There are a lot of us who are already aware how much what we eat affects how we feel, how we look, how rapidly we heal and how gracefully we age.
It’s not so much that you have to be perfect all the time.
A little chocolate. A margarita here and there. Chips at the Mexican restaurant.
It’s what you do 80 to 90 percent of the time that really counts.
Same thing with thinking.
It’s not so much what we think about occasionally.
We can all go negative. It rains when you are planning to go for a walk. You go out to your car and you have a flat tire (that happened to me recently). You go to the mailbox to find a bill, only to find out that your rate has gone up (that also happened to me just a few months ago). An anniversary comes up that reminds you of some tragic event, and all of a sudden, without realizing it, you are experiencing a mild form of post traumatic stress disorder, you are reliving where you were when you heard that the planes had hit the World Trade Center or the Pentagon, and in a flash you start feeling like you did at the time, even if it’s just a distant, awful, faded feeling.
A few weeks ago I realized I felt terrible every time I read the news.
This was not really new information. It was just that I finally got hold of myself and faced facts.
The insight had been creeping up, but I kept repressing it.
The real problem was that I was addicted to keeping up with the news, reading multiple sources on a daily and ongoing basis.
My story was that I used to be a journalist. That is true, but it’s still just an excuse and it’s still just a story.
Given that I have been addicted to the news, the emotional side effects I had from reading the news posed a problem.
I basically faced a choice.
I could continue to read the news online like I was doing before, and continue to feel fearful, hopeless and insecure after doing so. I could buy in to the idea that things are bad and only going to get worse. Apparently, a lot of other people have bought into that way of thinking right now.
I then thought about the fact that if the world we experience is truly a projection of what is going on inside of us, then the people in the media must be feeling really badly right now. Depressed. Probably clinically depressed. There are some websites that are so gloomy that I figure that the majority of the writers must be writing themselves to drink right now.
The other choice I had was to stop reading the news and seize control of my thoughts and feelings.
This is the choice I have made.
Instead of reading the news, I choose to read only uplifting material. I am a big fan of Dr. David Hawkins, M.D. I have made a series of positive affirmations in my own voice, recorded them on my iphone and listen to them every day, either while I am walking or driving. Some days I reread my blog, which I intend to be very uplifting for everybody.
I admit, like any addict, I have found myself occasionally sneaking back onto my favorite news sites on the internet, even if only to glance at the headlines.
And then of course, even if we don’t read the news, our friends share their reactions about the news with us during the course of every day conversation.
It can be really challenging to think positively if all we do is listen to how bad everybody thinks things are.
It’s so important to remember that you always have a choice. You can either buy into that way of thinking, or you can tune in to the realm of spirit and be guided from within.
As I have written in another blog post, one of my favorite affirmations right now is:
TODAY I CHOOSE TO EXPERIENCE HEAVEN ON EARTH.
And I do.
I go for my walk and see the most beautiful flowers, some of which you can also see in the photographs in this blog.
I hug and am hugged.
I lie in my hammock and stare up at the trees, the sky. Occasionally, a hawk flies by.
Here is a list of things I do regularly to stay positive:
- Make gratitude lists and reread them.
- Take beautiful photographs.
- Spend time with positive, uplifting people.
- Meditate, either in a group or by myself.
- Pray.
- Sit down at my beading table and think of a friend I would like to uplift and make a present for them as a surprise.
- Admire my garden and the constantly changing gifts of nature.
- Listen to my affirmations.
- Play with my dog, who always makes me happy.
- Teach yoga and qi gong, because I find making other people relaxed, happy, fit and healthy to be very rewarding. Plus, as I like to joke in my classes, what we are doing is not brain surgery. We laugh and have a great time.
