Tag: choice

friday’s “secret” – oh, those self-sabotaging thoughts

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I have been very busy these past few weeks. My friend and client blogs about some of what I have been up to here. But now I am back and better than ever.:)

Today’s secret is about thoughts. I have found that negative thoughts are one of the leading destroyers of happiness for me. I will be feeling good about something, enjoying my life, and then I will start thinking, negatively.

Well, thanks to the friend and client above, I have discovered Marie Forleo’s website and she posted about negative, self-sabotaging thoughts this week. She said,

“Self-sabotaging thoughts are a screen saver that pops up every time you go idle.”

This is so true; most of the time, while I am busy accomplishing, doing, etc. I have no time to think that I can’t do it or that it will be bad, etc. I am too busy. It is when I have down time, when I am “idle”, that negativity rears its ugly head.

I had been thinking a lot about my thoughts and how best to deal with them; to master them, as it were. And even though I have heard this concept before, for some reason, expressed like this, I got it. So, this week, I have been trying to not let my brain go idle so long that the screen saver pops up. My mind does need to shut-down or hibernate. And when I do, that should be an intention and choice to rest and recharge. I do not need it to go idle so long (ie. mindlessly watching TV) that the screen saver of my negative thoughts pop up.

You can check out the full Marie Forleo video here. And in the mean time, tell me what you think and how you handle your negative thoughts. And don’t forget to…

enjoy life…

friday’s “secret” – “live in each season”

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“Live in each season as it passes; breath the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit and resign yourself to the influences of each.”  – Henry David Thoreau

So, I haven’t had time to post these past few days; I have been very busy and sick. And at first I was upset that I hadn’t posted. I felt like I was messing up; not doing what I was suppose to be doing. But then I read the quote above and thought that this is yet another “secret” to happiness.

To be content, to live, to attempt to enjoy, each season:  busy, sick, healthy, whatever, as I am in it.  I have been busy these past couple of weeks, which is good. I had a tremendous sense of accomplishment of getting things done. Now I am sick, which is also good.  I have time to recover, time to read, time to watch a couple of movies, and time to post to my blog – some of the things that make me very happy.

So, what do you think? I am going to “live in each season” and enjoy life…

friday’s “secret” – “taking a genuine interest”

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“The true secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in the details of daily live.” -William Morris

As I was perusing the book Happier at Home by Gretchen Rubin (check the out the book here and where I talked about perusing the book here), I came across the above quote.

I am in total agreement with this statement.  I find that when I am particular, detailed, deliberate, and intentional, in almost all of the details of life, I enjoy life more.  When I know what I plan to accomplish that day and when I am methodical about making sure that I do it, there is a peace and satisfaction at the end of the day that leads to a feeling of contentment: a necessary element of my personal definition of happiness.

My personality lends itself to this type of “obsessive” behavior, however.  I love details, logistics, and planning.  But for others, I think, taking an interest in the minutia could  become tedious.  Thus, the quote could inspire them to take a genuine interest in those activities that they enjoy and not feel guilty about it.

What do you think? Leave your comments below.