The Secret Ingredient to Happiness Audio
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Tag Archives: how to be happy
4 Tibetan Tips for Longevity
Most of us want an abundant, full life. I stumbled across a beautiful Tibetan proverb on my facebook feed that really made sense.
Let me share it with you:
“The secret to living well and longer is: eat half, walk double, laugh triple and love without measure”
How simple is that?
- Eat half — in today’s world, most diets are just too much. A small step you can take to a healthier lifestyle is to lessen your food portions at meal-times. Eat so that you are satiated and not stuffed — take my word for it, it makes you feel much better too! There’s nothing worse than feeling like an overfilled burrito. Read related article: 11 Essential Rules for “Clean,” Healthy Eating
- Walk double — I’m a great advocate of walking. It’s free and easy to do. All you have to do is don your sneakers and head out the door — no gym fees required! Not only does it help you to maintain a healthy weight, it helps in the prevention or management of various conditions such as heart disease, high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes. It also strengthens your bones and muscles. Read related article: Science Proves What You Suspected: Walking in Nature is Good For Your Mental Health
Laugh triple — there are reasons why you should take up laughter today! A good belly wobble decreases stress hormones and increases immune cells and infection-fighting antibodies. This will improve your resistance to disease. It also triggers the release of those much desired endorphins (your body’s natural feel-fabulous chemicals). Endorphins induce a sense of well-being and can even temporarily relieve pain hence why cancer patients are encouraged to watch copious amounts of comedy. There’s nothing better than laughter on the path to healing emotional or physical conditions. Related article: Use Laughter to De-Stress & Connect With Others (TED Video)- Love without measure — unconditional love does not judge. When you can see the divine in another, you are spreading peace like wildfire. An open heart that has an abundance of love to pour out is the only way we are going to heal not only ourselves but the world. This doesn’t mean you are used as a doormat — some loving is done from a healthy distance. But love and forgiveness can only help heal ourselves and our globe. Read related article: How to Cultivate Unconditional Love and Forgiveness
“I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant”. — Martin Luther King, Jr
May you live long and prosper.
Cherie Roe Dirksen is a self-empowerment author, multi-media artist and musician from South Africa.
To date, she has published 3 self-help and motivational books and brings out weekly inspirational blogs at her site www.cherieroedirksen.com. Get stuck into finding your passion, purpose and joy by downloading some of those books gratis when you click HERE.
Her ambition is to help you to connect with your innate gift of creativity and living the life you came here to experience by taking responsibility for your actions and becoming the co-creator of your reality. You can follow Cherie on Facebook (The Art of Empowerment — for article updates). She has an official art Facebook page (Cherie Roe Dirksen – for new art updates). You can also check out her Facebook band page at Templeton Universe.
Cherie posts a new article on CLN every Thursday. To view her articles, click HERE.
This article (4 Tibetan Tips for Longevity) was originally written for and published byConscious Life News and is published here under a Creative Commons license with attribution to the author Cherie Roe Dirksen and ConsciousLifeNews.com. It may be re-posted freely with proper attribution, author bio, and this Copyright/Creative Commons
More articles you may enjoy:
3 Ways to Wave Goodbye to Fear
The Art of Pastel Poppies — Come See the Photo Process
Why Not Imprint How You Want to Die?
How to Become More Balanced (and Happy!)
“Fill your bowl to the brim and it will spill. Keep sharpening your knife and it will blunt.” ― Te Tao Ching
How Doth Your Pendulum Swingeth?
The dictionary definition of the word ‘equilibrium‘ is a state of physical balance and/or a calm state of mind.
It’s when opposing forces are in balance.
It’s great when we find ourselves on a high — experiencing supreme joy, love, happiness and elation. It’s really shitty when we hit rock bottom — experiencing doubt, anger, pain and fear.
The key to true happiness is somewhere in the middle.
An Uncomplicated Truth
Both states of joy or anguish are temporary. As Eckhart Tolle pointed out, ‘this too shall pass‘ — that phrase goes for anything you are experiencing the good along with the bad.
As much as we want something good to last or something horrible to pass, it’s soothing to know that the ‘normal’ or most frequent state of our being is always found in the middle — balance.
Happiness — that sometimes elusive emotion — is yours in that balanced state. You’ll also find peace, clarity and calmness hanging out there.
Read related article: Why a 10 Minute Meditation Could Mean Everything
A quote for your to pin 🙂
Last week I wrote about patience (you can read that here: Why You Should Always Try Your Patience) — balance and patience go hand in hand. You can even enjoy patience because it’s the place you hang out when you are expecting your miracle to manifest. Being in equilibrium is much the same — it’s the space to be when you are just soaking up being an eternal spirit having a corporeal experience 😉
Learn to love and be comfortable in balance and you will master the art of true contentment — nothing will be able to sway your pendulum but you.
Other articles you may enjoy:
How to Cope With the Knowledge of Pure Evil
The Truth About Being All Stirred Up
About the Artwork
The art used in this article is taken from my painting ‘Escapism’ — you can get the original and prints HERE or you can get all sorts of products, clothing and prints HERE.
You can read about the inspiration behind this piece here:
What Radiohead Looks Like Through The End of my Brush
Simply BE in Gratitude
I’m going to make today’s blog short and sweet. Pretty nifty for a writer who’s so long-winded, right?
I hope I can convey this ‘new theory’ through the written word — I thought of videoing an interpretive dance for you but that would probably be more confusing. So here it goes…
I’ve discovered a new level to gratitude.
“I feel like this new ‘being grateful for no particular reason’ is a bold step in my conscious evolution. It’s the anticipation of great things to come instead of the worry about what might go wrong (which actually brings that into being).”
I’ve been practicing gratitude whenever I can and even in the most strange circumstances. Take for instance my recent loss of income streams from all different avenues — normally this would have freaked the old Cherie out completely but the new Cherie is simply loving it!
Okay, how can I love having money and security taken away from me?
Easy.
New Adventures, New Directions
I’ve assigned my life with new meaning. You know how life is meaningless (as in neutral until you assign it either positive or negative meaning)? Well, I’ve decided and really FELT like the Universe is redirecting me big time and it couldn’t have come at a better time.
I was actually getting quite bored with the Ground Hog day my life was becoming, so, this breath of fresh new adventurous air is a God send (he he…literally).
I won’t lie, I’m still in the throes of the transition but I’m injecting fricking gratitude into every moment. I can’t wait to see what’s coming and I can just feel it’s going to be awesome.
I am already starting to experience the new opportunities and contacts coming in and — from my vantage point — I’m super excited.
I feel like this new ‘being grateful for no particular reason’ is a bold step in my conscious evolution. It’s the anticipation of great things to come instead of the worry about what might go wrong (which actually brings that into being).
I’m starting a whole new way of thinking and using gratitude to boost it. I hope you join me on this journey. So, even when things look pretty shitty — try to see the Universe offering you something even better, more exciting and tailor-made to suit your soul.
If you liked this article, you may consider starting a gratitude journal. Every day write something you are grateful for, no matter how big or small. You’ll see your life start to change when you focus on the positive!
Get your gratitude journal today (click on this link or the picture below) for yourself or for someone you know who’s starting out on a self-empowerment path and could use a bit of motivation!
These gratitude journals can be purchased lined or blank (depending on whether you prefer drawing what you’re grateful for or writing it). They are 13.2cm x 18.6cm – a handy pocket-sized journal!
Read related articles: How to Realign with Innate Gratitude and Are You Expecting Good Things to Happen? Why You Should…
Other articles you may enjoy:
Are You Expecting Good Things to Happen? Why You Should…
Your Focus is Your Life
If you’re not expecting great things to happen to you each and every day, you’re probably not going to be disappointed — you’ll be creating the mundane. You’re a powerful creator either way.
Remember that movie ‘Groundhog Day’? The main character repeated the same day over and over and over again…until he started injecting his day with some much-needed action and rewired the way he interacted with the events and people in his life.
This touches on what I want to offer in today’s article: How to turn things around by getting excited about every single day you wake up breathing!
“When you wake up in the morning, Pooh,’ said Piglet at last, ‘what’s the first thing you say to yourself?’
‘What’s for breakfast?’ said Pooh, ‘What do you say, Piglet?’
‘I say, I wonder what’s going to happen exciting to-day?’ said Piglet.
Pooh nodded thoughtfully. ‘It’s the same thing’, he said.” ~ (Winnie-the-Pooh) A. A. Milne
Let’s take a look at sharing the optimism of Pooh and Piglet.
Manifestation Flows Where Attention Goes
I’ve been pulling a Piglet for quite some time now — the moment I open my eyes I say ‘today is going to be a wonderful day, full of pleasant surprises if not miracles!’ Read related article: 6 Impossible Things To Do Every Day
I’m very rarely disappointed.
It’s really quite that simple. Set your intention for the day. You can even get specific if you are doing something and you want to see that something go splendidly well. Visualize how you want your day to go, or, if you don’t feel like getting into the semantics — just set that intention to have a fabuscrumptious day.
Your only job is to feel into that vibration of excitement or joy or whatever you want to experience. You’ve got to pay close attention to all the little good things as well as the big good things that transpire.
What I do every night (when I’m back in bed) is a quick review of all the nice things that happened during the course of the day. I’ll tell you something — you’ll be surprised how much great stuff happens in a day!
From Large to Not So Very Large
The key things to remember when you take charge of your optimism are:
- Follow your excitement. Like Pooh, get excited about your breakfast or taking a nice hot shower. Appreciate ALL the things in your life. If you feel like taking a nap and have the opportunity to follow that little bit of excitement — then nap with gusto! Passion is all about doing what feels good in the moment. It’s not only about your career or your hobbies. It’s about what you wear when you get dressed in the morning, it’s about the wonderful interactions you have with other people during your day (see how many smiles you can get out of people!), it’s about getting excited about your next cup of coffee or what you’re planning to create for a nutritious and delicious supper. Read related article: How Good Are You Out of Bed?
- Acknowledge Everything. Give gratitude constantly for the small and large things in your life. It could be that awesome breakfast you just ate, the birds singing sweetly outside your office window or your dream car that you bought 2 years ago. When you think about it, you’ll realize that you always have something to be grateful for — even the body you occupy is a huge blessing so sorely overlooked as such.
- Understand Your Frequency. When you (1) expect good things to happen, (2) you’re wide awake to see them manifest and (3) you’re grateful when they pop up — you are automatically raising your vibration which will, in turn, cause more juicy things to happen to get you more excited to raise your vibration even further. Snowball effect type thing. If you slump (and you may — it’s a human-being-on-planet-earth-type-thing!), just remember to acknowledge the space you’re in and to know that it will pass and that, effectively, ‘all is well’. I say that a LOT when I’m not feeling all high and googly. It’s very grounding — take a deep breath and say ‘all is well in my world’. Don’t underestimate the power of a long, deep breath. It can really center and balance you if you’re feeling overwhelmed or when you start to feel doubt, fear or panic set in.
There is a saying that is a wee bit topsy-turvy — ‘seeing is believing‘. I’m afraid that, in my experience, this is upside down and all wonky-doo-dah. It should be ‘believing is seeing’.
Sing ‘Hallelujah’ Come on Get Happy!
When you wake up (literally and figuratively) and decide to opt in for excitement, life will show you things to get excited about. It’s just not going to work in reverse. You’ll sit and wait a lifetime if you think that life will give you what you want so you can be happy. You’ve got to be happy (and it’s your job to determine how you get into that state) and then life will reciprocate.
Please share your stories or affirmations about how you raise your spirits and how it influences your life in the comment box below — I’d love to hear from you!
If you liked this article, you may consider starting a gratitude journal. Every day write something you are grateful for, no matter how big or small. You’ll see your life start to change when you focus on the positive!
Get your gratitude journal today (click on this link or the picture below) for yourself or for someone you know who’s starting out on a self-empowerment path and could use a bit of motivation!
These gratitude journals can be purchased lined or blank (depending on whether you prefer drawing what you’re grateful for or writing it). They are 13.2cm x 18.6cm – a handy pocket-sized journal!
Other articles you may enjoy:
Are You Brave Enough to Be Happy?
“Happiness is an inside job. ~William Arthur Ward”
I wrote in a previous article that I had stumbled across a truth that turned my world upside down Alice style.
It was the mere statement that life is meaningless. It seems quite an abrasive statement, doesn’t it? It’s really not. It just means that life has no meaning until one is assigned. In other words, you give it either a positive or negative attribute (or leave it where it was — parked in neutral).
I thought this was quite profound and immediately started applying it to my life. Since then, it has become more incredible as I use it in pretty much every aspect of my life — from traffic jams to existential crises.
Bearing in mind that the universe is impartial (it is neither for you nor against you, it just is) and you and you’re epic consciousness give life it’s meaning — are you going to be brave and truly apply your choices with gusto?
Brave Jedi or Seduction to the Dark Side?
When you face a block — are you going to see it as something that isn’t part of your life, something that doesn’t belong there? Or, are you going to acknowledge that some things are put in your way to deter you from danger that you may never be able to prove; or possibly see it as a rerouting to a better version of your reality?
It takes a lot of courage to start seeing things from a different perspective. When you do, it’ll open up doors that you thought were beyond your power to open.
If you decide that this is all rubbish and you’ve no control over something negative, then good luck to you with that choice. Because, yes, it is a choice to view something as either negative, neutral (its actual state) or positive.
Follow the White Rabbit
As I was contemplating writing about this today, I saw a short video on my facebook feed — synchronicity shining through for me as it always does! It was a bride getting ditched on her wedding day. The moral of the video was all about being guided to a better life even if it doesn’t feel like that way in the moment (you could be feeling utterly devastated, completely hopeless or even suicidal).
If you give yourself time to ‘mourn’ and get over something with a view that it may have happened for a good reason and for your own personal growth, then you have won the challenge. This in turn raises your vibration so that you match the frequency of living life with curiosity, joy and awe — expecting miracles to happen even though you don’t know how they’re going to transpire (and, remember, it’s not your job to know how — leave it to the all-seeing higher self. Read related article: How to Communicate Instantly with Your Higher Self for Speedy Manifesting)
HOWEVER, if you fail to see it as such, YOU could predetermine it to be an ongoing negative scenario. If living in negativity is not in alignment with how you want to feel, you can turn it around…
Let me give you an example:
I was having a conversation with a dear friend of mine and she was telling me about her divorce. She said that it was devastating at the time but she lived through it and was actually more empowered by it than she could have ever dreamed possible.
Even though, after her separation, she said she experienced many of her deepest fears materialize through her feelings of disempowerment and ‘victimhood’ — she admitted that she let the negativity run riot — she was guided to a Louise Hay book that completely transformed her thinking and her life.
8 years down the line, she got a visit from her ex-mother-in-law. She heard that her ex-husband had not changed his ways one iota and is on a downward spiral. She said it was in that moment that she truly felt blessed to have escaped what would have been a tough, if not loveless, marriage.
She is now on her path and is experiencing amazing synchronicities and magic because she chooses to see everything that plays out as perfect for her chosen journey. She understands that her perspective is what is giving her life meaning and she chooses to be H-A-P-P-Y. No matter what.
Be Like Girl
Be like my friend and CHOOSE how to feel. If you say you can’t, then you’ll become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Kick Nostradamus to the curb and grab your inner Nicholas Flamel (alchemize it, baby!). You affect your reality by what you think, feel and how you take action.
You CAN choose to see the diamond in the rough, the treasure in the trash, the needle in the haystack (oh, please make the idioms stop!) and therefore propel yourself into a higher vibration. When you are in a higher vibration, you automatically attract more things to be high on.
Play the Game
I decided the other day to experiment with how I was feeling.
I had the equivalent of $10 to my name for the next 10 days and was feeling lack. So, I played the abundance game. I decided that $10 was a lot of money and that I was going to attract everything I needed. I was overwhelmed in the next 4 days with gifts of every shape and variety.
I was gifted with a beautiful little painting, a bottle of red wine, some yummy dark Lindt chocolate, biscuits, home-made jam, essential oils, cake, fruit and vegetables. My cupboards were bursting and I hadn’t even touched my $10!
Open yourself to receive without knowing who or where it’s going to come from. Just sit back and trust that your frequency is going to tune into some good shit (and you can quote me on that!).
Follow your joy, bliss, creativity in every moment and when you hit that ‘stop’ sign, make sure it is not in fact just a signpost to some outlandish adventure.
Other articles you may enjoy:
3 Ways to Wave Goodbye to Fear
Why Not Imprint How You Want to Die?
Cherie Roe Dirksen is a self-empowerment author/columnist, multi-media artist and musician from South Africa.
To date, she has published 3 self-help and motivational books and brings out weekly inspirational blogs at her site www.cherieroedirksen.com. Get stuck into finding your passion, purpose and joy by downloading some of those books gratis when you click HERE.
Her ambition is to help you to connect with your innate gift of creativity and living the life you came here to experience by taking responsibility for your thoughts, actions and becoming the co-creator of your reality. You can follow Cherie on Facebook (The Art of Empowerment — for article updates). She also has an official art Facebook page (Cherie Roe Dirksen – for new art updates) and her band’s Facebook page is Templeton Universe.
This article (Are You Brave Enough to Be Happy?) was originally written for and published by Conscious Life News and is published here under a Creative Commons license with attribution to the author Cherie Roe Dirksen and ConsciousLifeNews.com. It may be re-posted freely with proper attribution, author bio, and this Copyright/Creative Commons
Are You Ready to Enjoy Life?
“A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.” ~Lao Tzu
It’s so hard to ‘let go’ of your goals or the outcomes you desire once you’ve dreamed them up and even harder to know, intrinsically, that this is exactly what you must do in order to receive what you are asking for.
However, it may not be as hard as you thought.
Life is about enjoyment and following your bliss in every moment (yes, even when you’re cleaning the toilet!).
Changing Perspectives
Oh weary traveler of existential reality, I’m sure you’ve wanted to take those muddy, worn-out boots off and hang up your coat many times. Through the infinite trials and tribulations of your life, have you not perhaps caught a whiff that this sojourn is all about perspective? And there are close to 8 billion perspectives on Earth in this very NOW moment!
Thankfully, the only point of view that you need to concern yourself about is your own.
When you can take charge of the viewpoint of your current circumstance, you have every power to infuse it with an appropriate vibration.
“A loving person lives in a loving world. A hostile person lives in a hostile world: everyone you meet is your mirror.” ~Ken Keyes, Jr.
Let’s go back to cleaning the toilet…
It’s a job that needs doing, so, instead of dreading it — how about trying out these new perspectives?
- Aren’t you lucky to have an indoor toilet? (saturate the task with gratitude)
- Try seeing the task as fun, be your own Cinderella and relish in the cleansing foam and fresh new smell you have procured! (fill the task with delightful results to the best of your ability)
- If you can’t do any of the above, try putting on some music. At the very least, you can have a good sing-song while you’re at it (make it fun)
This may seem a ridiculous example but it can be applied to almost anything (you can invent your own ways to imbue your situation with bliss).
This is really the key to life as far as I see it.
Every Circumstance has a Gem
To follow your excitement in any given moment not only raises your vibration but opens the floodgates of what you do want to experience to remain and also, magically, allows the trapped energy of what you don’t want to leave.
Life starts to snowball into a joyous experience.
Enjoying the journey is easy when you can see that it’s all up to you to experience this life as good or bad. Reaching the destination has its rewards but then you’re most likely going to embark on another adventure. So, literally, you are in the traveling state far more than in the arriving state.
The journey is where the juice is — start squeezing and revel in the sweet taste of every NOW moment.
If you liked this article, you may consider starting a gratitude journal. Every day write something you are grateful for, no matter how big or small. You’ll see your life start to change when you focus on the positive!
Get your gratitude journal today (click on this link or the picture below) for yourself or for someone you know who’s starting out on a self-empowerment path and could use a bit of motivation!
These gratitude journals can be purchased lined or blank (depending on whether you prefer drawing what you’re grateful for or writing it). They are 13.2cm x 18.6cm – a handy pocket-sized journal!
If you enjoyed this article, you may enjoy these too:
10 TOP Tips to Keep You Happy!
With so much going on in the daily life of the average Joe, it is hard to stay motivated. We sometimes feel beaten down by society and all the things we occupy ourselves with, voluntary or involuntary.
This can range from commuting, work, school runs, to housework, helping the kids with homework, cooking and finding precious time to unwind — which usually ends up with us watching TV. But how can we manage our time better to incorporate the things we long to do but feel we have no time for?
Here are 10 tips to get you excited and keep you motivated to enjoy living another day:
1. Quality Sleep
This is one of the most important things you can gift yourself and your family with. Make space in your night-time schedule to start winding down at least 1 hour prior to going to bed. You can light some calming, soothing essential oils, such as lavender and chamomile — will assist in good, sound sleep. You can have a warm, milky drink or some herbal tea. Switch off all radios and TV’s that are keeping you engaged in noise and ‘action’. Instead, you can read that book you’ve been promising yourself or listen to some relaxing music. All of these things can aid you into an alpha brain wave state, which allows your mind to relax and disconnect. You must avoid falling asleep on a full stomach or, even worse, falling asleep with the TV on. Your mind still takes in everything it hears, even whilst asleep, and having the TV on will not only disrupt your sleep but possibly cause you to have nightmares.
2. Berry Boost
With a good nights sleep tucked safely under your belt, what better way to start your morning off with than a berry smoothie? This is quick and easy to make and will give your system a boost of sustainable energy. These smoothies keep me going for about 4-5 hours. They are great for your skin too, berries have anti-aging properties and the calcium is good for your bones, ladies! A quick recipe I use is (for one 500ml serving): Take 2 handfuls of mixed, frozen berries (or fresh if you like, I like the frozen ones because they give a kind of ‘crushed ice’ effect), 2 squirts of Stevia, 4 tablespoons of plain yoghurt and top up with some milk. Blend and drink your way to vitality and well-being!
3. Time Productivity
Use your time wisely. If you commute to work by public service, take this opportunity to meditate or read. Make it ‘you’ time. If you can, it is great to shut your eyes in the morning and the evening (could be on your way to or from work if you are traveling by public service) — for just 10-20 minutes at a time — to meditate and clear your mind. This will benefit you in more ways than you can imagine. It also gives you a break from the mind chatter or what I like to call ‘white noise’. This allows more productive thoughts through instead of the useless and incessant worry that can clog up the mind.
4. Breathing
Huh? Don’t I do this automatically? Yes, but most people are in the habit of shallow breathing. You need to oxygenate your body for optimum productivity and chi (vital force). Try to, at least every hour, breath in to the count of 5, hold it to the count of 5 and exhale to the count of 5. This will give you a boost during the day.
Read related article:
5 Easy Steps to Meditating (No Lotus Position Required)
5. Let Loose
This is an integral step for you to de-stress after a long day. Explore an activity that is tantamount to letting the ‘inner child’ out to play. I find it really helpful to put on some upbeat music and have a sing-song and dance around the house. Get your groove on and invite your family to join in. You can do this for just 30 minutes and it is a really fun way to get moving and to unwind. The best part is you also get a great workout — physically and vocally! Let your inner diva shine!
6. Keep it Clean
This is a macrocosm/microcosm thing — it affects the inside and the outside world. When you have a neat, tidy and clean home and/or office, you are happier. When you have a clean, refreshed body, you are happier. I have to tell you about my dog. She hates her bath, as do so many of our canine counterparts, but after she has been through this torturous activity, she runs around the garden like a dog-reborn — smiling, barking and just generally frolicking like a pup. Bath-time also equates to going for a walk (which she does regularly) but when she walks after her bath, she has a spring in her step and a wag in her tail that is much more noticeable. This is a great metaphor for how we feel when our bodies are bathed (make your bath-time a treat too — get some nice smelly soaps and bubble-bath and make it an event) and our houses or offices are spic-and-span and organized.
7. Eat Well
Another part of keeping it clean, is keeping the inside of your sacred body clean and invest in a detox every now and again. Or better still, make it a daily habit to eat healthy fresh foods. You know the kind I’m talking about so I’m not going to go into detail. This is a no-brainer, you are what you eat. Keep it fresh, colourful and simple and your system will be alive and vibrant, leaving you feeling energized and ready to take on the world. Have you noticed how sluggish you feel when you’ve pigged out on a burger and chips? Yeah? Well, you need to get real about what you are putting in and perhaps compare that to what you are getting out! You may have a Porsche but you can’t run it on horse manure.
8. Creative Space
This is really important. We all need to express ourselves creatively, no matter if it takes the form of art, writing, decorating, drawing, constructing/ building, etc. It is hugely beneficial to give yourself some time and a quiet space to be creative. If it is once a day, that is great. If you can’t fit it in daily then at least allocate yourself a good few days of the week to squeeze in 2-3 hours of creative expression time. You can even make this a family activity where everyone gets time out to do something fun. It will teach you and your family the benefit of taking care of your own needs in an unselfish and productive way.
Read related article:
9 Great Reasons for Getting Creative (No Artistic Experience Needed)
9. Gratitude
Take time out, especially with your family, to give thanks for all that you do have in your life right now. This can be over a meal, as is commonly practiced in the saying of Grace. I am not a religious person but I do see the benefits of giving thanks. This could also be done in your quiet time in the bath, or whilst you are commuting, etc. You can explain the benefits to your family and encourage them to also find a quiet minute or two to reflect on being grateful. This feeds positivity and will nurture your good feelings ratio.
10. Reflect
When you find the space to reflect on your life, your goals and your dreams, you can keep the picture of your destiny clear and precise. When you don’t take time out to ponder and to re-align with your intentions, you may lose sight of where you are headed. You can sometimes slip into a stream that does not fit the destination of your dream. Make a vision board where you can pin all the things you desire and all that you would like to manifest in your life experience. Make sure you hold yourself accountable for taking action towards your goals and keep this board somewhere where you will see it every day.
What is most important of all is that you enjoy your journey, this life is precious and special and you can make each day an enjoyable experience.
If you catch yourself falling into boredom or despair, simply remind yourself that you can make a choice to re-align to a more joyful outlook — run through this checklist and see if there is anything you can do or improve on to bring you into a state of balance and fulfillment.
In the wise words of Eckhart Tolle, you can either be enthusiastic about what you are doing, enjoy what you are doing or accept what you are doing. When you do not fall into any of these 3 categories you set yourself up for feeling resentment or frustration.
What do you find lifts your spirits? Please share it in the comment box below. 
Original article was written by Cherie Roe Dirksen for Purpose Fairy: 10 Tips Designed to Keep You on Your Toes.
Other articles you may enjoy:
How Long Are You Going to Stay Stuck in the Funk?
Have You Got $10 For Switched-On Music?
Lyme Disease: What They’re Not Telling You
Why You Need to Pay Attention to Synchronicity!
5 Fundamental Steps to a Thriving Relationship
12 Things Successful People Do To Excel
Gardening Your Way to Zen
It’s Time to Go Green!
- Are you a gardener?
- Do you like to be in nature?
- Did you know it can be one of the most beneficial things you can do?
I was never really into gardening until we bought our first home. The garden (all 900m² of it!) was a bit of a wreck and there was (and is) much to be done.
“The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature. To nurture a garden is to feed not just on the body, but the soul.” — Alfred Austin
Two years down the line, hubby and I are still landscaping, planting and enjoying our time outdoors.
Instead of slipping into complete overwhelm at the task ahead, I took my father-in-laws advice and began small — doing one square meter at a time. Eating that elephant one bite at a time really worked and the benefits of seeing my garden now — in all it’s glory — are astounding!
6 Reasons to Get Your Shovel On
Not only does gardening give you a sense of:
- accomplishment
- joy
- peace
But it also has several even more outstanding qualities in this helter skelter, fast-paced life we find ourselves fumbling in. Here are some of the main benefits:
- Creativity — you get to flex that creative muscle. You get to build garden beds and choose the right colors/plants for it. You get to plan and build water-features, walls, create bird-baths, pathways, stepping stones and a host of other fun things. I’ve started doing recycled garden projects too — you can find some great and easy ideas on Pinterest.
- Meditation — gardening is a great form of meditation — you don’t have to don a lotus position to meditate! Meditation can come in the form of weeding (weeding is like cleaning out your house/cupboards/garage — you get a great sense of relief as you declutter that lawn or veg patch), raking and pretty much any monotonous, mind-clearing garden activity. When you’re done clearing the yard — you can make a good, old-fashioned bonfire to burn the debris. There’s nothing more therapeutic than to have a cleansing, trans-inducing fire and watch those flames licking away at they sky. Why not write some new intentions/goals down on paper and offer them to the flames?
- Grounding — if and when you can, try garden barefoot or take your shoes off for a minute or two and stand on the grass. You connect with Mother Earth and it’s a great grounding exercise. Read more about grounding and its importance here: 8 Methods of Grounding and Connecting to the Earth’s Frequencies
- Exercise — gardening is an absolutely fantastic fitness activity. Heavy yard work (landscaping, moving rocks, hauling dirt) burns about 400-600 calories per hour. Raking and bagging leaves incinerates 350-450 calories per hour. General gardening like pulling weeds, planting flowers, etc. sears 200-400 calories per hour and mowing the lawn: 250-350 calories per hour. Not bad, eh?
- Zenning Out — when you’ve finished up your gardening and you relax in a deck chair with a cup of tea, there is a tremendous sense of ‘zen’ that washes over as you look out on your landscaping canvas of creation. You get to know all the creepy crawlies and birds in your space which gives you a real feeling of being in touch with nature and your surrounds. It get’s your heart chakra all riled up and pumping. Read related article: How to Use Your Heart Wisdom.
- Nourishment — gardening will not only nourish your soul, boost your vitamin D levels (if you’re lucky enough to have a bit of sun) and sense of well-being but can nourish your body too if you start a veg/fruit patch and/or a herb garden. There’s nothing better or more worth your time and effort than to start growing your own food. Revolution starts with everyone becoming self-sufficient in some form or another.
Don’t have a garden?
Start window box/balcony gardening. Here’s a great way to get you going — READ HERE and HERE. Or why not start a community garden? Go speak to your local representative and start your gardening revolution today!
You can even make use of your friends garden — they’ll love it if you come over and weed their garden! I’m forever inviting my friends to come and weed (haven’t had a taker yet though…don’t know why :/).
Cherie Roe Dirksen is a self-empowerment author, multi-media artist and musician from South Africa.
To date, she has published 3 self-help and motivational books and brings out weekly inspirational blogs at her site www.cherieroedirksen.com. Get stuck into finding your passion, purpose and joy by downloading some of those books gratis when you click HERE.
Her ambition is to help you to connect with your innate gift of creativity and living the life you came here to experience by taking responsibility for your actions and becoming the co-creator of your reality. You can follow Cherie on Facebook (The Art of Empowerment — for article updates). She also has just recently launched her official art Facebook page (Cherie Roe Dirksen – for new art updates).
Cherie posts a new article on CLN every Thursday. To view her articles, click HERE.
This article (Gardening Your Way to Zen) was originally written for and published by
Conscious Life News and is published here under a Creative Commons license with attribution to the author Cherie Roe Dirksen and ConsciousLifeNews.com. It may be re-posted freely with proper attribution, author bio, and this Copyright/Creative Commons statement.
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Be the Inspiration You Seek (Odyssey Mag – Issue 4 – Out Now!)
Change: One Thing You Can Rely On and Use to Your Advantage
What You Can Do To Protect Yourself From Space Invaders
We Desperately Need to Abandon the ‘One Size Fits All’ Approach
What You Need to Throw Out When You Decide to Choose Fulfillment
“Happiness is an inside job” — William Arthur Ward
“Be happy with what you have and are, be generous with both, and you won’t have to hunt for happiness” — William E. Gladstone
The one thing most humans have in common is the desire to be happy. Although most people seek it as either a future event or something that has passed, never to be recaptured.
Happiness or fulfillment is not something we should really be striving for in some up-and-coming event — it’s something we’ve got to grab right now.
We’re bogged down with the false sense of happiness through attainment — the idea that money and things can buy our bliss.
“Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude.” — Denis Waitley
Let’s take a look at some of the prime aspects that I think are worth kicking to the curb in the pursuit of happiness:
- Negative Self Talk — You simply cannot thrive on a negative inner dialogue. Masaru Emoto fluidly demonstrated the effects of positive, indifferent and negative emotion on water (see more HERE). We are made up of approximately 55-65% water (depending on your age and sex), so can you imagine what negative thoughts are doing to your body? If you’ve got nothing nice to say to yourself, say nothing at all. Stop yourself when you notice the negative gremlins popping up. Ask yourself if there’s something more encouraging to affirm. For example, say you’re thinking ‘I’m such a loser’. You can redirect that to, ‘I try my best’, or, ‘There are some things I get right’.
- Self Loathing — There is no space for anything but self love if you want a fulfilling existence. The type of self love I’m referring to is anything but selfish or narcissistic — it’s necessary. You can’t expect other people to love you if you don’t have love, honour and respect for your self. This kind of love is cultivated from an innate knowing that you are a complete and divine piece of universal energy (or God/the Force/fill in the blank here). It doesn’t need to rehash the past or beat itself over the head a million times for past mistakes or inadequacies — it is the wholeness of self realization (your ‘I Am’ presence). For more on this topic, please read ‘3 Crucial Steps to Self Acceptance’.
- Fear — There are things much more important than fear and we’ve got to wake up and walk through the fear to get to them. Fear is a grand threshold guardian — you can either sit at the gate, dig your heels in and go no further or you can cock your hat as you pass on through. As Jim Morrison so eloquently put it, ‘Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free.’ Try to see fear as the rumblings of an earthquake that is about to shake you out of your comfort zone into an infinity of possibility. When you walk through your fears there is only space left to be — when you are in this state, happiness or fulfillment is all that is left to experience.
- Service to Self — The greatest amount of happiness is achieved when we are not only seeing to our own joy but when we are helping others to find their well of happiness — service to others. Throw out the need to trample on others in indulgence of your own whims. We’re all in this life together — we should work in symbiosis with each other. What affects one affects us all.
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” — Marianne Williamson
And in parting, here are some beautiful words from John Lennon that wrap this up nicely:
“There are two basic motivating forces: fear and love. When we are afraid, we pull back from life. When we are in love, we open to all that life has to offer with passion, excitement, and acceptance. We need to learn to love ourselves first, in all our glory and our imperfections. If we cannot love ourselves, we cannot fully open to our ability to love others or our potential to create. Evolution and all hopes for a better world rest in the fearlessness and open-hearted vision of people who embrace life.”
Other articles you may enjoy:
3 Questions You Need to Ask Yourself When Dealing With Aggravation
Finding a Reason to Smile Every Day
“You can always alter your reality at any time.”
Owning Your Power
You’re probably familiar with the saying ‘what you think you create’ but how can you seriously filter every bad thought? Surely it’s a struggle worthy of giving up on before you even get started?
Certainly not.
There’s only one person responsible for what you think and do and that’s you. If the thought of being the creator of your reality scares the willies out of you, then read on…
The Freedom to Be Happy
“Emotions back your thoughts into manifestation.”
Can you remember learning how to swim or ride a bike? Can you see how determined you were to succeed because you knew the pay-off was going to be huge?
You may have started off with water-wings, splashing about aimlessly— gulping in water — or peddling your heart out whilst trying to maintain your balance even with the training wheels on! But that child never gave up.
Then what came next once the wheels were removed? Probably scrapes and bruises the first week but did that deter you? Did you give up then? Probably not. You wanted to ride! You were hell-bent on feeling the wind on your face and the freedom that would bring with it.
Same goes for swimming — gliding about in the water refreshes and frees your body of weight. You knew that swimming was going to be the biggest trip ever!
Where am I going with this? Your thoughts need training wheels/water-wings if you want to experience the same freedom from negative thought. And here’s how you’re going to do it…
Getting Real Right NOW
Here are a few things you can start to do today to become more aware and proactive with your thoughts:
- Morning Motivation — When you wake up, give yourself 5-10 minutes to think about what how you want to see this day play out. See if you can catch any worrisome or negative thoughts before they take hold of the exercise. Put up a STOP sign in your mind and gently kick those blighters to the curb. Then bring your focus back to visualizing your positive day ahead. Try to smile and see/feel yourself enjoying this bright new day. Emotions back your thoughts into manifestation.
- Mind Mangle Cleanse — During the day (if you are but a mere mortal) you will probably find yourself slipping into worry, blame, anger, despair and an array of other harmful mind banter. You may even find that your head is throbbing because of all the distorted ‘mind mangling’ that’s going on up there. Here’s your chance to hold up that STOP sign again and see if you can look at things from a different perspective. Most of what we worry about never comes to pass and most judgments/situations when seen from a different angle can evoke empathy instead of anger. See if you can alchemize your thinking — in other words, find the treasure in the trash.
- Marrying the Mind — When you start to get a hold on your thought stream and just how much power you DO have over it, you can start to have a better relationship with your thinking. You are now in control and you can focus your inner dialogue on what serves you instead of calling in all the unwanted experiences. Start your affirmations off with a strong ‘I am…’. For example ‘I am going to have a great day today’, ‘I am going to have a safe trip’, etc. Try avoid the phrases ‘I desire’ or ‘I want’ because it only brings more desiring and wanting for the future. When you use ‘I am’ it is in the present tense and is happening right now not in some future timeline.
- Re-Member — We often get lost in ‘doing’ and not ‘being’. Try to remember all the things that make you happy and bring you joy. When you smile the world smiles with you. So, remember to feel gratitude for life, nature and the people that make your world spin. Look at every magnificent dawn or sunset as a blessing, every fragrant flower or birdsong as a gift, every smile or hug as a gesture of love and draw on those experiences when you’re in a negative frame of mind. See if you can remove yourself from a negative situation and sit under a tree or listen to some soothing music. Seek out those small but beautiful moments in your life and embrace them. Hold them close to your chest and bring them out when you need to. It’s bound to make you smile. You can always alter your reality at any time. Don’t forget that. If you choose to stay in the gloom, then just know that ‘this too shall pass’.
- Over and Out — At the end of the day, review what happened and see if you can pick out any situations that you have turned around in reality. Did you manage to have a good day? Did things turn out like you affirmed in the morning? Or close to? Or can you do better tomorrow? Keep trying and if you do see results it’s going to make you more determined — just like that little tike on the bicycle, gearing up for the next day’s practice. Because you know that practice makes perfect!
You will get a grip on your oh-so-powerful thought stream and you’ll be able to eventually steer those thoughts to benefit your life in ways that will make your head spin — in a good way!
Now it’s up to you to give yourself a reason to smile every day.
Article originally written by Cherie Roe Dirksen for Conscious Life News
Other articles you may enjoy:
How to Use the Void to Manifest
Why We May Be Feeling Disenchanted
Why Rejection Can Be Our Saviour
Cherie Roe Dirksen 