A “no worries” attitude.

What we do in the present shapes our future. Our past is the key to our present but also the key to our future. If you live in the present your life will be balanced and healthy.
Too many times we give our minds the chance to focus and worry about negativeness, instead of accepting that what has happened cannot be changed and focusing on the present. 
A life free of worries is about accepting life like it is and being optimistic. A life free of worries is about accepting all what happened in the past, living and enjoying every moment in the present. If you can have that “don`t worry too much” attitude your life can be more optimistic and happier.

“The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, not to worry about the future, or not to anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.” Buddha

Having a rich life full of happiness.

The fact that we have little money doesn`t have to mean that you are poor. We can be rich without being wealthy.

If you have a family that loves you, if you have good friends (doesn`t need to be a dozen, one good friend is already enough) around you and if you feel healthy, you are rich! 

If you can hear the birds outside singing, enjoy the sunset and admire the colors of the sky… If you can enjoy all those things in nature that are free, you are a rich person!

 

Of course having a lot of money could also make you happy, but only to the point where you get to live comfortable and be able to buy and do anything you want without having to worry about the consequences. This way of being rich won`t increase your well-being. This is not the most important factor.  It`s satisfaction, living with good thoughts and being grateful for all you have around you that brings you joy! And those are the factors that give you a rich life full of happiness. 

 

I started counting several times but I never finished, `cause each time I start counting I get very excited just by knowing that having the ability to count so many positive factors, makes me happy knowing that I`m that rich!

I am the architect of my own future.

Believe in yourself. Follow your dreams and let them come true. No one else can built your future for you. If you handle like your actions are the compass for the right direction to your dreams and if you don`t let anything or anyone mislead you from going into the right direction, you can make it.

Make sure your actions points into the right direction. Don`t let anyone or anything make you believe you can`t make it. Don`t let ideas that could let you start doubting on your future plans, reach your mind. And above all, don`t let any negative influences get close to you heart. You certainly don`t want your beliefs to be influenced by negative ideas from others.

***

I have to admit that in the past days I was disappointed in myself because of some negativity around me which made me forgot into which direction I was going. I always hear from people that I have a positive attitude and maybe they are right, but that word isn`t  just enough to always stay positive. “Focus” might be the word I lost track on in my mind. I got distracted and I forgot that I`m the one that decide about what happens to my future and no one else! That`s when I forgot to listen to my heart and started focusing on what others would say and think. But thanks to the wonderful people around me like my son, my friend, my brothers, the beautiful sunshine and all other positive factors around me I experienced in the past few days, I opened my eyes and decided not to let anything changing my heart anymore from pointing into the right direction.

Sometimes things happens around some of us which makes us loose our faith and makes us doubt. Those things, whatever they might be, sometimes appear to be powerful than words. This only happens only when we give them the chance to be, which is a pity ’cause that`s when we forget about our dreams and that`s when we stop building on our futures and loosing time with being sad and confused. But when words and thoughts have spiritual forces coming out of our heart, then they are much more powerful and they help us align our hearts back into the right direction. And then we move on, being the architect of our own future.

***

Dreaming is believing

A few days ago a friend of mine who`s facing a hard and sad period approached me and told me she fell in love with this beautiful song she was listening to and wanted me to listen to it. She was so excited and wanted to share it with someone and that someone happened to be me.

I didn`t even get the chance to tell her I was busy working on something important that had to be finished right away, `cause suddenly I felt to those earphones in my ears and I there I was, surrounded by this song called ”I Made It Through The Rain” from Barry Manilow, from his 1980 album “Barry”. This song is about people having a hard time, going through it and afterwards when they have better times they look back: They made it through the “rain”. 

The words in this song are very beautiful and I know my friend is having difficult moments and she`s doing all her best to over-win all the negativity and reach her goal so she can look back and triumph. I know she likes to think and dream away a lot. It makes her feels good and she forgets all the bad things around her. 

I felt a little ashamed `cause my first thought was “I don`t have time for this now”! At first thought I didn`t wanted to be interrupted.  

She asked me if I liked the song. I answered: “It was as if you pulled me out of this world and pushed me in a world full of words and sounds! Words that were written by you! I felt your sadness and your suffer in this song.”

She left and I proceeded with my job, but apparently the words touched me more than I expected `cause I wasn`t as focused anymore as I was before. I opened my mailbox and started writing her a message. 

“Dear friend,  Let me tell you what I think and how I hope you`ll listen again at this song when you`re in better times in your life. I wrote those words out of the words that stayed in my mind to put a little more focus on the moment you`re enjoying you`re life again to the fullest. Because I know that you will make it! Your time of sadness will pass and joy and happiness will take control.”

 

***

Keep your face always toward the sunshine, and shadows will fall behind you.”  Quote by Walt Whitman

***

 

Being thankful to someone.

Isn`t it beautiful, the idea of what a few words of appreciation can mean for someone?

As always I write from my point of view. Yes, I have experienced this feeling so many times…the feeling of someone making me smile just because of some words of appreciation, because of some help I needed with something or just because someone made me laugh when I needed a smile.

It`s such a good feeling when I`m being spoiled by people close to me and I certainly am very thankful that I can experience lots cheerful moments like those. And as wonderful as someone makes me feel, I always think it`s very important telling them back how much I appreciate what they do for me and how special they also are to me. I don`t know if it`s something they see on my face but somehow they understand the words and I see happiness and joy on their faces and subsequently, that makes me even more grateful! 

From time to time it`s good to tell someone how much you appreciate what they do for you. It can be a friend, but also a colleague or your parents or your kids ( if you have kids), your teacher or a neighbor. You can show gratitude to anyone at anytime `cause there`s always, but always something to be thankful to.

The good thing I learned about appreciation is that it doesn`t only make you happy but it also makes you stronger, stronger in a way of becoming more positive, more motivated, more successful and fearless.

“Let us be grateful to people who make us happy. They are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.”
Quote by Marcel Proust

 

Tomorrow will be a better day.

Be grateful you learned something today that you won`t be doing tomorrow and be confident that this day won`t take control over your tomorrow.

You won`t get the time you already used back so make it count. Forget about all the bad things, don`t worry too much, be true to yourself and forgive so you can move on.

You`ll be able to move beyond the past and today`s pain will fade away, while tomorrow will be waiting for you to celebrate a beautiful new day with a stronger you! A new day will be waiting for you to live the life you want to live. A day filled with love and  happiness! The day that wasn`t beautiful doesn`t exist anymore! 

The Liebster Blog Award.

A few days ago AmbitionInTheCity.com nominated me for the Liebster Blog Award.

A big thank you! It`s a great honor! 
You have a great blog and I always enjoy reading your posts.
Thanks again, I really appreciate your nomination
and I wish you a lots of fun with blogging.

 

I looked up the origin of the Liebster Blog Award and found out that it`s an award for upcoming bloggers with 200 or less followers from which a blogger think they really deserve a reward for their blogging. It`s a blog to blog award,  a nice way to get recognized in the Blog world. The word “Liebster”means “Dearest” or “Favorite” in German.

Rules of the Liebster Award:

1. Thank your Liebster Blog Award presenter on your blog and link back to their blog.
2. Answer the 11 questions from the nominator, list 11 random facts about yourself and create 11 questions for your nominees.
3. Present the Liebster Blog Award to 11 bloggers who you feel deserve to be noticed. These blogs must have 200 followers or less. Leave a comment on their blog to let them know they’ve been nominated by you.
4. Copy and paste the blog award on your blog. Post all the items listed in item 2 on your blog also.

My Responses to AmbitionInTheCity.com:

1. What would be the first thing you’d do if you won the lottery?
First I would give my people a little bit of it so they can treat themselves and I would buy a ticket a go to my roots for a while.
2. If you could live anywhere on earth (and take whomever you
wanted along), where would it be?
Where my roots are: A small beautiful island in the Southern Caribbean, well known as Divers Paradise.
3. What do you admire most about yourself?
That despite my misfortunes in life I always manage to stay positive.
4. What would you most like to change about yourself?
I like myself how I am but if I really really needed to change something about myself just like that, I would get rid of those extra kilo`s at once!
5. What’s something that you’ve learned recently?
I recently followed a course with content of critical thinking and problem solving. It was very informative.
6. What’s your biggest pet peeve?
Do I really have to answer this one? I`m thinking just now about this colleague cracking his knuckels… I don`t like the sound at all.
7. What are your three most favorite things to do?
I love being with my family and friends and having fun with them. I love travelling and exploring new cultures and as third love cooking!
8. What inspires you to write?
The writing always made me happy and now that I started blogging I get more and more inspired by all those wonderful, educational and lovely stories in the blog world.
9. Best book you’ve read recently.
A few weeks ago I read “The monk who sold his Ferrari” from Sharma. It was very inspiring.
10. If you could be extremely good at any one thing, what would it be?
I could make a nice dinner for all my friends and family make sure they enjoy and have a lot of fun together.
11. What are you waiting for?
Indeed! I`m ready to go!

My 11 Random Facts:

1. Cooking gives me lot`s of energy, inspiration
and makes me happy, especially when
I see the people around me enjoying
my dishes.
2. Never say “no” to a new dish without trying `cause how else would you know what you could have missed?
3. Purple and cyan are my favorite colors.
4. I am very thankful for my son and the joy he gives me.
5. I love roses, especially red and pink ones`cause they express love and happiness.
6. I love music and love dancing.
7. I`d really love to visit Australia one day.
8. I like being in the city but I miss the smell of sea.
9. Can`t wait to visit my sunny island coming summer.
10. I love reading books.
11. I know I should make more time for my hobby painting.

And now… here are the nominees:
1. http://powerofpies.wordpress.com/
2. http://lisettedefoe.wordpress.com/
3. http://kevollier.com/
4. http://sntbydudzi.wordpress.com/
5. http://bottledsmoke.wordpress.com/

Congratulations to all of you ! I always enjoy reading your blogs and look forward to read some more of your great posts. 

My 11 questions for the nominees:

1. What do love the most about blogging?
2. What`s your favorite food?
3. What makes you very happy?
4. What`s the best book you ever read?
5. Where is your favorite vacation destination and why?
6. What`s you favorite season of the year?
7. What advice would you recommend a new blogger?
8. What made you happy today?
9. Who is the most important person in your life?
10. Is there anything you love to collect?
11.Who is your favorite historical person and why.

A heart filled with Gratitude.

Be happy with what you have and you`ll have a grateful life. Sometimes people want to get more than they already have in their lives. Sometimes we focus on the big things and forget about all the small wonderful things around us. As a result that we`ll never be satisfied with our lives. 

In my circle of friends I have two female friends who`s stories really correspond with gratitude. One of them has a lovely little kid, but she feels very unhappy in her marriage. In spite of that she`s dying to have a second child. She loves being with her kid but constantly talks about her desire instead of enjoying her time with her kid and being thankful for that. It`s sad to see that she can`t focus on this wonderful gift and be thankful to God for being lucky with this healthy and lovely child!  

My other friend is happily married to a wonderful man, has everything one can wish, including a nice family and good people around her that love her very much. But she wished for a long time for something she didn`t have: A child! To have a child of her own, but she can`t!

I have seen her suffering for a long time, so much sadness and no gratitude because of missing something in her life. But then this moment came where she started realizing she`ll never be happy again if she didn`t start focusing on what she already has. So she faced the truth and accepted that she need to go on with her life and focus on all the other wonderful things she has around her. It`s a wonderful feeling to see people being grateful to their lives and what they were given: I saw her getting her life back on track. It took long but it did, thanks to her heart filled with gratitude.

As for my friend who wants a second child while being in a unhappy marriage, I really wish she could be thankful with what she already has instead of focusing on what she doesn`t have. 

Be thankful to the life you have and you`ll live a grateful life!

                                                                      ***

“Gratitude and love are always multiplied when you give freely. It is an infinite source of contentment and prosperous energy.” Jim Fargiano

Forgive and you`ll be free.

Sometimes people make mistakes and hurt each other, most of the times without any explanation. Can we forgive those people and go one like nothing never happened? 

During my childhood I learned from my grandmother that I should always forgive people. When I think back I wonder why I never saw my Grandma angry. I still feel the energy flowing through my body as if she`s there with me and for me. And yes, I was lucky that she was a lot of times there for me. She was like an angel, she would come and save me from everything that would be harmful for me. She spoke a lot about forgiveness, most of the time when she couldn`t be there to protect me. She would say many times that I should always forgive my enemies when I would tell her that I was hurt by someone and therefor sad and angry. My Grandmother was always praying. Sometimes I could hear the words she was whispering. I could hear that she was asking God for forgiveness. I was confused because she was a good person, she would never hurt anybody, she wouldn`t talk bad about anybody, she would never interfere in ones business. So is it really necessary to ask for forgiveness when you`re a good person?

When someone did hurt me in the past, I preferred not to think about what my grandmother used to tell me, `cause I only wished for her not to see me sad or angry. I always hoped on moments like those that she would be busy watching over another grandchild while this one was being stubborn and not doing what was told the best to do: To forgive, feel free, happy and move on! But then the moment came when I decided to follow up her wise advice and forgive people around me. Her words worked, because I happen to be someone that can`t really carry a lot of unforgiveness with me. I`m bad with carrying hateful thoughts. It makes me restless and disturb my inner peace  I  prefer to “forget” fast and become happy again at once.  Getting stuck with feelings of unforgiveness is a big waste of our lives. When we forgive someone it feels good, `cause we feel relieved, free and ready to continue enjoying our lives.  

There`s one thing my grandma never told me, which I learned after forgiving people and being betrayed by the same persons more than once. It`s what John F. Kennedy once said: “Forgive your enemies but never forget their names”. There she goes again, the stubborn grandchild. But there`s a point here. You know better so you won`t make the same mistake next time.

 

We make our own luck.

There are people that are always in the right place at the right moment. Do they just get lucky all the time? 

I think those people stay positive and remain calm. They don`t focus on things they don`t see, but they pay attention to their environment. The “lucky ones” are patient, they smile more often and are open for new opportunities. When something goes wrong, they don`t fall into the negativity but instead, they remind their selves that it could have been worse.

So we have the influence on our own luck but we just need to know how to deal with it.