I have been traveling for almost a month and it is so good to be home. The first night I got to sleep in my own bed I was reminded of the children’s story of the three bears. This bed is too hard, this bed is too soft and this bed is just right. My bed is just right.
One of the exercises I often suggest to my students is changing their habits and routines. Our filter system is solidified by our habitual behaviors. We stay the same by safely remaining within our comfort zone. So to facilitate change, I suggest people consciously choose to change their habits and routines. Get out of bed on a different side, eat with your other hand, go to work a different way, if you are always late be on time and if you are always on time be late. In other words do things consciously, in a different way and see what sort of awareness that triggers.
Traveling is certainly one way to shake things up. Being half way around the world, eating different foods and adjusting to twelve time zones certainly assisted me in seeing the world differently. Whenever I travel I am always amazed by how much more meaningful even the small things in life become.
I have lots of animals and simply waking up and feeding them feels very loving and supportive. After I once again become accustomed to feeding them it can become a chore. Traveling certainly increases my level of gratitude for the comforts of home. Gratitude doesn’t just improve the quality of life it also helps us create more of what we want.
Today I am so grateful just to be home, surrounded by my wonderful pets and enjoying my life. That energy of gratitude ripples out into my world inviting more things to be grateful about. Gratitude is such a powerful energy. I used to write a gratitude list every night before I went to bed and that practice made a huge difference in my life. I no longer write a list but most nights before I go to sleep I spend sometime focusing on gratitude.
If you’d really like to improve the quality of your life try practicing being grateful and play with changing some of your habits and routines. I am sure you will be pleasantly surprised with the results.
With love and lots of gratitude,
Susan