I Am What I Choose to Become

Life is all about choices, isn't it? We can choose to be happy, and we can choose to be miserable and we can choose to let things stress us out. Carl Jung said, "I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become". You've surely heard the phrase, "the glass is half full not half empty". It is our perception of things that gets us through the day and makes our life full of health, happiness and fulfillment. Here's how to grab your share.

• Let go of the garbage. I'm not saying your daily commitments and your responsibilities. Get rid of all that negative energy and carrying other people's problems around on your heart and in your head. Have you recently had a falling out with a friend? Just call and apologize and move on. Don't hold a grudge. Get things out in the open and deal with them and move on. You also can't worry about every little thing that is wrong with the world today either. You have to have faith that God or a higher power is taking care of things, in a way that we can't even begin to understand and that this is just a small part of our journey. You'll never figure it all out. Let it go.

• Take it step by step. You've heard this before. If you are faced with a monumentous task or there is some project that just seems daunting, identify the steps you need to do to get it done. Focus on the first task. When you're done with that, go on to the next step. This will break any mountain down into a molehill and make it more manageable to complete.

• You are the star in your life, so act like it. You are not a bystander in your life. Be the "do-er" and not the"do-ee". Don't let things happen to you. You make them happen. You take the initiative before someone else does.

• You need to reward yourself. Life is not all work, and you do deserve a break, okay? Do something you like to do and not what everyone else likes to do. Go out to a movie or to a restaurant of your choosing. Do something you find fun. It'll re-energize you.
  

• Is this really going to matter when I die? What I mean by this is, are you giving certain things more importance than they should be getting? Does it really matter in the big scope of things? Think about it before you stress over it.

• Stop what you're doing and take a break. Just put everything down and walk outside, get a breathe of fresh air or take a walk down the hallway. Do something different and then go back to the task at hand.

• Set time aside to wind down. Work at whatever it is you have to do, but do set time aside in your schedule to unwind before you start the next big task or get to bed. You want a clear head and a fresh outlook. Make this a part of your daily ritual, like brushing your teeth. Some folks exercise, others meditate or take in their favorite TV show. Obviously, doing something physical can be very rewarding in more ways than one, but as you see, there are choices here. When was the last time you worked on your favorite craft project?

• Don't let housework define you. This is mostly for you stay-at-home moms. Before I became enlightened, I didn't allow myself to relax or have a lot of fun because there was always some chore around the house that needed to be done. As soon as I realized that housework was not something to get done but something to get managed, a whole new world opened up to me. I chose to be more than "just a housewife and a mom". Find out more on how to do this in Housework doesn't always equaly drudgery.
  

Hopefully, I've given you some ideas to get you started. Think about these things from the moment you get up. You can choose to be in a foul or stressed out mood or you can choose not to. You are a person with countless potential, and I want you to succeed in life. If you don't see yourself as such, take the opportunity now, to close that book from the past and just start a new one..on a fresh page. You are worthy, and this is your life!