Change a Room in Your Home, and Watch Your Life Change.*

Recently a friend of mine was complaining about her bathroom. She told me that her pipes were obviously clogged up since the water would take several minutes to drain. Another complaint she had was the paint color of the walls. They were too dull and boring for her to enjoy. She pretty much despised her bathroom. This went on for months.

So I then asked her to take those same descriptions of her bathroom and apply them to her life, or a part of her life she felt was not satisfying. So she did. Her first thought was, “my life feels clogged”, and that hit home for her regarding her love life. Her current relationship was not running smoothly and she wanted to try to figure out a way to enjoy it more…*

Then she thought about the other descriptions and thought, “my life is too dull and boring”. That hit her hard. There were parts of her life that felt dull and boring. Specifically her social life. So I suggested that she fix and revamp her bathroom to reflect how she would like for it to be. She agreed to call her uncle who would come snake out her pipes, and go get some new paint colors for her walls. Then away she went. I also mentioned to her to keep in mind how this also is symbolic of the changes she wants to make in her life.

About three weeks later, my friend called me up and was ecstatic. She first told me how she did revamp her bathroom and how she now loved it. Her pipes were free flowing and the colors on the walls were much brighter. She smiled every time she walked into her bathroom as a result…*
Then she told me how her life had also changed in a couple ways. Having changed her bathroom gave her a sense of empowerment. Just as she called her uncle to come fix her pipes, she had decided to call her cousin, who is a relationship therapist, and asked for some guidance with her relationship. Her cousin suggested one change and that helped to improve her communication with her boyfriend. Having found a sense of inspiration, my friend also called up an old pal of hers and they have been going out on a regular basis, having a blast, improving her social life.

So, if you have a room in your home that leaves you feeling unhappy, consider fixing it up and watch your life brighten as a result.

* - Please note, these are highlights from an entire article in Higher-Self Living Paychecks. For more information, please visit our website at www.higherselflifecoaching.com.

A New Decade is Upon Us…May It Bring Persistence of Hope.*

I don’t know about you, but I still cannot believe it is the year 2010. Where does the time go?
I remember when the calendar turned 2000 and the clocks rang in that New Year. Many were hopeful for a new millennium, with dreams to be lived and goals to be reached. However, as most of us know, the past decade has had its share of challenging times, with some structures weakening and others collapsing.

So many are struggling with unemployment and making ends meet. Others anticipate losing their job and struggle with, “what then” thoughts…*

My hope is that for this new year…this new decade, everyone chooses to be persistent when it comes to hope. Whether you set some New Year’s resolutions, or not, one goal I would ask all of you to have is to be persistent when it comes to hope. Hope can be applied to anything. For example, hope for continued employment, or new employment. Hope for a relationship to continue, or for a new one to begin. Hope for health and happy living. Hope for peace…*

One exercise that can help you to be persistent with hope is the Narrating Your Story tool. All you need to do is find a few minutes where you can be alone with no interruptions. Take either a piece of paper and pen, or a handy laptop with a word document. Title your document, “My present story”, and then proceed to write down what is going on in your life. Try to write for at least ten minutes, or four to five paragraphs. Then when you finish, write a new title, “My hopeful story”, and then write down how you hope your story will play out and/or end.

If you are struggling with something very painful or stressful, just hoping for a little hope is enough to help. If you find you can’t muster up the energy to write something hopeful, then just hope for hope itself. Maybe something then will come to you. If not, then for just that split second moment, you hoped for hope.

* - Please note, these are highlights from an entire article in Higher-Self Living Paychecks. For more information, please visit our website at www.higherselflifecoaching.com.