Lately I've been on a kick in learning all about manifestation and happiness. Reading books, listening to lectures, hearing about various meditations to try, and so on.
The motivation to really learn about all this has been coming from this deep inner frustration about one thing in my life. So many other areas of my life I've been able to shift and make better, but in one area, for some reason, I've continued to feel stuck in this cycle that I've been unable to bust out of.
So, I figured, learning more about manifestation and achieving happiness in life would be beneficial. In this process, I've come to several profound lessons where I have been able to feel some drastic shifts very quick. So here are three essential mindset shifts that I think can really help us all live a life we love:
1. Realize that it's not (and never has been) about where you are, but how you view it.
That shitty apartment your living in? That toxic work environment? That friend or family member that's driving you crazy? Sure, it makes things more challenging...
... but it shouldn't be preventing you from experiencing happiness.
This was one of my first realizations upon moving to Korea and it's taken quite a while for it to fully sink in:
It's not about where you are in life, but about what you're doing with what you have right now.
If you're pessimistic and bitter, then of course you're going to be unhappy. And sure, you can go ahead and start dating someone else or move out of the country, but nothing is going to change unless you do. You'll continue to carry those inner negative feelings everywhere you go until you decide, "Hey, I don't want to feel that way anymore!" So change your perspective.
2. Gratitude connects you to your soul.
Always focusing on what we don't have in life is very draining and keeps our minds locked into this state of fear and lack. No miracles can emerge out of this if because it makes us blind from seeing the real opportunities that we have available. It causes us to be trying to swim against the tide rather than to float along with it and trust.
So take some time each day in meditation to stop and connect to what you are grateful for. Identify one thing -- and it doesn't have to be complicated. This may be a person in your life, the fact that you have steady income, a pet, or the place you are living. It could even be something super simple like the fact that the sun came up today or that there are birds chirping outside your window.
In meditation, visualize that person, place or thing that you are grateful for in your mind's eye and then allow yourself to really feel the gratitude. The shifts really happen from feeling, because it takes us out of our mind and into our hearts. So be sure to really tune into that feeling and, overtime, you'll begin to notice some definite shifts in your life.
3. Feel the way you want to feel right now rather than wait for something in your life to change.
A story I came across fairly recently was of a woman who had had a baby and was living on government assistance because her and her husband could barely afford basic cost of living. Her husband ended up taking a job working at a place like UPS several states away because they were desperate for any money at all.
In her story she said that, while this situation didn't appear so great on the outside on the inside she felt really truly happy. She was enjoying life and really truly grateful for where she was at. As a result, within just a few months she started a new work endeavor and ended up earning enough money in her new work that her husband was able to quit his job and move back with family.
The main lesson? To start feeling what you want to feel "someday in the future" right now.
When I first heard this story my mind initially went to a fear-based thought of, "But if I feel all that joy and happiness right now, then maybe I won't really do any actions to make changes in my life. I'll just be happy and stagnant".
Clearly, this thought is really just a bunch of bullshit.
Because the second I decided to start feeling the way I'd like to feel "someday" I found myself feeling strong and confident in making decisions. I started to feel more in-tune with my own intuition so I more clearly knew which direction I needed to take for myself.
So be grateful and choose to feel those feelings of happiness, joy, love or whatever it is that you'd like to feel "someday" today, then simply be open for miracles.
Take action now!
Close your eyes and ask yourself: How would I like to feel "someday"? Connect with that feeling in this present moment, then describe that feeling in the comments below!
Jennifer is a self and relationship coach and the founder of JenniferTwardowski.com. Her mission is to help women create loving relationships with both others and themselves. Click here for her Free Self and Relationship Healing Meditation and weekly blog updates. To learn about how you can work with her, click here.
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