Choose the glasses you'll wear in 2012: change your perspective, change your life!
Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. ~Melody Beattie
1. GRATITUDE is number one. If you do just one thing this year, employ the practice of gratitude: it will dramatically change your life. Living in gratitude is a conscious choice. It's not something you wait for, or hope for, but rather, a conscious practice of living. One practices an attitude of gratitude, like one might practice yoga, exercise, meditation or getting up early which after time becomes a style of life. Practice makes permanent. To get started, make it your goal today to notice things you love, that you are grateful to experience, to have, to hold, to live, to breathe. Write these things down tonight before you drift off to sleep. Continue this practice daily.
2. MEANING: Meaning is one of the 5 elements of Dr. Martin Seligman's Well-Being Theory (The 5 elements of his theory are: positive emotion, engagement, positive relationships, meaning and accomplishment). Seligman, the father of positive psychology, describes meaning as "belonging to and serving something that you believe is greater than the self". In 2012, find something meaningful and become a part of it: This often takes the form of a spiritual organization, church, synagogue, ashram, meditation sangha, or charity... "Your environment is stronger than your will-power" ~ Yogananda. Belong to a supportive community.
3. MINDFULNESS PRACTICE: Begin a daily contemplative practice. This may consist of sitting meditation. Set your alarm 15 minutes earlier, and just sit. Meditation calms the mind, creates space and settles the chaos. Meditation is proven to increase well-being and quality of life. For more on how to get started with a practice: 5 Steps to starting a meditation practice
4. DECIDE to take action. Decide to kick the habit, make your relationship better, increase your self-esteem, run a marathon, meditate, or read to your children every night. Whatever it is, stop contemplating it, mulling it over and make the decision to change, or not. The thing that separates the people who want to change from those who do change is simply DECISION. There is nothing special about those who have success; it's just decision. Make a decision to do whatever it takes to make your commitment a reality. Nothing will happen until then. After this step, the action part is cake.
5. PRACTICE: Practice doesn't make perfect, but practice does make permanent. Whatever you wish for in 2012, practice it consistently, daily is best. If you wish for happiness, practice it. If you wish for confidence, practice it. If you wish for high energy, practice it. Whatever you practice, will become your life. “Ordinary things consistently done produce extraordinary results” ~ Keith Cunningham
Often a new life comes from seeing things in a way you've never seen them before. It comes from creating a new perspective. Psychotherapy is a practice in creating new perspective. It can help you to see your part in the life you have created and empower you to choose different behaviors. You can have the successful life you wish to have. The good news is, you can change the way you see. You are in charge of your perspective and you can create a new perspective. You can become more conscious. You can make a decision to live differently. You can choose new glasses in 2012.
I know you can.
Regina Huelsenbeck, PhD
858.880.0145
12625 High Bluff Drive, Suite 104
San Diego, CA 92130
Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude. ~Denis Waitley