Use This 1 Tip to Create More Joy in Your Life

Happy April!
Don't you love getting inspired by the most random events? Well, last week I walked in to teach my corporate yoga class and was greeted by one of my students telling me how she really needed a yoga class to relax and couldn’t wait for the week to be over.

The door of the room was locked, so a quick call to security, and the door was unlocked by a smiling comedic security guard telling us how he’s been told that he should start yoga. “Yup. My doctor told me it will help me live longer. But heck, I don’t wanna live longer,” he said in a joking comedic tone. As we both laughed, he said, “Yeah, life is too short. You have to enjoy it, appreciate it, and complaining about things won’t make life any better.”

Well, that was a great sermon of the day. As he left, the woman said “Oh gosh, it is so true! Complaining never helps. You just have to focus on the positive. Complaining really only makes things worse.”

That was a beautiful moment. Minutes earlier she was complaining about her tough week, but caught herself so fast and shifted her whole focus over to gratitude instead.

So here is the thing. Complaining is like a habit. We all do it. The question is, do you stay IN it, or do you start to actively monitor your complaining, so that the moment you catch yourself complaining, you can stop it in its tracks and shift your attention to the awesomeness in your life.

Complaining is an evil cycle, and it very quickly catches fire. Have you ever had a co-worker, family, or friend complain and soon enough you started to feed into it, and start complaining too? Complaining is contagious! And it’s a syndrome you do not want to be a part of, because all it does it dampen your outlook, and bring your energy down.

However, you can choose, from this moment, to awaken you awareness to any time that you find yourself complaining. By doing this you strengthen your ability to stop the habit of complaining, and shift your attention over to what is going right in your life. By doing this, your gratitude muscles increase, and your outlook shifts from crappy to awesome in a matter of an instant! This truly is instantaneous transformation.

You can go from a sour mood to joy simply by catching your complaint in its tracks. Then, choose to turn it around, and focus on the good.

We always have a choice. What would you rather focus on, and see grow—your complaints or the daily miracles that so many of us take for granted?

Take the Challenge:

1.     Decide now that you will take TODAY to watch yourself and catch yourself in any complaint

2.     Practice stopping the complaint as soon as possible, even mid-sentence!

3.     Write down 5 things you are grateful for and keep that list handy. If you have trouble shifting to gratitude just take a look at your list and be instantaneously transformed from dampened mood to joy.

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Thank You!