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The Principle of Appreciation, Part 2

The Principle of Appreciation, Part 2

by Linda-Ann Stewart

If criticism diminishes life-force, then why doesn’t it work when you criticize something you don’t want in your life? For example, if you condemn the fact that you have so little money, why don’t you get to experience the opposite, more money?

Because you’re contracting the very energy of money. You’re decreasing the value of that which you want. Where your emotional attention goes, energy flows. So you’re creating more of the same lack by focusing on and condemning that area. You’re making your lack grow.

To create more of what you want, appreciate what you have. Even if you only have a penny, praise that penny. I get excited when I find pennies on the ground, in parking lots, on the floor of a store. When I turn the attitude around, and think, “So what, it’s only a cent,” I discover that they don’t appear for me. My overall prosperity also suffers.

Because of my appreciation of the smallest of coins, I’ve found not only pennies, but nickels, dimes, quarters, and one, five and twenty dollar bills.

The principle is the same no matter what you desire in your life. For relationships, give thanks for your relationship with yourself. If you want better health, find something that’s good about your body, like your immune system.

To find a better job, give thanks for something beneficial in your present job. Find something that you value in your situation. By discovering something of worth, you allow it to appreciate.

Because Cricket took the time to improve her self-image, she gained the confidence to become a marketing director. No matter how miniscule the thing is that you praise, keep your attention on it.

Don’t waste your valuable energy on being critical of that area. Condemning it will only bring you more of what you don’t want. By appreciating what you have now, you allow it to expand and blossom into what you really want in your life.

Copyright 2000, 2012 Linda Ann Stewart
All Rights Reserved

The Principle of Appreciation, Part 1

The Principle of Appreciation, Part 1

by Linda-Ann Stewart

Cricket wanted to improve her self-image. Though she hated her appearance, she knew she had to find something to appreciate about her looks to be able to increase her self-concept. After trying desperately to find something she could value about herself, she decided that she liked her hair a little bit.

Knowing that praising something made it improve, she began to praise her hair. Every morning and every evening, she looked in the mirror and told her hair how much she approved of it. She liked its thickness, its length, its health. Over the next few months, her hair began to respond by beginning to curl for the first time in her life.

Whatever you appreciate in your life expands. Being grateful means you are appreciative of benefits you’ve received. As a matter of fact, the definition of both gratitude and appreciation is “thankfulness.” But the definition of appreciation goes further.

Appreciation also means recognizing the high value of something. In addition, it signifies an increase in value. So when you appreciate something in your life, not only are you recognizing its worth, but you’re causing that worth to multiply.

Remember how you felt when someone appreciated your efforts. Didn’t you want to do more for them? Now think of how you felt when someone criticized you. Didn’t it make you angry, and not want to help that person in any way? Didn’t it make you feel like crawling into a hole and licking your wounds? Criticism contracts energy, while appreciation allows it to expand.

Test this for yourself. Take two plants. For a month, treat them exactly alike. Water and fertilize them the same, make sure they get an equal amount of sun. However, praise one of them, and criticize the other.

Experiments like this have been done over and over, and the results are the same. The plant that’s praised will grow larger, with greener leaves and more roots. The other one will be stunted and wither.

Copyright 2000, 2012 Linda Ann Stewart
All Rights Reserved

Anger As A Constructive Motivating Force

Anger As A Constructive Motivating Force

Anger can be a positive force for good in your life. When you are able to stay conscious enough to recognize anger is a signal, you can rationally decide how to address the issue. Here are 5 questions you can ask yourself so that something constructive can develop from the situation. For explanations of these questions, watch the video.

1. Are they a frequent offender who isn’t valuing you?
2. Do you want to cut the ties with this person?
3. Did they step over an important line for you or were they aware of it?
4. Were you somehow culpable in precipitating the offense?
5. Was it a misunderstanding? Did you filter what they did through a sensitive area of your own?


Copyright 2012 Linda Ann Stewart
All Rights Reserved.

Are the personal growth methods teaching different things?

Are the personal growth methods teaching different things?

Question: With all the self-development and personal growth methods available, are they all teaching something different?

Answer: Whether it’s yoga, est, reiki, hypnotherapy, EFT, affirmations or whatever, all spiritual development techniques have a similar goal in mind. That goal is to help you open yourself up to a greater flow of Spirit.

It doesn’t matter if it’s a physical, mental or emotional method, it’s designed to change your conception of yourself, your body or your world. That change helps to release resistance to allowing more of Universal good into your life.

They may go about it differently, and state it differently, but when you change your perspective, and have an intention to spiritually evolve, the result is more joy, peace and harmony.

Copyright 2003, 2012 Linda Ann Stewart
All Rights Reserved

Reclaim Your Power From Anger, Part 2

Reclaim Your Power From Anger, Part 2

by Linda-Ann Stewart

It’s time to reclaim the power you’ve given away. Don’t let a past situation govern your life or choices any longer. You can’t control others or what they do.They have their own opinions and perceptions that may not agree with yours. And you don’t want the thought of them to continue to affect you and your emotions.

Realize that anyone who upset you probably didn’t target you personally. They may not have hurt you deliberately. Even if they attacked you, they might have just randomly picked you as a the target of their hostility. Maybe you accidentally triggered a sensitive area for them. Who knows?

When you get angry, mentally step back and reassess. You can then make rational choices instead of reactionary ones. You can decide what’s best for you in the long run. Lashing out and making snide remarks won’t resolve the situation and will probably make it worse. When you’re able to stay cool, you’re in control of yourself and the situation. You can stand up for yourself, and for your rights, calmly.

Decide what you need to learn from the circumstance. Should you trust them less, not let them so close, or were you expecting them to be different from who they are? Whatever the lesson, as long as you remember it, you can fulfill the purpose of why you got upset. Establish boundaries and decide how much contact you want with this person.

Hallie was a very unhappy woman. Only when you’re willing to let go of your anger do you have the space to allow happiness in. Peace of mind, empowerment, health and harmony reward you when you learn the lesson from anger and resolve it. Your mind is then able to expand to a greater level of its potential.

Affirmation:

I recognize that anger is counterproductive if I hold onto it. It also hands my power over to those I’m angry at. When I reclaim my power, I seek rational methods to deal with the situation. As I do, I access more of my potential. It also allows me to channel my energy to the successful fulfillment of my goals.

Copyright 2012 Linda Ann Stewart
All Rights Reserved

Reclaim Your Power From Anger, Part 1

Reclaim Your Power From Anger, Part 1

by Linda-Ann Stewart

Hallie prided herself on holding grudges. She never forgave anyone for any real or imagined slight. Once someone had offended her, she’d cut them out of her life. This attitude caused her to be exhausted, and negatively affected her health and her relationships.

Anger is a survival instinct that lets you know that some right has been violated. When you get angry with someone, it provides protection so that the other person will think twice about acting like that again. Once the situation has been dealt with, it has fulfilled its purpose and anger fades away.

However, if you continue to hold onto your anger, like Hallie, you’re trying to protect yourself against a threat that no longer exists. Anger then twists into hostility, a bubbling cauldron of antagonism. Studies have shown that hostility depresses the immune system and harms cardiovascular function.

Antagonism ties up energy that could be used for something productive. This affects you physically with increased stress, tense muscles, an upset stomach, and shallow breathing. It also ruins relationships and contributes to the self-destructive habits of smoking, drinking, overeating, and others.

Anger is energy. As long as it’s moving and released, it can actually help make constructive changes. But if it gets stuck, it turns to hostility and becomes a black hole that sucks in more energy. “Energy flows where attention goes.” When you’re focused on holding onto anger, it diverts energy from manifesting good. The Law of Attraction causes it to draw more disharmony and frustration to you.

When you’re angry, your mind functions at much less than your normal potential. Chronic anger greatly reduces your ability to think, make decisions and tap into creativity.

If you hold a grudge, like Hallie, you’re trying to control a situation that’s in the past. It’s a reaction against feeling helpless, but it keeps you in a victim cycle. You’re letting the past rule how you feel and act. You might think it makes you stronger and more powerful than the other person. Instead, you’ve just handed control of your emotions over to them.

They may no longer even think of you, but they’re still very much a part of your thoughts. Maybe you’re trying to punish them. But you’re not hurting them at all. The only person it’s harming is you. You may think that you’re protecting yourself, but you’re actually keeping yourself immobile, unable to learn from a situation and move forward.

As long as you continue to be angry, you’re holding that person and situation to you like glue. The relationship or situation isn’t over for you. Every time you think of it, your subconscious thinks it’s happening all over again and it revs up your anger all over again.

Copyright 2012 Linda Ann Stewart
All Rights Reserved

Understanding Fosters Forgiveness

Understanding Fosters Forgiveness

Forgiveness is a powerful process that brings you freedom and peace of mind. But sometimes it’s hard to know where to begin. When you’re able to understand what prompted the person to hurt you, this can begin to heal your wound. Discover some different ways of looking at the situation that can give you valuable information and guidance to heal.

Copyright 2012 Linda Ann Stewart
All Rights Reserved

“How do I deal with old fears ?”

“How do I deal with old fears ?”

Question: Do you have any inspiration on how to deal with fears I’ve been encountering that have been around for a long time?

Answer: This may sound surface, but I love what the letters of FEAR spell out – “False Evidence/Education Appearing Real.” Because fear really is a false concept. Fear is simply the opposite side of faith. Fear means you’re confident that what you fear will happen.

But to deal with the old ones means you need to access them. Recognize that they served you in the past, but you’ve outgrown the need for them. It can be scary, because they’ve limited you for so long that they’ve gotten to be a comfortable, ratty old blanket. And they can give you the excuse not to move forward and risk.

What I’ve discovered is that when you face your fears, step out and begin to do what you fear, many times the fear evaporates because it realizes that you don’t need it anymore.

Sometimes, when I do begin to confront and go beyond the fear, it begins to fight back, because it thinks I still need it. In that case, I find out what the core issue is. Once, it was a belief that I had to struggle in life to avoid others’ criticisms.

What is it that you’re truly afraid of? Meditate on that, and see what might come up. You may find that it’s simply a hollow habititual way of thinking.

Also, you might meditate to find out how the fear is serving you now, in present day. For instance, my need to struggle kept me from fully expressing myself, and kept me safe. I may have been criticized, but as long as I was struggling, no one could complain I wasn’t working. And my results, which never happened, couldn’t be criticized.

Once I decided that it was safe to move on, and who cares if someone doesn’t like what I’m doing, the struggle issue let go.

Copyright 2003, 2012 Linda Ann Stewart
All Rights Reserved

“5 Keys To Forgiveness, Part 2”

“5 Keys To Forgiveness, Part 2”

by Linda-Ann Stewart

Just because you’ve forgiven them doesn’t mean that there aren’t consequences from their actions. You may forgive the person but not want them in your life any longer. Their offense may be so severe that any trust is permanently broken and you realize they won’t change. In this case, you want no further association with them. By forgiving them, you’re freeing them and yourself to move on with your lives.

Forgiveness also doesn’t mean forgetting what happened. If you erase the memory, you don’t have it to remind you to avoid the same situation in the future. It also means you won’t identify any patterns that might be forming. For example, you fight over the same issue every week. If you “forgive and forget,” you won’t recognize that this same problem keeps popping up. This will prevent you from addressing what the core issue might be.

Unless it’s a minor infraction, true forgiveness takes deep thought and introspection. If you don’t take the time and consideration it needs, unresolved issues and emotions will surface later to interfere with your life and relationships. But if you follow it through, forgiveness is a powerful balm that truly brings peace to your soul.

Affirmation:

I recognize and acknowledge that I feel injured by what has occurred. By going through the process of exploring the hurt and anger, I learn more about myself. I let go of what no longer serves me and integrate the lessons I’ve learned. When I fully forgive, it makes me stronger and gives me a sense of peace. I cleanse my mind of any disharmony, and as a result, I attract more abundance of all good things into my life.

Copyright 2012 Linda-Ann Stewart
All Rights Reserved

“5 Keys To Forgiveness, Part 1”

“5 Keys To Forgiveness, Part 1”

by Linda-Ann Stewart

Wounds caused by what loved ones, friends, colleagues and employers say and do can affect you at a deep level. However, hanging onto the hurt can harm you even more. Not only is it bad for your mental, emotional and physical health, but also it can draw more distress into your life.

Unforgiveness poisons your mind, body and affairs. Healing traditions from religion to psychotherapy to 12-Step programs agree that forgiveness of self and others needs to occur before you can have peace of mind.

Forgiveness is a powerful process that will give you greater understanding of yourself. It will also free more of your energy and access to your power. But forgiveness of these deep wounds shouldn’t be done lightly; otherwise, you’re just covering up the hurt.

For true healing, you need to acknowledge what happened, how it affected you and discover what you can learn from it. Any true forgiveness changes you at a deep level. It clears a path for the Law of Attraction to flow smoothly, to draw what you want into your life.

To work towards forgiveness, apply these five points when someone has hurt or offended you.

1. Identify the injury. This doesn’t mean relating what actually happened, but what you feel was broken. Before you can actually forgive, you need to understand what you’re forgiving. What principles, beliefs or expectations were violated? Whatever you feel was shattered has to be identified before you can truly forgive.

2. What do you feel about the offense. What did the injury mean to you? Journaling about how it made you feel can help you understand it better and reprocess the experience. Most people experience anger as a result of some wound. If you hold onto anger, you’re doing so to try to protect yourself and keep the event from happening again.

3. Mourn what has been lost or changed. You may feel a loss of belief in another person, in fairness, or safety. Grieving over the loss in necessary and appropriate. Your life has changed irrevocably. The relationship with the other person has also altered. But you will emerge stronger from this process.

4. Uncover the lesson for you. You could decide that no one is trustworthy, but is that belief going to be useful for you? That’s not necessarily the best lesson from what happened. You can decide what message you want to take from the event. What do you want to believe that will help you in the future? Wouldn’t a more reasonable belief be that some people can’t be trusted, and to be more vigilant for red flags in the future? By doing this step, you’re reprocessing how you fit into life and adjusting your beliefs to reflect the new you. This can help you learn what values you hold most dear.

5. Choose to forgive the person. You are not pardoning or excusing what happened. In this step, you’re making a choice to let go of any anger towards them. They’re human, with their own faults and character flaws. By accepting them as they are, you recognize that they can’t fill all your needs. The relationship will be different, because you’ll be more self-reliant and aware of their imperfections.

Copyright 2012 Linda Ann Stewart
All Rights Reserved