Good Listening and Boundaries

Now you're getting it! Gratitude is the energy that expands your attitude, beliefs, and actions. Protecting your peace will teach you that you don't have to accept anything that doesn't benefit your day. Things are different when you start your day by protecting your peace. You know how they say that breakfast is the most important meal because getting the right nutrition in you then can power you through your entire day? Well, the same thing is true about feeding your peace as your day begins. When you work on protecting your peace first thing, you give yourself the opportunity to appreciate your life, appreciate the people and the world around you, focus on your goals and ambitions, and bolster your inner strength. At the same time, you allow yourself to keep the big stresses in your life away for at least a little while. It's not that you forget that they exist, but you de-prioritize them while you concentrate on the part of your life that gives you the most satisfaction and contentment. It's like wrapping yourself in a powerful protective coating. When you make working on your peace the first item on your agenda and you begin every day with a strong sense of well-being, it is way harder for the distractions and the irritations to throw you out of whack. It's much easier for you to guard your life, to focus on where you want to go and what you want to do with your day. Maybe you'll choose to decide what you'll have for lunch. Just make sure to prepare it the night before. Or maybe you'll decide what time you'll work out. Just make sure to pack your workout gear the night before. The key is to take as many decisions off the board as you can the night before, because that will allow you to conserve tomorrow's mental energy for making the decisions that really matter. The goal is to make certain actions automatic rather than decisions because decisions require willpower. The power of routine not only will make you more efficient but will also make it a lot easier for you to make important decisions. When you don't have to make decisions, decision fatigue is very easy to avoid.

Regardless of what decisions you decide to make, here's one thing you definitely should decide: what you'll do first when you get to work. That way you can . I'm a little more scared, and a little less carefree. And I understand damages a little more personally. Everyone has their damages. Some you see, like a wheelchair, a breathing tube, a scar. But we all have scars that others can't see. In court, patients can be awarded money for pain, suffering, embarrassment, and the loss of life's pleasures. In life outside the courtroom, we often suffer those damages in silence. If we let them, our damages can make us stronger, better, and sometimes closer to others. The lessons I've learned from Jon's heart attack have made me more sensitive to others and more empathetic to the patients in my cases. If you know another way to learn about damages, go with it, because that was a trial I wouldn't wish on anyone. Remember the image of a train riding down the tracks, smooth as silk, connected to the third rail. That is your life in gratitude. I hugged him, thanking him for his time. The Grateful Soul: The Art And Practice Of Gratitude these few moments of connection. We turned away, back to our lives, and I heard him shout, Remember the third rail! I raised my hand in acknowledgment and knew I would never be the same again. Kathryn Eriksen is an Empowered Way coach, meditation and mindfulness teacher, author, and speaker. She shows women how to connect to the feminine side of money and peacefully create abundant wealth.

Her passion is to raise the abundance vibration for women, so they step into their power and change the world. After all, smiling is a way to show people that you're happy, friendly, and confident, which helps lift spirits. You aren't playing defense the moment you get out of bed. Instead, you get to go on the initiative and score your first points before the opposition even gets to handle the ball. That's the way you win championships. So, what exactly do I mean by protecting your peace? What I mean is allowing yourself to enter the day with the experience of genuine happiness to be alive. I always start the day by thanking God, though I know that might not be your thing. My hikes made me feel great about the beauty of nature, the world around me, and my place in it, but I use a bunch of different techniques to protect my peace, including walking around the neighborhood, working out, and yoga. I even had this thing where I used to start every day by dunking a basketball, but that was before we got rid of the basketball goal at our house. I mean, I'm a good athlete, but dunking at regulation height is hard. It's much easier to feel like you're going to win the day when you start with some winning. You have the greatest amount of mental energy early in the morning. Science says so: In a landmark study performed by the National Academy of Sciences, parole board judges were most likely to give a favorable ruling early in the morning. Just before lunch, the odds of a favorable ruling dropped to almost zero. Should the judges' decisions have been affected by factors other than legal ones? Of course not--but they were. They got mentally tired. They experienced decision fatigue. That's why the best time to make tough decisions is early in the day.

That's why the best time to do the most important things you need to do is early in the day. Decide what those things are and plan to tackle them first thing. I also wouldn't trade it. Pain is often our best teacher. Many of us will experience a traumatic event of some type. Everyone has been hurt, and everyone is damaged in some way. Consider that as you weigh whether you need to go to battle. When you go in for the kill, you leave scars behind. That damage may be worth it, or it may not. You have to be aware of the potential of damage in order to weigh the risks and benefits. You, too, have your damages. Be gentle with yourself. The simple act of giving a smile also opens you to receive a smile in return, and most often than not, you always get a smile back. This is why my nickname is Smiley and I hope you will share your smile with others too. My grandmother was an extremely positive lady and always said: Everything is just lovely. Funny how a simple phrase can incite joy instantly. You can practice cultivating being grateful by using this phrase anytime, anywhere. Perhaps you find yourself sitting in traffic and becoming annoyed or impatient, try on a smile and say out loud, Everything is just lovely. Notice how it feels to be grateful for the way things are instead of wishing how we want it to be.

I am grateful for all of my children, each one unique in their special place on earth? Kerrie, Gordon, Clint, Dave, Chris, Darren, and my youngest daughter, Allison. Now, none of the things I do to protect my peace might be the right thing for you, so let's go over the basics. What you're looking for is any routine that offers you a stress-free experience and makes you feel good about your life and your situation. Maybe it's doing some breathing exercises. Maybe it's making a nice breakfast. Maybe it's listening to some uplifting music or picking up a guitar and strumming a few chords. There are people I know who start the day by working on a personal project--some carpentry or writing, for example--and they say that the hour or so they spend at this propels them through the entire day, even if they find their jobs boring or unsatisfying. There are so many ways to go with this, and as far as I can see, there are only two real conditions. The first is that it has to be something that always makes you feel good about what you're doing and about yourself. If you have a hobby you love, and you always find yourself getting into the zone when you're doing it, great. However, if that hobby sometimes frustrates you because you aren't as good at it as you feel you should be, don't make this the way you try to protect your peace, because there's a decent chance it's going to generate some stress, and that's exactly what you're trying to avoid at this point. I know what you're thinking. What about the rest of the day? Although the judges in the study started the day strong, a graph of their decision making looks like a roller coaster: up and down, up and down. They took periodic breaks to eat or snack. Just after lunch their likelihood of making favorable rulings spiked. The same held true after midmorning and midafternoon breaks. It turns out glucose is one of the foundations of willpower. Although your brain does not stop working when glucose is low, it does start doing some things and stop doing others: It responds more strongly to immediate rewards and pays less attention to long-term outcomes.