Positive Thinking and Thankfulness: How to Help
Coming towards the end of a La Nina season means embracing the abundance of water that sweeps across the world. Excess water leads to emotions of imbalance, unsteadiness, rush, and sometimes chaos. Times like these are when journaling, setting goals, making lists, embracing being flexible, and moving with the flow is most important. When the feeling rushed and chaotic arise, find a way to ground: rub your hands together, feel your feet against the surface of the floor, make sure your sit bones are equally set in your chair if you’re sitting down, wrap your arms around yourself and give yourself a 2-minute hug, or even raise your arms and hands high above your head to shift that blood flow and allow for that stretch that most people never take.
Along with these conscious grounding techniques, communication is a big part of staying focused and grounded. Exercising clear communication and confidence helps in a career and everyday life. As a voice over actor and singer, that confidence and projection are reflected in our daily work. Clear communication takes patience, practice, and skill. Once mastered, it is easy to notice the self-confidence these practices bring to one’s self-esteem. Clarity and healthy boundaries exist. Strong relationships are formed and maintained. In a world that may appear chaotic, we find balance and maintain goals and productivity.
People often take chaos for granted. These are moments that offer up accelerated productivity. This is where lists and goal setting are most productive. Take a moment to write down your goals and obligations. Organize your calendar. Consider taking that extra minute to look ahead and format your timeline for your future goals. Schedule what is to come next year to set the foundations for any ambitions you might have. Keep priorities straight, and don’t lose track of them. These acts take but a moment and are so small compared to the big work. Exercising these practices also helps to make that chaotic stage feel a little slower (and it is a huge grounding tool).
Human existence continues as constant learning experiences. All living creatures have the purpose of evolving both spiritually and physically. Every moment is a miracle, in retrospect of the grand design, and that alone leaves us all so much to be thankful for. No two living beings are exactly alike. Every living creature has a unique trait necessary to support life on this planet. Life on this planet exists only because of the finite measurements of its support system.
If you lack a sense of thankfulness this season, consider looking back at the start of this year. How much have you overcome? What can you list that you have to be thankful for up to now? Do you see your achievements, even if you may not feel them? The smallest shifts; like learning something new, helping a stranger, accepting help and expressing gratitude, changing a perception, or just getting one step closer to a goal are all much larger accomplishments than realized. Embrace what you know you have endured and grown through.
A friend of mine shared a Thanksgiving custom that her family practices at dinner every year. Each person would contemplate what they are thankful for, write it down, and put it anonymously in a hat. One person would read everyone’s notes of gratitude out loud, and they would just sit in appreciation and talk about the ideas if inspired. What I like most about this tradition is that it can be carried out, even alone. The act of writing down ideas and reading them aloud when done helps to re-enforce their truth and reality! It’s important to hear and see what you’ve written after you’ve completed your thoughts. This practice motivates and enforces inspiration, thus allowing time to fully express feelings and ideas. Hence, there is room to work through them and let those ideas evolve or cease. Sometimes ending an evolution is also something worth being incredibly thankful for.
The holidays can be difficult for a lot of people for so many different reasons.
In case you or someone you know is in need, here is a list of help lines:
Crisis Text Line
988 Life Line
National Drug Help Line
Veterans Crisis Line
Suicide & Crisis Intervention Hotlines
American Psychological Association Hotlines
Grief Relief Book
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