POSITIVE EMOTIONS TO RULE YOUR LIFE

Wishing you all a week full of joyful unexpected surprises, a week full of happiness and serenity. Make it a productive week. Be enthusiastic with everything you do. Be creative. Use your skills and talents to enhance your lives as well as the lives of others. Smile! Laugh! Think joyful thoughts.

Be content. Offer gratitude for all of life’s gifts and say thank you. Harness the power of hope and let it lead you forward. Most of all allow joy to colour all you do and talk more often to your siblings, your partner, your friends, and neighbours. A smile and a few words from you can make all the difference in someone’s life.

CONTENTMENT

What is contentment? There are many other words to describe this feeling. Being at peace with oneself, or a feeling of well-being. For me it’s that feeling of being at ease with myself, comfortable within my own skin What makes you feel content? What makes that feeling of peace well up inside you?

It can be as simple and as momentary as the smell of fresh bread as you pass the bakery, or seeing daffodils unfurling and blooming at the first sign of Spring. It can be that feeling you get when everything in your world is balanced, especially after a period of turmoil or unease.

Store these feelings, these images and all the beautiful scents of life that make you feel content. Create a memorable mental box and keep them safe. No matter what situation you find yourself in, don’t forget to open your box of contentment. Those images are there whenever you want to recreate that feeling of contentment, one beautiful jewel at a time.

HOPE – Hasten Overcome Persevere Encourage

We all need an element of hope in our lives. It creates a sense of purpose, a yearning to realize a certain dream. Don’t perceive it as a daydream or an unfulfilled wish. It can be a powerful emotion if used in a positive way.

You all know that lovely feeling you get when you say – ‘I hope.’ A flickering of optimism that makes you want to reach out and achieve something in particular. Fan that flame of desire with a dose of ‘I can.’ Do something that brings you one step closer to your dream. HASTEN.

Add a large dose of ‘I will’ and OVERCOME the first challenge. It’s a simple challenge. You just move one foot forward. Visualize yourself on a chessboard. Do you move forward or sideways to win the game? PERSEVERE and do not give up. Hope is with you all the way pushing you forward whenever you falter. ENCOURAGE yourself to take the next step and the next. Allow that feeling of HOPE to permeate every aspect of your life and never let the flame expire.

HOPE is the first step

Towards realizing our dreams,

The second step is,

Creating, planning – giving hope a physical face,

Action is the third step,

Never giving up is the fourth step,

Courage is the fifth step,

Faith is the sixth step.

There is now no turning back,

Positivity, planning, persistence,

Allow yourself to hope and dream and achieve.

©Helena Abrahams

ENTHUSIASM

Harness that wonderful burst of energy and passion you get when you want to do something meaningful in your life. Treat it with respect and allow it to grow. You want to get fit, to lose weight, to write a novel, or to just chill out more and relax. ‘Want’ can become enthusiasm and zeal.

Do not let that feeling go. Take it out of its box and use it. Fan the flames of desire and step into your future with energy and verve. Your mind is telling you to take action. So, you want to get fit. Take a 5-minute walk. Stretch your muscles. Increase your walk to 10 minutes the following day.

You can increase it every day until you feel comfortable. What’s important here is not to allow your enthusiasm to be greater than your capabilities. Create a pattern of lifestyle that you know you can maintain, not just a nine-day wonder. You’ve now started the journey towards losing weight.

Join a sliming club or follow one of the many diets online. It’s all achievable especially if you remain enthusiastic. Start your novel. Yes, I said start your novel. What’s so surprising about that? It’s your dream. Put it down on paper. Don’t overthink it. Words make sentences, sentences make a story. If you need support join a writing group. You are now walking,

eating more healthily and being creative. Just these three steps alone have created time for you, a time to relax. Add to that feeling and get up 10 or 15 minutes earlier every day. You have prepared your tray the night before with a cup and saucer.

It will be the first thing you focus on when you enter your kitchen. Enthusiasm flares as you look forward to that first sip of morning elixir. Or use the time to meditate and just be.

Make enthusiasm your best friend.

GRATITUDE

Appreciate everything in your life and acknowledge everything with gratitude. It costs absolutely nothing. How amazing is that! Stop living inside your little bubble and see what’s going on around you.

Be the master of your own actions and thoughts. Colour them with gratitude. Choose a colour you like and whenever a mischievous negative elf tries to waylay you, visualize that colour and smile. Give gratitude a physical presence in your life.

Say the words out loud. ‘I am grateful for everything in my life especially the love and laughter and joy that my family and friends give me. I am grateful for my ability to stop and smell the roses. I offer gratitude for my ability to hope and dream and be the best that I can be. I offer gratitude for each new day knowing it will be a day filled with wonder. I offer gratitude for your presence in my life. Thank you.