“You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.” Marcus Aurelius.
The famous Roman Emperor believed that we are all responsible for finding, creating and maintaining our own happiness. If we can find strength and peace in ourselves then happiness follows suit. Aurelius said that “our happiness depends on the quality of our thoughts.” By allowing our thoughts to be positive even in the face of adversity we can conquer most challenges.
Aurelius practised what he preached and kept a strong positive mindset through great hardships of almost constant wars and disease in addition to losing his parents and brother at a young age.
This week, when faced with a situation that you do not like but have no means to change, accept it in the first place and secondly, decide how you wish to respond. This is where your positive power lies.
Espoir is the French word for hope. Hope is the essence of a positive life. Hope is what has allowed millions to endure unendurable conditions. Hope has brought success and happiness to many who have ‘failed’ in their many attempts at success and happiness.
This week, if the opportunity presents itself, take yourself out to nature; if you live in the city, a park or your back garden will suffice. Nature has an abundance of effortless hope, regrowth and renewal especially now in Springtime. If you happen to see a beautiful butterfly or a bird or even a flower, take a mental snap of the image and make a conscious link in your mind with “espoir”. Bring this image to mind as you go about your week especially if you feel tired or overwhelmed; the image will become embedded in your subconscious and you can simply bring it to mind as and when you need to access positive feelings. After all, as with all natural things we have the ability to heal and renew ourselves with each breath we take.
This week, as this month comes to an end and we have an extra hour of light, use the following positive visualisation to focus on bringing out your best self.
Before you close your eyes, write down three positive emotions/feelings that you wish to bring more of into your life. Also write down three unwanted or negative emotions, feelings or behaviours that you wish to be free from.
Close your eyes and take three deep breaths. With each breath imagine breathing in each of the positive feelings/emotions that you are welcoming in. Imagine you are taking a journey and you are packing the positive feelings into a bag and taking them with you. They can be images, coulours or anything that represents the emotion. Imagine soaring high up and as you look down you see the negative feelings, emotions and behaviours are being left behind. As you rise up higher visualise the negatives getting smaller and smaller until it is difficult to see them. All of a sudden, find yourself in that beautiful place above the clouds where everything is still and as you breathe in and out you focus on the positive things that you have safely packed with you on this journey.
Keep the list of the three positive emotions and glance at it first thing in the morning, last thing at night and any time you wish to remind yourself of the journey you have decided to follow for the new month and beyond.
This week, focus on the power of suggestion from your conscious to your subconscious mind. An example of this is when we automatically give ourselves unhelpful or negative suggestions such as, “I am always tired on a Monday morning” or “this meeting is going to be tough”.
Semantics and suggestions contribute greatly to our mental well-being.
This week turn your “internal conversation” around by giving yourself the suggestion that “tomorrow morning I will wake up with lots of energy” or if there is a challenge in work, look for an aspect that you feel confident about and suggest to yourself, “this meeting will go really well”.
As the evenings are becoming brighter, if you find the opportunity to go for a walk one evening this week, take it! A gentle, solitary stroll where you focus all of your attention outside yourself on what you can see, hear and smell is a good mental workout to calm a busy mind after a stressful or long day. By choosing to use your focus in this way, you will be open to a general sense of calm and well-being. You may even allow yourself to experience the wonder of hearing the birds sing at twilight.
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.
“You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.” Marcus Aurelius.
Espoir is the French word for hope. Hope is the essence of a positive life. Hope is what has allowed millions to endure unendurable conditions. Hope has brought success and happiness to many who have ‘failed’ in their many attempts at success and happiness.