True Gratitude Includes the Ugly Events

It is Thanksgiving in Canada and as we all reflect on what we are grateful for, it's natural to come up with the good ones first - food, family, friends, health, job, etc.

But what about the ugly events in your life that changed you?  Are you grateful you were fired from your job?  Or your lover dumped you? Or ............. fill in the blank?

The ugly ones are the events that make the biggest and most profound changes in our lives.  Yet, they are overlooked when we practice gratitude.

For me, I can look back at the abusive incident my life and I'm grateful for the lessons I learned and in some ways, I'm grateful it happened.

That may sound crazy but it's not.  When that happened and my world fell apart, I had no choice but to rebuild and start over and that's what I'm grateful for because I was forced to look inside for what I wanted in my life.  What felt authentic to me.  What I had left behind that I wanted to reclaim.  How I got sucked into his passions at the expense of my own.

These were life-changing questions and when I dedicated time and energy to answering them in my voice, I discovered who I am and what I wanted in Life.  I found the confidence to move forward into my unstoppable life.

The Ugly Events are the most important moments in our life.  They are the ones that make us pause and think about our own passions and desires.

A little Ugly Events Challenge for Thanksgiving:

• Sit quietly with a cup of tea (or whatever you desire!) and think back to the big, ugly events in your life.
• Write them down and then reflect on what has changed for the better since that day
• Fired but started your own business - gratitude
• Dumped but became clear on what values & attributes your life-partner will have - gratitude
• Dumped but took the time to fall in love with yourself - gratitude
• Totaled the car but got enough insurance money to buy a vintage convertible - gratitude
• For each Ugly Event, write down one significant positive change in your Gratitude Journal
• I am Grateful for the opportunity to start my own business
• Once every month, spend time reflecting on the Ugly Events and writing down one positive change that happened that you are now grateful for

Get Cozy with Your Ugly Events Because They are the Magical Ones

Happy Thanksgiving!

Tuesday Truth or Dare: It's an Intention Thing

Truth:  Waking up in the morning we have the opportunity to set our intention for the day.  Actually, it's a gift we are given.  You open your eyes, stretch and start your day. But here's the sad truth; the majority of people wake up and immediately have cranky negative thoughts.  I hate my job, work sucks, I'm broke, I hope that nasty woman doesn't phone today, I'm feeling fat, blah, blah, blah.  

When you wake up and immediately start your day thinking about all the perceived bad things in your life, you successfully set your intention for your day to negative and ugly. Guaranteed you will have an awful day!

Dare:  Wake up and set your intention to positive!  Wake up and smile - you're still here and that's a good start!  Smile and think about all the goods things that will happen today:  I'm meeting my friend for lunch, my boss is out of town for the day - woot woot, I'm going to make a plan to fix my finances, I feel good, I have good health, I will enjoy some great music on the way to work.  Set your intention dial to positive.  

7 day Challenge: 

Wake Up and Smile!

Set your intention dial to positive

Create 3 positive scenarios for the day and 

focus on those when your mood starts to turn negative

Make it a Great |Day!

Practice Gratitude in times of Darkness

I am a firm believer in the power of Gratitude.  I also hate winter - shivering, cold, dark winter.

My attitude of gratitude is strongest during the winter.  It is what keeps me smiling and looking forward.  It is a blessing to be able to look outside and be grateful.  Otherwise, I would probably get labelled with some debillitating dis-ease.

In times of Darkness, there is always something to be grateful for. Period.

Winter is long in Canada and cold.  Yesterday it was -34C.  Only a short walk with the dog because the ground is too cold for his feet.  As we walked in the bitter cold, I chose to focus on what I was grateful for.  This is what I discovered:

• the bright blue sky. It was stunning.
• my leg warmers.  Last minute addition but they allowed me to climb snow banks and not get snow in my boots!
• hot chocolate.  Yummy.  Looking forward to a big cup at home.
• smiles. Even though it was freezing, I met others and we would share a smile and a frosty Hi.
• crunchy snow.  I love the sound.  

By choosing to focus on things I'm grateful for, I actually enjoyed my winter walk.

Gratitude is about finding the smallest hint of good in the bad.  Turning the negative into a positive.  Finding a hint of blue among the darkness.

Start turning the darkness into light.  Focus on what you are grateful for.  Include things you take for granted - walking, talking, health, love, a home, heat, food.

One act of gratitude today will have a positive impact.  One act of gratitude will grow into two and then three and then several.

Practice.  When you are challenged, think about something you are grateful for - going home, a delicious dinner, the sunshine.  You'll smile and your challenge will seem easier to handle.

Winter is here for a while.  I will hold onto my Attitude of Gratitude to lessen the challenge of the darkness and the bitter cold.

About Susan Ball:  Susan inspires her clients to live the life of their dreams with passion, joy, and love. Susan is an experienced international Life Coach helping people discover and live their ideal life through NLP, Mindfulness, and G.R.A.C.E.

Learn more about Susan by visiting her Online, on Facebook

Turn Off Your Phone and Be Present Now in the Moment

People want to engage with you and see your smile, listen to your words.

Nature wants to seen and be fully appreciated.  Nature is waiting to be discovered in all its amazing glory.

How can you possibly engage and communicate with real people if you're neck is bent toward the ground and your eyes are focused on your phone?  How can you connect with nature and her magnificence if your eyes are riveted to your phone?

I recently conducted a successful workshop on the topic of "Mindfulness and Connection".  Participants were asked to leave their cell phones at home....period.  I had anxious callers telling me how they couldn't do that because they were expecting a very important phone call from someone.  To each special request I simply replied leave your cell phone at home....period!

All the participants who attended complied and were pleasantly surprised to discover that their stress level was significantly reduced.  They were relaxed and enjoyed the conversation and looked forward to our next group chat.

There was a time not so long ago that your phone was connected to the wall in your house.  If you went out with your friends, family or just for a walk, your phone stayed at home!

You were free to simply enjoy the moment, the activity, and the people.

Action Steps to Live Phone Free 

Leave your phone at home, in the car, or the office for 15 minutes each day.

Meet up with family, friends or take a walk in the park.  Focus on the moment, what's happening right now.  Breath and relax.  Be present in your life.

After 7 days, increase the amount of time you leave your phone behind.

Remember - when the phone was attached to the wall, you survived, business carried on, family crises happened, your kids arrived at their destination, and anyone and everyone was free to leave a message.  You would get back to them at your leisure.

Disconnect and Kick the Phone Habit - you will be a new person in a very short time and you will look forward to your "no-phone time".

About Susan Ball

Susan inspires her clients to live the life of their dreams with passion, joy, and love. Susan is an experienced international Life Coach helping people discover and live their ideal life through NLP, Mindfulness, and G.R.A.C.E.

Learn more about Susan by visiting her Online, on Facebook

Help Me Celebrate My Birthday - Take Advantage of My Special

Feeling Stuck?  Feel like your Spinning and Going Nowhere? Is it time for a Change?

October is my Birthday Month and I celebrated my fabulous 58th on the 4th of October!

To celebrate, I'm offering a special Birthday Coaching Rate of $58 per session for the month of October.

Get in touch and start living your life with joy, happiness, freedom and authenticity.

PS - pass on the good news.

Call 902.660.2701 to chat!

Yes, I Want to Get Unstuck!

Special Rate expires October 31, 2014.

How to Stop the Negative Practice of Coveting

I have blessed recently with the opportunity to immerse myself in the study of Gratitude and Mindfulness.  Both of these lifestyle practices are life and attitude changers.  When you begin every day in gratitude and take a daily 5-minute mindfulness break, you will bring positive changes to your life and mental and physical health.

How?  Simple - you will stop the negative practice of "coveting"!

That's it!

Coveting adds stress, depression, anxiety, anger, and many other negative moods to your day and life.

When you covet, you have unsatisfied, unquenchable "need" and "want" and "wish" for something someone else has that you believe you will make you happy.

"If I just had more money"  "If I just had a relationship like Bobby & Janet"  "If I just had a job I liked"  "If I just had a bigger house, a better car, a vacation, ............"

Change your coveting to gratefulness - love what you have in your life and then you will easily be able to build on it.

At the end of each and every day, write down 5 things you are grateful for in your life.  Close you eyes and think how blessed you are and smile.

Commit to a Daily 5-Minute Mindfulness Break.  Tiny mindfulness practices you can do to get started:

• Focus on your breathing.  Feel your breath flowing in and out of your body.  Feel how your lungs expand.
• Focus your attention fully on a daily routine task - washing the dishes, brushing your teeth - notice how it feels, smells, tastes.
• Focus on just being quiet and still.  Let your mind go quiet and your body go still. Do this in 30-second bursts.  

Bring Mindfulness and Gratefulness to your life today - you will be thankful you did