Notice what is Right With Your World

What would happen if you gave your over-exercised problem spotting and problem solving muscle a little break? Instead, use your gratitude binoculars to spot what is working well. You may not realize it right now, submerged in the dark thoughts of the "if only" or the "poor me" or your life, but there are many sun rays to brighten your day. Acknowledge all the things in your life that are going smoothly and even, dare I say it, spectacularly! It is just a matter of looking at your life with a different attitude. Love what is in your life. All of it. And if it is not there, love what can be. Love the possibilities. Feel them intensely as if your future was already here.

If you are anything like me, this will take some practice. (Lot's of practice in my case!) You have to retrain your brain and your heart, day to day, minute to minute. You need to go out in the world seeking the bright spots and intensifying the light they shed so that joy permeates your being. And, you have to catch yourself thinking dark thoughts, the "awfulizing" and all the drama that comes with it. Notice when the negative voice in your head pipes up, and say "thank you for sharing but I am choosing a different thought right now, one that will bring me more happiness." Rayona Sharpnack, a professional coach, with whom I took a one week intensive training course said something that always stuck with me "Your mind is a dangerous neighbourhood, don't go there alone." Your heart and your intuition (which taps into your higher self) are much more reliable sources of wisdom. Just trust what you know with a capital "K". As Oprah would say, "What do you know for sure?"

What I know for sure is that we are meant to be happy and fulfilled. Maybe we have everything we need to be happy already but we just don't see it... On this 10th day of the 10th month of 2010, I invite you to "trade up" your worn old eyeglasses and choose a more high tech pair that can radar in the good things of life. Catch people doing things right. More importantly, catch yourself doing things right. You will be surprised at how much there is to be grateful for!

How about it? Can you resolve to consciously and systematically notice the good things in your life for the next week? Too hard? Start with just one day then. How about today? It is Thanksgiving after all!

May you be happy on this Thanksgiving Day. I leave you with this poem by John O'Donahue.

May you listen to your longing to be free.
May the frames of your belonging be large enough for the dreams of your soul.
May you arise each day with a voice of blessing whispering in your heart
...something good is going to happen to you.
May you find harmony between your soul and your life.
May the mansion of your soul never become a haunted place.
May you know the eternal longing that lies at the heart of time.
May there be kindness in your gaze when you look within.
May you never place walls between the light and yourself.
May you be set free from the prisons of guilt, fear, disappointment and despair.
May you allow the wild beauty of the invisible world to gather you,
mind you, and embrace you in belonging.
- John O'Donahue

The Power of the Mind

I was pleasantly surprised. It was almost noon on a Saturday morning and I was working out in the basement. I turned on the television to keep my mind off the boring repetitions of a weight lifting routine and the pain in my muscles. I happened to stumble on a program called Positive Living. The show is about the power of positive thinking and the attitude of gratitude.

I thought: "How odd it is that this show made it to production and is actually on the air. I wonder how host Aida Memisevic, who is also the producer of the show, made the pitch to the network executives to convince them to invest in this new approach to television. There must be a market for this type of "touchy-feely" show out there (I know that I am their target audience, even though we are in the minority...). Is this a sign that hard wired capitalists and materialists are changing? The age of Aquarius?

I wish I was the one who launched this television show on positive living. It would have brought my two loves together: personal growth and development and entertainment education. Maybe this is a growing market and there is a need for this type of television. I better get started right away on a business plan!

In this episode (#103), Memisevic interviews Debbie Muir, a sports coach best known for her work in synchronized swimming. She coached Olympic medalist Mark Tewksbury, a Canadian from Calgary. Tewksbury burst out of the water at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992 following the come-from-behind victory in the 100 meter backstroke. Going into Barcelona, Tewksbury was ranked fourth in the world and most pundits picked one of the powerful American swimmers to win gold.

Debbie Muir tells us how she helped Tewksbury achieve this goal by using special techniques to help his brain perform better. Physically, Tewksbury was on tract for a win but something was missing in his performance. Muir asked him "what is preventing you from excelling?" Tewksbury admitted that he did not feel he had what it took to beat the American Jeff Rouse, his closest contender. He had never managed to beat him. The coach asked Tewksbury to make a list of the reasons why he thought he could not beat Rouse at the Olympics. He came up with a list of over 60 reasons. Muir and Tewksbury systematically identified ways to surmount each and every one of the items on that list. They also worked on visualization techniques. Tewksbury imagined himself in the water beating Rouse for the gold medal and then standing on the podium, hearing the Canadian anthem playing and the applause of the crowd. And it worked! Debbie Muir's belief is that you get more of what you focus on. Tewksbury was creating a self-fulfilling prophecy by believing that Jeff Rouse was better than him. It was Tewksbury's brain that was a handicap to winning, not his physical ability.

Change your thinking and change your life.

You may not be an Olympic athlete but I bet you have your own personal Olympic feat you would love to accomplish, whether it is in sports or in your professional life or personal life.

• What do you believe about yourself that will help you succeed?
• Are there any beliefs, conscious or unconscious, that may prevent you from trying?
• And if you don't even try how will you succeed?

Imagine you are a coach like Debbie Muir.

• What would you tell yourself?
• What do you need to acknowledge in order to surmount your mental obstacles and unleash your full potential to succeed?