Your Life is What You Make It

A recent article in a business magazine asked the questio
"If theeconomy is doing so well, why does everyone feel so bad?"

There are a lot of very sophisticated answers to this question like"jobs are moving out of the county, there is a war in Iraq, the cost ofliving is rising, etc, etc." I feel that there is one simple reason thatis more responsible for people's bad feelings than everything else.There is one simple reason why people are feeling down even though theeconomy is booming. There is one simple reason why, despite all thepositive economic indicators, many people are still living in fear andare experiencing depression in record numbers.

You've probably guessed it by now, it's our attitude which is controlledlargely by what we focus upon and what we tell ourselves. We think athought, which produces a feeling, which leads to an action, whichproduces a result. It all starts with the thought we choose to think.

If you watch the TV news or read newspapers with their never-endingbarge of negative stories, you can't help but feel bad. I'm notsuggesting that you give up news all together although it's not anentirely bad idea, but that you limit your news intake and especiallyavoid it prior to going to sleep. It is a well accepted fact that, whatyou read, watch or listen to within a half hour of going to sleep willcarry over into your dream state and will effect how well you rest andultimately how you feel.

News items aside, what else are you focused upon? Do you regularlyengage in conversations about how bad things are, or are you looking forwhat is right and what's working in every situation? The former willincrease your bad feelings and take you further in that direction, whilethe latter will open your awareness to the good that already surroundsyou.

My wife Georgia and I have been engaging in a "what's working" exerciseevery week for several years now and I am amazed of the benefits thathave resulted from it.

While so many people are caught up in talking about everything that iswrong in their world, thereby causing themselves to feel bad, you canchoose the opposite, you can choose to increase the good in your life byfocusing your attention and conversation on the good that's alreadythere, To paraphrase the Bible , "To he who has, more is given."

On a recent Monday morning I was feeling "less than great." That's aboutas close as I get to feeling bad. Georgia, having learned the value ofshifting to a more positive focus asked, "So what's working?" Istruggled to list one or two things that were going well and "working"in my business on that particular day. I wrote them down in my journal.I don't think I had written more than three things in total, as I said Iwas not having a great day.

Then, a very interesting thing happened. By mid-day I was able to add acouple of more things that were working and by the close of businessthat day, and my list had grown to three times its original length. Byshifting my focus, I was once again in a state of mind to attract moregood into my life.

Lynn Grabhorn, author of "Excuse Me, Your Life is Waiting" refers to itas your "valve" being either open or closed. Are you open to attractwhat you want by focusing your attention and thereby your perception onwhat you want, or is your valve tightly shut by a steady internaldialogue of gloom and doom? It's your choice how you experience yourworld. You get to decide what you want to create in your life. If youwant to learn more about using a what's working approach, I suggestreading Curt Wright's book "Breaking the Rules."

Exercise:
- List everything in your life that is working, that is right and thatis good. Dig deep down and list everything that you can think of.
- What would the ideal vision look like if everything were workingperfectly?
- What's not quit perfect yet? What needs tweaking?
- What resources do you need? Who can help? And how can you add towhat's already working?

If you do this exercise each week, with your spouse, co-workers orcoach, before long you will begin to see significant shifts in yourlife.