Be Creating

“Watch your thoughts, for they become words.  Watch your words, for they become actions.  Watch your actions, for they become habits. Watch your habits, for they become character. Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.” – Unknown Taking time to metacognate—think about your thinking—can be extremely valuable in shifting your focus to one of well-being and crowd out stress.  A few times a day take time to be aware of your thoughts, analyzing the source and effects of your thinking. Try asking- “What’s this thought about?” or “When I have this thought how do I feel?” I might even suggest keeping a journal for a couple of days to look for patterns in your thinking. After a few days, dig a little deeper. Pay special attention to thoughts that are about yourself, your skills, your abilities and your performance.  Where on the continuum, from critical to uplifting, are your thoughts about yourself?  If you are on the end towards critical, it might be time take a few steps

Small shifts can make a big difference if we just take them one at a time. Our five senses are the way we interact with our physical environment and you may be taking them for granted.  Taking pleasure in feeding your senses can also feed your soul.  Touching, tasting, smelling, seeing and hearing are all channels to create peace in your life.  First, take time to show you cherish your environment by clearing the energy in your space and clean it out.  After you have cleared your space, learn what specifically resonates with your senses and begin to take pleasure in the small connections you make with your environment.  Savor your senses and be totally present as you interact with your environment.  Thich Nhat Hanh in Peace Is Every Step shares a lovely story of taking an hour and a half to eat one small cookie. He reminds us that “Eating mindfully is a most important practice of meditation.” When’s the last time you took time to savor your food.   What small shifts can you m