418 I Am Constantly Nudging Progress February 2018 Thursday Week 4

Thoughtful Thursdays-#418 January 22nd The Strong Within Daily Affirmation Podcast I Am Constantly Nudging Progress   “Progress lies not in enhancing what is, but in advancing toward what will be.” ~Khalil Gibran I came to an epiphany today, which reminded me that I’m more appreciative when I’m in pain. I’m more aware of the things I miss, of the things that are great in my life, and of my place in this life because of pain. I think it is easy to get caught in the misery of life looking at what isn’t going our way and to feel alone in it all. And I won’t sugar coat it; you are alone, but you aren’t alone all at the same time.   We go through our pains, and we go through our struggles, saying that great people were tested like no other and they were self-made in their successes. And so we build upon an island stranding ourselves on it, feeling like it would be bad to ask for help or to let someone know we are struggling. But hiding our pains keeps us trapped in our pains. I believe in looking to find the great in everything, but I also don’t believe in hiding your pain. We should talk about our pains, and then find ways to move from them.   In my life coaching practice, I’ll listen to people’s problems so they can get them out, but I will not be a sounding board for them to stay in their problems. We as humans have lost focus, as we get trapped in talking about problems and looking for answers, instead of looking for solutions. I know that sounds like semantics, but it’s a different energy to look for a solution than to be looking for answers to problems. It’s a process of bypassing the source that’s shorting out our growth. I think of it like a wire that’s frayed. Some people will only put electrical tape over frayed wire hoping that helps and maybe that’s all that needs to be done in some janky way, or some people will cut the damaged part and re-connect the wires and then put on the electrical tape.   Now some may say, why didn’t you just replace the whole wire, but if your life was a wire, you wouldn’t replace the wire, you would find a way to fix the wire properly. And for a good portion of my younger life, I had a fray in my wire as I kept telling a faulty story about myself. I believed I was a burden, and that God made a mistake in my creation. And when I kept telling that story it was hard to create a life I was in love with—because whatever I did to try to change it, wasn’t going to help. It’s not that there was something wrong with me, there was something wrong with the way I was thinking about myself, so I had to bypass that faulty wiring and create a new bond, so I could snip away the faulty thoughts in my mind.   And I think we make change hard because we are trying to jump from point A to point B in one fell swoop. We are trying to get to the finish line as fast as possible, instead of taking small consistent steps that bring on more lasting change. Think about it this way, if you had a goal such as losing weight do you think you would reach your goal by having one very strict diet day out of 7 days, or do you think you would be more successful making small consistent changes daily?   Progress is like a door hinge—for a door that is moving, the hinges never corrode. So when you are moving with consistent gradual steps, you are breaking the rust off from your life. You are shedding the burdens that have been holding you back because you have decided to be more open, rather than closed off to change. You have decided to be continual about your movement, and you have decided you were better in motion rather than to continually tell stories about why you are stuck, or how you can’t have nice things, or why you are unlucky in whatever area of your life.   Who we want to become is in the small moments. It’s in the times when you wake up and decide to have a love for the day instead of disdain for doing things you don’t want to do. It’s in the times when you stop to really look at your partner and be appreciative for the beauty they bring into your life, as you let them know how grateful you are for them. And it’s in the times before we go to bed and ask ourselves what was great about our day, and what would we like to improve from the lessons in our day.   Change isn’t a bang, it’s a small nudge. It’s the process of us leaning more into something and asking ourselves how we can make our forward lean a consistent part of our day—a consistent part of our life.  It’s the habit of taking those small consistent steps so much that it would feel unnatural to not be leaning forward, to not be nudging and encouraging ourselves to see the light in the day instead of focusing on the darkness; it’s the process of leaving the stories behind that are hindering us and learning to lean more towards the ones that remind us how beautiful and fragile life is. Through pain comes wisdom and appreciation, but true growth comes from continually nudging ourselves towards progress.   Today’s Personal Commitment: How could you lean a little more into the beautiful things in life today? Sometimes pain is the greatest alarm clock…but let us not get stuck there that we become numb to the fantastic things in our lives. So let’s make this an easy challenge today through awareness.   -What are the pains that you’ve been holding onto lately, and how can you refocus it into seeing a better story?   -And last question, what are the beautiful things in your life you’ve been taken for granted? What are the things you want to stop missing out on in your life?   And after you answer that last question…do something about making those things or people know they are an integral part of your life. So go live, and be in joy with them. Go and tell them how grateful you are that they are in your life…whether it be through kind actions or genuine words reassuring them how much they mean to you.   I Am Constantly Nudging Progress   Thanks for listening.  I'm sending great energy your way as we become Strong Within together, Personal Development Life Coach- Chris O'Hearn Contact info- email: [email protected]  phone:865-219-3247     Music by: - Zest by basematic (c) copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. - I Have Often Told You Stories (guitar instrumental) by Ivan Chew (c) copyright 2013 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Location: Knoxville, Tennessee USA but available worldwide