Did You Know You are Worthy?

Did you know you are worthy? Absolutely. Rather, you knew when you were born. Some of us maintained that knowledge for awhile. In contrast, many of us had life experiences that dimmed our knowledge of self worth.

This past week, I made steps toward acceptance of my worthiness. How? Through the investment of beautiful wooden knitting needles and replacement of the inexpensive Walmart needles I was using. These Lykke Driftwood needles allow an ease of knitting that amplifies the calmness knitting brings me.

How Do You Restore Worthiness?

Truly, you have never been without it. Rather, it’s uncovering your inner knowing of your worthiness. This is not an easy, 1-2-3 you’re done, process. In the short list below, I’m linking to my earlier blogs with deeper exploration on some avenues to answer the question, “Did you know you are worthy?”

Let’s Delve a Little Deeper

I’m not going to kid you. This is a process that takes time and commitment. In fact, I suggest you pick only one of the links above to explore. How do you know which one is the best place to start?

  1. Sit comfortably in a place you feel safe
  2. Direct your gaze downward or close your eyes
  3. Breathe in deeply through your nose
  4. Relax your lips and allow the exhale to slowly leave your body
  5. Read the list above, slowly and pause on each one as you connect with the feeling in your body; tingling, warmth, coolness, any other change

Where you felt different in your body while reading one of the linked bullet items is the place to start.

Be Gentle With Yourself

When we have lost the feeling of worthiness we were born with, it can be a slow process to find it again. Remember that each day is a new start. Today you can start a short, 5-minute meditation. Tomorrow you can repeat the same meditation… and then… before you know it… 200 days straight.

5 Tips to Overcome Procrastination

These 5 tips to overcome procrastination are particularly useful during this busy holiday season. Let me know if anything resonates with you in the comments.

A Little Background Understanding

Today as I listened to my daily Ten Percent meditation, The Nature of Thoughts, this quote by Joseph Goldstein, stood out.

When we are not aware of thinking, thoughts often exercise a great power and influence in our lives. And yet when we are mindful of them, we see their ephemeral, insubstantial nature. This understanding allows us to choose which thoughts are useful, should be acted upon, and which are not useful, and should simply be let go of.

This understanding is key to my 5 tips to overcome procrastination. Part of our avoidance of important tasks is the overload of thoughts that distract us.

The 5 Tips

  1. Adopt a daily meditation practice
  2. Find and utilize your motivator
  3. Start with the easiest task
  4. Or start with the most annoying task
  5. Acknowledge your progress

What If I Can’t Get Past Tip #1?

Truly, starting a meditation practice can seem overwhelming. It doesn’t need to be.

  • Sit in a quiet place
  • Cast your gaze downward
  • Inhale deeply through your nose
  • Slowly exhale through your relaxed lips
  • Repeat deep breathing 2 more time

Congratulations! You’ve just started a daily meditation practice.

But How Do I Find My Motivator?

Sometimes we stumble upon what motivates us. Perhaps you’ve been successful previously? Calm your mind with your new meditation practice, recalling all the aspects of that success, especially what motivated you. Generally, we are motivated by outside influences or an aspect within your personality. My blog about finding these personality traits might be useful.

Let’s Wrap This Up

In addition to the 5 tips to overcome procrastination, I’d like to share a final idea as navigate through this holiday season. As you think about wishing someone well, why not make it something more specific like, Thank you for…

Sitting out here accepting my donation for the kettle

May you be filled with love this December!

How to Grow Your Resilience

How to grow your resilience comes from many sources including an innate ability. We don’t often hear the word resilience. A Google search results in this definition for resilience – the capacity to recover from difficult circumstances or simply toughness.
In addition, it involves:

  • Connecting to a positive attitude
  • Developing a determination to work through
  • Saying “Yes” to difficult emotions
  • Developing the capacity to allow

Is This Something I Can Develop?

First, it’s nice to know resilience is a common occurrence in most people. However, we need to cultivate more of it. In fact, anyone can develop toughness or build upon it.

A meditation practice is key to developing all the qualities to build resilience. In fact, the capacity to recover (equanimity) is built-in to the meditation practice on Ten Percent Happier. A short meditation by Sebene Selassie is the basis for this article. Furthermore, you can watch a YouTube interview with Dan Harris and Sebene titled “The Joy of Allowing Life to Be”.

Practice

Although I recommend a set time for developing the habit of meditation, you can use these steps anytime you find yourself upset about a difficult situation. Allow your intuition to determine whether or not you remove yourself to a private location, safety first, always.

  1. Find a comfortable posture
  2. Either close your your eyes or gaze downward
  3. Begin with slow breathing, in through your nose, out through your mouth
  4. Soften any tightness in your body on the out breath
  5. Connect to the breath or whatever sensations in your body are prominent
  6. Accept anything happening right now; annoyance, distraction, ease, even pain
  7. Say to yourself, “Allow”
  8. Slowly open your eyes

Meditation practice is just that… practice. It doesn’t matter when you lose your way with distraction or thoughts. Noticing and starting again happens for everyone. Make space for exactly what’s here. Saying yes, starting over, allow.

Learning how to grow your resilience, your toughness, through cultivating a positive attitude, determination, and the capacity to allow result in working through difficult times.