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Word of the year update: Living a mindful life isn't easy. To-do lists can feel overwhelming, even the ones that are full of items that you really want to do.
Maybe you live with a puppy or a preschooler (or both, like me) who require a lot of patience and attention that sometimes rips the soothing edge right off that morning's meditation. Rather than greeting moments as they arise, processing them, and letting them go, sometimes you stew in them a bit too long and come out feeling wrinkly. Disclaimer: I don't ever cook and am assuming that vegetables might be wrinkly if they stew too long. Anyway, you get what I'm saying...
Lately I've felt the need to combat negativity.
While I have my own in-real-life ups and downs that I'm working on dealing with more mindfully, I also feel like I've also been reading a lot of negative stuff online lately. And frankly...it's harshing my mellow.
I'm tired of reading tweet after status update of people complaining about this annoying issue and that ongoing petty thing without offering any useful alternatives or even starting practical discussions about things to do to take the first step forward in a new direction.
I guess I've always had little tolerance for chronic complainers that don't do anything to at least try to change the neverending situation that they just can't stop talking about.
I'm not saying that everything has to be peaches and rainbows all of the time, nor am I saying that I don't air my own grievances over social media on occasion. What I am saying, or rather, asking is this.
How do you want to impact someone else's day or life? How do you want to feed your own energy?
Next time you see a snarky Facebook status what are you going to do? Are you going to join in the bashing of whatever thing is in or out that week? Are you going to offer helpful advice? Are you going to just ignore it and continue with your day? Are you going to add to the noise or instead, as Dallas Clayton might describe it, write your own song?
Personally, I'll be doing a combination of those things. Most likely, my answer will be "yes" to all of the above at some point, but I'm really REALLY making an effort to not join in on social media snarkiness and stop spending as much of my time in places that tend to bring it out. Goodbye Facebook, hello Instagram. It would feel weird to read a complaint in the caption of an image of pretty flowers, right?
So that's my latest mindfulness challenge - along with learning to flow with the intense ups and downs of a four-year-old boy's very strong emotions.
Next time you're about to type out that angst, think about this. Every moment we have is a gift. Everything that we do or say makes an impact. What we put out into the world and how we choose to respond to what's already there creates a ripple.
What kind of energy do you want to send out into this world?
Note: If you like the illustration above and want to print it out for your workspace, just click on it! It links directly to a print quality PDF for you to add to your inspiration collection.
What other motivational topics would you me to letter for you? Email me and let me know! I'm planning to offer brand new printables with every newsletter.
You can also commission your own motivational hand lettered illustration. I'll be announcing this on my website soon, but The Creative Brief subscribers get first dibs on scheduling! Email me for price options and delivery timelines.
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Feel free to share this email with your Seattle area creative business owner friends that you think will be interested in my new service!
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Happy Friday the 13th and Valentine's Day...you creepy romantic, you!
xoxo,
Melanie
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