Tag Archives: positivity

Positivity

First Day of 2021: Combining Goals

So, how did the first day of 2021 go for you? I hope it was a blessed and fulfilling day for you.

Road to 2021 Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

I didn’t get my 2021 goals written down yet, but I did go ahead and get started on them. In short, my goals for 2021, at least for the first couple months, is to do something positive for myself everyday, and to work on cleaning and organizing around the house.

Combining Goals

If you’re feeling like you’re ‘in deep’ and like there’s no way you can manage everything you want to achieve in 2021, look for places where you can combine goals, and get more than one thing done at once.

I’ll share my example from today to give you an idea what I mean:

One thing I did today that pulled double duty was steam cleaning the upholstered living room furniture. (My son helped and may even have done the harder parts.)

It pulled double duty because it turned out to be a lot of exercise, and because it made the room look better. Plus, the furniture has a bright, lemony fragrance now.

Look for the Positive in Simple Tasks

Don’t let yourself feel dragged down by the chores that make up your everyday routine. Things like cooking and cleaning are no fun if hate them, but if you can adjust your thinking to see them as a way to make life nicer for the people you love, and for yourself, then it’s possible to make chores much more enjoyable.

I’ll also share an example of this from my day:

I also made a fairly labor intensive evening meal, biscuits and gravy with home fries. (I know… there goes my extra exercise.) And, while the food was cooking, I worked on cleaning and organizing the kitchen, so it looked a bit better after I made dinner than it did before.

Instead of looking at making a labor intensive meal as a chore, I thought of it as an honor, because I was spending my time preparing a meal my sons enjoy, and that nourishes their bodies and their spirits. Sure, it was a little heavy on the starches, but it’s not something we have often.

Thanks for visiting Intrinsic Vicissitude. Browse around the site for more information about goal setting and positivity – and please stop back soon for updates.

– Laure
Positivity

Great Loss and the Power of Positivity

When I sat down to write this post about the power of positivity, I was in a  great mood and I wanted to share it and hopefully inspire someone who was having a less great day.

My focus shifted, though, when I heard of the death of charming young man.

Without going into names or what happened, I would like to honor the memory of this young man, and join with his loved ones in mourning his passing, and the loss of his future.

I pray for their comfort as they pass through this torturous time, though I know no words will ease the loss they feel.

If you have someone from your life story like this – someone you mourn whose life was cut short – or someone you mourn who lived to a ripe old age but is missed and ached for – I would also like to honor his or her memory and join with you in mourning the loss of their life and their future – and I pray for your comfort as you pass through this painful time.

Intrinsic Vicissitude, Positivity, Rewrite Your Life Story

How Your Smile Can Be So Powerful

How Your Smile Can Be So Powerful

By Avery White

How Your Smile Can Be So Powerful
How Your Smile Can Be So Powerful image courtesy of Pixabay

Have you ever heard the saying, your smile is your best accessory? A simple smile can brighten up a day, isn’t it? Have you ever had a bad day, and then you see a baby smile at you? Didn’t you feel as light as a feather? That simple gesture took away all your burdens and worries and suddenly you felt just good.

People don’t really realize how powerful a smile can be, it can make miracles, it works like magic. Imagine what you can do and perform just by flaunting your nice wide smile? And the best part about it is, it’s free! So, wherever you may go, don’t forget to flash those teeth and smile! Here are some of the best reasons why you should smile!

It’s good for your health

Smile for No Good Reason: Simple Things You Can Do to Get Happy NOW!
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Scientific studies show that when a person smiles, the brain releases a chemical message called endorphin. Endorphin when released, sends a feel-good message throughout your body, thus it relieves your stress and lowers your blood pressure. Smiling can also release natural pain killers which explain the sudden calmness you experience when you smile. It can also boost your immune system because it improves the immune function of your system because your body is more relaxed and at peace.

Thinking of having a facelift? Take a cheaper version by just smiling instead. Smiling lifts the face muscles so it will make you look younger!

It builds relationships

Have you ever experienced meeting someone on the bus or on the train and being good friends with that person just because you smiled at each other once?  The truth is, when you smile, you look friendlier and more approachable that people will immediately feel the positivity in your personality and be friends with you.

Smiling can also steer you away from any misunderstandings, even with the latest gadgets nowadays, a smile is still evident. Just when sending text messages you add that little smiley emoticon so your friend on the other line will not misinterpret our messages as sarcastic.

It can make you happier

Smiling is contagious! When one smiles, it can make another one smile too.  A smile can be some sort of a therapy that could turn every gray and blue day yellow.  Smiling has special powers that you can’t believe it is capable of doing, like calming fears, insecurities, hurt and anxiety.

Do not underestimate the power of your smile. Always remind yourself of the goodness of this simple act of positivity, put it in your reminders in your smartphone if need be.

Intrinsic Vicissitude, Positivity, Rewrite Your Life Story

A Serenity Garden For Your Home

A Serenity Garden For Your Home

By

A Serenity Garden For Your Home
Serenity garden image courtesy of Pixabay

Most people think about their backyard garden as a place to provide them peace and quiet, a place to relax after a busy day, or maybe a place to draw closer to God. Whether you rise early, to enjoy your garden before heading off to work, or come home from work and retreat to your garden to unwind, a serenity garden can help to induce a state of calmness.

A serenity garden does take some planning, and some care. There is no real format in how this type of garden should be structured. You need to think about what serenity means to you. The design of the garden should reflect your ideas on peace and tranquility. It can include your favorite colors, and comforting landscapes. You may want to jot your ideas on paper, to get an idea of what you want before you start planting the garden. Some common themes for a serenity garden are relaxation, spiritual themes, and memorial themes. You’ll want to locate the garden away from loud noises and strong odors. It should be in a location that will help promote tranquility.

When you start creating the garden, you should add features that reflect the theme. If you want a memorial theme, for example, you may want to add items that reflect a loved one who has passed on. If you want relaxation, a gazebo and/or furniture for lounging would be appropriate. Consider also the plants that you want in the garden. Varying shades of green fit in well with a relaxation garden, with touches of color from various flowers. Just be sure to provide a place to sit and relax, and enjoy your garden.

Rocks are another element that can be incorporated into a serenity garden. Rocks of varying sizes can be used to build walls or footpaths in the garden, as well as edging for a footpath. Or large rocks can be placed here and there throughout the garden to provide accents, and a contrast to the plants.

Wind chimes can add a gentle, relaxing sound to your garden. A waterfall or fountain will also add to the ambience of the garden. If you desire, you can also add speakers and an outdoor sound system to play music while you relax.

If you plan on using your garden after dark, you’ll want to think about illumination. Tiki torches or candles provide a gentle, flickering light. Just be sure the flames are a safe distance from any tree branches or anything flammable. Low voltage or solar lights can also be used to light a pathway, or to highlight certain features of the garden at night.

A garden is ever changing. Season to season, year to year, you’ll see the garden growing and changing. Your garden will continue to grow with you as you make changes to the garden, and as the garden makes changes to you. Whatever the size of the garden, from a small apartment balcony to a large backyard, you can create your own personal retreat, where you can relax, and find your peace and serenity.

About the Author
Visit Garden Style Decor for more gardening tips and resources for garden decor.
Intrinsic Vicissitude, Positivity, Rewrite Your Life Story

The Sky Is Not the Limit – The Power Of Positivity

The Sky Is Not the Limit – The Power Of Positivity

By Aaron Ngoh

The Power of Positivity
Image of happy people courtesy of Pixabay

We often hear the phrase “The sky is the limit” and often we hear this when the people around us are expressing their negative feelings on the topic at hand. But do you know that there is another phrase that contradicts this cliche? The phrase “nothing is set in stone” is the one that many successful people use whenever they try or aim for something and that, with the power of positivity, can make anything in this world possible.

The Power of Positivity

People who are successful use the power of being positive in everything they do. One of the concepts that is practiced in positivity is the law of attraction. The law of attraction might be a scientific concept but it is never truer and more applicable than to our society today. Many researchers believe that what people surround themselves with becomes their own actions and thoughts later on. It might not be obvious or apparent at the start and this surprises many when their actions or feelings are observed later on. This is the reason many sociologists or therapists recommend that individuals should surround themselves with positive things to ward off negative feelings.

Another area of being successful is to envision one’s own desires and put it into action. Oftentimes, one wants to achieve something but lacks the desire to see it through. Many people blame others for their failure to reach their goals which produces negative results as well. When one wants to become successful, it is important to focus and put their thoughts into actions and carry the responsibilities that come with achieving what they want in life. By taking responsibilities and initiative, one is more concentrated and motivated to reach their goals in life.

What to do to Harness Positivity

When people want changes to happen to their life, they need to understand that they have to leave their comfort zone and start taking charge of their lives. It may be uncomfortable at the start and even cause friendships to end, but sometimes changes can be awkward but may also be the best thing to happen to your life. Cut the negativity that runs in your life – people who you think will drag you down and negative thoughts and envision what you want your life to be. Surround yourself with positive things, find mentors, visualize what you want and you will wake up one day and realize that you have achieved what you want to do and are happier than you were before.

Are you interested in learning more about the law of attraction? Learn how manifestation can help you reach infinite possibilities. Visit the site today for more information.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Aaron_Ngoh/2248973
http://EzineArticles.com/?The-Sky-Is-Not-the-Limit—The-Power-Of-Positivity&id=9340812

 

 

Fitness, Intrinsic Vicissitude, Rewrite Your Life Story

Meditation Music and Positivity During Workout Routines

The right music can help put you ‘in the zone’ for workouts, and if you’re trying to achieve a high level of total fitness, it’s helpful to add some meditation music that enhances your state of positivity to the stretching phases of your workout routines.

Meditation Music for Workout Routines

Meditation Music and Positivity During Workout Routines

Short Workout Routines

If you are planning a short fairly low-intensity workout, five minutes of stretching at the beginning and again at the end might be all you want to add to your fitness routine, and one easy and positive way to do that is to select five-minute tracks of meditation music for the stretching phases.

This applies to yoga stretches or basic stretches like you were taught in your high school gym class, the result is the same as long as you warm up and stretch out your muscles before and after your workout.

Longer Workout Routines

If you plan a longer, or high-intensity workout, increase the meditation music tracks to ten or fifteen minutes at the beginning and end to give you adequate time to warm up your muscles and then stretch and cool down to reduce soreness from an intense workout. (Running Times recommends twenty minutes for the cool down period after a hard run.)

For specifics on your ideal warm up time, you should always discuss your workout routines with your doctor or personal trainer before making changes – then choose positive, slow-paced meditation music to accommodate and enhance the beginning and end of your workout.

 

Positivity

7 Incredibly Positive Happiness Quotes to Brighten Your Day

I hope these seven happiness quotes add a bit of positivity to your day.

7 Incredibly Positive Happiness Quotes to Brighten Your Day

Real Happiness
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“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”  – Mahatma Gandhi

“I am determined to be cheerful and happy in whatever situation I may find myself. For I have learned that the greater part of our misery or unhappiness is determined not by our circumstance but by our disposition.”  – Martha Washington

“Remember that the happiest people are not those getting more, but those giving more.”  – H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

“I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn’t arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I’m going to be happy in it.”  – Groucho Marx

“Try to make at least one person happy every day. If you cannot do a kind deed, speak a kind word. If you cannot speak a kind word, think a kind thought. Count up, if you can, the treasure of happiness that you would dispense in a week, in a year, in a lifetime!”  – Lawrence G. Lovasik

“The Constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself.”  – Benjamin Franklin

“Happiness is inward, and not outward; and so, it does not depend on what we have, but on what we are.”  – Henry Van Dyke

I hope you enjoyed this short list of happiness quotes. Feel free to comment share one of your own favorite happiness quotes.

 

 

Positivity, Relationships, Rewrite Your Life Story

Are You Ready to Be Happy?

Life can be tough – it can kick the breath out of you and leave you feeling sick and tired of your present situation and ready for a change – and making a change begins with a state of readiness.

“Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions.”                     – Dalai Lama

If you want to make positive changes in your life, you have to be ready, and only you can decide when the time is right.

Are You Ready to Be Happy?

Unleash the Power Within
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If you were to walk up to almost any unhappy person (if they were willing to talk, that is) and ask if they are ready to be happy, they would, of course, say yes, though they might follow the reply with a negative comment, such as – as if that could ever happen.

Very few people truly desire unhappiness, but people can get caught in cycles that recreate the same set of unhappy circumstances over and over, and it takes a lot to break out of one of those unhappy cycles.

What’s Holding You Back?

Feeling trapped, as if external forces are determining one’s happiness levels, is one thing that holds many people back, and blaming external forces gives an easy answer to a hard question, but not necessarily an accurate answer.

Self-improvement begins with being truly ready to take responsibility, to take control of your own life, and make things like low self-esteem, money problems, feeling lost and alone, exhaustion, weight problems, unhappy relationships, or lack of education a part of your past so you can live the life you want.

How to Be Happy With Your Life

When you are ready to move ahead with personal growth and make a change in how happy you are, there are several techniques you can try to see what works for you.

  • Get rid of the things that complicate and clutter your life.
  • Make time for peace and relaxation.
  • Take command of your situation and release negativity that comes from feeling powerless.
  • Don’ focus on blame, focus instead on what to do next to fix the situation.
  • Own your feelings. Somethings in life are just sad or infuriating, or hurtful – pretending everything is okay is fake and falseness holds you back in life.
  • Stop focusing on whether you are happy or not – focus instead on your goals, the steps you need to take to achieve them, and making sure you take those needed steps.

Taking care of your own needs and releasing past unhappiness is a form of self-compassion and positivity that can help you move ahead with personal growth.

Positivity, Rewrite Your Life Story

Bedtime Gratitude Exercise

I have a simple routine that I do every night before I go to sleep. I call it my bedtime gratitude exercise (catchy name, right?) and I would like to share it with you because it helps me stay positive and helps me keep my life moving in a positive direction.

Bedtime Gratitude Exercise

This is a pretty simple exercise because I adapt it each night depending on how tired I am when I’m finally ready to go to sleep.

The Long Version of My Bedtime Gratitude Exercise

30 Days to Gratitude: Gratitude Exercises
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I read a few pages or a chapter of one of my favorite author’s books, such as Napoleon Hill, Og Mandino, Ralph Waldo Emerson, or Terry Kay. Then I write a few lines about my thoughts on what I just read, then I write a few lines about things I am grateful for in my life and think about those things as I fall asleep.

Then I write a few lines about my thoughts on what I just read, then I write a few lines about things I am grateful for in my life and think about those things as I fall asleep.

The Medium Length Version of My Bedtime Gratitude Exercise

I make a list of a minimum of ten things that I am grateful for in my life and think about them as I fall asleep. I actually prefer to go for twenty-five items on the list, but I adapt as necessary based on exactly how tired I feel.

I actually prefer to go for twenty-five items on the list, but I adapt my lists as necessary based on exactly how tired I feel.

Sometimes I re-read them during the day if I’m having a tough day because I find having a written reminder of the things that I value in life brightens my day.

The Short Version of My Bedtime Gratitude Routine

I drop a penny in a jar while thinking about something I’m grateful for or wishing for something good to happen to someone else.

The penny isn’t really necessary, but I like the sound of the coins dropping into the glass jar and I like the idea of having a small jar of pennies with each coin in the jar representing a positive thought or wish for someone’s well-being.

So that’s it – those are the three variations of the gratitude exercises I do before bed.

I find that – in addition to feeling more positive – I sleep better when the last thoughts to cross my mind are positive thoughts about life and about others.

How about you? Do you have a bedtime routine that helps you focus on positive things?

 

Intrinsic Vicissitude, Positivity, Rewrite Your Life Story

Attract Good Things with Mind Self-Control

I just finished reading a book by author Maulin Hendriks, How to Control Your Thoughts: Mind Control Techniques to Change the Way You Think and Attract Success and Happiness, and I wanted to share a little bit about it here because its theme fits so perfectly with my goal of sharing positive things here.

Mind Self-Control

This book is not super long – a quick to read piece of mind-candy – to boost your spirits and brighten your mood. How to Control Your Mind is a reminder to recognize negativity and it offers a handful of effective tips for breaking the pattern of negativity in your life.

“Find the opportunity in every difficulty.”

This is one of my favorite quotes from the book, because it fits so cleanly with my personal philosophy in life. I used to get stuck in self-pity, and sometimes it still catches up with me, but not as much, because now whenever I start to feel overwhelmed – or maybe underwhelmed is a more accurate word – I stop and force myself to create something positive.

“Don’t let the negative forces of this world slow you down or leak into your thoughts. -Accept, push through, and rebound.”

I also loved this about the book, How to Control Your Thoughts: Mind Control Techniques to Change the Way You Think and Attract Success and Happiness, because it recognizes that negative things outside of yourself are going to be affecting you, but you can choose how to respond, how to react, and you can move forward by making a conscious choice to focus on the positive.