You can sit around and wait on FedEx to drop off a big box of happiness on your doorstep if you want to. But that’s not likely to happen anytime soon. Or you can get up, create an action plan, and get on with your life. It’s 100% up to you.
Expectations are a part of the universe that makes things happen, both negatively and positively. Like atomic particles, universal forces cannot be explained, but plugging into them creates some kind of energy. You don’t have to be able to see it or understand it to use it.
Do you understand radio waves or computer chips (ok, so some people do, but I don’t and I have a lot of company in that boat!). I can’t see how this arrives from my computer to yours, and I don’t understand it, but I sure use it. You only have to be willing to let it happen.
If you were not given the power of positive expectations early in life, you now have to create it for yourself. You can live up or down to your own expectations and the expectations of others. 98% of people in prisons report that they were told by their parents or others in their lives that they would end up in prison. They lived “down” to those expectations. What if the same people had told them that they would end up as a successful writer, or a great inventor, or a top sports figure?
You have this same power. You have the power to be creative and resourceful, or you also have the power to be miserable the rest of your life. You have that choice. You have that free will. You pick out an attitude each day the same way you pick out your clothes.
Positive actions are much more powerful than positive thinking. My mother had a great southern saying: “Wish in one hand, pour peas in the other, and see which fills up faster.” She meant, of course, that tangible action brings results, whereas just wishing for something doesn’t. Wishing that FedEx would drop off a box of happiness on your doorstep will have you waiting a very long time. Creating your happiness, one day at a time, will bring that big box of happiness much quicker.
To transform your attitude and maintain positive actions, try the following things:
. Don’t expect it to happen overnight, but always expect it to happen
. Align yourself with people who also have goals; they’ll support you and encourage you when you’re tired and frustrated
. Step out of your comfort zone; do one thing different
. Operate from the standpoint “as if” it had already happened
No, you can’t simply “will” a goal to materialize, but you can make a commitment to do whatever it takes, including consistent exercise, setting time to clean up your home/office/bedroom, or investing your money in a program instead of buying a new outfit. What do you want so badly that you are willing to put aside other things until a later time?
Your expectations of positive things is your best resource. YOU can make that choice. YOU can make it happen.
. Develop the ability to be your own best friend
. Cooperate with life, use what’s in front of you
. Remember you are human; give yourself a break
. Get into action every day.
Professional Life Coach Kathy Gates is the author of several e-books and e-courses designed to help people live happier, healthier, easier lives. Sign up for her ezine, “Make It Happen” at http://www.reallifecoach.com.
