I had a very vivid experience this past weekend with the power of our thoughts. You hear me say it all the time – you are what you think – change your mind,change your life. I mean those words every time I say them. It also takes practice to live that way – and I am by no means perfect at it. I have the pesky little voices that tell me I am not enough, or I am not invited, or I am an imposter, or that I am too much, or that I am not smart, interesting, thin or wealthy enough . . . .But what is different is that I now practice a level of mindfulness where I am consuming and radiating as many positive thoughts as I can. I hear them, I read them, I speak them – to myself and others, basically – I *practice* them. And when the nay-saying voices start whining, I say “no thank you.” I acknowledge the thought and then I dismiss it because I *choose differently*. Those voices and patterns are just remnants of an auto-pilot identity I used to have. They still cling to the safe side of the pool – that place that is familiar and comfortable.
Remember when I said we are fearful of the unfamiliar, so we retreat to the comfort of the familiar? This is true even if the familiar is unhealthy, or destructive or down right dangerous. Unfamiliar=danger=you might die. This is why even when you put all the effort you can muster into a new mindset, parts of the old one cling stubbornly. “Vibing up” is a daily practice. Sometimes it may even be an hour to hour or minute to minute practice. This is what it is to be human. We are not perfect. We do tend to be creatures of habit. The habits you have right now have likely been honed over months, years, decades. They won’t reboot after one positive thought. But here is the miracle of the mind. Make just one tiny step forward in building the identity you want – plant that flag – stake that claim – and you cause a disruption in the entire operating system. That small win bumps into the old barrier next to it. You have started a chain reaction. Each small win brings exponential results. As the old barriers and limiting beliefs fall down, the room for positivity to grow becomes spacious and easy. And then when you have built up a strong nucleus of that positivity, you start to notice that it almost literally leaks out of you – it spreads beyond your skin, it touches others, starts that chain reaction around you . . .and that external effect then reflects RIGHT BACK TO YOU, accelerating your own internal work. Like magic.
So as I was saying – I unexpectedly experienced the most awe-inspiring manifestation of this principle just this past weekend. I was on a solo vacation celebrating my birthday. I didn’t necessarily have any preconceived notions about how the weekend would unfold, but I admittedly had some trepidation and nervousness about it because it was the first time I was going into this particular environment alone. I did had a good core of positivity and authentic identity built up through the work I have been doing the last couple of years. I figured I would just take a deep breath and dive in – just enjoy myself.
It. Was. Magic. I met and connected with so many people. I found myself drawn into conversations and activities that I could never have planned in a million years. A big game hunter and his wife from South Africa struck up a conversation with me at dinner one night and then invited me on their boat. Someone anonymously bought me a drink while I was watching a great live band – they never did reveal themselves! I got drawn into a group of friends one afternoon that had me out on the dance floor looking like a pro (I do NOT dance lol). People stopped me on the street to tell me I was beautiful and confident and should keep doing what I am doing. I ran into two brothers my first night there – we chatted, it was great, they moved on to some other plans they had – I didn’t think anything of it. Less than 10 minutes later, the single brother walked back in and headed straight for me. He had decided he was far more interested in continuing our conversation than moving on to his original plans. People in the airport randomly struck up conversations with me – and also recognized me as if I were an old friend when we bumped into each other later in our travels. There were dozens of these types of encounters I had all day everyday while I was there. Never have I ever felt so vibrant, powerful, sexy and alive as I did then. All of the positivity I had fed myself and radiated out into the world was being received. It was soaking into other people and they were reflecting it right back to me. I came home on cloud 9, having had an epic weekend. It feels like it was a dream.
So, I arrive home, and there is a floral delivery for me. I have no idea who it is from. The enclosed card specifically says on the front of it where a personalized message would go “no message” and when you open the card there is just a sunshine graphic that says “Just Smile.” I mean for reals, who does all this actually happen to?? ME! That’s who! And wanna know why? Because I am changing my MIND – and it’s changing my LIFE!
Try it – and then let’s celebrate what it does for you too!
–Sharon