Have you ever found yourself in a position where change was inevitable? Kind of like now with what is going on in the world. You may have felt annoyed, frustrated, or even scared about how that part of your life was going to change. Maybe you felt trapped-the change was going to happen whether you liked it or not. No matter what type of change it can be scary to some degree.

You may have even felt out of sorts or stressed out for days, weeks, or even months. But what if you were to undergo a paradigm shift and begin to view change as opportunity? What if you could reach out and embrace change with open arms?

Think of the change a caterpillar goes through to become a butterfly and embrace change.

Read on for some mind-expanding, eye-opening ways to regard change as opportunity in your life:

1. Accept the idea of change. When you get comfortable with the idea that change is going to happen, it will help you go into a change with less stress. John F. Kennedy once said, "The one...

Loving yourself might sound a little odd, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t critical. The more you love yourself, the better you’ll take care of yourself. That impacts your health, longevity, self-esteem, self-confidence, and success.

When you love yourself, you make yourself a priority. You deserve nothing less.

Try these tips and discover greater self-love:

1. Remember your victories. View yourself in a positive light more often. One of the easiest ways to do this is to remember your triumphs. Maybe you hit a home run and won the game in 5th grade. Remember your high school graduation day. Think about that time you received a promotion.Most people spend plenty of time remembering their failures. Try doing the opposite for a month and see what happens!
2. Volunteer. Volunteering is a great way to boost your self-esteem. It’s easier to love yourself when you see yourself as a good person. Put your attention on someone else. You’ll enjoy the mental break, and...

As women we are often told to calm down, don’t get angry, or to be quiet. Meanwhile men are encouraged to show their power and anger. Anger is considered a power emotion. Women may be allowed to show anger with their children, but not their husbands. Men can show anger with anyone because they hold the power. Children can only show their anger to their dolls. This is a power matrix.

Unhealthy ways we often deal with anger is to stuff our emotions down, eat, drink, use another substance to take away our feelings. When we are unable to express our emotions, even those negative emotions they pop up in other ways. 

Anger will come bubbling up in unexpected ways

• Self criticism
• Judgment of self or others
• Addictions
• Anxiety and depression
• Self esteem issues
• Relationship and intimacy issues

But, what if we changed that and we all could show ‘Healthy’ anger. If we were allowed to voice our upset, frustration, and pain.

Healthy anger does not allow for losing control,...

We are human, we get anxious, we lose our cool, we get unsettled. That is totally normal. But, what happens when that state of anxiety builds or our frustration turns to anger and then to rage. That’s when we feel out of control and we may say or do things that we regret or can’t seem to control.

When we start to feel our anxiety building or our frustration turning to anger or any other emotion that might kick us up to the next level there are a number of things we could do to bring our calm back. Bring us back to center.

1. Breathe

The first thing you can do is take deep breaths, in and out, full deep breaths counting to 10. When we get anxious or upset we tend to shallow breathe which intensifies those feelings. When we can slow our breathing and take full breaths it helps calm our ‘fight or flight’ nervous system.

2. Journaling

Journaling is a great way to release pent up emotions. Grab a pen and paper and write about what you are feeling and why. Quite...

I know it seems like I talk about gratitude a lot. There could be a reason for that. Gratefulness is the foundation of living a happier life.

A few weeks ago I did a blog 100 Gratitudes where I asked you to list 100 things you were grateful for. I also released a Kindle book Gratitude: How to Live with Joy and Gratefulness. I often share my gratitude on my Creative U Facebook page. I do all of that as a reminder to all of us to be grateful. 

Sometimes we get so bogged down in our day to day life that we forget to be grateful for what we have. We focus all our attention on lack. Our brains are hardwired to justify our thoughts, so when we spend our time only thinking about lack, that is where we stay in life.

When we can focus more on what we have, we get more of that. So, that means the more energy you put into being grateful the more things you will get to be grateful for.

Excerpt from my Book Gratitude: How to Live with Joy and Gratefulness

The Opposite of Gratefulness

...

If you’re not afraid, you’re not human. Everyone is afraid of something. Fears tend to evolve and change over time. A newborn is afraid of loud noises. A young child might be afraid of the dark. A middle-aged man is afraid of embarrassing himself during a speech.  Our fears are learned. What have you learned to be afraid of?
 
Turn the tables and use fear to your advantage:
 
1. Determine why you’re afraid. If you’re afraid of falling off a cliff and dying, your fear might be warranted, and further evaluation is required. If it’s just your ego talking, you know that the fear isn’t in your best interest. That’s the fear that keeps you in your current situation. 

2. Reframe the situation. The fact that you’re physically uncomfortable doesn’t have to control your thoughts or actions. When you’re feeling anxious, take that as a sign that something great might be getting...

Authenticity, what does that even mean?

We are often told to be our authentic self, but when we twist and contort ourselves to fit into the world do we even know who we are at the core?

I thought this (Above pic) was the perfect graphic for this post as it has a huge list of potential possibilities.

• completely enough
• being here now
• my heart's desire
• not an object
• inherently valuable
• and so many more

Maybe these speak to you and maybe you have others for yourself.

To me, being authentic is stepping into our own happiness, having self value and presenting our happiest self to the world and not giving a sh*t if others don't like it.

Maybe it's taking a course you always wanted but were afraid others would think it was ridiculous. Or quitting your job and following your passion.  It's about following your own rules and being OK with that.

It can be a really hard thing to do as we are so conditioned in our society to be, do, behave, like the "norm", which in our society is extremely...

Gratitude

I just finished putting the finishing touches on my Gratitude Kindle release and launched it this week,  and with everything that is going on it seems more relevant then ever to have gratitude for what we have in our lives.

Gratitude reminds us of what we have which allows us to think more positively. And if you believe in the law of attraction you know that the Universe (God, Spirit) will not give you more of what you 'want' if you are not grateful for what you have. 

This is a relatively simple in concept exercise, but will get you thinking about what you are truly grateful for.
 
The process is simple; just think of 100 things you are grateful for.

This act will open your mind to the staggering number of things there are to be grateful for in your life.
 
Don’t stress about finishing this list all in one go. Just get through as much as possible in one sitting and keep coming back to it as you think of more items. 

Print out the worksheet and try it...

So, this just happened. I released what was supposed to be one little Kindle book but then thought..."what the heck" let's make it into a little notebook as well. This tiny 4 x 7, 60 pages, slip in your purse or pocket is a quick recap on what we need in our lives to be happier. How we are responsible for our own thoughts and feelings. Plus what we can do more of each day to feel happier.

Over the next few months, I have a few different Kindle books that I will be releasing and will probably turn into these cute little 'pocket' books.

So, what does it take to be happier in 5 minutes a day?
Well, I don't want to give away all the secrets, but ultimately it comes down to mindset. What we decide to focus on is what we receive more of.

If we focus our energy on being miserable we will get more misery, but if we focus our intention of happiness, we will get more happiness in our lives.

So pick up this cute little quick read or download it to your Kindle app.

Being kinder is not about making sacrifices or denying your own needs. Treating people kindly is not an imposition or another task on your checklist.
 
It’s the outward manifestation of living positively. Kindness is all about mindset, and you can train your brain to make kindness almost automatic. Ever notice that being kind to someone makes you feel good too? It’s because altruism promotes a chemical reaction in your brain, releasing serotonin, oxytocin, and dopamine. These chemicals not only make you feel good but also work to reinforce positive social behavior. By laying down new neural pathways, you set yourself up for living a positive, kinder life.
 
Here are some scientifically proven tips for engineering kindness into your brain.
 
1. Choose to be kind
In choosing to be kind, you are consciously resetting your mindset to treat people with compassion and empathy. Notice the effect of your kindness on others. When you smile, people’s natural reaction...