How to Create Stability in Our Lives

By Aldo Marconi 

How do we create the environment of stability? Especially if our lives have been wracked by upheaval and chaos? Everyone has their challenges, the waves of the sea are always churning and some storms are more destructive than others. Some waves are just hitting the shores with negligible damage and are enjoyable to watch and listen to on the beach, while others can be an outright disaster when they build up to the level of a tsunami and obliterate everything you have worked for in the blink of an eye.
Clearly, the objects, people, that are most firmly anchored, have the best chance of surviving and thriving despite the crashing sea.
We have to learn how to drop anchor. We have to create stability by being stable, by repeating certain habits till they become part of our daily routine and anchor us in a meaningful (for us) and positive way.
Most people would agree that smoking is definitely a habit, but not much of a positive one, nor an effective anchor because it continues to damage the ship (your body) while a true anchor protects the ship from being destroyed by the wild nature of the ocean.
And no offense to those who are already ensconced in this habit, because I still have plenty of my own damaging routines which have been built up over the years, but I am adamant to do my best to replace them with good anchors that preserve the ship for the journey.
Find an anchor, find one activity which is healthy for your body, mind and spirit and keep at it. Try to keep at it even when you are faced with challenges, perhaps you will not be as tranquil in your mind, but this activity will help to anchor you and get you through the waves when they rise up to the level of a storm as we know will happen one time or another in life.
Without firm boundaries and anchors, nothing really has any form. Without walls, there can be no home and without walls, there can be no pool, so building boundaries, is a good thing, whether it be for a vineyard or for a house, that is the way to establish your place and your domain in your world.
So, perhaps you already have all of your anchors lined up. And that is great. This idea though has been somewhat new to me, maybe not in terms of understanding it conceptually, but from experiencing it in practice
Over the last year now, I have been building anchors so to speak, despite my inbred nature of depression, whether it be genetic or learned, it has been my nature for many years but I have been pushing against that wave through volunteering, going to school, studying for a new career and now swimming. Those are all good anchors that have been good for the ship to stay a course of helping others and myself.
I do not think it matters whichever one a person might choose, whatever type of anchor it is, as long as it is one that you enjoy and that you do your best to commit to. Maybe it is music, maybe art, maybe a specific field (there is that field again, remember the vineyard) that you work in, maybe it is volunteering, mentoring, working out, you pick it, but at least get one that can serve as a strong anchor.
We do see this concept in nature, our solar system revolving around the pull of the sun, our own bodies, held close to the earth by gravity, our personal lives, which have probably revolved around the relationships with less than ten people, whether they have been great relationships and whether they have been stormy, the point is to start today to enhance the good anchors in our lives. And if we do not have any, pick at least one to start with and build from there.
I see an incremental improvement in most areas of my life because I have dropped some powerful anchors to protect the ship. There is no perfection, just trying to keep making progress and having these anchors is definitely contributing to staying a productive course.
The ocean is always there and the waves keep coming and there is really no escaping from storms now and then, but at least we can do our best to preserve ourselves for the journey, avoid shipwrecks so we are free to enjoy the ocean and sail another day.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6460352

How You Can Learn to Create Your Own Affirmations

By Kevin Sinclair 

Affirmations are effective tools that anyone can utilize so as to have a life they dream of having.
What are affirmations?
Simply put affirmations are positive statements that you say aloud and regularly. The objective is to re-program your subconscious mind so as to be able to remove negative thoughts which keep you from reaching your dreams.
Essentially they operate by overwriting with positive thoughts the negative ones that we keep stored in our subconscious mind.
What are the Benefits of Affirmations?
Each of us has mental recordings that replay in our minds over and over again. Many of them can be traced back to when we were children and they have been responsible for the action we have taken throughout our lives. Sadly, most of these old recordings are actually feeding our minds with nothing but negativity.
While these negative recordings do not always result from the direct statements of others, they are rather more general and we grow to believe them as applicable to our situation and with regards to ourselves.
For instance, if your parents used to often warn you about strangers you will probably have developed the mind-set that the world is a dangerous place. Those who come from financially secure families may exhibit limited beliefs when it comes to their own finances which actually hinder them in either attaining wealth or keeping it when they have it.
But there is good news! You can actually override these destructive messages by using the power of positive affirmations! They will reinforce the good behaviors while at the same time changing those that need to be changed. But to be able to make the changes you have to have affirmations that you identify with because that is how they are able to aid you in improvement.
What should you remember about creating effective affirmations?
1. Affirmations must be in the present tense. Our subconscious minds do not possess the ability to accept a promise of future behavior. "I will eat healthy food" will not allow your subconscious to identify a timeline or deadline for you to honor this promise to yourself.
Your affirmation must be said as though this is something you are already exhibiting, for example: "I always choose healthy food". This is in the present tense and your subconscious is then able to accept it as fact.
2. In order for affirmations to be effective they must be in the first person. So you can't say: "You must eat healthily". Instead your affirmation must be begun with "I" otherwise it simply won't matter to your subconscious.
"I will choose to eat healthy food" is an example of a personal, first person statement that your subconscious can apply to your own behavior.
3. Lastly, an affirmation must be said positively. "I must cease to eat junk food" doesn't send your subconscious mind a clear message and therefore it can just as easily be interpreted as: "I eat junk food". Rather than leading you in the direction of your goal it will do the opposite.
Rather, "I choose fresh, healthy snacks whenever I am hungry" is a better affirmation because it is positive in nature and lets your mind know precisely what behavior is desired.
How do you Use Affirmations?
To start with choose affirmations that are short and clear and pertain to those things that you want to see transpire in your life.
Here are some examples you could try out:
- I enjoy exercising daily.
- I enjoy nutritious and fresh foods in healthy portions.
- When I no longer desire to smoke I am able to breathe clean and fresh air.
- I have what I need in order to be both content and happy today.
Another method is to write you affirmations down and keep them with you where you can get to them with ease. When you have a few moments to spare you can take them out and read them aloud to yourself.
Make sure that when you say your affirmations you do so in a firm and pleasant voice, smile while you say them. This will help you to be more aware of positive vibrations that are part and parcel of the affirmation and so therefore enable them to have easier access to your subconscious.
When you use positive affirmations each and every day you are able to enjoy the benefits that come as a result such as boosting the positives in your life. Begin using these wonderful tools right now and you will be bringing about the changes you want as well.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6408933

Money, Love and Beliefs

By Si Duncan

There is so much emotion connected with money and just as many opinions, judgments and statements. There are songs, sayings and numerous books on the subject. Money pervades just about everything in our society. It has become one of life's essentials, but what is it exactly? Money is of no use in and of itself, rather it is a root to other things, both material and otherwise. And why do many peo
ple find it so difficult to have and hold onto money whilst for others it flows easily? Like so many things, it comes down to beliefs.
Everyone is brought up with beliefs about money. These beliefs stem from what we hear and see around us, and how we interpret that.
'Money doesn't grow on trees', 'Money doesn't make you happy' or 'Money is the root of all evil' are just 3 of the multitude of negative beliefs that we hear about money. Added into this mix is the fact that we all need money, there are huge industries set up for the sole purpose of making money, there are more get rich schemes that you could count and millions of people die in poverty whilst others have more money than they know what to do with.
It's a very confusing world as far as money is concerned. Or so it seems.
Your relationship with money is entirely dependent on your beliefs about it and about yourself in relation to it. As an example, if you believe, either consciously or subconsciously, that money confers status whilst at the same time believing like so many do, 'I'm not good enough', then you cannot accept money in your life as the two beliefs are contradictory. If money should come to you, somehow you quickly get rid of it.
So how does this work?
You create your reality. What you give out into the world is what comes back to you. That is the 'like attracts like' principle. However what you think you give out may not necessarily match with what you actually give out, and that is where your beliefs come into play. Your beliefs are your overriding energy pattern. They are born of a lifetime of experiences and are ingrained into your subconscious. Every thought you think and every feeling you have has an energy connected with it, and that energy goes out into the world and contributes to forming your reality. So if you think poor or negative thoughts and feel poor or negative feelings then you create a poor reality. Of course the converse is true too, however behind all your thoughts and feelings are your beliefs, so you can affirm positive statements all you like, but if your underlying belief is negative, then negativity in one form or another is what will manifest.
So drop all those beliefs that do not serve you. Stop believing that you're not worthy, stop believing that money is corrupt, stop believing that nobody loves you. They are only beliefs and they're not even yours - most of them came from your parents, school or society. It is time to let go. It is time to start loving every aspect of life, money included.
Most of all, it is time to start loving yourself.
Only when you do this can your life start to turn around. For some this comes in the form of a life transforming epiphany, for most it comes little by little as they uncover the many layers of negative beliefs and replace them with love. Every day and every moment is an opportunity to love life, to change beliefs, to accept love, peace, joy and abundance in all its forms into your life. Change your life now. Connect with the love that is always there by dropping the beliefs that supposedly keep you safe, but which in reality imprison you. Allow your love to show itself and to go out into the world, and gratefully and gleefully accept it when it comes back to you in whatever form. You really are worth it.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6269839

The Power of Belief

Change YOUR Beliefs And You Will Change YOUR World

"What Ever The Mind Can Conceive and Believe, It Can Achieve"
Napoleon Hill