Let’s Get It Together!

When I sit down at my desk the one thing that inspires me to be mindful are the flowers on my desk. They are simple supermarket flowers – cost me $4.00 – yet when placed in a small simple vase, they bring a smile to my face and inspire me to write. It’s the simple things in life that can bring out the best in us – a few flowers, a hug, a smile, words of encouragement even if to ourselves.

Photograph by Kate Holliday, Rebelle Films

It’s so easy to get bogged down in what is going wrong in our lives, but we need to try to pull ourselves out of it and focus on what is going right. Sometimes we feel as if nothing is going right.  You change your clothes five times and still don’t feel right.  You try to talk to your boss about a project or a raise and lose confidence.  You thought you were being supportive and it backfired on you badly so now a friend feels worse.  There are all kinds of scenarios where we want to just back off because things did not go exactly as we planned – our sense of confidence fails us.

What you need is a mantra to repeat to yourself and give you that boost you need. For me, I take a couple deep breaths and then say “No fear” or “You got this!”  After that I can gather my confidence and tackle any situation.  I had a friend who used to say “Girl – now you know better!” Think of something and use it to embolden you when you need the extra push and then do something to make yourself smile.