Wishful Thinking Works: Create the life you really want

It’s the beginning of a whole new week!  All sorts of possibilities lie ahead for you. Wonderful moments you never expected are waiting  – sweet moments with your children, your friends, your family. Productive moments with colleagues or clients. Proud moments as you tackle and accomplish projects new and old.

Take a new turn this week and start paying more attention to the positive, amazing moments in your past and present, rather than anything else that happens.  Learn how to wallow in the wonderful as you create new inroads for yourself.

If you find your yourself merging onto the highway of negativity, instead of mindlessly yielding, why not tap your brakes and

• ask yourself, “Is this truly how I want to spend my time?”
• Then take a deep breath, exhale and smile through the crazy,
• as you remind yourself and savor some of the special and/or awe-inspiring moments you have experienced in the past or that are waiting to be enjoyed in the present.

Psychologist and best-selling author, Richard Hanson, Ph.D.’s notes that rerouting your thoughts and “taking in the good” immediately relaxes you and opens new pathways in your brain.  Daily travel on these positive paths will map out stronger, more direct access to Sunday-drive type routes which, over time, will leave a lasting impression on your brain and in your heart and can help you navigate life from a lighter, gentler perspective.

Please note: I am not asking you to deny the stress, frustration or sadness in your life – I encourage you to identify and admit that you are feeling those feelings, and then to simply take a much-needed detour around the mental pile-ups you create when you place too much emphasis on the bumps and potholes in life. We all do it, but I promise you, taking in the good is a better way to go!

Try it, reset your mental GPS this Monday morning, and see where the new ride takes you.