This morning I woke up and before I jumped out of bed to start my day, I laid there for a few minutes. Today is the first day of another adventure: 1.5 weeks, six destinations, eight pairs of shoes, and one suitcase.
THIS is what I have been asking for, for a long time. Travel, fun, adventure, excitement, abundance, love, passion, connection, ease, flow, bliss... it's finally happening.
As I laid there in bed, I told myself, "Sheila, let yourself really enjoy this. Don't get distracted thinking about the future, the past, or anything other than what you are doing in the present moment. You deserve this. You created this. Own it."
Do you ever find yourself playing down the awesome manifestations in life because you get caught up trying to fix the things that are still not exactly perfect?
It's a common thing that a lot of people do. We let our "buttts" get too big.
"But I'm not at my goal weight so I can't run around in a bikini owning the body that I have right now."
"But I didn't make six figures so I can't relax and enjoy the moment because I still have so much work to do."
"But my spouse and my family aren't supporting me in my healthy eating endeavors, so I can't stay committed to my dream body goals."
BUT BUT BUTTT....
Let me tell you a little secret. Allowing our buttts to get too big is a self-sabotaging mechanism.
Buttting ourselves out of enjoying our successes keeps our expectations low, and therefore, if we don't get too "high" then we won't ever risk the pain of falling from that high.
Ahhhh, makes sense right? Such silly habits we pick up in order to protect ourselves from pain. Well, I don't know about you, but this is a habit I no longer want to practice.
I could give you butttts all day long about why and how I can't focus completely on this amazing adventure that I am on because I have this, this, and this to worry about/focus on instead.
I'm not going to do that.
So in honor of not letting our BUTTTS get too big, here are three tips to keep your focus on what will keep you moving toward your goals (and ultimately how you want to feel).
3 Tips to Quit Letting Your BUTTT Get Bigger
1. Appreciation
Appreciation is the emotion that heals all wounds.
When I am in the mode of appreciation, nothing can stop me and no one can throw me off my game. I am connected to my intuition, my power, and I'm in love with everyone and every part of life... even the ones that some might perceive as not so great.
You know why? Because it's all good. It's all forward motion because every single thing we experience in life helps us to get more clear on what we do and don't want for ourselves.
ACTION STEP
Each night before bed, make a list of 5 things you appreciate about your day. Do this for 30 days and your life will change for the better in ways that you cannot even imagine.
2. Let Go
It's human nature that you can have nine things going awesome and one thing that's not so great, so you focus 99 percent of your attention on the one not so good thing because you think that in order to feel good, you have to fix it.
Feeling good is a choice and sometimes the best way to fix things is to stop obsessing over them.
There will always be something that isn't 100% the way we think it is supposed to be. But focusing our attention all the time on what's not right is not going to lead to a bliss filled life. It's just going to lead to feeling like you're never there yet... never enough.
An unhappy journey never leads to a happy ending.
ACTION STEP
The next time something not so good is going on, where you feel like you have to jump into action and go into problem-solver mode, take a deep breath and step back for a moment.
Ask yourself, "Does this situation really need me to jump into action, or is this an opportunity for me to practice lovingly letting go and trusting that things will be okay even if I don't force them into being exactly as I think they should be right now?"
Learning how to relax, ease up, trust, and lean back has been one of the most powerful skills I have acquired.
Our greatest control is in learning how to be in control even when we are not in control.
3. Speak With Intention
Have you ever been around someone that no matter what, they always steer the conversation toward something negative?
The weather, news, health, family, work... whatever it is, it's like they cannot see any silver lining in any situation.
They don't even know they are doing it. They don't realize how much our words, thoughts, and attention affect what we attract into our lives.
Whether you believe in the Law of Attraction or not, it's pretty clear that people who focus on the negative all the time tend to continue to have a lot of negative stuff in their lives. And the reverse is true as well. When we focus on the negative all the time we close down and we tend to not be open to new opportunities and ideas that lead to more positive experiences.
We rise or lower to our own expectation. We create our reality based on the stories that we choose to tell ourselves and others.
ACTION STEP
For the next week, observe your choice of conversation. Pay attention to the words that come out of your mouth. Begin to think about what you say before you say it.
What kind of stories are you telling yourself? Maybe it's time to start telling a new story...