What Do We Do In the Face of Evil?

Reading the Aryeh Kaplan Anthology. He touched on some points that are very relevant and got me thinking. This won’t resonate with everyone.

“People must learn how to use knowledge for the good. We have the knowledge to create great societies and make great technological strides, but don’t always have the moral strength to use them for good.”

But why doesn't God intervene?

“As long as He is hidden, we can strive toward Him, and attain the Godly. But we do this as a matter of free choice. If God were to reveal Himself, then people would no longer be able to exist as a free entity.”

What are we to do?

There are people who choose evil, and this is part of the human experience in this world. But you too have the choice to use your free will to choose between right or wrong.

Use your free will, and the blessings that come with that, for good. Choose the righteous path. Stand up against evil. Help others. Do kind deeds. Assist where and when you can. 

At the end of the day we will never be able to entirely eradicate evil or bring on perfect world peace… but we can choose for ourselves how to respond and what energy and values we want to create and share. We can bring more positivity, kindness and good into the world if we so choose. In big and small ways. On personal levels and broader areas of our lives. 

And that is the beauty, despite the times of darkness, of being human. We can choose, with our free will, right over wrong and good over evil. 

You Are Not Perfect

I hate when people say things like, ”You’re perfect just the way you are. Don’t change.” 

Well, you’re not. 

I’m not saying that to hurt anyone’s feeling, to be rude, or to sound negative…

I’m not saying that you aren’t amazing. I’m sure you’re all wonderful people. 

However, we as humans are not perfect, are not meant to be, and never will be. 

Imperfection, actually, is a beautiful thing because it gives us opportunity to grow and develop ourselves.

That doesn’t mean you need to change how you look, your hobbies, your sense of humor. 

It simply means you should seek to develop yourself on a regular basis. 

How can you be kinder, more giving, more confident in yourself and your values?

We need to stop talking about perfection as if it exists. As if it’s something we should strive for.

No. That should not be the goal. And that’s not healthy anyway.

We are here to evolve, grow and CHANGE for the better. 

We are here to improve ourselves and overcome our challenges through knowledge and wisdom. 

Instead of telling each other that we’re perfect and don’t need to change (these are empty words anyway and really don’t actually mean anything), let’s say something more impactful like, “You’re a valuable human being with a lot to offer the world and those around you. You’re focusing on being the best version of yourself and that is a beautiful thing. Keep going.”

There Is No Room to Be Angry About the Struggle

 “As long as you are alive, you are going to experience struggle- and that is okay. Reward yourself for your victories and be honest about your failings. But there is no room to be angry about the struggle itself; that’s how it is meant to be.”

When I read this excerpt in “What Would You Do If You Weren’t Afraid” by Michal Oshman, who is the head of culture at TikTok Europe and former leadership expert at Facebook, I felt very impacted by it. 

Just like many others, anxiety has always been a majorly present factor in my life. In particular, I have always felt the need to control and understand everything. And if I couldn’t… fear and panic would take over. Over time, I learned to manage and cope. However, I couldn’t truly just let go of needing control over what and how things happen.

There have been several major “aha” moments in my life, and this was one of them. It was one of those moments where all of a sudden so many things made sense, and I couldn’t have come to this understanding and conclusion if not for all of the things that I experienced that I previously could not understand why I had to struggle through them. What a paradox! 

All of a sudden so many things I was constantly questioning their necessity and why they had to happen…. were actually exactly what I needed to come to learn this major lesson in my life that seems to be the key to my understanding it all. In a sense, the answers I have been seeking were hidden within the chaos and confusion itself.

I am even going to be so bold as to claim that the answers ARE the chaos and confusion. How?

Because they are exactly what we need and are meant to experience. Instead of questioning why we go through certain things, we should look at occurrences- both the good and the bad- as direction regarding where we can and need to grow in life… which is what life is all about- constantly evolving. 

What I need to learn and grow through are completely different from others, and vice versa. Which is another reason why comparison to others makes actual zero sense. 

💡The answers are within the questions themselves. You just have to get to that point where you can be a vessel to understand the truth. Meaning, you absolutely must work through the chaos to even be able to understand that which you desire to understand. I have always heard that “things are how they are meant to be” but it sounded so cliche to me. Even though I believe in G-d and that things happen for a reason and everyone has a purpose and particular mission…. I didn’t really internalize  and conceptualize what that meant…. until this moment. 

👉🏻 It’s true that things don’t happen to you, they happen for you. For a very long time I had been trying to internalize this message and live by it, but I couldn’t. It didn’t really make sense to me though I felt like it should. But when you can internalize that things are as they are meant to be and so there is really no need to dread or fight the struggle, you can understand that if that is true…. then it only makes sense that everything really does happen for you and not to you because things are supposed to be that certain way (often times for reasons we won’t understand and that’s okay). If xyz are supposed to be part of your life, it’s good that they’re there. Which leads me to my next point. 

🗣 Everything in our lives is here to teach us a lesson, help us grow, and make us who we are supposed to be. I believe I have my particular strengths because I am meant to play a certain role and complete a particular mission in this world. So too for everyone else. 

It’s so simple and undeniably true. 

But not until you can get to the point of understanding it.

And the only way to get there is to work through your own personal struggles and fears and shortcomings (though it sometimes sucks 😢). 

Even when things seem to be complicated, they’re not. They’re simply what they are and we just need to understand that things are meant to be a certain way… and so they will be… and that’s okay. That’s part of our journey. 

Which also made me realize how much I’ve overcomplicated things, though then again I am only human after all 🤷🏻‍♀️. 

And if that’s the case, then the final conclusion is that we are to give up trying to have full control while focusing on what we can change, find the lessons within the struggles so as to learn and grow from them, and simply enjoy life for everything it is and isn’t meant to be. 

There’s nothing to argue or hate or be angry about. 

It quite simply is. 

And there is so much undeniable peace in that. 

———————————

I will conclude this by sharing the serenity prayer, with which I am absolutely obsessed: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.”

Personality --> Personal Reality

Allow your personality to define your personal reality, and not your personal reality to define your personality. 🦋

Dr. Joe Dispenza is a thought leader whose work I’ve been following for several years now. He talks a lot about how people tend to relive the memories of their past by continuously thinking about their “stories” and “truths.” People tend to allow their past experiences to define how they feel, until eventually how they feel becomes how they act and show up in the world. We must think greater than we feel. It’s hard to create something new when we are stuck in the old. 

We are not our past. We are how we choose to move forward. Instead of recreating what has already happened, allow space for creation. Start off by focusing more on what you want and not what you’ve already experienced. Meditate on those things. Create character that coincides with the reality you desire. Your daydream is your new reality. ✨

Stay In Your Lane

There’s your business, other people’s business, and then there’s G-d’s business. 

Stay in your lane and out of G-d’s business. If you can’t control something, it’s not your business. Let go and let G-d. Our knowledge and foresight are limited. He knows better. No, he knows best. 

When you come to live by the fact that you can’t and don’t need to control everything, life becomes so much more enjoyable. Learn to take things as they come and let go of what doesn’t serve you. Be grateful for the challenges because they serve their role and purpose too. Appreciate everything that comes your way. It is all leading you to where you need to be🦋

The World Is But A Reflection

I recently recalled an experience I had one day before Covid that taught me a lesson in an interesting way. I had come early to my school campus to get some work done. At some point during my studying I found myself looking out the window, spacing out and wondering if the whole doctorate path was worth it for me. At the time I really wasn’t so sure about it and kind of even felt it was becoming a burden of an expectation that I had on myself. 

I noticed that the building across the street constantly had a ton of people entering and leaving. From what I could see they were wearing suits and carrying suitcases, and so I figured it was probably the law school. I then started to think about how much it must suck to have to walk around in a suit all day and come in so early and deal with all those cases. They looked like robots, so ordered and timely and rigid. For a moment I visualized them sitting with a pile of papers at their desks or sitting in on a court case. I imagined how unhappy they all must be, thinking they are striving for what they THINK will make them happy (as if they had to be made happy) to be so willing to spend their time- their lives- in that way. (As if I knew what it was even all about... clearly I was making false assumptions and conclusions in my mind without any context whatsoever). 

As time went on I started to realize that I was only thinking that way because I was reflecting what I saw and making conclusions based off of my own feelings at that time. There I was also coming in early to do work, wearing scrubs, and spending my energy doing something challenging and HARD.

But then I realized that it didn’t have to be hard like that. Not if I enjoyed it and found it to be rewarding. If I was going to look at this choice the way I was, then it would just make me unhappy and everyone else around me according to me would also be unhappy. 

Many times what we see in others is what is going on in ourselves. I had heard of this idea before but never actually understood it.

Those people might love what they do and not even mind the suits, just as despite it being challenging I know today that I love what I do and am proud to wear scrubs (and one day a white coat 😊). I’ve come to find that purpose and passion in it for myself (those that started me on this journey in the first place), and the rewarding feeling being able to walk this path. It took me time to get to that point, and I knew that if I didn’t I’d have to make a switch real fast. It was like an epiphany that lasted 2 minutes but felt like an hour long.

Many times we don’t give our thoughts and feelings enough attention. We don’t sit with them and study them and ask why we think or feel something. And I actually think that being able to do just that can lead us towards our personal truth and path. 🔐 

Time

Time. 

Before we know it, it has forever slipped out of our hands and there is absolutely nothing that we can do to get it back. We can only learn and agree to use the rest that we have left, to do more and be more than we were previously.

The good and the bad news is that time is finite. This is a good thing because it reminds us of the value of every moment. We aren’t just existing. We are creating realities in a measurable spectrum, in an immeasurable capacity. We have so much potential as human beings to create, imagine, and bring about change. 

How can one allow time to be on his or her side? By being conscious and aware. By caring about how you spend it! By saying no to certain things.

Time was given to us for free. It’s not a gift, it’s a privilege. The time we have now was not paid for. We didn’t have to fight for time on this earth.

Time is not on your side. But only if you don’t allow it to be.

(And especially now while many of us are in quarantine, you still have the power to make decisions about what to do with it.)

How to be happy despite conflicts and struggles | from a psychiatrist

Currently reading Let Us Make Man by Psychiatrist Dr. Abrahama Twersky.

He makes several points about self-esteem and happiness that really expanded my views on these topics.

Happiness can exist without 100% contentment
We are never going to be fully content. As humans, that is not natural. We are always striving for more and better.
We can be striving and not fully satisfied YET happy at the same time.
Happiness can coexist with discontent.
It allowed me to feel I have the permission and ability to not have everything I want/need and still be happy. 
Sometimes I feel that I need to work harder to earn that happiness, but this reminds it is natural to want more, yet should not confine ourselves to only allowing ourselves to feel happy when we attain that said thing.

We don't always know the meaning that things have.
As humans, we have limited capacity to understand things on a higher level. That is, limited perspective. We see things happening to us on only one level and from one angle. We don't know what it could mean for us in the future and why those things happen. Ever have something seemingly negative happen and then you realize later on that it had a higher place and purpose in your life?

It's good to have faith
If not in G-d or higher power or force... then in the idea that there are things happening that we could not possibly understand how it could be good in any way.
Related to the topic above: there could be something beyond har we see, know and comprehend. 
Trust that your suffering or challenges are not in vain, that there is some transcendental purpose. While it does not remove the pain or answer why these things happen to us, it can give us the courage and strength to deal with tragedy and struggles.

Accepting adversity with happiness 
Accepting adversity with happiness in the sense of faith and trust allows us to feel joy from other events in life that warrant true joy. 

Accept that conflict is natural and so choose to be happy despite it 
We are so obsessed with resolving conflict, that we forget that we can still be happy despite it. We instead must learn to cope with it and overcome it. 

#personalgrowth #selfimprovement #successfulpeople #dowhatyoulove #empowerment #lovinglife #overcomeobstacles #herincrediblemindset #innergrowth #newmindset #mindsetshift #growthquotes #millennialtherapist #mentalhealthmatters #intentionalliving #healthyhabits #selfcare #selflove #happylifequotes #journeyoflife #selflove #selfimprovement #goalsetting #dreambigworkhard #letsdothis💪 #herewego #bossbabe #personaldevelopment #growthmindset🌱 #happyandhealthy #ilovemyself #ilovelife #thegoodquote #mytimetoshine #betterme #bettermemission #icanachieveanything #iamawinner #lewishowes #womenempowerment #womensupportingwomen #womenofimpact #impacttheory

4 Steps to Overcoming Your Fears | Chronic Anxiety to LOVING Life

I talk a lot about fear and anxiety that I have overcome. 

I want to share with you how I have overcome my fears so well, that I am doing things today that I could have only dreamed about 10 years ago.  

Overcoming fears takes a lot of energy and you have to be intentional because it is unlikely that you will overcome them if you don't try to. 

Sometimes we grow out of our fears but here I am talking about those ideas and beliefs that you have ingrained in you and may be causing issues for you as you grow older. 

Watch the Youtube video here

Also, you want to face the root of your issues because once you do, you understand why you have other struggles. Overcoming my core fears and understanding how they have affected me has allowed me to lead an overall healthier and more fulfilling life. 

#1: Become aware of your fears

You need clarity when it comes to understanding your psychology. Take time to be with yourself and reflect. 

Write them down. list them out. 

#2: Meditate on how developed and from where they come

Think about your childhood, thought patterns, how you were raised, etc. 

Clarity comes through reflection.

Try to think back to when those fears or unhealthy thoughts started. What is your first memory of your fear?

Through thinking about it all you can come to understand your own psychology and how things played out in your life. 

You can pick up on things you didn't before. 

#3: List out how they help you and how they hinder you  

Realize the roles they play in your life. 

Ex: fear of not being perfect hinders me because it overwhelms me with the idea that if I'm not perfect then I'm not enough which leads into a self-esteem issue and lack of self-worth. It helps me because it motivates me to be involved, active and get more done.  

#4: Run towards them, put yourself in situations where you face your fears

Fear is a mechanism for survival.

Do not avoid your fears, embrace them. 

Use it to your advantage to propel you forward.

You can even try to work backwards- starting from where you want to be and thinking about what you would need to do to get there/that. 

#personalgrowth #selfimprovement #successfulpeople #dowhatyoulove #empowerment #lovinglife #overcomeobstacles #herincrediblemindset #innergrowth #newmindset #mindsetshift #growthquotes #millennialtherapist #mentalhealthmatters #intentionalliving #healthyhabits #selfcare #selflove #happylifequotes #journeyoflife #selflove #selfimprovement #goalsetting #dreambigworkhard #letsdothis💪 #herewego #bossbabe #personaldevelopment #growthmindset🌱 #happyandhealthy #ilovemyself #ilovelife #thegoodquote #mytimetoshine #betterme #bettermemission #icanachieveanything #iamawinner #lewishowes #womenempowerment #womensupportingwomen #womenofimpact #impacttheory

The #1 Way To Express Love

My family and I took a 2 and half week trip to Russia!! (This will require a separate blog post).

On the flight home, I was seated next to my parents. The flight attendants came around to offer us drinks.  My mom had been waiting for a while to drink some tea- her favorite (she drinks about 10 cups a day, no joke). My dad, who had been sleeping, suddenly woke up and said he would like some tea as well. My mom, who didn't even get to take a sip of the tea that she had been waiting forgave him her tea. She insisted that he take it and that was that.

That was love in its most beautiful form.

#personalgrowth #selfimprovement #successfulpeople #dowhatyoulove #empowerment #lovinglife #overcomeobstacles #herincrediblemindset #innergrowth #newmindset #mindsetshift #growthquotes #millennialtherapist #mentalhealthmatters #intentionalliving #healthyhabits #selfcare #selflove #happylifequotes #journeyoflife #selflove #selfimprovement #goalsetting #dreambigworkhard #letsdothis💪 #herewego #bossbabe #personaldevelopment #growthmindset🌱 #happyandhealthy #ilovemyself #ilovelife #thegoodquote #mytimetoshine #betterme #bettermemission #icanachieveanything #iamawinner #lewishowes #womenempowerment #womensupportingwomen #womenofimpact #impacttheory

GUIDE: Exactly How To Generate Positive Vibes and Thoughts (Even When The Going Gets Rough)

OKAY PEOPLE!!

Everything good is coming our way! 

Gosh, what am I saying?🤔

Everything good is already HERE!🤙

That is, if you allow it to be. It depends entirely on you. 

I know you're probably thinking, "How so, Dev?"👀

Well, if your thoughts and beliefs create your reality... and since you control your thoughts and beliefs... this means that you have the power to generate whatever you want.

The KEY🗝 is to learn, therefore, how to control your thoughts and change your beliefs.

And you must. It's going to take time and some effort, but with persistent practice, you WILL get there. Heck, I'm still practicing (getting better every day☝🏻) and I've been doing this for a while.

Because guess what. 

If we are focusing on the negative, we will only attract more negative into our lives. 

Likewise, if we attract positive, then we will attract positive into our lives.

Like attracts like. 

Make sense? By the way, if you want to learn more, check out my downloadables on this exact topic! You can find them all here! And I'm adding more and more all the time! 

So here are my top pointers on how to generate positive vibes even when the going gets rough (because life requires the going gets rough and we are supposed to learn how to grow from these challenges). 

1. Do a meditation- Sometimes we get so caught up in the situation at hand, the feelings generated from an experience, past issues and the emotions attached to them, starting to come up... we just need to step back and realign ourselves with our mission and goals. Instead of resisting the thoughts, feelings, and reality at hand... allow them to flow through you.
• The best way to allow them to flow through you is to meditate. Stop what you're doing, close your eyes, take a couple of deep breaths, and just BREATHE. Set a timer for 3-5 minutes and just allow yourself to relax. Focus on your breath and allow all negativity to show up as they desire, acknowledge them, and let them go. Don't try to fight them, just accept them as thoughts. 
2. Observe your thoughts- as I wrote above. When you simply step back and observe your thoughts and feelings, you cease owning them. We berate ourselves for thinking a certain way or acting our emotions that we try to suppress... but we can also choose to stop owning them and taking them personally. Just we think negative thoughts, it doesn't mean we are negative. We are human. Observe and let go. 
3. Listen to something positive- whether it be a song, a speaker, a video on something silly and funny. 
• When you focus your attention on those things, you align your energy with that energy. 
• Loosen up. Allow yourself to align with the energy you truly desire to live by. 
4. Journal- When you write down exactly how you're feeling and why you're feeling that way, you gain a LOT of clarity. 
• Clarity allows for understanding, which allows for an opening for something new to enter into our space (positivity please🙏🏻). 
• This also helps us to let go- to let off steam- which therefore allows us to feel more positive and accepting of something new.
5. Get up and get out- if you've been sitting for too long, focusing on one thing to no or little avail and are building up frustration... then you need to get up physically (yes do it even if you're lazy and/or a have a deadline because this will give you more time and energy in the long run) and step out of your current scene. Step outside, go on a walk, go for a drive around your neighborhood). Then come back and start again.

Let me know if these helped you at all 🐒 and share with a friend or two so that they can get some more positivity too🐸

#personalgrowth #selfimprovement #successfulpeople #dowhatyoulove #empowerment #lovinglife #overcomeobstacles #herincrediblemindset #innergrowth #newmindset #mindsetshift #growthquotes #millennialtherapist #mentalhealthmatters #intentionalliving #healthyhabits #selfcare #selflove #happylifequotes

HOW and WHY to Apply Mindful Living

For a while now I have been really into the idea of practicing mindfulness and meditation. 

However, it wasn't until last week when I was actually able to incorporate it into my life. Not because there was no room for it in my life (there definitely was and I always knew that), but just that it wasn’t always easy for me. 

During meditation, I wouldn't be able to get myself to sit still or stop thinking. Even when I tried getting into yoga, it was just too slow for me. I needed something more on the active/quicker side. I guess I just wasn’t patient enough. 

Lately, I’ve just been so busy, involved in so many things, recalibrating after a year of traveling, submitting job applications, finalizing plans for this coming year…. it’s exhausting! In a good way, of course.

…And I realized that sometimes (OK, so more than sometimes) I lose track of myself. I get on autopilot and sort of just… stay there. I multitask way too much (21^stcentury situation) and can’t seem to stick to a single task, snack whenever I “feel” like it, focus way too much on my checklist instead of actually being productive, and spend a decent amount of time on things that don’t actually make a dent of difference in my life (like checking social media for really no reason).  Throughout it all, I’m not actually thinking about what I’m doing or how I’m doing it… I’m just doing stuff. 

And I hate that. 

I hate that because I constantly feel exhausted, like I’m waiting for my next break like I’m hungry (LOL), and just bleh (yes, I wrote bleh for lack of a better way to explain it OKAY?!)

So over Shabbat (finally), I picked up a mindfulness book that I had last started reading over a year ago. I only got to page 3 last time, but I felt this was the time to really understand what it is all about. I also got more into the idea of mindful living during my time abroad and the more I learned about alternative medicine/healthy living. 

What can I say?

I AM IN LOVE. 

Yup, I love it. 

I believe that it’s been a combination of my maturation over the past year, strong desire to actually make this work, and overall being fed up with the autopilot lifestyle.  This time I was able to apply mindfulness much easier and faster than a year ago. 

Example of how I have been able to apply these concepts into my life: For quite some time, I could not understand the concept of mindful eating. It was simply explained to me as “eating when you’re hungry and not eating when you’re not.”

Well, duh. 

But I was never really able to follow this because I was sort of always hungry… and I believe the reason was because I wasn’t even really realizing when I was eating. I know this sounds stupid, but think about it. It’s actually quite common. Most people (me included-or at least used to be included) mindlessly eat. How many times have I seen people scarfing down food while looking at their phones? Who can even process like that?! Now I was never one to do that, but I wasn't really thinking much about the process of eating when I was. 

Now that I do this, I enjoy my food much more and actually notice when I feel full. I, therefore, end up not overeating and then don’t feel sick when I’m done. 

This is something people need to apply to their lives. Sensory overload ADHD, other "buzzwords"...these are prevalent. Constantly thinking about the next step. We struggle to stop and take in the moment, the taste of our food, whether or not we actually like it, how we are feeling at the moment on the inside and out. 

When I start getting preoccupied with all the stuff that I have to do, I simply stop. I sit down, feel my feet on the ground, my body against the chair, my lungs expanding, my hands on my knees…  consider what I smell, hear, see… I notice the small details in the room. I ask myself in my head what I am thinking and feeling (anxious, excited, tired, happy), what I am looking forward to (going on a run later, spending 30 minutes praying, seeing a friend tomorrow), what it is that may be giving me anxiety and what I can do about it…. 

I highly recommend everyone to try this exercise. It doesn't have to be long or perfect or even right. Taylor it to what works for you. Make it your own. You don’t even really have to be consistent (though it probably is in your best interest to make it that way). 

Just give it a try and if it's hard for you at first… then give it another. 

#personalgrowth #selfimprovement #successfulpeople #dowhatyoulove #empowerment #lovinglife #overcomeobstacles #herincrediblemindset #innergrowth #newmindset #mindsetshift #growthquotes #millennialtherapist #mentalhealthmatters #intentionalliving #healthyhabits #selfcare #selflove #happylifequotes

To Stand and Watch The World

It really is such a magical thing to simply stand and watch the world. To see the mini interactions that occur in the flood of people running by. How two brothers embrace, a couple laughs genuinely, the sun setting slowly but somewhat purposefully over the backdrop.

It’s like a constant lull- a gentle flow that seems to sift through time.

I used to be so uncomfortable just standing and not doing anything. However, it’s exactly this act of doing nothing that could sometimes be the most impactful.

And with that thought in mind- Shabbat shalom 💙

Happiness Takes Work (And Usually So Does Everything Else)

I was talking to a friend earlier this week. For a while now, she has been feeling unmotivated and unhappy.

I make a constant effort to call her and talk about how things are going. I will also give her mini assignments like taking 5 minutes in the morning to write a list of things for which she feels grateful or sending me 3 positive quotes she finds online and to which she feels connected.

However, she doesn't always actually get these tasks done or take the time to call me back to work on these things together. She reassures me that she will get back to me, but simply doesn't.

I wrote to her the other day:

"Positivity doesn’t come easily for anyone. It’s something everyone has to work towards and if people don’t put in the effort to be positive... then they most probably won't be. Most of the time, we are naturally prone to being negative. Every day you have to make a conscious effort to think positively. We all do."

I realized that perhaps I needed to hear this message myself. And not for any particular reason.

We all oftentimes let ourselves go. Then we get to that moment (if we are being at least half honest with ourselves) when we realize that perhaps we aren't putting in the effort to feel the way we want to feel.

And this goes with everything in life.

Want to feel happy? Do something that actually makes you happy. Put your phone down and go on a walk or work on a personal project. Do something that excites you. Remember to be grateful for what you already have.

Want to not feel lonely? Make sure you are actually interacting with people and not secluding yourself. Make sure you are hanging around the right people.

Want to feel motivated and get things done? Start small. Just 5 minutes. Give yourself just 5 minutes and I guarantee you will most probably work for much longer.

Want to stop being negative? Catch yourself in the act of being negative and think the opposite (positive) thoughts. Make a list of positive affirmations and repeat them daily. Surround yourself with positive people and if that's not an option then imbue positivity into your life as much as you can. Be creative. Be a source of positivity for yourself and others.

Whatever you decide to do, make sure you are putting in the honest effort.
You can change anything by just starting with you.
So get started.
Go.

Being Aware (Choose Happiness)

“Life requires so many choices... so choose to be happy” 😊 - a random piece of paper that somebody hung on the library wall.

Today I am writing not about how happiness is a choice, but rather about the importance of being aware. 

I know it’s not really all that related to choosing to be happy and so this is a stretch from the opening quote... but I think this is more important for me to write about right now and it’s something new I’ve been trying to do. 

Being aware. 

Like being awake… if not the same thing. 

This has become harder to do. With electronics all over the place... smartphones, high tech watches... it’s hard to disconnect from all of that and just sit and think. Or just to simply sit and notice our surroundings. 

Apparently, some people have an app on their phones that tells them how much time they have spent on their phones that day and how many times they looked at their social media accounts. The statistics I’ve heard are astonishing. Well, at least when I first heard the stats I thought that they were astonishing. 

When I thought about it again I realized that it’s really not surprising at all. These statistics make total sense. Of course, we are spending hours on our phones. The majority of us turn to them when there is even a small moment to sit and reflect, think, ponder, or just be. 

Try this: sit and think for 5 minutes. Just sit and focus on a single thing. 

Can you do it? 

Most people have a hard time doing this. Even just focusing on a single thought for a relatively short period of time. 

If you can’t do that when you are alone, then at least do it when you are with people. Don’t look at your phone while eating with a group of people, spending time with friends and family, on a trip somewhere, or walking down the street (for safety reasons too😝). One of the saddest things I’ve seen and done is allowing quality time with people and myself to slip away from me. I let it slip away from me so easily. I didn’t even put up a fight for what I could easily have. 

Anyway, the point is that we allow ourselves to be unaware of what is going on around us so much of the time because of our focus on things that have nothing to do with the present moment or even with us. 

There is so much beauty in watching the world. There is so much beauty and excitement in getting to see the world through our own personal lenses- our eyes. We have so much opportunity and cannot let it go to waste. 

Try the exercise I mentioned above. Try it over and over and over and over again. 

Until you don't need to try anymore.