Lightarted Living: Embrace Sorrow and Sadness as Natural and Enrichin...

Lightarted Living: Embrace Sorrow and Sadness as Natural and Enrichin...: TO BATHE~TO WASH SADNESS FROM THE MIND Tracy A Gibbons 'When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find...

Lightarted Living: Lose or Hate Your Job? Embrace Adversity and Grow ...

Lightarted Living: Lose or Hate Your Job? Embrace Adversity and Grow ...: Adversity is a Powerful Teacher You're not the first person to lose or hate your job and you won't be the last. As much as ...

Lose or Hate Your Job? Embrace Adversity and Grow Stronger

Adversity is a Powerful Teacher

You're not the first person to lose or hate your job and you won't be the last. As much as we hate to admit it, adversity is a powerful teacher, nudging us on to greatness. 

Choose to embrace adversity. Check out how some of the greats who've struggled before you have come to terms with adversity.

Be Strong. Friedrich Nietzsche said, "What doesn't kill us makes us stronger." 

While being unemployed and struggling to find work or struggling to stay in a dead-end job  is uncomfortable, you can find your strength and purpose through the process. 

Walt Disney wrote, "All the adversity I've had in my life, all my troubles have strengthened me. You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you."

Break Records. Writer William Arthur Ward wrote: "Adversity causes some men to break; others to break records." 

Steve Jobs was spurred on to achieve more after being fired from Apple. Don't let your situation break you; let it spur you on to greatness.

Reveal Your Talents. Horace said: "Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents, which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant." 

Look past your self-doubt and self-consciousness to discover your talents. Let the discomfort motivate you to dig deep to unleash your hidden talents. 

"Adversity reveals genius, prosperity conceals it." Horace

Become a Better You. "Adversity is the diamond dust Heaven polishes its jewels with," wrote Thomas Carlyle. 

You are a jewel being polished by your struggles. Accept this truth and you'll become the gem that shines.

Courage means to Take Heart

Do you know the origins of the word 'Courage'? First known use of the word was in the 14th century. The word courage   has been traced  back to  corage (Middle English;, curage, quer, and coer  meaning  heart (Anglo-French); and cor (Latin) meaning more at heart.

Synonyms for Courage: great heartedness, guts, gutsiness, hardihood, heart, heroism, intestinal fortitude,  moxie, nerve, prowess, stoutness, valor, virtue

Take Heart in Your Struggles

Find Great Heartedness within Yourself

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For more than 35 years, Susan Meyerott has been helping people lighten up and step over invisible barriers to change one step at a time. She speaks to your heart, puts you at ease, and makes letting go and moving forward with life easier than ever before.

Do you know someone who could benefit from uplifting messages? Please share Lightarted Living with them. If you or someone you love is interested in learning more about closing the gap between where you are now and where you want to be, join the FREE Lightarted Living mailing list. 

Lightarted Living: Listening for Stillness

Lightarted Living: Listening for Stillness: To Bathe:  To Wash Sadness from the Mind Tracy Gibbons Releasing the Hurts of the Day  Who doesn't need soft reminders to ...

Listening for Stillness

To Bathe: 

To Wash Sadness from the Mind

Tracy Gibbons

Releasing the Hurts of the Day 

Who doesn't need soft reminders to wash away the sadness and hurts of the day? We all need ways to refresh our spirits, listen for stillness, and quiet ourselves at the end of a long day or trying week. 

Do you have something that works for you?

Visual, musical, or poetic prompts can serve to focus and calm us, while helping us 'listen for stillness'.

If you don't have something in your environment serving to prompt you to 'let it go' at the end of the day that helps you to start the next day refreshed, consider three prompts I use and consider creating your own.

1. Art in the Bathroom

When my young daughter, Tracy, painted the girl with the sad eyes 15 years ago I added the description  'to bathe' that a friend recently shared with me--'to wash sadness from the mind', and I hung it in my bathroom where it still hangs as a daily reminder to 'let it all go'. I love getting daily inspiration from my daughter, and I am reminded of her every time I see the picture. 

Hanging a positive calming reminder in the bathroom gives you daily exposure.  If you see a calming message enough times it seeps in and sets you on a positive life path. 

2. Colorful Affirmation Hearts

I began creating water-colored affirmation hearts as a way to provide uplifting messages to family, friends and co-workers going through difficult times. I soon discovered the uplifting effect it had on me to create and share them. I am uplifted and calmed every time I share these with you.

Pick out one affirmation heart to contemplate a day. Keep it simple and focused. Make your own or find what you need in this blog.

William Blake's Voices of Children

Susan J Meyerott

3. Poetic Art in the Bedroom 

This poem by William Blake is the ultimate calming poem for me. It hangs in my bedroom where I see it first thing upon waking and last thing before lights off. It creates utter stillness in my soul. This poem says everything is well in the world. 

When the voices of children are heard on the green,

And laughing is heard on the hill,

My heart is at rest within my breast,

And everything else is still.

William Blake

My heart at rest within my breast and everything else is still

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For more than 35 years, Susan Meyerott has been helping people lighten up and step over invisible barriers to change one step at a time. She speaks to your heart, puts you at ease, and makes letting go and moving forward with life easier than ever before.

Do you know someone who could benefit from uplifting messages? Please share Lightarted Living with them. If you or someone you love is interested in learning more about closing the gap between where you are now and where you want to be, join the FREE Lightarted Living mailing list.

Lightarted Living: Feeling Betrayed and Bitter? Let Self-Imposed Cons...

Lightarted Living: Feeling Betrayed and Bitter? Let Self-Imposed Cons...: 'Life becomes easier when you learn  to accept an apology you never got.'  Robert Brault What Hurts? ❤ Who or w...

Lightarted Living: Mindfulness: Deep Listening Heals

Lightarted Living: Mindfulness: Deep Listening Heals: 'Take a walk at night.  Walk so silently that the bottoms of your feet become ears.' Pauline Oliveros, Deep Listening Compose...

Lightarted Living: Mindfulness: Deep Listening Heals

Lightarted Living: Mindfulness: Deep Listening Heals: 'Take a walk at night.  Walk so silently that the bottoms of your feet become ears.' Pauline Oliveros, Deep Listening Compose...

Lightarted Living: Mess Up? The Trick to Recovering from Mistakes

Lightarted Living: Mess Up? The Trick to Recovering from Mistakes: What Happens After You Mess Up?  Mistakes happen. But according to brain research it's what happens after you mess up that's...

Mess Up? The Trick to Recovering from Mistakes

What Happens After You Mess Up? 

Mistakes happen. But according to brain research it's what happens after you mess up that's really interesting.

When you mess up, how do you react?  

😊Do you problem solve and figure out how to correct your error--and ultimately bounce back from making the error? 

😢Or do you feel stupid, inept and ultimately give up?

How You Think about Your Capacity to Grow Smarter Determines Your Reaction to Mistakes

It turns out whether you believe you can grow smarter or not determines how you'll respond to the mistakes you make--i.e. whether you'll choose to learn from your mistakes or just give up.

According to a **study looking at brain activity in response to making mistakes, people who believe they can learn from their mistakes have brains that pay more attention to mistakes--and they share a belief that intelligence isn't fixed--it can be shaped (i.e. we can learn from our mistakes).

👉If you believe your intelligence can be shaped you believe 'I learn from my mistakes', 'happy mistakes are good', or 'a mistake is just a learning experience' and you take action to rectify your mistake and move on.  

👉But if you believe 'you either have the smarts or you don't' --i.e. you believe in a 'fixed intelligence'--you fail to take actions to learn from your mistakes and just give up.

'Acting As If' is the Key to Tweak Your Thoughts to Recover from Mistakes

Okay, so now you know: You hold the key to bouncing back from making mistakes in your head. If you believe you can grow smarter you can make happy mistakes and learn from them. 

But what if you're one of the people who simply believes you're not smart?  Then you Act As If--and step over the invisible belief barrier to taking action. 

When you make a mistake or error--don't think--'act as if' and take action. 

Act As If:

💓You can learn from your mistakes and grow smarter--and take action.

💙You have confidence in yourself--and take action.
💚You can correct your mistakes--and take action

💛It matters that you know the correct answer to perform better in the future--and take action.

💜You are coachable--and take action.

Beliefs Follow Actions

Why does 'acting as if ' work?  Research shows if you want to change a belief, take action. When you experience a discrepancy between what you believe and how you act, you will change your beliefs to follow your actions. 

Acting as if you can grow smarter will result in you believing you can --and improve your ability to learn from your mistakes.

Our Brains Are Wired to Make Mistakes

We all want to be the best we can be and therefore hate making mistakes and looking stupid. But our brains are wired to make mistakes so errors are going to happen. 

When you make a mistake, stop thinking how stupid you are and step into problem solving instead. Get the most out of your life--show yourself you're someone who learns from you mistakes.

Stop trying to be mistake free and start using your happy mistakes as learning experiences and growth opportunities.

 'There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting.' 

The Buddha 

**Many thanks to Grant Soosalu in Australia for sharing the study in his Life Enhancing Blog. Please visit Grant's blog @  http://enhancingmylife.blogspot.com/ or check out his book  "mBraining - Using your multiple brains to do cool stuff" on Amazon.

Change Your Behavior to Change Your Belief

Free Yourself to Make Happy Mistakes

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For more than 35 years, Susan Meyerott has been helping people lighten up and step over invisible barriers to change one step at a time. She speaks to your heart, puts you at ease, and makes letting go and moving forward with life easier than ever before.

Do you know someone who could benefit from uplifting messages? Please share Lightarted Living with them. If you or someone you love is interested in learning more about closing the gap between where you are now and where you want to be, join the FREE Lightarted Living mailing list. 

Lightarted Living: The Saving Grace of Denial

Lightarted Living: The Saving Grace of Denial: Denial--A Soft Cushion Against the Harsh Realities of Life Sometimes life throws us a curve ball we didn't see coming that overwhe...

Lightarted Living: Robert Brault: Brimming Over with Whimsical Wisdom...

Lightarted Living: Robert Brault: Brimming Over with Whimsical Wisdom...: "Doing one fool thing after another is not so terrible  when you consider the human proclivity  to do several fool things at on...

Lightarted Living: Will Rogers: Bubbling Over with Whimsical Wisdom

Lightarted Living: Will Rogers: Bubbling Over with Whimsical Wisdom: There are three kinds of men: The ones that learn by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to touch an e...

Lightarted Living: Bouncing Back from Stress and Burnout

Lightarted Living: Bouncing Back from Stress and Burnout: Stop the World--I want to get off!  "Fisherman have always known that the sea is dangerous and the storm is terrible, but they&...

Bouncing Back from Stress and Burnout

Stop the World--I want to get off! 

"Fisherman have always known that the sea is dangerous and the storm is terrible, but they've never considered those sufficient reasons to remain ashore." 

Vincent Van Gogh 

 No question life is stressful. But that doesn't mean we can't rise to the challenge and find ways to not only weather those stressful and stormy days, but also practice the fine art of sailing through difficulties to arrive at calmer shores. 

Bouncing back after particularly stressful times requires us to consciously stop and start over~After we wind ourselves up we must consciously unwind.

After you step into the water at the high tide of stress you must consciously and deliberately step back into still waters to rest.

Train Your Body to Bounce Back from Stress

We're always training our bodies through the choices we make. To have the health and energy to cope and thrive despite experiencing world-wide and personal crises, we need to engage in activities that bring our stress hormones--like adrenaline and cortisol--back down to resting levels--especially after dealing with particularly stressful experiences.

The good news is humans have adapted to effectively deal with stress. We're especially equipped to deal with the stress that is life. Our bodies are built to get better and better at dealing with stress the more we're challenged by life's difficulties. But it's up to us to take the actions that train our bodies to be resilient so we're strengthened, not weakened by our experiences. 

Stress Won't Kill You--But not taking care of it will!

Think of stress as a perceived sense of:

👉Threat;

👉Loss of control;

👉Helplessness;

👉Hopelessness; and/or

👉Unpredictability

The instant something catches you off guard your brain downshifts into your lower brain-- moving you into a fight or flight mode (stress response)--and sets in motion the release of stress hormones, including cortisol and adrenaline. This is a good thing.

Stress-hormones help you react quickly by raising your heart rate and blood pressure, and releasing energy sources into the bloodstream, such as sugar, to make fuel available to your muscles. This is how your body helps you get through your daily crises.

But too much of a good thing becomes a problem if you fail to give your body time to recover from being in this high-stress mode.

Maintaining chronically high levels of the stress-hormone cortisol leads to three health damaging effects:

💥High blood sugar, leading to insulin resistance;

💥High blood pressure, and

💥An increase in abdominal fat.

 Fat deposited around your belly is associated with more health problems than fat deposited elsewhere, including an increased risk of heart attacks and strokes. 

To calm your cortisol and other stress-hormone levels you must recognize you're stressed, and engage in self-calming activities that produce the relaxation response in your body.  

You're either stressed or relaxed...you can't be both

The good news is it's physiologically impossible for you to be stressed and relaxed at the same time. When you make the decision to participate in activities that produce the relaxation response, your body will bounce back and re-balance.

How Do I Know if I'm Suffering from Chronic Stress? 

We're not always aware when we're in a constant state of stress. Sometimes we're working so hard to deal with the issues we ignore the signs and symptoms. Furthermore, when our heart rate goes above 100, our bodies release adrenaline that creates an emotional and mental fog that sends clear thinking out the window. 

We all have a stress signature that we can learn to cue us it's time to stop, unwind and participate in self-calming activities. You don't need to pay attention to every sign and symptoms of stress, you just have to pick out one and let that be your guide to readjusting what you're doing.

Do You Experience Any of these Signs and Symptoms of Chronic Stress?

☂ Chronic fatigue

☂ TMJ problems--clenching of teeth

☂ Moodiness

☂ Anxiety and Irritability

☂ Anger (fear managed by anger)

☂ Depression

☂ Hardening of the attitudes

☂ Feeling a loss of control

☂ Tearfulness

☂ Joint and muscle pain

☂ Digestive difficulties

☂ Sleeping difficulties

☂ Increased deposit of fat in the belly

☂ Craving carbohydrates

☂ Binge eating

☂ Preoccupation with a stressful situation

☂ Getting ill after finals or completion of a stressful project

☂ Getting sick on vacation

The Art of the Bounce Back

Begin by identifying the signs and symptoms you experience in response to stress, then choose one to be mindful of in your daily life. When you notice your stress signal is present, act, don't react to the information; and describe, don't judge what is going on.

Everyone gets stressed. If you discover you're chronically stressed, it doesn't mean you are weak, incompetent, out of control or a bad person. Leave the judgment out--describe what is going on and chose one immediate step to help you take a moment to relax.

Cortisol and Stress Calming Suggestions

💓Control what you can control.

💙Take action on the little things. 

💚Exercise for relaxation, not for hard core fitness.

💛Take a 5-15 minute walk break.

💜Have some black or green tea.

💓Find things to laugh about. Experiencing humor and laughter can lower cortisol levels.

💙Enjoy relaxing music.

💚Confide in a trusted friend. 

💛Get a good night's rest. If you're having difficulty sleeping, at least rest and practice focusing on your breathing, consciously slowing down your inhales and exhales.

💜Cry. Crying may be our bodies' way of eliminating stress-hormones from our system.

💓Supplement with magnesium and omega 3 fatty acids (found in fish oil, krill oil and flax seeds)

Don't let life difficulties beat you down. Choose to take actions that contribute to your self-confidence and well-being.  You're worth it.

 

The Serenity Prayer

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;

The courage to change the things I can;

And the wisdom to know the difference.

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For more than 35 years, Susan Meyerott has been helping people lighten up and step over invisible barriers to change one step at a time. She speaks to your heart, puts you at ease, and makes letting go and moving forward with life easier than ever before.

Do you know someone who could benefit from uplifting messages? Please share Lightarted Living with them. If you or someone you love is interested in learning more about closing the gap between where you are now and where you want to be, join the FREE Lightarted Living mailing list. 

Lightarted Living: Will Life Crush Your Spirit or Make You Stronger?

Lightarted Living: Will Life Crush Your Spirit or Make You Stronger?: Will Life Crush Your Spirit or Make You Stronger? What awful soul-crushing experiences have you had in your life? Have you allow...

Lightarted Living: Will Rogers: Bubbling Over with Whimsical Wisdom

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Lightarted Living: Bring Light and Positive Energy into the World

Lightarted Living: Bring Light and Positive Energy into the World: Be like the sun 'In every moment we have a chance to make a choice to bring light into the world. When we bless others with the...

Bring Light and Positive Energy into the World

Be like the sun

'In every moment we have a chance to make a choice to bring light into the world. When we bless others with the gift of our positive energy, instead of letting circumstances affect us negatively, we bring a little peace to the world every day.'  

Madisyn Taylor, DailyOM

Be the light you wish to see in the world 

Rise above your circumstances to do good and bring compassion to others despite facing your own hardships.

Don't let your daily difficulties get you down and self-focused. Reach out to others with kindness as you allow others to reach out to you.

Choose to live in the spiritual realm of life instead of being victimized by the circumstantial realities of your life. The positive energy you give to others will come back to you ten-fold~re-energizing you for yet another day . 

Lightarted Sue

Bringing it home

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For more than 35 years, Susan Meyerott has been helping people lighten up and step over invisible barriers to change one step at a time. She speaks to your heart, puts you at ease, and makes letting go and moving forward with life easier than ever before.

Do you know someone who could benefit from uplifting messages? Please share Lightarted Living with them. If you or someone you love is interested in learning more about closing the gap between where you are now and where you want to be, join the FREE Lightarted Living mailing list.