Life can be a bitch sometimes, can’t it? It can downright suck at times. We’ve all been there! And there are ways to shift your outlook deliberately so that you can feel better.
Do you have any rituals that you do? One of mine every year is to review in my old journals to see where I was in the previous years. The majority of the time it puts me into a state of gratitude to NOT be where I was before!
As March is my birthday month, I recently did this activity. I found the date when I was able to define my purpose statement of bringing joy to the world—on March 22, 2011! That was on the spring equinox eight years ago. That has put me on a trajectory that I couldn’t even imagine at that time! Life is like that!
Here are 5 Tips that help shift how you look at life and to gain clarity…
1. The Reverse Gap
So often we are focused on the future that we forget to appreciate the small things of each and every day. There is a gap between where you are and where you want to be. When you look back, it brings you to a place you can feel grateful for today. This act of looking back is a strategy called the reverse gap. It helps you to find joy right now with where you are at the moment.
So often we are focused on the future that we forget to appreciate the small things of each and every day. There is a gap between where you are and where you want to be. When you look back, it brings you to a place you can feel grateful for today. This act of looking back is a strategy called the reverse gap. It helps you to find joy right now with where you are at the moment.
2. Your Personal Purpose
Figure out why you are here! Why were you born? What special gifts and talents do you have to share with the world? I often say that discovering your personal purpose is the most significant inner work you can do for yourself. It helps to steer your path from that point on. And it also helps you to appreciate the entire journey that you have been on so far!
3. Practice Compassion Not Judgment
Everything that we experience in our lives is unique to each and every one of us. This is why it is so important not to judge others—because we simply do NOT know their path! Find ways to have compassion for others as we are all on a challenging journey! Be a conscious creator of your life and know that your thoughts and feelings affect not only you but also others around you. So refuse to be toxic by judging others but rather spread love through compassion.
4. Reframe Your Challenges
Once you can look at the challenges and the hard times of your life as big learning experiences that have helped you to grow in immense ways, it helps to alleviate some of the pain from those times. I’ve never heard anyone say that they didn’t learn something from their challenges and more often than not, people have grown more than they ever thought possible. Eventually you can find ways to be grateful for those challenges. It might be tough when you’re in the thick of it, but know that this too shall pass!
5. Find Your Sense of Direction
Knowing your personal purpose gives you a sense of direction and clarity. It helps to make sense of the madness of your life previously—you know all those crazy turns and decisions where you wonder later on why the heck did I do that? And it helps you to make solid decisions going into the future. You can discover that there is a red thread running through your entire life. And it helps you have clarity going into the future when you do have that sense of direction to guide you.
Using rituals or taking the time to just think or journal can offer that simple pause in life—where you consciously take a moment to appreciate where you are right now.
In this crazy busy world we live in, I think these are some of the best ways to stay sane and on track! What are some of the rituals, habits, or activities that keep you moving forward?
