Life Lesson #1: You Are The Boss of Your Mind

“There are only 2 ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle” - Albert Einstein

“He is a wise man who does not grieve for things which he has not. But rejoices for those which he has” - Epictetus

If we want to live a happy, enjoyable and successful life, then there’s a crucial skill we have to master - Gratitude.

But, gratitude ISN’T just saying “I’m grateful for the sun today”. It’s much more than that…

Gratitude IS a mental skill, it’s an ability to switch your thoughts from ones that make you feel rubbish to ones that make you feel good about your life.

When you practice doing it enough times, you’ll be able to control your mind in most situations. Which means less anxiety, overwhelm and draining emotions.

Who wouldn’t want that ability?

A valuable lesson:

This morning as I sat down to have my cup of coffee before starting work, I was thinking about how tired and sleep deprived I felt after getting up a few times during the night for my 5 week old baby. Which led me to think about all the things I needed to do today, which led me to feel a bit anxious.

We all know this feeling.

As I opened up my phone to look for something, I saw a picture I’d taken of his tiny foot in my hand. I started thinking about how much he’s grown already and that his little foot would never be that size again. One day I’ll look back and wish for these moments again, so I decided to put everything down and to go give him a cuddle.

That’s what gratitude is, it’s reminding ourselves of how lucky we are and choosing to focus on those little things, even in the moments when we feel our worst.

Sure, my feelings of exhaustion and stress are valid and I have a right to feel that way, but I also know that I have a choice to not stay feeling that way for too long. I can choose to shift back to a perspective that truly matters to me and that makes me feel happy.

Now, over to you:

What will you decide to focus on today?

You might think that it will only matter for the next minute...

But that minute turns into an hour.

Hours turn into days.

Days turn into weeks.

Weeks turn into months.

Months turn into years.

Those years of thought patterns become your life.

Choose to take moments in your day to focus on the incredible things.

Because if you do…

You’ll start to notice your life becoming infinitely more rewarding.

And if you don’t, then life will probably always feel heavy and stressful.

Your feedback is important to me, please feel free to leave a comment and let me know which part made you think :-)

Jason