Taste Life Blog

Conditions were perfect! Scenery gorgeous!

I was enjoying the outdoors with my favorite human being on the whole planet! What was wrong with this picture?  My “Negative Nelly” thoughts. Let me explain.

Gary and I snowshoed the north shore’s Tettegouche State Park High Falls Trail. The falls were beautiful and as usual Gary wanted to get closer to the falls which meant climbing down a dangerous, slippery slope not meant for snowshoes.

I decided to stay behind. All. Alone. (Standing on the bridge) As I stood there (timing how long he was gone) I thought, “What if he has a heart attack down there? How will I bring up his body? I don’t think my cell phone even has service! Stop it Chere. Notice how tall these gorgeous trees are. These are the most beautiful trees topped with snow you have seen in ten years. I should have learned how to use the AED. There is not even an AED with me. I should buy an AED for home. Why am I worrying about bringing up his body as I don’t even know if he is dead or alive? Your fingers and toes are getting cold so jump up and down (I jumped up and down.) How long will he be down there? I am starting to freeze. I am cold but glad Gary loves to exercise so much and does not have a beer belly. I should really research what can be done for high calcium scores in the heart. I do not want to be a widow. You tell your clients, what you focus on gets bigger and bolder. Gary is fine and you will have a long retired life with him.  But what if he has “his event” today. I should have told him I loved him before he left. Wow the forest is so still. Be grateful for what is working in your life not what you are scared about… But what if he doesn’t come back… Next week you will regret not enjoying these beautiful woods. Stop the negative stinking thinking Chere.”

Moments later…Gary came back on the trail and hollered the usual, “Hello darling…” and we finished our snowshoe adventure for the day. I kept my thoughts about his “death on the trail” to myself.  My heart races when he leaves me on an adventure when I am standing alone in the woods or on a river by ourselves.

A woman celebrating her birthday popped out of nowhere to take our picture!

Our thoughts are powerful and create our day.

Our thoughts evoke powerful negative or positive emotions which create actions. Paying attention to our positive emotions expands our world while focusing on negative feelings shrinks it according to the renowned positivity researcher Barbara Fredrickson.

But it all starts with our thoughts. They are not a fact. Every event can create a positive or a negative belief. Do we choose negative? Or do we choose positive? The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one belief over another!

Use the Triple A Approach:

• Awareness
• Analysis
• Action

Awareness: Notice your thoughts.
Analyze: Are they negative or positive?
Action: Make a vigilant effort to take your negative thoughts and make them positive.

And, stay focused on the gratitude of the present.

Make sure what is in your mind is what you want your future to create. You will manifest what you think about. What you focus on gets bigger and bolder – positive or negative.

As James Allen reminds us, “You are today where your thoughts have brought you. You will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you.” This is your secret to your best year ever. Here to help!

PS I am going to take another CPR course and focus on how much fun we have now that Gary is Mr. Relaxed Retired.