The Festive Season is what YOU Make It!

It’s hard to believe that Christmas day is just next week! Like the majority of people, you’re probably really looking forward to spending time with friends and family and just kicking back and taking a break.
But for others, Christmas and the entire festive season can be a really stressful time.
And it’s for a whole variety of reasons. Here’s just a few:
· A feeling of dread at the thought of seeing family members they don’t have a good history with
· Feelings of inadequacy, linked to people they are seeing over the holiday break
· Feelings of loneliness due to lost friendships
· Anxiety over ‘keeping up appearances’
· Worry over finances and keeping everybody happy in the gift-giving department
· Sadness over recent – or not-so recent loss – e.g. death of a loved one
· Feelings of non-achievement over goals set last Christmas that have not been achieved
Experiencing all or any of the above can really create a negative festive season!
But the reality is you can CHANGE this!
You CREATE your own experience!
And you do it with your thinking.
As individuals, we have so much power because we have our minds and we have the ability to consciously think. The way we think shapes our life experience.
If we wake up for instance, feeling really edgy, irritable and grumpy, it really sets the tone for the day. Haven’t you experienced that for yourself?
Your day just tends to spiral out of control – almost like a domino effect. And you seem to attract negativity into your day, the more you hold onto those negative thoughts and feelings.
If you change your thought patterns and start thinking happy and optimistic thoughts, then your whole experience of that day changes.
And you can do the same for Christmas too.
If you are facing any of those stresses listed in the above, turn that thought into a positive one. If you have thoughts of not having enough money, start to think of abundance. Start thinking of having enough money and enjoy the feeling that comes with that thought.
I guarantee you’ll feel a lot better and the experience – an experience you may have been dreading – will be made so much more enjoyable.
We create our own experiences through our thoughts.
In the film, “The Secret” one of the teachers by the name of Marci Shimoff said, “Once you begin to understand your thoughts and feelings, that’s when you see how you create your own reality. That’s where your freedom is, that’s where all your power is.”
Put positive thinking to the test for yourself today, and get ready for what will be a lovely Christmas Day – if you WANT it and THINK it!

My present future today…

When thinking to the future today, it is often tempting to imagine a utopian environment for yourself. Everything will be perfect tomorrow, or the day after, or 10 years from now, won’t it? It can also be easy to get bogged down by worries and hidden obstacles along your path. You get caught up in the “if only” scenario, which is seldom a healthy place to be. The truth is that we can never know what the future holds, so why box yourself in one possibility or another?

The past is gone, and we can never change it. All we have for certain in this world is the tiny, fleeting, gift of a moment which we call the present. While it is always important to look to the future, the present is where the magic is and the staging area is for all of our future accomplishments. If you let yourself get carried away with making plans that you’ll never carry out or by complicating your path with needless worry, you’ll taint the most important moment – this one. After all, if you let the present slip away, it will be lost to the past – and we know we can’t change that, don’t we? Don’t give yourself a reason to regret this moment tomorrow. My advice to you today is to seize this moment, be bold, and do positive work for yourself now. The future will stretch out before you, a wide and expansive path, continuing over your horizon. Carpe Diem…to paraphrase the great Basketball coach John Wooden “Make today your masterpiece”

Not just surviving but thriving !

It is tempting to succumb to stress in today’s economic climate. Recession can be a trying time, but the emotional tax is often not necessary. The problem with worry is that it accomplishes nothing. The key to tackling your worries is to look at the situation objectively and calmly. Ask yourself a couple of key questions:

1. What am I accomplishing by worrying?
2. Can I change anything about this situation?

If you answer these questions honestly, you’ll often surprise yourself. For question 1, the answer will usually be “Not much.” For question 2, you’ll either come up with a yes or a no. If your answer is yes and you can change your situation, then what is achieved by worrying about it? When you could be out there doing something rather than fretting about it? Wouldn’t affecting a positive change in your life do more for you ? If your answer is no, then why worry? You can’t accomplish anything by worrying about that which you cannot influence. As the G.B 0lympic gold medal winning team put it “focus on what’s inside your boat” In other words control the controllables !

History teaches us that success during recession is not impossible. The saying goes “fortune favours the bold,” and in the case of economic recession, this is especially true. The individuals and companies who took advantage of the Great Depression did so by making bold decisions, by diversifying their interests and by being creative. They didn’t accomplish these things by worrying. Will you? So, ask yourself the question what can I create today ?