Appreciate to create more
When you look at yourself in the mirror in the morning, what is it that you like the most about yourself? Surely, there must be something. Do you like your skin? Your eyes? Your mouth? Your built? Your feet?
Try appreciating and praising it everyday and see what happens. I have tried doing this with my hair. I liked its thickness, its length, its sheen. Everyday, when I look at myself in the mirror, I admire and appreciate how my hair frames my face and how it makes me look and feel better. Over the few weeks, I noticed that my hair has responded very favorably to my appreciation. It has more bounce and it has remained healthy even if I subject it to styling and coloring aids.
Whatever you appreciate in your life expands. By appreciating something means you recognize its high value and the benefits that you receive. And the more you appreciate the more its worth multiply. You can easily see this happening in your daily life. When your man praises your cooking, don’t you want to do more of it? Don’t you start buying or reading cookbooks to try out new recipes? Now think of how you reacted when he criticized your new hairstyle, your new dress, your new make-up? Didn’t it make you angry, unhappy, unappreciated? Didn’t it make you lose confidence in trying out new hairstyles and new looks?
Criticism contracts energy while appreciation allows it to expand. To create more of what you want, appreciate what you already have. The principle applies no matter what you desire in your life. If you want better health, find something good about your health. If you want a better job, appreciate whatever makes you happy in your present job. If you want a good relationship to come your way, appreciate your relationship with yourself, with your family, with your friends. Rejoice in their company; appreciate that you are not alone. In a relationship now, but you want to see some improvement? Find something that makes you happy now. Fun together? Security? Freedom? Companionship? You may not like everything about the relationship now but your task is simply to pick one or two that you can give thanks to. Of course, if after careful thought and consideration, you couldn’t find anything worth appreciating, you may be in the wrong relationship in the first place. You may be better off just moving on to find a new one.
What about criticizing what you don’t want in your life? If criticizing contracts the Energy to create, would criticizing the things we don’t want make them go away? For example, if you constantly complain about not having enough money, why don’t you experience the opposite and have more money? Or if you constantly moan about your luck in meeting undesirable, lying, cheating bastards, why don’t you meet nice, sensitive, good looking, faithful, successful, knight in shining armor (ok, that’s too much!).
Remember, energy flows where attention goes. By constantly pouring negative emotion on what you want, you are making your lack grow. You are contracting the energy of money; you are contracting the energy of good men. Don’t waste your valuable energy on being critical of areas in your life that you don’t want.
Next time you look in the mirror, don’t focus on the new wrinkle that just appeared in your forehead. Concentrate on how your eyes sparkle when you give your killer signature smile. Next time, when you go out and all you meet are men with ”loser“ stamped in their foreheads, don’t despair. Give thanks that you get so many opportunities to meet men of different varieties, that when you finally meet the ”right“ one, you will appreciate him better.
Take time to do nothing
One of the best, but often forgotten, things that you can do in life is simply to find time for yourself. Consider yourself important enough to take time out to do nothing – just being with yourself, with no goals, no expectations. In this age where being stressed out is the norm, spending quiet time with yourself is a luxury. And it is a luxury that we sometimes don’t wish to indulge in. Because we are used to being with people at work and at play, we feel a certain panic when we suddenly find ourselves alone. Instead of delighting in our own company, we interpret being alone as lonely and miserable. When we find ourselves out with no booked activity on a Friday or a weekend, we feel a certain fear that we might be losing out on something by being out of touch with the outside world.
Spending time with yourself can and should be a very enriching experience. Allow yourself some private moments when you can just lie down, wonder and ponder about life. There is no agenda, no conclusions needed-let your thoughts freely wander. This will give you great insights to your life, your worries, your concerns, your dreams. Many people have turned to meditation to achieve balance in their life. But if you feel you are not ready for this exercise yet, you can simply give yourself some ”stops“ any time of the day or before you retire to bed. Try closing your eyes and take a deep breath. Focus your attention on your breathing. Think of your concerns and worries and imagine them melting away as you breathe out. You can do this every time you feel stressed out.
You can also try meditation. When done properly, meditation allows you to center yourself spiritually and will provide you with a positive flow of energy. There are a lot of books and resources on meditation. But if you are keen to start soon, you will find the Meditation 101 useful.
The end result of all these exercises is a calm and balanced mind. When you are balanced, you are more focused and you are able to deal with your life’s issues on a more positive level. To be able to manifest the things in your life through affirmation and visualization (more on this later), a clear and balanced mind is essential.
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