It’s The Little Things…
Welcome to your monthly motivator for August,
This month is all about the small and simple ways to get you there…
The little things…
When we’re unhappy or we want to change or we want something new, we often fall into one of two traps:
1) We can’t get started
2) We get started and give up
This month we’re talking about how to make it happen – the easy way…
Making Stuff Happen
“If you ever think you’re too small to make a difference, try having a mosquito in your bed”
We often fail – or fail to get started – because we make the task too big. Then it’s scary and we run away from it rather than towards it.
Looking at a tapestry or any form of art, craft or creation, you see the whole and then you can look again and see all the work that went into it. We say things like “Wow, imagine how long that took!” We can also look at it and imagine the maker having taken it one small step at a time.
One small step for mankind…
“A few degrees in the right direction, get you where you want to be”
After years of teaching people different ways of feeling and communicating better I have a whole host of techniques and strategies they can benefit from but the biggest challenge isn’t sharing the techniques, it’s helping people understand that feeling better…
CAN BE EASY and
IS ALL ABOUT SMALL CHANGES
Like right now for instance – We’ve been over this one before and it’s even more relevant to this subject – good breathing.
Just while you’re reading, notice your breathing. Whatever is happening with it right now, it is possible to just take it a little deeper, a little slower and relax your shoulders, jaw, teeth and tongue, sit up a little more to give your lungs room to expand. Breathe gently. Straight away you’ve released some tension that could have caused muscle problems or a headache later.
MY CURRENT SMALL CHANGE
At the moment I’m changing the way I eat and noticing the way I think about food. It’s quite a surprising adventure and has brought up so many interesting things to think about…
The most amazingly challenging thing is to make sure I eat regularly: breakfast, lunch and dinner and two snacks every single day. Just that one thing has made me think about what I’ve been doing instead:
– denying myself by going ages without food because I’m busy
– thinking skipping a meal or snack is a way of losing weight
– thinking it’s a good idea to ignore that hungry feeling
It’s small and simple, it’s just about planning to eat and then eating regularly. Yet, it’s making the biggest difference to my health and well being than any fancy weight loss plan I may have done in the past.
It’s simple, it’s small and I feel healthier and more energetic than I have in a very long time.
YOUR WELL-BEING
Your well being can start with something as simple as taking some gentle breaths.
Here are some more ways that are all about starting small and making the process simple, easy and realistic – but, for all their simplicity, you WILL see results.
Remember we’re seeing how the smallest things can make a difference so no need to try and do them all and drive yourself crazy or get disappointed that you didn’t manage 601 new things in a day!
Allow yourself good time to get where you need to get to. Setting off with enough time so that the stress doesn’t build up.
Make yourself a drink and take time to drink it rather than getting so engrossed in a task you have to drink it cold.
Go to the loo rather than holding it til you’ve finished something else.
Say ‘yes’ when someone offers you help or to share a bill.
Spend a little time just sitting, looking at trees blow in the wind or the clouds roll by.
Or if you fancy, try one of the tips for a happy life from a wise Buddhist monk…
The Wise Monk suggests…
• Eat when you are hungry
• Drink when you are thirsty
• Sleep when you are tired
My challenge to you is, choose ONLY one new thing that you are going to do to make yourself feel better.
You may find just the fact you are limiting it to one small thing helps you begin to break the habit of taking on too much, trying too hard, making it hard on yourself, giving up and then beating yourself up, I’ve found that to not have been such a good plan so far!
So, time for a new way –
– just one new thing, from the well-being list above or from the 3 wise monk suggestions and notice what happens.
and if you like, let me know, I’d be really interested to hear about your experience.
SUMMER LOVIN’
As we enjoy the last month or two of summer I wish you sunshine inside and out and hope that all your days, even the ones that test us, have little rays of joy to warm your heart,
Pam x
PS Look out for Next Month’s message for September when we’ll be talking about the role of BEARS
Remember you can get a daily dose of positivity from Twitter, follow @thefeelgoodclub for inspirational tips and quotes every day
Posted by Pam on 31 August, 2011. Comments (0)