10 ways you’re making your life harder than it has to be: reposted (+ 10 ways to turn it around)

 

This is it in a nutshell: https://thoughtcatalog.com/tim-hoch/2014/06/10-ways-youre-making-your-life-harder-than-it-has-to-be/. Plus 10 quick tips on how to make life easier (repeat after me):

• When we continue to rehash (supposed) offenses: Let it go.
• When we look for affirmation from others: I’m enough.
• When our worries escalate to panic-attack proportions: It’s temporary.
• If unrealistic/uncommunicated expectations eclipse our blessings: Be grateful.
• Sometimes we pray, sometimes we wait but we must always do our homework: Be wise.
• It’s okay to be picky and/or less bold when taking risks: Failure is better than not trying at all.
• The truth on comparison shopping: The grass is not greener.
• We cannot retrieve time we’ve lost or fast forward to the future: Practice mindfulness daily.
• Let go of [fill in the blank]: Focus on what we can control.
• About giving back: In the end it’s not the years in your life that count; it’s the life in your years. ~ Abraham Lincoln.

How do you make life easier?

Photo courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

From the inside out

[Image credit: Christian Meyn]

 

The other day in yoga, the instructor asked us to begin practice with an intention for the class. It could be anything; e.g., making a [micro]adjustment to a posture or avoiding extraneous movement. After class, the instructor congratulated me on a strong practice. I thanked her, yet I responded with judgment. But then I remembered my intention and how I was able to maintain it throughout the class—to manage my wayward thoughts (my “monkey mind”) by focusing on my breath. Although I almost blew off this accomplishment because it was just on the inside, my instructor reminded me it was huge, because this is where change begins—within ourselves. She oftentimes ends class with Gandhi’s quote about how our thoughts become our words… habits become our values and values become our destiny (see “Do you play the comparison game”). Whether anyone sees my two-week transformation or not, my destiny is no one else’s but mine.

What is one thing you’d like to change from the inside out?

Do you play the comparison game?

 

[Image credit: Suvro Datta]

Your beliefs become your thoughts,
Your thoughts become your words,
Your words become your actions,
Your actions become your habits,
Your habits become your values,
Your values become your destiny.

~ Mahatma Gandhi

Lately I’ve been reading myriad materials and thinking, I wish I could whip out prose that eloquent, or I can write better than that. Of course, when the latter thought crosses my mind, the one immediately following is: Then why don’t I!? Sometimes during a Bikram yoga class, my eyes wander to the practitioner executing an effortless asana beside me. Why can’t *I* touch my head to my toes? And then, But did you see my rock star warrior pose? Each comparison we make to our neighbors ends up wasting precious time. Our main focus should be fixed on becoming the best we can be with what we’re working with today. And that might just look like a book-signing tour or nailing standing head to knee.

In what area(s) do you compare yourself to others?

Life lessons I’ve learned (so far)

[Image credit: imagerymagestic]

Some people come in your life as blessings.  
Some come in your life as lessons.
~ Anonymous

Not all things are as they appear on the surface.  It’s always the write time but with some matters, it may be too late.  Someday will take care of itself; appreciate what’s in front of your nose Today.  You win some and you lose some.  Mix it up.  Do everything you can to keep out of your self-imposed ruts.  Time flies when you’re having fun, and even when you’re not.  Never make pinky promises you can’t keep.  Purge the past; bury it deeply if you have to.  Laugh at yourself until you cry.  Forgive freely.  Love unabashedly.  Dish out second chances like a lifeline, because that’s what they are and we all need them.  Set boundaries.  Hold the hands tightly of those sharing in your journey and never let go.  Nothing lasts Forever.  And when we get to the end of this life, we’ll discover how short it really was.

What life lessons have you learned lately?