EMBRACE YOURSELF

“If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. Don’t complain.” – Maya Angelou

So there is something bugging you!? And what is your decision to do about it?

As with everything in life you do have two choices. One is filled with positive energy whereas the other option consists of negativity energy. Either you could dig deep into this one thing or person bugging you, get totally hung up upon it and dwell on it, or you could accept this one thing as what it is, listen to it shortly and then simply wave it goodbye; simply go back to the positive things in your life.

I myself used to be a big complainer. Every little new thing I found to be worthwhile complaining about it; and eventually this was all I was doing. I actually led to me being dissatisfied with everything. And with one existing thing in life that I didn’t like there was always another one following. It was like a vicious circle. I surrounded myself with so much negativity and did not really notice it. Hence, I did not even see the real truth behind all of this. The truth was that I actually was dissatisfied with my own life and with every little thing I did. All these little things I was complaining about actually were little indicators of this truth. Even though it was hitting me hard in the face, I did not see it.

One day, suddenly, I realized that I put all this negativity on myself, and I decided I did not want to do this anymore. I felt in my heart it would be much better to concentrate on the good things in life. My biggest object of complaints was my job and everything linked to it. But we must not forget that the work area is the place where we spend most of our time. And if that place is covered in so much negativity, then the majority of life’s contents is coloured black already. This had to stop.

Once I had made the decision on abandoning this negativity and seeing things in a much more positive light, things started shifting without me needing to do anything major. I was assigned a new field of tasks. Even though I was still sharing an office with the same people I was also introduced to a new team outside these four walls of work. New people, new duties (even though it was still the same kind of job), new everything. Even though this new challenge sort of scared me in the beginning, I was also doing the best I was able to do concentrating on the task before me. Additionally, this was my beginning for growing as a person. Suddenly I became a happier worker, and I liked going to work much more than I did before.

A few months later I was facing a huge personal challenge, which brought me down completely. Looking below the ground because I was lying on it did not really match my wishes and desires, and again I had to make a choice here. After a lot of fighting and hitting walls and being covered in fear and discomfort about this situation I knew I had to find my way out of this mess. I already had some literature on my shelf, but to this point in my life it was only catching dust. Now was the time in life to read it. I started reading and got hungry for more and more of it. It was lifting my mood and putting me back into light, the place I knew I truly belonged. Once I had accepted that it all was lying in my hands, that my life was up to me, and only up to me, I gained my control over it back, and the discomforting situation got resolved. Instead of dwelling on the negativity it brought I started concentrating on the goal ahead of me. I took the steps I could take without any distraction and casting the doubts aside. And I did it because I had some good people in my life.

The same year, the year of my personal transformation, taught me even more. I learnt (the hard way) that I have to take good care of myself in order to be a happy and healthy person. After a really needed vacation of two weeks I changed my routines. I now sleep longer and start my day quietly with a proper breakfast and a good coffee. Instead of worrying about catching the bus in the morning I rather walk. Whenever and wherever possible, stress has been cut out. Being relaxed opens the door to much healthier and balanced life. It is all little things, but as we all know little things do add up to something big. My choice is to make a big of positive.

So, everything really is a result of our own attitude. So dwelling on something negative always only attracts more negative things, because like attracts like. Hence, it is much better to concentrate on positive things to attract more positive energy into your life. Feeling good about your job helps you enjoy it more and even leads to success. You suddenly start shining, and your light is seen.

If you really don’t like your job, think of being in your favoured and perfect job. Always know that you are your perfect best at what you do, and if you want a new job, take the necessary steps getting it.

If you’re feeling not 100% healthy at all, concentrate on all the parts of you that are healthy to attract more health into your life.

This really is for everything in your life, think of the positive things about it in every area, and more good things will follow automatically. Have a blast and be the most perfect version of yourself there is. Always feel good about yourself to be the perfect you. Embrace yourself.

And just remember, like attracts like, and energy flows where attention goes.

"Don't let negative and toxic people rent space in your head. Raise the rent and kick them out!" - Robert Tew

AN INSPIRATIONAL JOURNEY

Once upon a time there was a postman who had a dream. He dreamed of having his own palace. Not just a palace, but something very unique unlike any other palace. Whenever he was doing his job he dreamt of having this palace. He believed in it. He never doubted it. He had faith.

One day while on his route, he was dreaming again of his imaginary, beautiful and unique palace. He was drowned in his own little world that he did not follow the road, and he stumbled and fell. When he came to he saw what had brought him down. A rock.

It was mighty and quite unique. He looked at it, and he felt inspired. He listened to that little voice in his voice and picked this rock up. This was his first rock, and many others followed. He kept believing in his dream, and with this first rock he was sure nature would supply more. The following years he collected more material for his wonderful palace.

One day he knew it was time, and he was ready for the next step. At the border of his village he purchased some land and he laid the corner stone. Without any architectural knowledge or construction knowledge he started building his palace, and he continued building over the next 33 years. Every spare moment he spent on his palace with only an oil lamp giving him light to see.

His neighbours and people in his village laughed at him and thought he was crazy.

After 33 years, 10’000 days or 93’000 hours he completed his palace despite very many people’s disbelief. But he, the simple mailman, always had faith and believed in his dream, and so he went and made it come true.  The palace spreads on 26 x 14 metres and measures a height of 20 metres. It is a wondrous building made out of stone, cement and clay. And it is the work of one man and one man only, Ferdinand Cheval. He completed his dream palace when he was 76 old.

These days this Palace of Fantasy attracts many visitors, but around 1905 before the completion of this monument the first tourist came to see it. Even famous artists like Pablo Picasso came to pay a visit and were deeply impressed. Picasso even made sketches of it and praised the builder’s talent.

After the completion of his palace, Ferdinand Cheval had another dream – being buried in his beautiful and unique palace together with his wife Marie when the time had come. But authorities declined his request. Hence, he started his next project following his dream. On the local cemetery he then built a mausoleum. Eight years after having laid the first stone he completed building it.

A year later, on 29.08.1924, Ferdinand Cheval passed away at the age of 88. His body is gone, but his spirit lives on. Today he is seen as a visionary, an artist of cement, as France’s Hieronymus Bosch.

Ferdinand Cheval did not only leave a Palace of Fantasy and a mausoleum, but also a message of faith and inspiration. “With this building I wanted to show that with a strong will you can reach anything!”

So what is your dream? Are you making it come true. Ferdinand Cheval has proven that no matter what your dream is you can turn it into reality. Keep the faith and follow your intuition. Listen to that voice of inspiration, and everything will flow automatically as long you believe in yourself and your dream. No dream is too big or too small!

So go and follow that hunch of yours. If you want to write a song, put your fingers on the keys or the strings, and let the music flow through. If you want to write a book, sit down, relax, and start typing, and the words will flow through you. If you want to be a football player, go out on the field, and kick that football, and the energy will flow through.

No matter what your dream is, take that first baby step to turn it into reality, and your voice of inspiration will tell you what to do next. You do not need to worry about anything. Just ask and believe, and you will receive. It is like placing an order online. You choose what you want, put the product into the basket, you go to checkout and pay for it. And some days later it is delivered.

So go for your dream, and make it come true. You are the master of your universe and you and you alone can make it come true. So go for gold! Always!

ENERGY FLOWS WHERE ATTENTION GOES

How come that these days people are complaining about everyone and everything? And for some reason this trend appears to be growing stronger. But why?

This only causes negative energy flowing around, and present negative energy attracts only more of it.

And, let’s be honest, we have the choice to go for something else instead, but since people have wrapped themselves up in this negativity, that is where they remain. Unconsciously.

Our mind is a very powerful thing, more powerful than we might fathom. And yes, thoughts do indeed become things, so let’s focus on the good ones. Let positive energy flow through.

Let’s do a little exercise here. Find yourself a quiet and tranquil spot, sit down and let every burden fall off you. Now only concentrate on your breathing. And then there it is, the first though appearing. You’ll follow it, and then at the same time there’ll be another thought popping up. So what kind of thoughts are they? Good ones or negative ones?

Even when we are fully engaged in a conversation or a task the thought machine is working at full speed. We are just not aware of our mind’s work. But it is our thoughts that determine whether we feel good or not, whether there is positive or negative energy surrounding. And once we become aware of this thought machine we have the power to program it. There’s different ways of training awareness, e.g. meditation or by simply continuously asking yourself: “What am I thinking right now?” Then listen to this thought, let it go, and concentrate on something that makes you feel good like a good memory of someone, of a vacation or of a recent success. Once you start consciously concentrating on the good things, more of these positive thoughts will start pouring in. As a result, this will make you feel better, and everything will be much easier. So go and grab the good things.

In the evening you can already remind yourself that the next day will be a good one. Already see it in your mind, and picture yourself woohoo-ing when getting up in the morning. Embrace every new day as a perfect day.

I start my day with my affirmations, and when I leave the house for work in the morning I walk down the street smiling, and I am dancing and singing inside.

Happiness is a state of mind. And when someone asks you what you want in life and what you wish for yourself, happiness should always come first. If your mind is set on happiness, everything else will fall into place. Intuition will be your best companion, and together you will march through this life being at your best.

If you’re happy, you will also automatically concentrate on the things that make you happy, and you will start or continue on fulfilling your dreams.

You will attract people and circumstances into your life that are in tune with your own frequency. So if you bathe yourself in positive energy thinking all these good thoughts you will attract more of it, whereas the complainers always attract more things to complain about since they are emitting this negative frequency. You have a choice here, and it is all in your hands.

You are the creator of your own happiness, and it does not depend on anyone else. Your life is about you, and it is solely your responsibility. Yes, your responsibility alone. It is not your Mr. or Mrs. Right or the perfect job you are waiting for that create your happiness but only you. You have to decide being happy first, and then all the little sugars will appear automatically. Depending happiness on other things or certain people leads to some kind of obsession, which then again leads to negativity due to some arising frustration.

The little hows in matters of happiness are a curse and actually not your job. That job is done by the universe as long as you tell in total faith that you’re a super-happy-cool-perfect being. But also, just like love, happiness needs to be independent, free of boundaries. It needs to be without any conditions. Everything needs to be free and simply flow.

And always remember: Energy flows where attention goes.

BELIEVING & RECEIVING

Sometimes I have wondered if we are all following some kind of mass movement instead of choosing what we really like, saying what we really think, following our guts. With that question there are some pros & cons…

But here is an observation I made the other day as I was riding the underground to work. When I arrived at the platform it was announced that the next train was only passing through. The train for your destination or stopover was due a few minutes later. When the first train came I was a bit dazzled because it obviously was not a pass-through, but I jumped on it. Other passengers remained on the platform not even second-guessing or questioning the initial announcement. And another third of passengers actually started questioning the event but did not follow their instincts. They sort of felt and knew the announcement was wrong but did not dare going against it. I observed the same scenario at the following stops.

Well, that already silences my first question about the mass movement as such, but it leads to another question: Where are we with our beliefs and even intuition? I have the feeling this is all going back to childhood and evolving from there.

As kids we simply believe what we are told since we do not know better. This is where our values and beliefs are shaped. But this does not mean we have to stick with them. Au contraire! As we continue through life our perspective shifts or widens, and it is up to some events that make or break or question these values and beliefs.

As long as we feel happy content we accept them as we know them because they suit us very well. However, should darkness one day trap us we tend to growing to believe the opposite of what we have been told. All of a sudden everything is black.

But if then we decide to rise like a phoenix from the ashes it can truly transform everything. We can also go back to who we were before, but that could actually just create a repetitive circle. Actually, I believe we then just start deceiving ourselves. Trust me, I was caught in that circle, and breaking free came as a salvation. For me it has started a rolling stone that’s growing ever so beautifully.

Rising like a phoenix from the ashes puts you on a new path of learning about life and yourself and seeing it all from a different perspective. Even so you might feel unsure about this big bang in your life, embrace it. Dare it. Listen to your mind and your intuition, and take these baby steps forward. This new road is a new road of growth shaping your well-deserved individualism, which has been there beneath the surface all along.

Furthermore, embrace your talents. Yes, your talents, they are there, and they are a part of you. Living them will add so much value and happiness to your life.

It is not wrong being a musician or a writer, because your parents declined those beliefs believing and telling you these talents were worthless since they would not put food on your table. But look around you, there are so many musicians and writers who do just that and even more so because they have always believed they could.

If that is still too big to fathom start with something small to develop that faith of yours and regrow it and make it stronger. Let’s face it, Rome was not build in one day either, as they say. And honestly, time does not really matter here at all. The only thing that counts and matters is that you rise like that phoenix and touch and embrace your light, your true light.

If something does not feel right, you have the right to question it and turn right instead of left. It is your life, and only you know best what’s right for you. Just listen to your intuition.

Sometimes you need to fall or even fall harder to grasp the beauty of life right in front of you. It took me years, and I am still learning, but I can guarantee you it is so much better, so much greater to bathe in your own light than to keep being trapped in darkness. In light, things just flow so much easier, and life is meant to be easy. Life is meant to be fun. Life is meant to be lived well.

All you have to do is take one step at a time and enjoy your ride. ‘Cos life is a joyride. Just do what is good for you – without hurting or harming others – and be true to yourself. Be yourself. Trust your intuition and jump on that train even if someone else says that it is not going anywhere (because it is meant to be a pass-through). That train is bound to take you to your destination stopping at different stations for you to enjoy, grow and progress.

He who believes shall receive.

BEAUTIFUL & PERFECT

These days we have become too consumed with the images that society lie on us. Society puts a lot of pressure on us when it comes to things like the way we look etc., and we start thinking just as this society. So when you look into the mirror, who do you see? Who do you want to see?

Do you want to see the reflection of some supermodel (who, by the way, is getting photoshopped all the time)? Or do you want to see yourself? Do you see you?

What are you thinking right now? “Oh, jeez, look I weigh like three grams too much! And those wrinkles…” And then you’re on the verge of walking away from that image. But hey, before you’ll become a guest in one of these Nip/Tuck-agencies, there’s one question you really do need to ask yourself: Why? Why do you really want to change the way you look?

Honestly, there is no reason and no need to! Go to that mirror and look again. Keep looking until you’ve found the real person of that reflection. You!

You are perfect just the way you are. Look at that smile! Look at those eyes beaming! Look at this beauty, this natural beauty! I see a perfect person!

And you also have to remember that irony has it about this society. They change their minds just the way the like it. I mean, today people look at me and might say I weigh too much. Me being the same me some thirty years ago would have been considered too skinny. So, which one is it? Well, actually, what do I care about what others think?! Exactly!

No one can take away that little wrinkle beneath my left eye, because it is mine. It is a sign of my happiness. Because where does it come from? It comes from me laughing and smiling in my very own way. So that little wrinkle is mine, and I am going to keep it and embrace it because it was born out of something good, and it is part of my uniqueness.

I don’t want to look like everybody else. Au contraire! I just want to be this unique me with all there is, and I am perfect just the way I am. So why would you want to change your true uniqueness? What are you afraid of?

See, there is no reason to want to be changing that image you see in the mirror. Beauty comes from your inner grace, and as long as you embrace it you can also see this true beauty of yours! Again, look at that person in the mirror. This person is smiling because it is seeing you. It is looking behind these beautiful eyes, and it is happy. Such a perfect person!

So don’t take any of these perfect features away because they are all you, and they create this one truly unique being that is you. Let your beauty shine, and your heart is shining too. So, do you feel it? Your heart is skipping a beat or two because of this non-ceasing joy it is experiencing.

Now go back to that mirror again and look at this perfect you so your heart can keep having this everyday birthday celebration. Every day there is a reason to celebrate you because you are special.

Simply appreciate who you are and embrace your beauty and being this perfect version of you. As long as you keep believing in yourself and your beauty, the rest of the world will too!

“Never neglect the person you see in the mirror. This is the only person in the world, who has witnessed the entirety of your life. This person has experienced the thick the thin, the highs the lows, the good the bad. There are not too many certainties in life, but here's one. This person will stick with you for life, so in exchange for its lifelong service make sure you place a high value on them”. ~ Patricia Nocerino