Or in contrast, what feelings are currently dominant in your life?
Happiness
Overwhelm
Exhaustion
Fulfillment
Anxiety
Joy
Worry
Satisfaction
Fear
Peace
Unrest
Calm
What feelings are governing your days?
I recently listened to an episode of the Lively Show with life coach Brooke Castillo. In it, Brooke talks about how our thoughts create our feelings, and she walks the host, Jess Lively, through the exercise of identifying the overriding feelings in her life.
It made me think hard about what feelings are dominant in my life—and the thought loops I play over and over again that are causing those feelings.
I want to be more deliberate about my thoughts, so that I can experience more joy in my life. I’d thought today I’d share what this process has been like for me, in case any of you feel pulled to do it too.
First, I deliberated and then chose my three words.
3 Feelings I’m Focusing On
Satisfied
I thought about choosing the word “fulfilled” but decided that “satisfied” seemed more attainable. I mopped the floor? Man can I feel satisfied. I got the kids to school in one piece (more or less)? It wasn’t perfect, but I can be satisfied.
I can focus on feeling satisfaction in both what I do and who I am.
At Peace
I tend to be a person with unrest in her soul. (I’m the stereotypical troubled creative!) It’s why I’m so vigilant about keeping my life simple and practicing self-care and self-love.
I notice that a lot of times when I lie down, I feel the unrest start to encroach; I’d like to replace the unrest with the feeling of being at peace.
Also, I deliberately chose “at peace” over “peaceful.” Peace-full sounds (a) like it’s in conflict with the current volume of my household 🙂 and (b) like I’m going to disappoint myself when my heart isn’t filled with peace at all times.
I think “at peace,” on the other hand, is something I can work toward. I want to use the power of my thoughts to put my soul at peace.
Grateful
Gratitude is the practice that’s going to help me experience the other two feelings more and more. I want gratitude to be the backbone of our family’s culture, starting with me.
What I’m Doing to Help Them Stick
Any time I think something positive, I try to take a second to identify which of my words it pertains to best. It’s amazing how much of my life fits into these three emotions when I’m really looking for them.
I’m also using my husband as my sounding board. 🙂 When it’s just the two of us, after the kids have finally been shuttled off to their rooms, I’m taking a few minutes to share all the good I noticed that day—times when I felt satisfied, grateful or at peace.
It’s becoming a great way for us to connect at the end of the day, and I’m really enjoying the positivity that has been in my life since I’ve been focusing on this exercise.
So, I can’t help but ask—what feelings would you like to cultivate more in your own life? Feel free to join in by letting us know in the comments or on Facebook!
Need more help with your thoughts? (Me too!) Try a negative thought download or print off these eight mantras for more positive days.
It’s so important to be aware of our feelings. I know I can go a really long time without paying attention and later realize my life could have been handled much easier had I realized the feelings that were dictating my attitude and actions. This week gratitude has been on my heart. It keeps coming up from a post I wrote on it to people bringing it up organically in conversation. It is changing so much to focus on a positive feeling and incorporate it, make it practical. Great post!
Hello there!!!
Thank you for sharing your story!!! I understand everything you said, I have a son and I recently wanted to start to work again, and the pressure I had when you want to is too high sometimes so thank you for sharing your experience. For me was a little bit more different,I have a 2yearold son and He’s my everything, however I wanted to accomplish my own things. Before I gave birth I was in the process to create an online business about “how to make moccasins” but because of birth and all the details you already know I couldn’t make it happen too fast. Now I have already my site, meeting designers, and I feel I’m taking what I paused when I became a mom. It is hard, I’ve cried so many times, but has rewards too. I work at home doing all my moccasins stuff and I have the chance to know myself better and being a mom too. I completely identify with your post. So thank you for sharing!!!