Shine

Bruno Groening - Filled with love

Josie Thomson - I don’t know about you, but for me, finding clarity is easiest when I focus inward. There is way too much confusion in the outer world. The time I spend focusing inward and finding clarity doesn’t just help me. The mind is powerful and our thoughts create ripples in other people’s lives. When I bring clarity into my own life, I bring the best of myself into everything I do - I will treat myself and others better, communicate more constructively, do things for the right reasons, and ultimately improve the world I’m living in. This is why I believe praying or meditating on some positive mantras on a daily basis can actually make a real-world difference in our life. A heightened level of our conscious awareness - our mental clarity - instantly elevates us in countless ways. And then interesting things may begin happening - good things that are outside of our immediate purview - good things we haven’t even thought of yet. What do you do to bring clarity into your own life? Jx | Facebook

Josie Thomson - The most powerful strategy against stress and anxiety is our ability to choose one thought over another. Train your mind to see the good in your circumstances. This isn’t always easy but it is possible. I’ve read studies showing that doctors who are put in a positive mood before making a diagnosis consistently experience significant boosts to their intellectual abilities than doctors in a neutral state. This allowed them to make accurate diagnoses almost 20% faster. Other studies show that optimistic salespeople outsell their pessimistic counterparts by over 50%; and university students primed to feel happy before taking exams statistically outperform their neutral peers. So it turns out that our minds are literally hardwired to perform at their best not when they are negative, or even neutral, but when they are positive and optimistic. You choose your thoughts and how you focus your attention. You are in the driver’s seat of your reality. So think a little less about managing your problems. Think a little more about managing your mindset. Do your best to keep it positive and to see the silver lining in your challenges. Jx | Facebook

Josie Thomson - We get one life so stay true to your values and convictions. Stay true to you. Rejections don’t matter in the long run. Accept them and refocus your attention on what DOES matter. What really matters is how you see and treat yourself. Regardless of what others may think, always stay true to your values and convictions. They are your guide posts - your blue print to a truly happy life. Never be ashamed of doing what feels right. What can help to build this positive habit? You can start by listing 5-10 things that are important to you when it comes to shaping your character and living your own life, on your own terms. For example, for me: honesty, reliability, self-respect, self-discipline, compassion, and kindness are key. What are yours? Share them with me below. Having a short list like this to reference often keeps our values in focus. It also gives us an opportunity to consciously invoke and uphold our values in life - how we show up each day at work and in relationships.... rather than compromising for the purpose of external validation or acceptance. When you know who you are, what you stand for and what’s important in life, it makes navigating the world and making key decisions so much easier. This is the starting point for all the coaching I do. Create a life you love today. Your life. Your way. Jx | Facebook

Josie Thomson - We need to side step and simply tune out the low shots people take at us from time me to time. We mustn’t waste words or focus on people who deserve our silence. Sometimes the most powerful thing we can say is nothing at all. Truly, before we waste our vital energy on anger, spite or frustration, think of how precious and irreplaceable our time is today. Let’s give ourselves a permanent break from the drama that can be easily avoided - let’s just not engage in it. Life is just too short to argue and fight. Let’s count our blessings, value the people who matter, and move on from drama with our head held high. Let’s remember that calmness is a human superpower. The ability to not overreact or take things personally keeps our mind clear, our heart at peace, and ourselves moving forward. Let’s take constructive criticism seriously, but not personally. You can listen to others... then operate with your own intuition, truth and wisdom as your guide. Jx | Facebook

Josie Thomson - We can easily overestimate the significance of a single decision, outcome or event in the heat of a moment. When things don’t go our way, we need to pause and take a long deep breath. Our results in the long run - good or bad - are always the byproduct of many small decisions, outcomes, and events over time. The fact is we all fail sometimes. A greater truth is that no single failure ever defines us. Let’s learn from our mistakes. Let’s grow wiser. Character and wisdom are developed gradually. They come with loss, lessons, and triumphs. They come after many doubts, second guesses, and unknowns. The seeds of our success are planted in our past failures. Our best stories will come from overcoming our greatest challenges. Our blessings and praises will be birthed from our pains. Have you noticed that? So keep standing, keeping stepping forward, keep learning, keep growing, keep living and keep your heart open. Jx | Facebook

Josie Thomson - Breakthroughs happen when we stretch ourselves just beyond the edge of our comfort zone. Have you ever noticed that when you’re struggling to make progress, that’s when you actually are?! We want to be stretched to the edge of our abilities regularly. Learning and change occur when things get hard and uncomfortable. But who likes to be uncomfortable? The dilemma is this: if we only operate in comfort zones, we miss out on most of life’s greatest and healthiest experiences... and we can get stuck in debilitating cycles of bad habits or unhealthy thinking. You know the drill... You keep doing what you’ve always done, and you keep getting the results you’ve always gotten. Your true potential falls by the wayside. Choose differently! Approach environments that expand your mind. Spend time with people who inspire you to stretch yourself. Read books. Climb trees. Grow. Think better. Live better. Your life is your choice. Live it you way! Jx | Facebook

Josie Thomson - Life is way too short to do anything less than put your whole heart and soul into all the things you do. There’s a big difference between empty fatigue and gratifying exhaustion. Invest daily in what’s truly meaningful to you. Don’t wait around! Too often I see people wait - they think they need to ‘find’ something new or different to be passionate about.... or to ‘find’ someone, someplace or something that is perfectly ‘right’. That’s crazy. If you want more passion in your life right now, act like you have it right now! BE passionate about everything you do, and invest passionately in those people you love and care about. No matter what it is, put all your heart and soul into the next thing you do. Notice what happens. Don’t wait for tomorrow’s opportunities... put passion into the opportunities right in front of you right now. Not into tomorrow’s tasks, but into today’s tasks. Not into tomorrow’s workout, but into today’s workout. Not into tomorrow’s interactions, but into today’s interactions. I’m pretty certain you have plenty in your life right now that’s worth your time, focus, energy, effort and passionate focus. You have people, places and circumstances in your life that need you as much as you need them. You have a massive reserve of passionate potential within you, just waiting. Stop waiting! Don’t wait for or count on tomorrow. Decide to put your heart and soul into what you’re doing and what you’ve got right in front of you... right now. BE passionate - let passion become how you show up in your life... great things can happen FOR you, TO you, and BECAUSE of you. And... you’re so worth it! Jx | Facebook

Josie Thomson - Our thoughts have great power. Our thoughts shape our direct experience of reality. But many of our thoughts don’t serve our highest good - our true self and goals. We need to drop the thoughts that minimise us and our future - we need to let go of unnecessary ideals. When a thought comes to mind, ask yourself: is this assisting me to grow or holding me back? You will know the answer by tuning into your body: some thoughts energise and uplift your mood, others will deplete and drain your motivation (just like people and environments). We need to pay attention to our thinking and take back control. Make the unconscious, conscious, and let go of what doesn’t serve you. This form of ‘letting go’ is not about giving up. It’s a surrendering of any obsessive emotional attachment we may have to particular people, outcomes and situations. It actually means showing up every day with the intention to be your best self, and to do the best you know how, without expecting life to go a certain way. How much more fun would that be?! Sure - have clear goals and dreams, aspire and take purposeful action, and form great relationships, but let go of what every aspect must absolutely look like to be ‘good enough’ for you. All we need to do is accept reality, and respond effectively. Let’s focus on what really matters - what moves you forward, and let go of what holds you back. What thought will you let go of today? Jx | Facebook

Josie Thomson - Have you ever tried to meditate or go about your usual routine, and you have a thought (or two) that sounds something like this: ‘woe is me; I’m just not good enough; what’s the point?’ Look at what we do to ourselves. Notice what you may be saying to yourself. Can you see how easy it can be to slip and lose heart, or even distract ourselves from living the life we desire? If we don’t discern these thoughts, we may allow them to touch the heart of this moment. Habits are formed when we touch the very centre of this moment with attention, repetition and reinforcement. But what are we reinforcing? Instead of judging or beating ourselves up, we can greet these ‘loss of heart’ moments with honesty and kindness. Instead of pulling back from the pain of apathy, we can move closer. We lean into the wave - we swim into it. Somewhere in the process of simply staying with the moment, it may occur to us that there are many unhappy ‘brothers and sisters’ in the world suffering, just as we are suffering. In becoming intimate with our own pain, with our own suffering, we actually connect with and touchour shared experience - our humanity. That is what connects us all. This is how we learn compassion to understand others, knowing our kinship with our fellow man. So, in moments of discomfort or despair, instead of continuing to zone out, judge, distract, shut down or close off, try opening your mind and heart - lean into the moment with a kind and loving heart, and relax. Drop all judgment. This is how we can begin to practice true mindfulness (instead of mind-fullness). No more rejection or dismissal - of the pain or yourself. Stay with yourself. Hold onto yourself. Seek what’s going on behind the words, behind the ignoring, and feel the totality of this moment, in your heart, in your stomach, in your breath - for yourself, and for all others sharing this experience. This is how we truly know we are not alone. We share very similar experiences at any given time. We have all known grief. We have all known loss. We have all known pain and fear. And the list goes on. By opening to the realisation that we really are ‘one’, we train our capacity for openness and compassion - toward this moment, and toward one another. Our moments of aloneness, despair, sadness or pain become our most profound personal teachers of wisdom. These precious moments may become our pathway to healing. Jx | Facebook

Josie Thomson - Yes - you CAN change how you feel and how you react to people and circumstances... if you want to. All it takes is a shift in will and mindset to ‘own’ yourself and your life, to no longer be at the mercy of external factors in determining how you show up. Regardless of what’s going on around you, you can still choose calm; you can still choose peace; you can still choose grace; you can still choose love. That is your choice. That is your power. It is important to remember that it is up to you to keep hold of your own ‘steering wheel’ and navigate your own path, knowing that it has been your choice. 😊 Jx P.S. this image is how I prefer to be! | Facebook

Josie Thomson - Have you ever wondered what the key to being really happy is? I have, and I think the answer is quite simple, but not always easy to do, depending on what’s going on in your life from time to time. Could it be in counting our blessings for the good things that we already have? Look around you. Be really present. Can you see what a privilege it is to be alive on this planet right now? We will have days when we feel that everything is not going our way, plans are not turning out as we hoped, and yet there is always at least one thing to hold gratitude for. Whether it’s waking up in the morning in a comfortable bed, or smelling the earth after the rain, feeling the sunshine on your skin, or looking into the eyes of a loved one (including yourself) - life is amazing! How wonderful to be able to pause, breathe, smile, laugh, walk, savour life and love! How wonderful to have something to look forward to tomorrow, and there is always something to look forward to. What we appreciate and hold gratitude for will always increase - it is a law of the universe that what you focus on will appear more in your experience. Have a great day, and look for something new to be grateful for everyday! Jx | Facebook