Positive thinking

In my last blog I mentioned a few books that I have used recently – ‘Chaos to calm’, ‘Get your shit together’ and ‘What would unicorn do?’. One that I didn’t mention, and I am sure most of you have heard of, or maybe even seen the movie, is ‘The Secret’.

The Secret, if you are not aware of it, is based on the law of attraction. It claims that your thoughts can change the world directly. This is a big claim you might say. Read on and I’ll tell you how it helped me.

This book came into my life during another period of ‘road works’ that I was going through in 2010. I was between jobs and wondering if HR was the right career path for me. I retrained and got qualified to be a massage therapist. I loved massaging but found that it was very demanding on me physically and mentally.  It also didn’t pay enough to cover the bills. Eventually I found another HR job and I did the occasional massage at nights or on the weekends.

Anyway, I digress, you may be wondering why I am mentioning ‘The Secret’? One of the things I took from this book is that your mind is indeed a very powerful tool, that everyone is able to tap into. If you are always thinking that everything is going bad for you, then it likely is. Some people would probably call that karma, you reap what you sow.

There is one particular thought that I use quite a bit, mainly when I think that I might be getting sick. I repeat a little mantra over in my head. “I have perfect health, I have perfect health, I have perfect health, I have perfect health” etc for about 20 times. And every time I have the thought ‘I don’t feel well’, I repeat the mantra. Nine times out of ten the next morning I wake up feeling fine. The idea is that if you think you are getting sick, then you are quite likely going to get sick. Sounds a little unreal eh? I dare you to try it next time you have a niggly sore throat.

I suppose in a nut shell what you are really doing is turning a negative thought into a positive one. Another example is, if you say that you can’t do something, then of course you are less likely to be able to do that. Change the thought to say yes I can do that pull up, or write a blog or achieve whatever it is your heart desires, then you are more likely to achieve it.

Unfortunately, I no longer have my copy of ‘The Secret’ – I loaned it out to someone else who needed it. I hope they got something out of it the way I did.

Bring on the positive thoughts and the world will be a better place.

Life lessons

Quite a number of years ago I went through a marriage breakup. As you would predict this was quite a turbulent time in my life. I tried counselling, but this was not the best avenue for me and my beliefs. At the same time I had been seeing a lovely lady to help with my back, which had been playing up due to the stress of the breakup.

This lady was not a chiropractor or an osteopath, she works with energies and uses kinesiology to help an individual heal.

There was one session which I have never forgotten, and it resonates with me on a regular basis. I was lying on her table and she said the following:

‘At this time of your life you are going through some road works. There is a person at those road works with a stop go sign. You are that person. You are the only one who can choose whether you will get through those road works or not.’

Whenever I or a friend are going through a hard time I remember this and share the story.

We make choices everyday of our lives. And what we choose determines our next steps. We can’t blame anyone else for the outcome, we must live with the choice.

I was having a discussion with a good friend of mine recently and the topic of the past came up. He said that we shouldn’t dwell on the past but use it to learn and make better choices for the future. I completely agree. Although sometimes it is a hard pill to swallow.

It is interesting when you are going through the ‘road works’ to see what turns up. What I mean by this is, who are your good friends, the ones that you can lean on and will always be there for you. Who will listen, but not make judgement. The books that appear – a few good ones for me lately have been ‘Chaos to Calm’, ‘What would unicorn do?’ and ‘Get your shit together’. Or the opportunities that are available, good workouts, events that you would normally say no to, but you know that you should leave the house.

It is very tempting to hide away from the world and all the chaos that your choices have made. But it is more important to learn from those choices and understand that these road works are temporary. You can get through them, change that stop go sign to go!

My first blog

Hi,

Blogging is a new thing for me, not even sure I know what to say, or even if it is worth reading but here goes…

I am currently 50 years old and have decided to make a change in my life. You could call it a mid-life crisis, I suppose? For the last 14 years I have worked as an HR professional. Providing advice to managers on any number of issues and helping them achieve their business goals.

A ll during this time and probably earlier, I have enjoyed working out and getting to know my body, how it works and what is good and not good for it. I have also given advice (wanted and unwanted) to friends and family on what is good and not good for them.

I have put my body through countless diets, you name it I have probably done it. This started way back in my teens, from the hip and thigh diet, weight watchers, Jenny Craig, Keto to Paleo etc etc – all to gain back the weight again and again. 

So, what has changed you ask? Good question! I have come to accept my body for what it is. It keeps my bum off the ground, I can lift weights, I can run, swim, do handstands and cartwheels. It’s not a model’s body by any stretch of the imagination and I still don’t like looking at photos of myself (it contorts my internal image of myself). If you understand BMI ranges, then I would be considered overweight, but I am not huge by any stretch of the imagination. All my bits work, and they haven’t always, so I am grateful for that now.

What am I going to do now? I will probably still work in HR for a bit and in the meantime, I am going to gain a qualification that will give me the credentials to back up and enable me to charge for that advice.

In addition to that I earlier this year I gained my Level 1 certificate as a Crossfit trainer. I really enjoyed what I learnt through the study and the weekend of hands on practice. I am currently putting that learning into practice at FRF in Lyall Bay, Wellington.

 So that’s it for now, more to come soon.

The Journey Begins

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton