Living Out Loud

High Energy - your love is lifting me!

Does that ring any bells with you?  It’s a song from the eighties that I heard on the radio just as I was thinking about this tag from Cardin at Optimist Lab.  It was an interesting synchronicity because I was thinking about how I used songs, (well, actually often just a snippet from a song) to consciously lift my energy quite regularly.   

The point of this game is to describe five ways in which we raise our energy vibrations.  This is a fun project to be part of, and as fun is one of my core values, I was delighted to be asked to play.

5 things I do to raise my vibrations:

As I was saying before, I sing – out loud, eventhough I’d put the crows out of business – bits of songs that feel appropriate in the moment to help me feel better.  I have specific favourites that I always use in situations that arise regularly (“Everything’s gonna be alright” when I catch myself worrying about how something is going to turn out; “I feel good, da-na-na-na-na-na, I knew that I would now” when kayaking down a white water rapid), but lately my favourite for generally raising my vibration is Take That’s recent single “Shine”.  The lyrics and music are so uplifting to me that I posted them on my blog a couple of months ago, along with a link to the video on U-tube.

I play with my cat.  Cats are a glorious source of fun and amusement.  When I play with Riley (when choosing a name I looked up “prosperity” in the thesaurus and got “life of Riley”) not only do I have a lot of fun, but I’m brought right back into the present and forget about whatever thoughts, concerns or distractions that were consuming my attention beforehand.  Just discovering Riley’s latest choice of hidey-hole is enough to make me laugh out loud – and you can’t get a better vibration-raiser than that!

I use affirmations.  I have them posted all over the house so that I can’t help but come across them as I go about my day.  They help me to lift my vibrations by reminding me to be grateful and to trust that all is well.

I give in to what wants to happen now instead.  If I’m struggling with something I let myself off the hook – temporarily at least.  I put it aside and ask what would I rather do instead.  And then I give myself permission to do that (and it's usually something fun!).  Afterwards I often feel inspired to do what I was earlier resisting and come back to it with renewed energy and enthusiasm.

I set intentions and meditate.  I've done this on an ad hoc basis for a couple of years now, but over the course of the past month it has become my morning ritual.  I write out a page of intentions and then meditate for fifteen minutes.  Throughout the day I try to keep my focus on how I’d like things to be.  When I catch myself in the act of worrying, I stop giving energy to the thought that was bothering me, focus instead on how I’d like things to be and recite an appropriate affirmation.  Then probably sing “Everything’s gonna be alright…”

Ok, now it’s time to tag others to play along.  This is how to play:

1. Write a new post about your five favorite tricks for “Raising Your Vibes”.
2. Link back to OptimistLab and the person who tagged you at the top of your post.
3. Give your attention to five (or more if you want) deserving bloggers by picking one high-quality post by each blogger.
4. Tag these bloggers by going to high Vibe it, (a news sharing site, I’ll explain more about it farther down), and submiting your “Raising Your Vibes” post and the five posts you picked.
5. Tell each blogger you picked that they’ve been tagged either through email or by leaving a comment.

I’m tagging:

Kirsten Harrell at Think Positive!  - I'm High Vibing Positive Attitude during Difficult Times

Nneka at Balanced Life Centre - I'm High Viving Serving Yourself Serves Others

Karen at Live the Power - I'm High Vibing Manifesting Life

Pamm at My Secret Spiritual Dance - I'm High Vibing Law of Attraction: Money and Flow

Alan at Made to be Great - I'm High Vibing Savour the Moment - hungry for life?

Simply Successful Secrets

I've been tagged by She Who Held My Hand as I started my blogging journey, Business Blog Angel, Claire Raikes.  I've done a bit of research and this meme was started by Aaron Potts at Today is that Day who is conducting research into success habits to share with his readers, based on the premise that one of the best ways to achieve success is to emulate the efforts of other people who are successful.

I'd say that's a project worth being part of, so I'm going to play.  What I do nearly every day to be successful is:

I set an intention for how I want my day to go, and particularly how I want to be today.  I believe in deliberate creation and I also believe in unconscious creation.  And I'd much rather create my day deliberately than unconsciously so, for me, setting an intention at the outset is the way to go.  I also set intentions for specific outcomes I would like during the course of the day.

I read affirmations.  I have about twenty affirmations posted strategically all around the house so that I can't help but come into eye contact with them several times a day.  They help me to remember to focus on what I want, rather than don't want, and to keep my energy high.

I keep a gratitude journal.  For me, success is about being happy with who I am and what I've got in my life right now.  Having an attitude of gratitude is a powerful tool in developing and maintaining personal happiness, and I try to record what I'm thankful for every night.  Doing so helps send me to sleep not only feeling happy about the day I've had, but looking forward to the delights of tomorrow.

Gotta Get Goals

I first saw this challenge on Think Positive! Blog about a week or two ago.  It was started by Alex Shalman who wants you to "list and write about the top 5 to 10 goals that you gotta’ get so that you can truly say you have achieved your wildest dreams in life. These have to be your best, most exclusive, and over-the-top goals that you can pick off your goals list."

I came across it again this week on Ramblings from a Glass Half Full, Zen Habits and Make it Great! and it seems it won't go away until it moves from the bottom to the top of my "Could Do" list (I don't do To Do's anymore - too stress inducing!)  However, while I do set myself goals all the time (well what do you expect, I am a life coach), I like to remain flexible with them and more focussed on what wants to happen right now than what I "should" be doing to get to my desired destination.

So, my list is more intention than goal based.  Here it is:

1. Remember to live joyfully in the present moment, in a constant state of gratitude and unconditional love
2. Live in complete freedom by remembering that I always have a choice (even if external factors make it appear otherwise)
3. Be the change I want to see in the world (borrowed from Mahatma Ghandi)
4. Continually stretch and grow, especially as a writer, coach and workshop leader
5. Share my journey with a romantic and spiritual partner who is my ideal traveling companion
6. Be of service to others by helping them find their own route to true, inner happiness and inspiring them to live joyfully in the present moment
7. Ok this one is definitely a goal: Financial Freedom.  But the intention is to always feel abundant while I’m patiently waiting for the physical manifestation of all that lovely money
8. Be fit and healthy (a little goal here too: seriously reduce my cholestorel score!)
9. Remember to look for the opportunity in every challenge
10. Keep smiling, laugh often, have as much fun as possible and spread a little happiness each and everyday

I'm really glad I've done this, and I'm going to post a copy of this above my desk.  Now it's over to you.  What are your "Gotta Get Goals"?  The rules require you to post a trackback back here from your post and also to Alex's orginal post.