“When my world caves in…I pause, I take a breath, and bow and I let the chapter end.“
— from the song 3 Things by Jason Mraz
Today is my 50th birthday, which is quite a milestone, wouldn’t you agree? And I’ll tell you what: I’ve found that over the years – especially this past year — I’ve learned SO much about myself. I’ve learned to trust my intuition more. I’ve learned that I am stronger than I thought. I’ve learned that when I treat myself with loving-kindness, I feel more at peace.
For 2022, I’ve set the intention for myself to ENJOY LIFE. I’ve always thought it’s kind of cool that my birthday falls just a few days after the start of the new year, and since this particular birthday is such a big one, I spent a lot of time over the past few months thinking about not just what I want for this coming year, but…what do I want for myself moving forward? What do I want my life to be?
This was no easy task for me. I’ll be honest: it has been SO hard for me to remain positive as of late. My health struggles have affected me not just physically but also mentally. My dad and I have become caregivers to my mom, and I’m feeling like I’m also becoming a caregiver to my dad. As an only child, with no siblings to share the load with, it’s hard. There have been many days when I’ve felt like nothing would get better, and I felt hopeless.
Feeling these feelings is normal. We can’t be sunshine and rainbows and unicorns all the time. I know that. But I’ve learned how powerful mindset can be, both in terms of your physical health and your mental health. There are so many articles, books and videos on the topic of mindset, so if you’re interested, just Google it and you’ll find hundreds of things that you can tap into.
One video that was recommended to me by a couple of people is Heal, a documentary by Kelly Noonan Gores. This documentary takes you on a scientific and spiritual journey where you discover that your thoughts, beliefs and emotions have a HUGE impact on your health and ability to heal. Now, to some of you out there, it may seem a bit “woo woo”, but give it a shot anyway. When I watched it, I found a lot that resonated with me. You can go to https://www.healdocumentary.com/purchase.html to see the various ways you can watch this…I have Amazon Prime, so I was able to watch it for free.
This is where my ENJOY LIFE intention is coming from. My mindset needs to be focused on how to find the joy in the life I’ve been given. Even on the days when I’m in excruciating pain or feel extreme fatigue. Even on the days when my mom is having an episode, or my dad can hardly move. Even when…even when.
Because you see, when you make the effort to enjoy life, it means you notice the good things around you. And when you focus on those good things, the bad things become more minor and take a backseat. At least, that’s how it works for me.
If you are interested in improving your mindset so that you can move towards the life that you hope and dream for, then start with right here, right now. I created a guided meditation on my YouTube channel, which is meant to help you let go of the things holding you back from your best life. You can use this meditation to help get you in the right mindset so you can achieve your dreams and hopes.
Yoga is another tool you can utilize to help you with shifting your mindset. The time you spend on your mat not only helps you improve your physical flexibility, it also helps improve your mental flexibility. I could write several posts on this topic, but for this post, let’s just say that yoga can help shift your mindset by helping you stay focused in the present moment. Let’s face it, you have to pay attention to your breath and how your body physically moves into and out of each pose. If you don’t, you risk injuring yourself. And when you stay focused in the “right here, right now”, it’s easier to understand that the present moment is what matters most.
Are you currently focusing on a mindset shift? If so, I’d love to know what tools you use to help you along your journey…there are so many tools, and I’d love to know what works for you because it may just be something I need to add to my own toolbox.
Thank you for taking the time to spend some time here today, and I hope you received a message from this post that resonated with you. Please feel free to like or comment on this post, and subscribe so you get notified whenever new content is added. Until next time…
Namaste and Have a Sparkling Day! Melanie
SC Yoga Girl 