Empower Newsletter – February 2014

Welcome to the February 2014 edition of the Empower Newsletter. For most people the holiday season is over and it is time to get back into our daily routines. Some look forward to it and others don’t. This month the theme is around consciously choosing to see the good in our lives.

Did you know?

‘it is a choice to see good in our lives!’

A client recently said to me that she was now feeling really positive about the year ahead! This in itself probably doesn’t seem out of the ordinary but so many of us are stuck in a negative headspace forgetting to, or just not seeing, all the good that happens in our lives. Instead choosing to focus on all the negative and bad things that are happening to us or around us. For example, it would be so easy to jump on the ‘I am having a bad day’ band wagon. And when we have declared we are having a bad day, instantly our mood changes.

It reminds me when I climbed Mount Warning a couple of weeks ago with my mother and my friend Kellee. After missing a text from Kellee changing the pickup location, I could have quite easily declared that I was having a bad day. After driving for an hour and discovering that I had left the bag of sandshoes, one pair for myself and another two for Kellee to choose from, at the front door at home, I could have allowed that to change my mood or even worse, stop me from doing the walk. Instead I chose to focus on how much I wanted to do the walk and to have a great day. Kellee and I decided we would do the walk in our thongs so we powered on. Funny thing was about half way up one of my thongs broke which still didn’t stop me. Almost to the top, a couple of men engineered a solution to fix my thong with a plastic bag. Even though towards the end of the walk, I twisted my ankle, fell over and strained my knee, it still ended up being a fun day, laughing and talking to others we bumped into on the way about the thong debacle. It could have easily been a miserable day driving an hour back home unhappy. Instead we had the satisfaction of getting to the top, seeing the spectacular view and laughing at everything that happened.

Have you fallen into the habit of seeing the worst in situations, people, the world and/or yourself? If you have, the good news is that habits can be changed. It’s a matter of consciously focusing on and choosing to see the best in people, situations and yourself. By doing this you are developing that muscle. Eventually like any habit it will become natural after a while. How much better would you feel if you saw the beauty in your world and the good in people and situations?

Instead of thinking about the whole year as a whole, looking at each moment is a great place to start. How many events or mishaps does it take for you to choose to have a bad day? By not letting one, two or even three events change your mood, you are taking control back. We cannot control others and events! What we can control is our perceptions and reactions to others and events.

Definition

Focus

A point upon which attention, activity, etc, is directed or concentrated.

In coaching circles, it is commonly believed that what we focus on is what we get to the exclusion of anything else.

Something to Ponder

“People often use their story as a reason for not moving forward. They even use it and compete with other people and say ‘look, my life has been bad, worse than yours which is why I’m stuck’. If you tell your story enough, even you will eventually begin to believe it. Don’t let your story be the reason you choose to not move upward. Every single human being has a story; has been through hard times; has challenges to overcome; but do not let the story epitomize your now. Every story provides every human being with two options: 1. To use it as an excuse. 2. To use it as leverage to catapult forward. Which option will you choose?”

Quote of the Month

“There is no problem unless we choose to make it one, so think carefully before you act.”

~ David Marshall ~

Affirmation Corner

‘I now choose to see the abundant amount of good in my life and welcome all the good things that life has to offer.’