bit harder to find the positives.  The best way that I have found is to look for the things that are going right and not worry about what is wrong with the job, community, or each other. Especially each other. 

Find Time For You

No matter how busy you think you are or what others believe you should be doing, it would help if you found time dedicated to yourself.  Scheduling this can be a challenge, but vital to allowing person la growth. Rather than get all wrapped up in the daily chores, problems to be solved, and performance, find time for you. Don’t lose your focus on pure kindness and courtesy; people should show one another each day.

One of my favorite ways to maintain a more positive focus is to spend a little time each day learning something new and digesting that information productively and healthily. You are never too old to learn, and growth is a lifelong process.  Learning about yourself makes you less judgmental of others and keeps the focus where it belongs, on your thoughts and ideas. Those who don’t find growth are slowly dying. Finding time to think and put your experiences into perspective will allow your life to have a much more significant flavor. Life is continually trying to teach you lessons. Your reflection is their chance to sink in and make an impact.

Focus Your Energy

All experiences are going to change your life in one way or another.  People often choose to let most of what happens to them be negative and spend time trying to overcome whatever life has given them.

focus expandsI think there is a better way, and that is to remove the labels of good or bad that are associated with experiences and label them all “Experiences.”  Changing our perspective can be difficult when things are personal, but in reality, everything that happens is just an experience that brings something to our lives that we apply value to, good or bad.  We choose to smile and take what we can or to frown and feel overwhelmed by things happening to us. We have a choice.

The choices we make in each moment will determine the path of our day, and our days discover the way of our lives. There are many great things in life we all experience each day, from pleasant weather to a good cup of coffee. We need to notice and appreciate them.  Being grateful for the positives in life will always take the focus and power away from the negatives.

What if you decided to accept everything that happens to you as if you chose it? 

What you spend your time and effort focusing on in your life will increase.

“Keep your face to the sunshine, and you cannot see a shadow.” — Helen Keller.

“Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results.” — Willie Nelson.

“Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose.” — Lyndon B. Johnson.

“In order to carry a positive action, we must develop here a positive vision.” 

 

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!!!