All around the world today, every human being is in one of these two lifestyles: Thriving or Crisis Living. Where are you living?
It has always been my belief that we choose which lifestyle we want to live in. Whichever one we choose; we get some benefit from the lifestyle.
I also believe the people you let into your “inner circle” play a huge part in what fuels your lifestyle. A steady diet of junk food, negative news, sleepless nights, a day full of dread, worry, and anxiety will keep you stuck in living a life in crisis. You see no hope for the future, much less any happy moments, so “why bother?”
On the other side of the life coin is a “Thriving Life.” Those who actively seek out and choose others who are positive, uplifting, and happy will fill their life tank with the same and radiate that sunshine for others to see.
The question becomes: “Who have you let into your inner circle, and who is whispering in your ear and guiding your thoughts and actions each day? “
Only you can answer this question.
What I have learned over my six decades of living is this, if a person stays in the same boat with the same influencers for life, the person will become a carbon copy of who they are in the boat with for life. If on the other hand, a person is continually reading, growing, staying healthy, letting only those influencers and positive people and messages into one’s life. It is too easy to get sucked in and drown with the nay-sayers.
So again, I ask you, “Who have you let into your inner circle and is whispering in your ear and guiding your thoughts and actions each day? “
Start first thing in the morning. When you wake up, what do you look at, tune into, or pick up? You must begin here.
Before you go to bed at night; What do you check just one more time before you crawl into bed.
Ask yourself: “What actually got better or changed today? Did my checking and rechecking and watching the same thing over and over and with a ramped-up emotional tick each time I am negatively stimulated mentally, raise my negativity, or make me happy?”
You have no doubt heard the saying, “common sense is not common practice.”
Yes, some just want to remain in the doldrums and never come out, endlessly circling in the negative storm which surrounds them. AND, some desperately want to exit the storm of our current crisis and sail into smooth sunny waters, but HOW?
One of the first things you want to do is to find someone who is “THRIVING” during 2020 and ask them what they are doing to THRIVE. If they are a ray of sunshine, they will be happy to tell you. Those who live in the light are always happy to help others escape the darkness and come into the healing light.
Two is when you engage in anything that makes you negative or feel down, stop the activity immediately. Keep a list of these items and do not engage in them tomorrow. Keep adding to your list.
Three, disconnect from news, media, and technology whenever you are not at work from home. You will get sucked in faster than drinking poison.
Four, start going to bed and getting 8 hours of sleep. Your body is desperate for rest and repair. Your body cannot do its proper repairing functions unless you sleep. If you rob yourself of sleep, you rob your body of a vital function. Sleep turns on some 700 health-promoting genes, according to Dr. Daniel Amen.
Five, you and you alone have the power to control how you react to what goes on in your world where you are right now. This is how you become a Thriving person. You do not have to take on the negative responses thrown out by others, even those in your own family. This is how to become a person who is “Crashing.”
Six, if your brain is not healthy, neither will your body, spirit, and heart be healthy. We all tend to default to our snacks and comfort food in times of high stress and anxiety, but do those snacks give you a long-lasting boost of happiness. If you know food and brain chemistry, you know it is only a temporary high with the sugar and salt rush. Then comes the crash. So, clean up your food consumption. It took me a long time to taste the salt in broccoli and lose the chips. We need to retrain our taste buds to the whole, clean foods.
Seven, I must also admit it to me many years to understand that I am 60% water! My brain is 73% water, and my lungs are 83% water. My skin has 64% water, and my muscles and kidneys are 79% water, and my bones are 31% water! So, what can you discern from these percentages? Our bodies need a whole lot of water to function and survive. I learned from Dr. Joel Furhman that when we are feeling hungry, most likely, we are not hungry, but, our bodies are screaming for water. If you will go and drink a glass of water, not a sip, you will feel better almost immediately. If you are feeling mentally in a brain fog, your brain needs water. 73% of my brain is composed of water; if you do not keep it hydrated, it will not function properly.
Eight, as all of us know, you can find a voice, an expert, a person with an agenda, and people who are just looking for their blaze of fame with contradictory opinions on every subject in the world today. When we look for the “truth,” whose truth are we seeking? We will find exactly what we are looking for, and it seems there are no objective people out there, especially today. We each see life from our own experiences and perspective. Does this mean you crawl into a hole and close out the world forever? No, we must each use our discernment to sift the truths from the untruths. We also now have a perfect opportunity to grow mentally, grow spiritually, grow emotionally, develop our skills, learn something for the first time, explore things we have always wondered about, but never taken the time to explore. I am a firm believer that if a person is no longer growing in some area in their life, they are waiting to die. Yes, that is a pretty bold statement, but I believe it is true.
Nine, MOVE. You will stiffen up, and inflammation will haunt you for years to come if you stay on the couch or sit in the chair in front of the computer. Stand up. Open the door, walk out into the yard, or the balcony, or lean out the window if you are an apartment dweller. Just look around and admire what is outside your four walls. Turn on your favorite tunes and dance up a storm. No one is watching, and even if they are, they will love watching your energy, and you will get an added bonus of getting your body and blood moving. A good rule of thumb is if you sit for 45 minutes, whether it is working or watching something, get up and move for 15. Go to the bathroom, get a big glass of water, open the door go out. Literally, everything can be put on “pause,” and you can come back. If you love yoga, get down and stretch. If your back is killing you, stand for a while, change chairs, move your computer, stretch it out, have someone massage your back. Get your kids and get outside. They know how to move and play. Just ask!
Ten, LAUGH, HAVE FUN and engage in the positive side of life again. If you love being sad, then I feel sorry for you. Laughing releases endorphins in your body, and they, in turn, make you happy. Do something that makes you smile—Facetime someone who will give your spirits a lift.
At the end of the day, pray, and count your blessings. It does not matter what faith you follow or even if you are of no faith. You were blessed today with some amazing things, start counting them, and you will drift off to sleep.
I’d like to hear from you!
Janice Bastani Coaching offers customized solutions for you and your team to resource and equips you to be a “Great Leader.” When you are ready, we are here to help, send an email to begin the process: janice@janicebastanicoaching.com .
Visit my website at:
www.janicebastanicoaching.com or www.johnmaxwellgroup.com/janicebastani
