Never say that someone held you back from becoming who you want to be. They can only try to hinder your steps ‘cos the only person you become is the person that you choose to be.
♦
Category: My Thinking Corner
Renew Like An Eagle – My Thinking Corner
When one clocks 40, the tendency is to have mixed feelings; the good feeling of coming of age and the silent panic at the thought of growing older.
The year my age clock ticked forty and passed it, I could try to tell you that I didn’t care less at that point in time, but if the truth is told, I had pressure on my mind to just go after my dreams without delay. I felt that I had been held back by incidents of life, however, it was still up to me to change things and make the life that I want for myself. Call me slow, but it’s taken me 40+ years to figure a number of things out.
Now that my knees are acting as though they belong to someone else – I must say I no longer feel so spritely and each day I am reminded that I no longer have the luxury of being in my twenty’s. Some of us are able to get all their ducks in a row early in life, whilst some of us have our boats battered by the winds, pushed off course as we row as hard as we can to keep it from capsizing. The great thing is that if we keep going we will surely get to the shore.
In seeking ways on how to generate a better lifestyle for myself and to find out if the cliché ‘life begins at forty’ holds some truth, I remember the Bible passage: Isaiah 40:31
But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
I did a little read up on Eagles and learned that Bald Eagles go through a process of transformation at 40. They make a life-changing decision not to give in easily to the strictures of aging but it strategically breaks off its beak and rips off its feathers in order to grow new ones. This excruciatingly painful procedure takes solid 5 months of risk and hunger but extends the eagle’s life by another glorious stretch of 30 years.
It’s said that the eagle has only two options: to make these changes or to die and this brings me to my question: what are your options?
- What are those crucial decisions that you need to make?
- What are those dreams that you need to hunker down and pursue with every ounce of breath in you?
- What are those lifestyle changes that you must make to give your body a fighting chance to go the long haul?
Are you going to brave up and renew your strength like an Eagle or are you just going to roll up your mat and whine about everything going on in your life?
Remember, that the energy of silent panic can be turned into something positive.
Be at peace.
Jacqueline
Bring The Sunshine With You – My Thinking Corner
Kindness is a gift that gives back. When you extend a kind hand to others, you extend it to yourself – Jacqueline
Today, look for little opportunities to be considerate to others. If you are driving, allow others to enter the traffic queue. If at work, ask a colleague who looks stressed if they need your help.
Remember that though we all want to change the world, we first have to initiate little changes around us. If there is any kindness that you can show or something good you can do for any fellow being, do it as you may not meet that person again.
Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves. ~ James Matthew Barrie
Check out my latest book ‘Unbridled.’
Shaping The Mind – My Thinking Corner
When our mind is calm, our path looks clearer.
In truth, when we make joy, prayer, giving thanks and kindness a way of life, we are able to handle life’s troubles with more courage, grace and inner peace that surpasses understanding. We are able to share and uplift those around us from a cup of fruitfulness.
This is not just from the mere standpoint of being a Christain and being in touch with yourself spiritually. Just as the powers of one’s body can be made stronger through gymnastics, exercises and healthy eating, the powers of the mind grow in strength and vigour from the training that it receives.
I can’t count how many times that my mind has strayed to things that don’t edify nor enrich my life, but I’ve also learnt to train it to identify triggers and tell it to stop. It may take time, but it’s possible.
In order to train our minds, we don’t need to wait till we can afford to pay gym subscriptions or for perfect conditions before we can start to practice. The power to transform our circumstance whether good or bad is within our grasp. Start today.
Jacqueline
Now Available
Accepting Change…My Thinking Corner
When we keep accepting things that we can’t change, we’ll probably end up accepting everything because, at face value, everything that we need to change requires some measure of effort.
Once something presents a bit of challenge, most times, the natural inclination is to decide that it’s difficult and stressful, then we decide to avoid the challenge and settle into accepting the status quo. This doesn’t take away the problem that we have, rather it simply adds it to an ever-growing list of things left untackled.
‘Can’t’ is a strong operative word that changes the dynamics of how we view things and our ability to give it our best shot.
Just taking away that little letter ‘t’ and leaving it at ‘can’ stimulate the psyche. Saying I can, I will and I need to make the necessary adjustments to change a circumstance shifts our mindset and perspective. We find ourselves looking for all the possible approaches to a resolution to our challenges. Sometimes, the resolution might not be tangible but primarily a changed state of the mind.
This post from Lady Cee on expectations – a somewhat juxtaposition to my own thoughts above – is one that I would recommend for those looking for inspiration and self-help instruction regarding achieving their dreams. Lots of food for thought.
“You can’t predict the future. What you can do is let go of the baggage of your past and move forward without expectations.” Jason Harvey
My Thinking Corner…
Negativity only breeds more of its kind
Have you noticed that once your train of thought goes off on a negative tangent, it simply sets the ball of negative emotions, reactions and mindset rolling fast downhill and at the end of the day, all these feedback is internalized, that it takes extra effort to rid ourselves of what that has become embedded in our psyche.
Learn to identify and isolate these thoughts. It may require digging deeper into your mind and possibly journalling. You might discover that over the years you’ve got a build up in your negative bank which needs to be addressed.
Unlearning this is like learning anything new. Start paying attention to your language and internal chatter and eliminate those negative absolutes from your thinking pattern. When your mind trails off, bring it back on track with positive affirmations.
Remember that we can’t give what we don’t have and what we let into our mind every day has a big effect on us. So, it’s time to start questioning what you allow in.
Check out my latest book ‘Unbridled.’
Growing Happiness – My Thinking Corner
Don’t go chasing to harvest happiness from afar when you haven’t even bothered to plant and water it where you are. Jacqueline
Your happiness is always where you kept it. It’s not acquired through materialism and it’s not what happens to you.
It may be absent on some days when the going is rough, but always know that it’s there in the midst of chaos, pain, sadness, failure, success, peace and all the ups and downs of life.
We harp so much on happiness that sometimes this sells the idea that we have to be in a euphoric state, floating and gliding through life that those who don’t feel that way are left wondering if something is wrong and a cycle to buy happiness commences which only leaves the purchaser shortchanged.
Accepting that it’s okay to be just okay is a key to contentment.
Growing your happiness will never be a destination that you get to and all of a sudden everything is just as perfect as you want it, but a mindset that you build from within and know that despite every situation you will remain in charge of your state of being.
Jacqueline
Please, do check out my new book ‘Unbridled,’ now available on Amazon. Your reviews will be most appreciated.
My Latest Book is in Town. Grab a copy on Amazon.
Available in paperback on Amazon. Check This Link
You can watch the trailer below
Give Yourself Permission – My Thinking Corner
Give yourself the permission to press the reset button. That’s the spirit of creating abundance in your life. There’s no limitation to the number of times you can restart.
The tendency for a lot of people is that when they fail in something a couple of times, they automatically switch off trying. Every attempt to move forward is held back by the memories of failed attempts and some part of our ego as well.
Sometimes, greatness is not about how high up you get, but how low and humble you can become to rise to where you need to be and part of having the abundance mindset is knowing that the harder you fall, the more rebound you have when you give yourself the permission to reset that button and restart.
Remember, the only one counting is you.
© Jacqueline
My Thinking Corner…
You truly can’t afford the cost of staying at the bottom. That space is overcrowded. Crawl, climb, jump, keep moving in any way that you can, but just get out of there.
The problem with staying stuck at the bottom of the barrel is that there are far too many enablers who are willing to keep you company and even provide some background music to your whining.
If you want to change your direction and growth, you have to lead yourself out of that confined space. It may mean losing your backup singers but know that the orchestra sounds better the higher you go.
Saying that our destiny lies in our hands may be clichéd but nonetheless true.
Lots of times, the odds would be stacked heavily against us at the bottom, however, we mustn’t keep our eyes on the stumbling blocks in our path, but on our aspired destination and keep pushing.
An inspiring post ‘subscribe to your successful self’ from Lady Cee is a great read that buttresses these points.
Jacqueline
My Thinking Corner… Your Standards
When we lower our standards to trash, we simply succeed in putting ourselves in the trash can. Stand tall
It’s amazing how many people go through life without any personal standards or with standards as fickle as the wind.
They never know where they stand at each point in life and a life of anything goes is what it is…anything goes, that way they don’t even know when nothing is going.
When you keep lowering your standards, you keep going downhill but when you raise them you rise with them.
Be mindful of accepting every nonsense dished out there because of the fear of being politically incorrect or being labeled as a hater.
Not everyone will meet your standards neither will you meet everyone’s standard and that’s absolutely fine.
© Jacqueline
a cooking pot and twisted tales 