I'm often asked what keeps me so positive, and always motivated in life, especially given the experiences I have been through in the past few years. Daily, I encounter people eager to learn self-discipline, good work-ethic and professionalism from my workshops and published articles. If I have learned anything from life, is that all of us experience it in different ways, and there is no one proven system that works for everyone. Our experiences shape our outlook on life, and guide our way through it. You can go through life complaining, or let gratitude guide you. I choose the latter, and it hasn't failed me yet.
There are a few words that I like to use to encourage power, growth and progress. Use these words often, to expand your worldly experience, and amplify the magnitude of your existence. Make a conscious effort to use these words daily, and you will FEEL expansion in your lungs whenever you say them out loud.
1. Gratitude
Feeling grateful for what you have at the current moment encourages more good to come in to your world. We often become desensitized, and forget that we have so much to be thankful for. It's very easy to fall into the trap set by up the media - daily, we are encouraged to buy, buy, buy unnecessary items we absolutely "need". We are told to hate our "overweight" and "hairy" bodies, change our "big" noses, increase the size of our "flat" chests, when all we really need to do is be grateful for our health, eyesight, hearing, movement, clear thinking, and all the glorious things our bodies are doing for us 24/7!
You may not be feeling your 100% best, but realizing that you have good experiences, an education, health, a roof over your head, food, clean water, family/friends, electricity, a cozy bed, and whatever else you see around you brings a sense of being GROUNDED, and that is something many of us feel we lack, at times.
2. Honor
I love this word and use it often. When you look at your worldly duties from a perspective of privilege and honor, life will become grand, and your self-esteem will reflect it. Don't look at teaching someone as a chore, be honored that someone has trusted you enough to rely on your knowledge. Don't be upset by people cutting you off in traffic or in supermarket lines - take it as your noble doing to let them go through. Being a business owner, or a manager, is a great honor, and carries the responsibility to treat others with respect and understanding. Meeting someone is an "honor", and I like to let them know that by using this exact word.
When my mother got sick, people didn't understand how I completely abandoned my own life to become her sole caregiver, but it was really my HONOR. I'm honored to bring good to people, because it is a noble purpose.
3. Purpose
This is a very important concept, and once you truly "get it", life becomes fulfilling and easy. Your life doesn't have to be a struggle to make ends meet, when you feel a strong urge to engage in a certain type of work or business, give it a go! You will always be able to make a living doing what you feel you were born to do, because your drive will fuel your progress. Something you do exceptionally well doesn't have to stay a hobby- you are always able to create a life around your passion. A person with a sense of purpose has goals, values, and is never bored - there is always something to do! Some people discover their purpose early in life, and some may come to it later, but age is never a factor here, as long as you are perpetually grateful, the years will pass without regrets.
My mother's purpose was her work in skincare, and her beloved business. She started a skincare brand with a laughable $3,000, and was able to turn it into a thriving international corporation. In 2013, mom was diagnosed with Grade 4 glioblastoma (malignant brain tumor) the size of a grapefruit. She bounced back relatively well after the first surgery, although it left her with limited movement and no feeling on the right side of the body. She was a fighter, life was FOR her. All she wanted to do was work out to get her sensation back in her right side, to get back into the office with me and the staff. I invited a physical therapist home daily, and purchased all the necessary equipment for her to use in her spare time - all day she was using Therabands, the recumbent bike, and the treadmill. That woman had a plan, she was needed at work, where she belonged.
A year and a half passed, and she became weak again. She started jumbling up words, and the MRI confirmed our fears - our cancer came back. She had another surgery, and again started to exercise. She wanted to prove everyone wrong and go to work. When the third tumor appeared six months later, it was no longer operable... I knew she would never be able to go back to reading, even walking... the doctors gave us 3 months. She lasted less than 3 weeks from that point, but when even when hospice came in to help me care for her in the last days, I never ONCE have her the idea that she was close to death. Of course, at this point she couldn't talk, eat or move,but she could hear - I know it. I sat next to her 24/7, and told her that she will be ok, and she will finally go to the office, and get work done. I told her we were getting new facial machine prototype samples, and that I was working on new serums. She was holding on to life, even without food or water for the last 5 days, because she had purpose.
If a dying person would hold on to life by a thread, because she has a sense of purpose, why can't you? It's not too late to grab on to life and try your best to live it to the fullest.
I promise, it will all make sense to you once you give it a go. I love you.
