Find Your Inner Way

"Once you have the Inner Way, the Outer Way will Follow" ~Wayne Dyer

If you think about it, Whatever it is, it will usually find a way to happen. I have always liked the philosophy that you become whatever it is you think about. If you set up the thought pattern in your mind that something bad is going to happen, something bad usually finds a way to happen. On the other side of the coin, If you set it in your mind that only good things are going to happen, then you will find awesome things happening to you all the time.

The trick is to find ways to make you think about positive things.For some reason, we a human beings are trained to think negatively. We don't trust anyone or anything. We feel like we have to do things by ourselves when in reality to be good at any one thing, you need a group who also is interested in that one thing. That is why there are writing groups, magician clubs and coupon cutting parties.

Here are some ways you can keep yourself thinking positively:

1. Find a partner who wants the same thing you do. Together you can build each other up and route each other on to make it to the finish line. I am sure you can do it all by yourself, but it will be a whole lot more fun if you had someone to share the success with.
2. Carry a reminder. If you can keep something in your pocket or around your wrist to remind you to think positively then you will have a trigger to pull you back into the positive side of that line.
3. Laugh out loud for no apparent reason. If you find yourself thinking badly, stop what you are doing and just start laughing. Soon you will find that you are laughing at yourself laughing for no reason. Laughing feels good and will lift you out of your negativity.
4. Write good things in your journal. Sit down and just start a list of the things that are good right at that moment. If you can see your surroundings in a different way, then you will be able to be positive.

Make Others Become Great

"Really great people make you feel that you, too, can become great"  ~Mark Twain

This is an interesting quote to think about. It is true if you think about it. Who in you life do you feel is a great person. It might be a teacher or a boss or someone else who you think does amazing work. Why do you think they are great? Usually it is because they have made you feel like you yourself might be great as well. That teacher prods you to do well on a test or compliments something you have written.  The boss tells you that you have been doing a good job and instructs you in ways that will make you a better boss.

One of my favorite examples is when we read authors. We think they are great. They don't know us. They have never spoken to us. They may never speak to us. Somehow, though, they are able to make us feel like we are someone great. I don't know what it is. Maybe because we get the opportunity to read something in their world, become part of that world. We get to see a small part of what is inside them.

We all strive to be great in some way. We all strive to be like those who we admire. The ones who, in our eyes, are already great. In that way we try to me more like them, making even the slightest bit of greatness. What we don't always see is that those we see as great once saw someone before them as great, someone who made them want to be better, to be great themselves. Soon you will have people looking at you wanting a little bit of your greatness to rub off on them. All you can do is be as great as you can be.

Ignore Your Limits

"Know your limits, then ignore them" ~John Mason

Sometimes it is good to not know how far you can go. Then you will surprise yourself by how far you can go. Lets say that you are invited to run a marathon. You say yes knowing you have never run that kind of distance before. You get on the starting line and start running when you hear the signal. You will be pleasantly surprised how far you can run without stopping. Then you will be surprised that you are able to walk the rest without stopping. Then you will be able to tell everyone that you have completed a marathon. It may take you 6-8 hours to complete the marathon but that is OK. You did it, and that is all that matters.

Now that you have an idea of what it is like to run a marathon, you know what your limits are. You will know what it takes to get yourself to the next level. Now all you have to do is train yourself to get past those limits. You start running everyday. You start to rat better, making sure you eat things that will give your muscles the nutrients they need to take the punishment you intend to put on them.

Instead of waiting for someone to invite you to run that next marathon, you start searching for the next one you want to run. You make plans to be at that marathon, and you set goals to get you to the point to run that race. When the day comes you start running, and are amazed when you pass the 5 mile mark without feeling too much strain. You keep running till you can't run anymore. Then you walk the rest of the way. When you finish, you find you have shaved off two hours off you last marathon. Now you know what your new limits are and you can plan for the next one.

Look For Stars, Not Mud

Two men look out through the same bars: One sees the mud and one the stars. ~ Frederick Langbridge

This could be said in so many ways. You hand someone a glass with a bit of water in it. One person sees the glass as half empty. The other sees the glass as half full. We have all heard that one. I don't know who said it, but it is a good way to see the nature of a person.

Take a look at yourself first. How do you look at things? Do you think about what is happening to you? Are you seeing all the things people are doing to hurt you? Are you thing about all the negatives in you life? From my experience, thinking about the bad things in life just brings on more things that are bad.

What you want to do is try to turn your thinking around; take a complete 180 turn and start thinking about what is good in your life, or better yet, make the negative things in your life a positive. If your car had a flat tire, take a moment to breathe and realize that the universe is just trying to slow you down. If you move too fast, you might not be able to stop when you see the brick wall.

Look for the positive things in life so you can attract more positive things. Change your way of thinking. Happiness is a choice. You can choose to feel happy. It is easy. Just think to yourself, I refuse to feel negative and I think I am going to feel happy. Want to concrete that feeling. Then start laughing. Start laughing for no reason. Just laugh. You will find it makes you feel better. You will also find that people around you will wonder why you are laughing.

Want another way to feel good. Take a deep breath. Hold it.... Then let it out slowly. It feels good.