Posts

daughter

What my daughter taught me

What my daughter taught me

Several years ago my daughter who was in her early 30’s at the time said to me,

“I’ve realized something that has made my life so much easier.”

She went on to say,

“It seems everyone’s life sucks about 30% of the time, and the other 70% is good. So when going through the 30% you just need to know that’s totally normal and you’ll get through it. And then make an effort to really enjoy and be grateful for the 70% smooth, happy times.”

daughter

Wow, I think that’s a great insight…and helpful.

In the years since then, I’ve heard other people teach that life sucks 50% of the time and is great 50% of the time.

As and optimist and a possibilitarian, that not-good-50% just seems WAY to high of a percentage for me.

In fact, for me, that seems a little depressing to think that HALF the time I spend here on planet earth will be unpleasant.

I much prefer my daughter’s pattern of 30/70. Because although life is great “above the line” (see my blog post about that here), it’s that 30% below the line that helps us really APPRECIATE the satisfying 70%.

I would take that one step further and say –

Even within your 30% difficult times, I bet you could find So Very Many other things in your life to be grateful for, which helps to make those ‘sucky times’ bearable.

And even in the 70% good times, there are always little bumps in those roads too.

I’m sharing this insight with you today because…

If you are going through a challenging chapter of your life, just remember, it’s temporary.

Keeping an ongoing gratitude journal (in your brain or on paper) will help you see solutions, appreciate the soul stretching, and give you a more hopeful perspective.

And, if you are living-in-the-70%-flow right now (or at least no major problems at the moment) be grateful for that. Again – it’s gratitude that will increase your awareness and appreciation during good times, and in that space you can inspire and lift others.

Intuition Quiz

Yay! Get ready to start your quiz!

Consent

Don’t Consent to This!

I’m here with a quick message today from my friend, Eleanor Roosevelt –

“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent”

I love this statement and have referred to it many times over the years.

Consent

(And isn’t it cool that our shoe color matches?)


The definition of consent is: permission, approval, or agreement.

We can’t control what anyone else says or does, but we can always choose how we’ll respond. We can let it roll off our back, or give those words and actions permission/approval to settle in.

The emotions we choose to “feel” about another’s comments are created within us because of our own thoughts about what they said.

I know that can sometimes seem like a hard concept, but it’s really so empowering to realize that it’s our own inner thoughts that create our emotions, because words spoken by someone outside of us (an external circumstance) can’t do that.

Keeping our inner thoughts positive lessens the chance of us “consenting” to feel inferior over someone else’s words or actions.

Here are 10 tools to positively fortify your thoughts:

*Limit time with negative people

*Set and keep healthy boundaries

*Always assume good intent

*Do more of what lights you up

*Create a list of personal affirmations -and declare them daily

*Keep a gratitude journal

*Live in alignment with your values

*Keep your word to yourself and to others

*Create good self-care habits

*Practice Self-Compassion

In today’s world we may not always find compassion, tenderness, and empathy, but we can be willing to give it to ourselves.

Pick one thing from this list that you can do more of this coming week.


Much love,

Carolyn Cooper