Mar 11, 2011
We recently converted our journals into ebooks and began selling them on
Amazon. It’s such a thrill when we see that they have been purchased – knowing that we are spreading gratitude electronically is a wonderful feeling! I was thinking about this last night before I went to sleep and wondered if there were other websites where we could sell our ebooks as well. I told myself that I would start looking into it in the morning.
Today when I woke up, I checked my email and noticed a new
Twitter follower. I clicked on their profile and guess what? They own a healing ebooks site with a large selection and many subscribers!
Some would call this a coincidence.
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Things like this happen to all of us all of the time.
We just have to be conscious and aware to notice it.
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There is something very empowering about realizing our ability to create the exact life that we want – to bring our dreams into reality. This can be scary at times because we have to take responsibility for our lives. If we believe that we create our own reality, then we realize that if something isn’t working the way we had hoped in our lives it’s because of us. Somehow we brought that situation into our life. And this isn’t always the easiest to hear and process. But it works for the positive parts of our lives, too! If something is working (you have a great job, a wonderful family and friends, high self esteem, etc.) it’s because you attracted it into your life!
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If you would like to start small to see if it really works, then do that.
Think about what you want in your life and what you need to create that life.
Set an intention to attract that into your life.
Be as specific as you can.
Believe it. Feel it. Be open.
And then let it go. Surrender it to your higher self.
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Mar 10, 2011
Do you ever have one of those days where from the moment you wake up you feel that you are being pulled in several different directions, you have more things to do than hours in the day to do them, and you just want to go back to bed, pull the covers over your head, and try it again the next day?
Today is one of those days for me.
Our mantra has always been, “There is no such thing as a journal emergency.”
We both have the tendency to lose perspective of this at times and get caught up in the whirl and spin of orders needing to ship, journals needing to be made, and our customers needing to be put first.
When this happens, our breathing is shallow, our bodies are tight, =&0=&
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If you are feeling at all overwhelmed and stressed and wonder how you will ever get it all done – take a moment today and just breathe. Take a moment and sit with yourself. Remember that you are only given what you can handle. You are only one person and you do everything in the perfect way at the perfect time.
Take a deep breath. And then another one.
And then mindfully go through each task one by one.
Mar 9, 2011
It’s Wednesday, which means it’s time to write a post about gratitude!
Feel free to click here (or below) to learn more about our Gratitude Project.
Okay – now for today’s post:
We can all feel grateful when things are going well in our lives, but can we still be grateful and find the good in the seemingly not-so-good parts, too? That’s where the real soul searching comes in and the challenges begin to surface.
Here is an example to show how this can work:
Imagine that you are in a job you really can’t stand. You get up each morning and begrudgingly get ready for work and make yourself drive there – you know that the work itself isn’t your passion, the people you work with aren’t who you would normally choose to spend your days with, and this is certainly not the vision you had for your life. But you do it day in and day out because you have to pay your bills, right?Sounds pretty hopeless, doesn’t it?
But… take this same situation and imagine seeing it through a lens of gratitude and positivity. Each morning when you wake up you express your gratitude for having a house to wake up in, a job to go to, the security of a paycheck, a car to drive you there. Then when you get there, you express your gratitude for knowing that working at this job brings clarity to you for your future. By seeing what you don’t want to do, you can be more clear about what you do want to do by contrast. And having this knowledge gets you one step closer to living the life you want to live. And that is something to be grateful for! And you can start empathizing with your coworkers and imagine that they might just be in the same boat you’re in – just biding their time and clarifying their vision until they find the courage to take the leap toward pursuing their own passion. And this will make them more relatable to you, which will make the days much more enjoyable.
Can you see the difference?
We choose how we react to every situation in our lives.
And it doesn’t mean that we’re seeing through rose-colored lenses at every given moment, but it can make your life much easier if you begin to show your gratitude for everything around you – even the tough situations where gratitude doesn’t seem easy to find.
Take some time today and think of something that’s not going as well as you would like in your life (your job, relationship, More
Mar 8, 2011
Do you ever wake up from a dream that felt so vivid, so real, and so powerful?
Do you ever feel like it was trying to tell you something – a message from your soul?
Have you ever experienced a dream that turned out to be a premonition?
There are all kinds of dreams – some are merely a processing of the previous day’s events – strewn together in a fun way that only our subconscious can do. And some are more meaningful – these are the ones that you can’t seem to shake from your mind when you wake up. They are so vivid and keep coming back to you throughout the day.
These are the dreams that I would suggest you pay close attention to. I believe that these dreams are your soul’s way of communicating More
Mar 7, 2011
Happy Monday, everyone!
Here is a writing prompt/question from our Journaling Within book:
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Take some time today to think about the question above. It’s a great way to get in touch with yourself and find out what’s going on inside.
Sometimes we aren’t exactly sure what makes us happy – that’s where a Happy List comes in handy.
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- To start, give yourself 15 minutes to sit down and write a list of =&5=& you can think of that makes you happy.
- Be sure not to censor yourself – this is just for you to see. Only write things
MoreMar 6, 2011
If you’re anything like me, your head is usually spinning with lots of ideas, you have started many wonderful projects, and you feel scattered and overwhelmed at times at the prospect of finishing them all.
Because we are currently restructuring our business, I have had a lot of time to really think about how I work – what tends to happen – and how I can be more efficient and finish all of these fun projects.
Following Through
And while thinking about and talking to each other about all of this, Dan and I realized that it’s not so much the actual projects or goals that are the issue here – it’s really about keeping our word to ourselves – following through and finishing what we started. Because each time we do this, =&1=& – we are creating a habit for ourselves where in the future we will just assume that we will finish any project we start because that’s what we do. We know that we will keep our word both to ourselves and to others because we will have a proven track record of doing so.
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I started this blog exactly three weeks ago with the intent to post every day. In the past, blogging was one of the many projects I wanted to start and had every intention of keeping up with but seemed to get put into the pile of unfinished projects. This time it’s different though. I really feel that I have found my niche, and I am committed to following through and keeping my word to myself. A habit is formed after three weeks of performing it regularly – so yay! I now have created a blogging habit. And a wonderful bonus is that I get to write everyday and create this wonderful community with all of you!
Holding Yourself Accountable
Many of us make resolutions each January only to give them up by February. And this can really do a number on our self esteem. We will start to question whether we are truly able to keep our word at all. When future goals come up, we will wonder if we should even commit to anything given our past track record of not following through. This can be extremely detrimental to our own well being, which is why keeping our word to ourself is so crucial.
In our
Commitment Book, we created a simple system that holds each of us accountable for keeping our word. We emphasize that the goal itself isn’t as important as following through on it – it’s just an added bonus.
We suggest to start really small with your first goal – something that you know you can succeed at. That way you will be creating a habit and building yourself up to where you know you will be able to complete any goal you set for yourself in the future.
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Create the habit one goal/project at a time, and you’ll truly be amazed at how good you feel about yourself – and imagine how much lighter you will feel when all of these unfinished projects that have been taking up space in your mind and home are completed!
What do you want to commit to today?
Mar 5, 2011
Every Saturday, we will post a great find that we are excited to share with you all! It may be a book, a fellow blogger, or an artist – something that is inspirational and uplifting – something that we feel great about sharing!
Today’s selection is a book that one of our customers recommended
(thanks, Jen from
Silver Peanut)!
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I have always been a fan of the
Chicken Soup for the Soul series, and I was reintroduced to Jack Canfield when I read
The Secret. He is such a positive person with such great ideas on how we can all live our best lives, so I was really happy to learn about this book. I was happily surprised to see that the coauthors were
Jeanna Gabellini and
Eva Gregory – two wonderful women I have met through Twitter!
(We even took Eva’s course,
Wake Up to the Dream, which I’ll definitely talk about soon.)
Needless to say, I had high hopes for this book and I haven’t been disappointed!
I am actually still reading it, but I couldn’t wait to share it with you! It’s so good that I wanted it to be my first Saturday Selection!
To let you know more about it, here is the book description directly from Amazon:
Do you ever wonder why some people always seem to be at the right place at the right time, enjoying good fortune, health, the ideal mate, happy kids, and achieve more than the average person could ever imagine? Have you wondered what makes them so ‘lucky’ or well connected? People who enjoy a heightened state of living and have their dreams and goals realized to their fullest potential have tapped into one of the oldest and influential principles for living a fulfilled life–the Law of Attraction. Life Lessons for Mastering the Law of Attraction teaches you what you need to know about living the Law of Attraction and how to create your own personal success through its concepts.
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Mar 3, 2011
Life is busy – that’s just the way it is.
We all have so many things to do – so much to keep track of on a daily basis. Many of us tend to be overscheduled, overworked, and overexhausted. We’re just trying to make it all work – make sure we keep up with everything – make sure things don’t unravel.
In a perfect world, there would be a 25th hour every day just so we could rest, take care of ourselves, rejuvenate, relax, and unwind.
But that’s not obviously not going to happen.
This may seem counterintuitive, but taking time for ourselves each day will actually free up more time. It’s true!
When we don’t put fuel in our own tanks, we run around on just fumes – which will eventually run out. By simply taking some time each day to refuel, we will have so much more energy for our family, our job, and our daily lives than before.
Don’t you feel so much better after you pamper yourself a little bit – read a book, watch your favorite show, meditate, exercise, take a long bath, etc.?
We forget sometimes that we are the most important part of any “to do” list. If we aren’t recharged, the list has no chance of getting checked off anyway!
Take some time today to write a Self Care List.
List all of the wonderful things that you can do to pamper yourself.
It can range from small things (such as baking your favorite cookies and eating them while reading a great book) to large things (such as taking a beach trip for a weekend of relaxation).
Once you have your list, put it up somewhere where you will see it frequently. And make sure to do at least one thing on your list each day. Even if it’s just for a few minutes.
I promise you will feel so much better – more recharged – and better able to be an active, vibrant participant in your own life.
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Mar 2, 2011
A writing prompt from our Journaling Further Within book:
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The great part about this question is that the possibilities are truly endless – you have a magic wand, after all! Dream big and really think about how great it would feel to help someone in need!
After you’ve spent some time brainstorming, take some time to write about what you came up with.
And even if you don’t have a magic wand in real life, you can always help someone with what you do have: your words. You can tell someone how much they mean to you today, give someone a compliment, thank someone.
Spread the love today – we all know a little bit of love and gratitude goes a very long way!
