Mi Hamba Blog

Sometimes you will think that an expected situation is one where you will be able to spend some time on you and maybe even give your loved ones a bit of a break.  However, once you get into that situation you quickly realize that, what was anticipated to be a warm and friendly environment, quickly turns into a negative and scary one.

This is exactly where I found myself over the last couple of weeks.  I had been waiting for a surgery to fix my bad leg, and I had been waiting for a very long time so I was very happy and grateful when the call came and I was scheduled for the operation.  It was finally happening, I was going to be blessed with a healthy leg, body and I would recover very quickly.  My beautiful wife and I would be on the dance floor in no time — CHA, CHA, CHA!!

I was almost looking forward to the short stay in the hospital — 3 days was all.  I packed my bag with all of the neccessities — ipod with audio books, my favorite personal development books, notebook and a couple of pens just in case.  I was full of intention to work on my own personal growth and transform anybody that crossed my path.

I quickly realized that this was a very different world than my own protected little environment that we had created at home.  These were some stressed and negative people and I mean everybody, from my room-mates to the staff that were so stressed because of being so short handed.  I was so grateful for my mindset going in as it empowered me to fall back on all that I have learned with the Law of Attraction and Life Coaching.

My surgeon sat on the side of my bed 2 days after I got there, looked me in the eye and told me that the surgery did not work — he was going to go and re-do it, try and fix it but his words to me were — if it did not work the first time, it probably won’t work the 2nd time.  In my heart and mind, I knew that it would work and never gave up that belief.  I told him — you do the surgery and it will work this time.  It did.

I am so happy and grateful to be back home, in my “comfort zone”, with the people I love and cherish.  My ability to draw upon all that I have learned over the last few years was instrumental to my ability to handle and deal with the last few weeks.  I hope this article may inspire you to ensure that even though you are in your “comfort zone” right now, be prepared for when you have to leave it.  Get yourself armed with the belief structure and mindset that will allow and empower you to do whatever you want — live from the inside out!!

Golf — Now there is a way to spend a couple of hours excercising your ability to pay attention to and control  your feelings.  Especially the ones that produce those nasty limiting beliefs we keep writing about.

I am not a golfer — not by even a stretch of anybody’s imagination.  As a matter of fact I usually call it “Swish — Darn — Drag Your Bag”.  On Sunday however, I was invited for a round of golf by a good friend that I used to work with and had been missing for a while now.  He is a good golfer, retired and when we worked together was really a surrogate Father for me.  You know what I mean I hope, he was someone I could depend on for advice in life situations and he never hesitated to give it — just like Dad.

When we got to the golf course it was really busy and because it was just the 2 of us, we were asked to be accompanied by another couple of people.  Wonderful people and again pretty good golfers.  Enter my first Limiting Feeling of the day:ought:

I can’t golf with these people — I will just delay and hold them up — which I was able to relpace with:

Even though I am unable to golf as well, I am so grateful that they will be able to give me some great tips and that they are so understanding.

What is amazing is that they were very understanding and they did offer some great tips.  As a matter of fact for every ball I hit over the fence they found 2 for me as they assisted me in looking for mine.  That in itself empowered me to develop an allowing statement of:

Many people are hitting golf balls out of bounds, just like me!

I wasn’t the only one hitting them over the fence and out of bounds and I knew it because I had the proof — there were a ton of lost balls in those woods.

As you can imagine, there were a ton and I mean a ton of limiting beliefs and feelings about my golf game as I progressed through the day.  Because of my experience with being a student of personal development, I was able to recognize them and re-phrase them as a positive statement instead of a negative statement.

To the unseasoned person of Personal Development the first 9 holes were disastrous and a non-believer would think — there I told you — that stuff doesn’t work.  The second 9 holes however proved my knowingness that controlling your feelings and your limiting beliefs is absolutely transformational.  All of a sudden I was hitting my drives straight, or at least straighter, I wasn’t losing my ball anymore and I was able to at least keep up.  I actually shaved over 10 strokes from the front nine — now that felt good!

Had I not been able to control my feelings I would have been an emotional wreck by the 6th or 7th hole and not enjoyed a single minute of the game.  The folks I golfed with all mentioned what a great attitude I had about being so bad at the game.  I think that was a compliment.

If you have watched the movie “The Secret” or you are familiar with the law of attraction, then you know that the universe responds to your feelings and gives you more of the same.  This is good news for you, as it is alot easier to control your feelings than it is to control your thoughts. 

It may seem difficult sometimes to have positive feelings when outside circumstances, situations, and even other people around you are not exactly very positive.   You may find yourself saying to a loved one “You make me really angry when you do that”.  The reality is that you alone control your feelings, another person does not make you feel anything.  You decide at every given moment how you are going to feel, inspite of what is going on in your life.

The first step in taking control of your feelings is simply knowing that you have that control, just be conscious of it.  You will then begin to notice the next time you are having negative feelings, and be aware that you need to turn those feelings upside down. 

Removing yourself from the negativity around you is imperative to a positive mental attitude.  If you are unable to physically remove yourself, take a few moments to remove yourself emotionally.  You can use this time to go within, quiet your mind and find your inner peace.  Think of all the positive abundance in your life and how truly blessed you are.  You will soon start to notice the shift in your feelings from negative to positive. 

Okay, not everyone’s life sucks.  But if you’re reading this because the title caught your attention, then chances are you’re not happy with your life.  Why aren’t you happy?  Because deep down, you know you’re meant to be living a different life and you’re just not doing it.  This brings up 2 questions:
 - Why aren’t you living a better life
 - What can you do about it

Let’s address the first one - Why aren’t you living a better life?  This could be because you’re spending so much time pleasing others that you have no time left to take care of you.  Family to take care of, spouses to keep happy, friends to be a sounding board for, jobs that pay the bills but don’t fulfill you.  Where in all of this are You?  Where are you taking care of your wants and wishes.  If you sacrifice yourself for others, you’re doing them a disservice, but more importantly, you’re losing yourself in the bargain.

What do you really want?  What makes you happy when you think about it?  What dreams have you left behind in the name of “responsibility” and “sacrifice”.  If this is you, that feeling of “there must be something better” is your intuition telling you that you’ve got another life you should be living.  Likely you’re comparing your life to another vision of what you want.   That’s what creates the contrast and the feeling that your life sucks.

So what can you do about it?  If you have a vision or an idea of what your life should look like, begin to explore it.  You’ll find that when you have a vision of what you want, and begin to work towards it, you have renewed energy and happiness.  This is fueled by a sense of purpose.  Do you remember that feeling?  That’s what life is meant to be like. 

Follow your dreams.  No one else can do that for you.  Do you think it’s out of reach?  It’s not. If you don’t know where to start, consider life coaching.  It will help you focus on what you want for your life and give you the tools you need to be successful.

Remember, you are an extraordinary You. 

If only he could talk!  I guess first of all I should introduce Guido as I write this post from what I believe would be his perspective.  Guido is a member of our family and is a Boston Terrier, 2 years old and really believes he is a Bull Mastiff with a Beagle’s Heart. Guido, for all intents and purposes is the happiest living and breathing thing that I know of on this Earth.  We are blessed to be continual students of Personal Development and Life Achievement and as a result are able to design our lifestyle, and live it.  Guido has known no other way. 

He has never given the impression that the dog accross the street has it better than he does, or that the world is out to get him or even that he deserves better.  You see Guido has it made in the shade and he is extremely grateful for that.  He expresses that gratitude continually.

This is a guy that is never satisfied with his lot in life and is continually working and finding ways to make it better.  Even though he has many toys to play with he adores getting a new one.  So many times though, if he as put all his toys out in the yard and can’t find them he will create a new one, maybe with a slipper or one of my socks.  His bowl is always half full, never half empty.

We consider ourselves to be his life coach as we have provided the structure and the elements for him to study and utilize in order to become the happy, grateful, satisfied and overly generous dog that he has become.  He has taken all of these tools and used them to be the best dog he can be.

We can learn so much from our beloved pets.

“Whoever is happy will make others happy, too.”  ~Mark Twain.

Have you ever noticed that some people are just genuinely happy?  Have you noticed that you’re happier just being around them, almost like it’s contagious?  Well, it is!  This is just one of the many ways that you can put yourself into a happy state - surround yourself with happy people.

We have an epidemic right now in North America.  Did you know that anti-depressants are the most prescribed drug in America?  Not only is that a tragedy, but it’s for the most part, preventable.  If you just take back control of your life, invest in your own personal growth, and decide that you’ll live a life of your choosing, it CAN change.

Here are my top 5 tips on how to be a happier person:

1. Decide to be happy.  We all can choose how we feel, so why not choose to be happy instead of something that will make us feel worse.  This may sound pretty simple and it is.  When you declare you’ll be happy, it’s so much easier to be exactly that - Happy!

2. Go on a media fast.  Yes, you heard right.  There is nothing happy and uplifting in the news.  Make a commitment to not watch any news on TV, read the newspaper or any other source of news for 30 days.  You just might make it a permanent fast when you realize how much happier you are. Oh, and you’ll likely hear of any important news from people in your circle of influence so you’re sure not to “miss” anything.

3. Gratitude.  Keep a gratitude journal and start your day by listing all the things you feel grateful for.  This puts you in a happy and grateful frame of mind first thing in the morning.  If you don’t think you have anything to be grateful for, you do.  Just being alive is something to be grateful for.

4. Get exercise and fresh air.  For some this is a bad word, but really, fresh air and going for a walk (however short it is), will do wonders for your mindset.  It’s also a great opportunity to clear your mind and allow creativity and energy to flow into your life.

5. Laugh and Sing.  Happy people sing - I’ve always believed this. Singing changes your inner vibrations (sounds funky I know - think of that as your mood) and makes you feel good.  Think about it, have you ever seen anyone who’s unhappy singing?  Laughing, well what can I say.  Laughter definitely puts you in a happy frame of mind.  Go watch a funny movie and see how good you feel.

How do you get yourself in a happy mood?