Morning Affirmations

If you at all believe that your mental state affects your physical one (which I do, fully), and if you've never heard of this book, I'd recommend ordering it directly. In Heal Your Body, Louise Hay discusses her own journey with cancer and the power of the mind and physical health. Most of the book, however, is a chart of various physical maladies (almost literally anything you can think of), the corresponding thought loop that created the illness or that exacerbates it (or both), and another thought loop that you can override the first one with, to bring health rather than the opposite.

For me, the best part of the book is the last page. On it, there is a sort of catch-all long affirmation, which can be considered a preventative for all of the problems talked about in the book. It covers your body, your mind, your emotions, even your job, home environment, and relationships. There's more, but I'd just recommend getting the book (which is also why I'm not including the affirmation here for you to see - it's under $2. Just order it, if you're curious. If it's cheaper than a Slurpee, where can you go wrong...).

During what I consider one of the happiest periods in my life (lasted nearly a year, and it was awesome), I did this affirmation each morning. But time passes and schedules get more hectic, etc., so this morning I picked it back up. And so far I've seen the benefits already.

I feel physically fine these days, so that's not where I've noticed a difference. These two areas are where I have noticed one:

1) Remember that photo session I talked about last week? Well, we had it. And the weather was perfect, the little guy was freshly napped and in a great mood, and everything went very well. That is, until I got home and discovered that my memory card had decided to encode 2/3 of my pictures (the last 2/3 of the shoot, which were of course the best ones) in a format that nothing, not even the camera that did the coding, can recognize.
Lost.
Kaput.
Oh-so-gone.
And I spent a couple of days gasping for air (not literally, but you know) about this, but this morning I decided to tackle my measly amount of pictures and make the best of it. Here's an example:

2) The university where I work bring in a good chunk of change by letting shows come film here from time to time. The campus is notoriously beautiful, and it's easy to see why it would be a preferred setting. For example, in The Wedding Planner with Jennifer Lopez, the scene during which she first meets her big clients (which can be seen at 3:46) was filmed right here:

Ordinarily, this doesn't bother me. Skirting around production crews is fine when going from place to place, and other than having to do that, there's not generally any inconvenience. Except for days like this morning, when Entourage has decided to film a scene at the entrance of my building and now all of the parking on campus is blocked off. That means that I'll have to trot out every two hours and move my car...all day. Awesome. But, because of my affirmation this morning, instead of grumbling, it occurred to me to see the extra clip-clopping as exercise. Hey, this means I can maybe skip (or just shorten) my run tonight! Yessss.

In closing, get that book. It'll make you happier. And what's a better goal than that to have? If you're happier, you'll be a better force in each life you touch. Can't go wrong.

Today's whiteboard quote:
"It is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness."
~Chinese Proverb

Oh, and pink flowers this week make for a happier me too (thanks to T... ...Gotta love him)

From the Thoughts of Yesterday

"What we are today comes from the thoughts of yesterday, and our present thoughts build our life of tomorrow: our life is the creation of our mind." ~Buddha

With this in mind, I'm focusing, on this tired and tummy-achy Monday morning, on grace, good posture, and mindfulness. I'm actually hearing the clacking of the keys as I type (how often do you notice that one?) and I'm settling back into my semi-comfy chair. I'll be staying hydrated and trying to relax the inner chambers of my mind so that they can be aired out like a room with all of the windows open.

The weekend wasn't easy, but it definitely had it lovely parts. And now the week begins, and it can be a great one, if I don't focus on how tired I am. But I do know that, when really tired, you can either see it as a reminder to be physically mindful (which is one of the things that can bring about true peace, if you let it) and let the constant input your achy body is giving to your 5 senses massage your jumpy mind into calmness, or you can harness that discomfort and let it turn you sour on the inside.

As I often say, once you realize there's a choice, how can you choose any different? Seriously, who would choose that second one?

So here's to creating the next 5 minutes, Buddha-style, by using this 5 minutes to focus on the beauty that is always just as fully present as the pain. It's all about what you choose to lay your eyes on.