Thought For Today - November
 

Being A Grown-Up

Grow up! Well, what does being a grown-up mean to you? Emotional maturity, wisdom, being responsible for your actions, following through on your commitments....

Does being a grown-up mean giving up being childlike? Do you feel like a grown-up? Or do you feel like you have a lot of growing up still to do?

React or Respond?

When our buttons are pressed, we often react. But we can, if we want, respond instead. Respond rather than react, to make a situation better and come out better off.

If you want to respond, pause before you react. Pause to understand, then calm your reaction and choose your response. Are you reacting or responding?

While the Kettle Boils

While you're waiting for the kettle to boil, what do you do? There are so many different things we could do, in those precious few minutes. Here's a suggestion: do a mini workout.

While the kettle boils, you can jog on the spot or do jumping jacks, or you can do tension relieving stretches. What will you do while the kettle boils?

Before You Help Others

We've all heard the flight attendant say, "Put your oxygen mask on first, before helping others." When we help ourselves first, the help we give others will be more helpful and empowering.

Help yourself by not neglecting yourself. Honor your health, time and energy. Nurture what matters to you and help yourself to grow and thrive.

How will you help yourself before you help others?

November 5

Expressing Feelings

How are you feeling? What are you feeling? Often we’re a little out of touch with our feelings and not able to articulate them.

How about getting in touch with your feelings and expressing them? If you can’t do it verbally, do it creatively. Paint and give shape and color to your feelings. Draw, doodle, scribble, sketch or write a poem.

Express your feelings in a healthy way and increase your capacity to understand yourself, other people and situations.

November 6

Feel Like Running Away?

When you're going through a difficult situation and feel like running away from it all, replace run-a-way with runway.

Use the difficult situation as a runway to take a leap of faith in yourself and in life. Take off and face the situation or move towards creating positive change.

'L' before earn

Do you go to work to earn? How about, adding the letter 'L' in front of earn, and learn as you earn.

No matter how skilled or confident you are in your work, there's always more to improve and learn. Keep learning, and every time you learn, you earn. You earn new skills, experience, understanding, and improve the way you work.

Just remember to keep the ‘L’ in front of earn.

Don't Take It Personally

"Don't take it personally," how often have you heard this? When you don't take things personally, you are better able to protect yourself from feeling: hurt, disappointed, let down... So be more thick skinned and let things roll off you, like water off a duck’s back.

Remember, it's not all about you, so don't take things personally. But it is about ‘you’, isn't it, because it is your life and your feelings, and so it will always be personal. Take things personally or not?

Capturing and Organizing Ideas

Ideas can pop up anytime, anywhere. Now, you don't expect yourself to remember everything, do you? Capture the idea on paper or on your phone, and your mind is then free to expand on the idea.

But not every idea is going to be good, so you may want to filter the ideas and only keep the best ones. And, not all ideas need to be turned into action right away, right? Organize the ideas to create an idea bank, in a format that’s accessible and easy to refer to later.

How do you capture and organize ideas?

Blessings to Give

We are blessed and we have blessings to give. Count your blessings and give blessings.

Blessings are thoughts filled with great love and kindness, and they can travel long distances. So generously and freely give blessings. Give blessings to people you love, as well as to people you don't get along with. Give blessings and the blessings come through you first, so you become blessed in the process. Bless and be blessed.

Resilience through Humor

Humor not only makes you light hearted but it also makes you more resilient. How? Well, humor helps you to stop blowing things out of proportion, find the funny lining in a situation, and put things in perspective. This enables you to stress less and handle the situation the best way you can.

To be less stressed and more resilient, bring more humor into your life.

November 12

Re-contact and Reconnect

As life happens, it's all too easy to lose touch with old friends. So, if you've been meaning to reconnect with someone you've lost touch with, procrastinate no more. Today, re-contact an old friend.

Send an email, a text, a card or a Facebook message. Or simply pick up the phone and give them a call. Get in touch and reconnect. It'll make you feel good and you may just make their day.

November 13

Being An Ambassador

Be an ambassador of life. Faultlessly polite and dignified. Building bridges and forging connections. Always interested, never bored.

You may not be an ambassador of a country, corporation, or a brand, but you do represent the human race and you're always representing yourself. Be an ambassador of humanity. Be an ambassador of you.

Fix it or Declutter it

Do you have things that are lying around broken, waiting to be fixed? Well, if it's not being used, it's not useful, it's just clutter, taking up space and draining your energy unnecessarily.

This week, look for things that need fixing, from clothes to appliances. Fix and repair things, if you can’t, find someone who can. And if it's not worth the time or money, recycle or throw it away. Declutter and breathe, and relax

Needs vs Being Needy

Can you recognize the difference between having needs and being needy?

Recognize what your needs are, and how to get better at a) honoring your needs, and b) communicating your needs to others.

Realize when and how you are being needy, and how to get better at a) becoming more self reliant, and b) considering the needs of others.

Do You Have a Plan B?

Having a plan B is smart and sensible. However it’s not possible to have a backup plan for everything because it takes time to a) consider what might go wrong, and b) plan for every potential problem.

When you’re making other plans, you take your commitment and focus away from Plan A. Whereas when there's only one plan, there’s determination and motivation to make it happen; you’re not tempted to give up when it gets tough.

Plan B: to have or not to have?

Who Am I?

Have you asked yourself one of the biggest questions out there? Who am I?

So how would you define yourself? Through your personality, your profession, the roles you play, the groups or communities you belong to? Are you more than this? Can you come up with a definitive answer to “Who am I?”

Pace Yourself

Do you live your day at full speed? No wonder, you're completely exhausted by the end of the day!

Why not set a healthy and sustainable pace for yourself, so that you're able to maintain your energy through the day. Then you may even conserve your energy for when you really need it. Pace yourself and instead of feeling exhausted, you might get through to the end of the day feeling like a human being!

November 19

Put On The Spot

Sometimes we’re put on the spot with unexpected questions. Sometimes people ask questions with a positive interest and intention, and sometimes not.

Next time you’re put on the spot, here’s a trick you can use: ask questions. You can say: That’s a good question, what do you think? Ask for the question to be repeated or repeat the question yourself. Ask for clarification or just start asking lots of questions of your own.

Asking questions will not only give you a bit more time to think, but it will also give you a little more input over the direction the conversation takes.

November 20

Get Creative

When your creativity feels ‘boxed in’, try this: release your inner child and let yourself go. Get imaginative and make mundane chores fun. Get curious and see things with wonder. Get outside the box to find solutions.

And if you've started preparing for Christmas, find creative ways to make your own cards and wrap gifts.

The Procrastinator in You

Have you been procrastinating lately? There are times when procrastination is definitely not a good thing, and there are times when procrastination can be a good thing. How? Procrastination can keep you from doing things that are irrelevant, and so, you save time.

This week, look at what you've been procrastinating about and decide whether to do things as soon as possible, or continue to procrastinate because the procrastinator in you knows best.

Ways to Be Like a Tree

Want to be inspired by trees? Well, like a tree:
1. You are unique, so dare to be different, and stand tall.
2. You have the strength to weather life's storms and stand strong.
3. Know when to drop and let go of all that is no longer essential.
4. Stay rooted in your values and root for everyone.
5. Your presence refreshes others and provides support.
6. Just keep growing, no matter what.

Are you Conscious of your Subconscious?

Your subconscious stores memories, it records everything you’ve seen, heard and experienced. It influences your attitude and actions, and gives you insights and solutions. It's probably talking to you right now, and you don’t even realize it!

So if you want to understand how your subconscious influences you, try and become more conscious of your subconscious.

Communicating with Emojis

Do you love using emojis in your messages? If you have a tendency to go a little emoji crazy, you may want to rein it in a little and be more mindful of when, how and which emojis to use.

Try to avoid replacing words with emojis, as communicating through words has its place. But do use emojis to infuse your messages with personality, fun and an emotional tone. And as emojis transcend language barriers, finally, we have a global language.

Live Like You Drive

Do you live like you drive? Do you know where you are going? Which route will you choose; the shortest, fastest route or the most scenic route?

When there are unexpected diversions or when you feel lost in life, use your sat nav, your intuition to get back on track, or ask other people for directions.

As you pay attention to all the different things happening around you, remember to stay focused on where you are going and, enjoy the journey.

November 26

Give Thanks, Be Grateful

Gratitude is a wonderful habit. So, why not infuse more of this habit into your life. How? Keep a gratitude journal. Daily or a weekly, list several things you’re thankful for.

Give thanks to your body for everything it allows you to do. Give thanks to water. Be thankful for not just the good things but also the big problems and the little petty annoyances.

Feel grateful and it'll make you happier, hopeful and healthier.

November 27

Drinking Guilt-tea

Do you drink guilt-tea? The next time you find yourself sipping the guilt-tea, stop savoring it. Instead, use that taste of guilt to look at what's not right. Understand where the guilt is coming from and what you will do about it.

Come on, be kind to yourself, stop feeling guilty and try some new teas instead.

Paper Tigers

Fear is scary, it's like a tiger in our path that blocks the way forward. But most often, fear is like a paper tiger. It only looks formidable and ferocious because we've made such a big deal out of it. In reality, it's not real, it's only made of paper.

The next time fear blocks your way, see if it’s real. If it is, then step back from the potential risk. But if your fear is not based in reality, see it as a paper tiger, and this will make it easier for you to conquer the fear and move forward.

Put Your Phone Away

How often do you find yourself paying more attention to your phone than the people around you?

If it's during a one to one conversation or even when you're in a big group, during a meal or when you're just spending time with others, curb that impulse to check your phone. If someone really needs you, the phone will ring.

Come on, don't be rude, be respectful and put your phone away. Give the people you are with your full and undivided attention.

Your Inner Sanctuary

When life gets a little crazy, we need a sanctuary to escape to. Create an inner sanctuary in your mind. Imagine a place where you feel most at ease & at peace. It can be anywhere, real or imagined, sunny or rainy, warm or cold. Imagine the visual details, the colors, the sounds, & make it exactly how you want it to be.

Then, whenever you need to escape, take a moment to retreat into your inner sanctuary. Release the tension, dissolve the anxieties & allow your mind to relax & enjoy.

That was an awesome reading, when you work hard on plan A, you don't have to concentrate hard that on a plan B.

I am child of God, beautifully made, to do His well and not mines.