Everyday I choose. From what to wear and what to eat to how my day will go. I choose. I know there are some who would disagree with the last bit there, thinking “I only wish I could choose how my day will go. Must be nice.”
But, you know what, you can choose. You can choose your mindset, your attitude, your willingness to see things in a positive way and do yourself a favor, choose to turn off the news…just for one day!
Today, I Choose To Surround Myself With Beauty
You Make It Sound Easy
Well, I’m on a personal mission to make this my state of mind, every day for the rest of my life.
Have I always been able to choose positive thoughts? Of course not. But I can say that I am a work in progress. Always striving to elevate a situation into something positive for me. Then I have also been working on ending each day with a recollection of all that went right about my day. I try not to dwell on things that went wrong especially right before going to sleep. That’s just a good recipe for bad dreams and a restless night.
So how did I get to this spot? Let’s just say I found my way here through reflection and guidance. Spending time lamenting my childhood left me angry and more than a little resentful and sad. It got to a point when even I was tired of hearing me complain. Then after two failed marriages, I also got tired of guilt and feeling inadequate. In other words, I simply grew tired of being negative. That state of mind didn’t lead to happiness. It just kept bringing in more unhappiness. But was I ever going to do something about it?
I Was Ready When I Chose To Be
It’s funny how this happens. It’s like that saying, “When the student is ready to learn, the teacher enters the room.” I needed to get sick and tired of being sick and tired. And just like that I found myself reading books I never knew existed. Who knew there was a self-help section in any bookstore? But first, I had to accidentally ended up at a retreat that I thought was going to be a vacation. I needed some tough love throughout that journey. That tough love made me angry enough to fight back. But it also lead me to a deeper understanding of the power of trusting ME!
When I reached this level, I could seek out the right help, the right books, the words that resonated with me.
I found myself guided by messages. Suddenly feeling as though they had been put there specifically for me to read, right then! Maybe it was a billboard or maybe an article that scrolled up on Facebook out of nowhere. Something would prompt me to read it and I’d be struck by how timely the message was.
And The Message Was:
“You Can Be Happy If You Choose To Be”
It was simple and profound at the same time. What the heck! All along, I had the choice? Well for God’s sake then I choose to be happy. I mean, who wouldn’t? But there were somethings I had to do to make this a reality:
- Start a journal – no rules other than three pages a day of longhand, stream of thought writing. This was a safe place to dump stuff, get things off my chest, vent…whatever I felt like saying until the writing lead to a solution. This often happened close to the end of page three. I’d pick up with that thought then the next day and I found myself working through things I thought had no answers.
- Take long walks: I chose a woods because it was right out my back door. And I’d take my camera. I’d walk and think (no headphones, just my own thoughts) and I’d stop here and there to take pictures of things that caught my eye. And like those bill board messages, I would wonder if I was being drawn to it because there was a message there for me.
- I’d return from the walk and then research spirit messages of the things I’d seen. This, coupled with my stream of thoughts as I walked would often fuel my next entry in my journal. I was listening to everything.
- After journaling daily for a few weeks, paired with writing and researching spirit messages, I stopped, took out two different colored highlighter pens and flipped back to the beginning of journal entry number one. With one highlighter color (I chose red) I highlighted everything I’d written that was negative, self-deprecating, and/or angry. Then I’d highlight (in yellow) everything that was positive or proactive. In the first weeks, the journal was filled with red, red, red! Here and there a bit of light would shine through. But as the weeks progressed, I noticed a change. Far more yellow appeared. I was changing. I was stating things in positive ways. I was feeling energized by my walks but also I looked forward to my thoughts.
- And lastly, I believe that I found the key to happiness. It’s how I frame every situation. I can look at a task and be frustrated that I have to do it or be thankful that someone trusts me to do it well. I can be angry about how I’ve been treated or simply give thanks that I have the ability to go high when someone goes low. I can feel overwhelmed with everything I have to do or I can make a plan to take one step at a time. And the list goes on and on.
You Can Find Your Way Out Of Darkness
I did it! I found my way to choice. Now when I’m angry, I know I am choosing anger. When I am frustrated, I’m choosing to be frustrated. But more often then not, I choose to be happy. I choose joy. You can too!
Begin Again 