Watch Your Thoughts
Do you ever find yourself creating stories in your head about certain situations, events, people, or things? Maybe someone said something to you and you spent hours analyzing what they meant and how that means they feel about you. Or maybe something “bad” happened and now all you can think about is how your life is ruined and there’s no getting through whatever you are facing. I know I have. I’ve taken very small things and blown them completely out of proportion. And when I do this, my thoughts create emotions, often negative ones about myself or my life. But think about this. They are just thoughts. Thoughts that conjure up intense emotion within us when we create dramatic stories around unimportant events. Or maybe something serious has happened, but we can’t see beyond this moment.
Guess what? Each one of us has the power to watch our thoughts, and choose how to react in a situation. We can choose to victimize ourselves, “Why me, Everything happens to me!” or choose to blame “It’s all his/her fault, I would never be in this position if it wasn’t for their stupidity” or even complete denial “Everything is fine, I’m happy” when in reality you are miserable.
OR
We could choose to take a step back for a moment and ask ourselves, “Is this really that important? Should I really be spending all this energy on being stressed out and frustrated? Is this really going to ruin my entire life?”
For example, have you ever sat in traffic, late, growing angrier and angrier by the minute, and stressing out to a point where you can hardly breathe or think? And then have you ever gotten to your destination, and you ended up being on time, and no one even noticed what you had to go through on your way there? And then, do you ever think, “wow, I had no need to get so stressed out, everything is fine”?
We spend so much of our lives stressed out, thinking about what we have to do and where we have to be. And most of the suffering we put ourselves through is unnecessary.
Do you enjoy feeling frustrated, angry, anxious, depressed? I know I don’t. But maybe there’s a part of us that does, that is drawn to the drama of daily life. Why else would we constantly put ourselves through this kind of psychological beat down?
So I challenge you to this. The next time something happens that you regard as “bad” or something doesn’t work out the way you planned, before your mind starts flaring up with negative thoughts like it usually does, take a step back. Take a deep breath. Ask yourself if the pity-party/ragefest/anxiety-attack you are about to dive into is really worth your time. Is the matter at hand that serious? Is it something you will never recover from? And then think about all the times you have felt like this before, and how every time you managed to get through it. And then, realize that at this moment, you have a choice. You have the choice to let go of whatever is about to throw you into a tornado of negative emotions, or you have the choice to hold on for dear life and watch this tornado tear up everything in its path leaving you emotionally exhausted.
It’s much easier to let that tornado sweep you away. It’s easier to be unhappy and blame others. It’s not as easy to just let go or assume responsibility. But which route do you think will leave you with a greater sense of strength and calm? Choose your thoughts carefully. You may not make the best choices every time, but if you watch yourself and watch where your thoughts take you, you’ll realize that you are in charge of how you feel at every moment. And that is true power right there, power that no one can take away from you. Just think about it 
Denny’s
My very first job was serving at Denny’s. What an experience that was! One of my best friends was working there and got me a job. I didn’t really know what to expect. I turned out not be the best server, I’d get frustrated and stressed really easily. One of my first days on the job I sold a fake pie to a customer on accident. No one told me that the ones in the glass display case that looked refrigerated weren’t real! They looked real! Needless to say the customer came back about a half hour later wondering why they were sold a fake pie. It was pretty classic.
My friend and I had a blast when we worked together. We would take every opportunity we could to goof off and take funny pictures and laugh our asses off. We would tape our faces and make silly faces and make up characters and act like them while we got the food together for our customers. Why? Because we are random and weird and enjoy laughter more than anything.
Tips were crappy but we made the best of it. I look back on those days with fondness. I think everyone should serve at least once in their lives to understand what goes on in a restaurant. Waiters are not servants. They are regular people trying to make a living. Bottom line? Don’t mess with the people who make your food! And don’t worry, I never messed with anyone’s meal
Gets me thinking…
I think about death a lot. And it’s not because I’m a morbid person. I just always want to know that I am living my life the way that I want to, that I am not setting myself up for a life of regrets. We don’t know when our time will come. But I do know, that if we are fortunate enough to make it to old age, when we are lying on our deathbeds, we won’t be thinking about how much money we made, what kind of cars we drove, what the hottest celebrity was doing where. What do you think will really be on our minds? Relationships. Relationships to ourselves; did I live my life without regrets? Did I really follow my heart? Did I push myself to be the absolute best person I could be? Or did I let fear hold me back, or let other people dictate what I could and could not do? Also, relationships to others; Did I make any meaningful connections to anyone during my lifetime? Did I treat people well? Was I loved and I did I love without holding back?
These are important questions that we often fail to ask ourselves now. I feel like so many people sleepwalk through life. And a lot of the time we get distracted by the hardships of every day living. Understandably so. Life is not easy. That is a fact. But does that mean we should just sit back and be passive and not even try to move forward? Should we just throw the towel in and say ‘You know what? There are just too many obstacles out there and too many chances at failure to even attempt to improve my situation or follow my dream.’
I personally refuse to live my life that way. I am going to do everything I can to accomplish my goals, even though the mountains facing me often seem insurmountable. Because even if I fail, I will know that I tried and will never have that nagging feeling that maybe there was something else out there for me but I passed on the opportunity out of fear/laziness/pride/whatever. I don’t care what age you are. You could be 7 you could 67, it is never too late to take an honest look at your life and work towards what you deserve: happiness. Be real with yourself. I know that’s hard to do when you look in the mirror and don’t necessarily like what you see. Or maybe you feel like life didn’t hand you the best set of cards. Wherever you are, with whatever problems you may have, is the reality of your situation at this particular moment. If you don’t like where you’re at? Make an effort to change it. There is always something you can do, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant. This is your life!! And it’s your choice. What are you going to do with it?
Fabric Wall!
We took some time on the weekend to create a fabric wall. This is a fun and creative way to transform a plain boring wall into a work of art! Just go to a fabric store, pick out your favorite fabrics, and cut them into any shapes and sizes. Then pin them on your wall in whatever designs you like! It’s one of my favorite new art forms. Make your own and send in your pictures so I can post them on the site for everyone to enjoy
Maiara on: