I’m sitting in a cafe sipping my short mac as I write this next post, looking out at Cottesloe beach (Perth’s most famous and beautiful beach…I guess it’s the Bondi of Perth!) and I’m thinking to myself, “life is good!” It’s going to be a magical 29 degree spring day, I have the luxury of having a couple of hours free to do some writing before my next client, and I feel pretty bloody fantastic right now!

This got me thinking about the great power our minds have over our quality of life. Right now I’m feeling happy for the above reasons…cafe culture, coffee, writing, ocean views, free time, warm weather! They’re things that make me happy, but it’s also very much a state of mind.

What if it was pissing down with rain right at this moment and the coffee I was drinking was shit house (Aussie colloquialism!).

Would I still be thinking “life is good!”?

Well I wouldn’t be thinking life is bad, but I don’t think I’d be in the same ‘happy go lucky’ mood I’m in right now! And I’m being honest here.

This got me pondering about how monumental our thoughts and the power of our minds really are. And we all know this, right? But how do we change our thoughts so we feel positive and happy 90% of the time?

Dr Robert Holden, founder of The Happiness Project says…

Happiness is something you choose not something you deserve or earn. Happiness is free.

 I love this. We have the power at any second of the day to choose the way we want to feel. We can choose to practice gratitude, we can choose to have a smile on our face, we can choose to be positive and to be happy in the present moment.

When The Blues Strikes

I understand that sometimes shitty things happen in life that you just can’t smile and be happy about. I’m going through this right now as my sister had a shocking accident 3 months ago and broke her neck and suffered 5 strokes, as most of you are now aware. And it’s okay to feel sad and to be down in the dumps when tragedy or disappointing things happen in life…acknowledge how you feel and be accepting of this.

But…

Use the power of your mind to not drag you too far down into the dark and miserable hole…as you just might not be able to get out of it for a very long time.

I’m going to use myself and my family as an example. This is clearly a very difficult time in our lives, but every single member of my immediate family is getting on with life. We acknowledge how devastating the situation is for Candice and for us too, and we have our moments of stress and heart-ache and anguish. But we’re not falling into depression and playing the ‘poor me’ card either.

I admit that for the first few weeks, I was extremely depressed and couldn’t even think of cracking a smile, until my Mum told me that it’s okay to still laugh and smile.

Right now, three months on, I still have my moments of feeling sad but I’m mostly happy and still loving being back in Perth and building my business! I feel like I have a lot to be grateful for, including what’s going on presently and what is going to transpire in the future…and I’m excited!

I believe that’s also why I’m feeling really happy today…I just have such a good feeling about my future in all areas of my life!

My Tips For Using The Power Of Your Mind In A Positive Way:

• As Robert says, “did you rise and shine or rise and whine?!” First thing in the morning be clear on your “to do” and “to be” choices. What sort of day have you decided to have? What is your intention?
• Use the power of positive affirmations…at several times throughout the day, repeat a couple of affirmations that motivate and inspire you.
• Meditate. To learn about the effect meditation has on your mind and also a great meditation I learned from Deepak Chopra, read this post.
• Keep a gratitude journal. I like writing in my journal at night as it is a great stress reliever and always makes me feel good! Write 10 things you’re grateful for including 1 thing you learned that day and 1 thing you did for someone else. Every Tuesday I also write my ‘LWER Tuesday’s Blessings’ on my facebook page and encourage everyone to comment with what they’re grateful for. It always puts me in such a good mood for the rest of the day!
• Another quote from Robert that I love…”sometimes in order to be happy in the present moment, you have to be willing to give up all hope for a better past”. Soooo true!! For more of Robert’s thoughts on happiness, check out this post I wrote after seeing him live at Louise Hay’s I Can Do It Conference.

I hope this has been helpful and has inspired YOU to use the power of your mind to your advantage. Have a happy day!

P.S. My ‘Lean Bod Summer Meal Plans’ will be available for sale as of next Thursday, October 18th for only $27!!!

xx