Monday's Motivational makeover featuring Tess

Dwell in possibility.

Whatever you want, wants you!

Enjoy this moment…this moment is your life.

What’s in your life is what you choose, choose powerfully!

Just writing these things lifts my heart. There is energy and influence in positive thought.

So…why don’t we fill our days and lives with positive thoughts, intentions and words?

We get caught up in the pressures and demands of the everyday and start to measure ourselves against other’s yardsticks. I remember standing in the doorframe at Lloyd’s house when I was a little girl and he would mark the frame molding with my latest growth spurt. It was exciting because I was usually taller than most of the kids and it was important to grow the most and be the tallest.

There’s a contest in everything if we allow it. There is pressure in the simple things if we compare and contrast. There is fear if we are attached to the outcome and lack enough self esteem to know for certain that we’ll be “okay” no matter what happens. Just like going to the dentist every six months, or working out 3 times a week, or eating more salad than chocolate (I hear some people do that)…..we can speak into possibility and focus on the what’s right instead of the what’s wrong.

Why don’t we do that more??

Thoughts influence brain chemistry. We could feed our brains and our spirits the food they need to function optimally. If we know it is so…why don’t we do it more often?

Rule: Thoughts change brain chemistry.

That sounds so simple but that’s the way it is, with our thoughts changing neurotransmitters on a daily basis. If a man walks into a room with a gun, we think “threat”, and the brain releases norepinephrine. We become tense, alert, develop sweaty palms, and our heart beats faster. If he then bites the barrel of the gun, telling us the gun is actually chocolate, the brain rapids changes its’ opinion and we relax and laugh – the jokes on us.

We feel what we think! Positive thinking works. As the above example suggests, what we think about a situation actually creates our mood. Passed over for a promotion, we can either think we’ll never get ahead in this job (lowering serotonin and making us depressed) or assume that we are being held back for another promotion or job transfer (makes a better mood). David J. Abbott M.D.

Healthy Ways to Affect Your Brain Chemistry

Here are a few simple and healthy steps that you can take to improve your brain chemistry. By making lifestyle choices that benefit your brain's chemical balance, you can embrace a healthier, happier life.

• Nutrition
  There's something to the old adage, “You are what you eat.” In fact, your diet can make a difference in your brain's chemical levels, and proper nutritional inputs are necessary for the brain to operate at optimum speed and function. Certain foods and nutrients can even affect mood, helping to create and maintain calm and contentedness after recovery. Vitamin B12 plays a role in preventing depression, and other B vitamins increase natural serotonin levels in the brain. Additionally, Omega-3 fatty acids help stave off and even help treat anxiety disorders and depression.

• Exercise
  Exercising provides happiness by stimulating the body's production of endorphins natural pain killers that also produce mood-enhancing effects. Additionally, exercise reduces stress and releases adrenaline, giving your body an extra boost of natural energy.

• Pleasure
  Any enjoyment in life triggers the release of dopamine and serotonin, from love and sex to relaxation and creative expression. These, in turn, reinforce pleasurable behaviors and lift our mood and outlook as neurotransmitters are released.
• Sleep
  Our bodies replenish neurotransmitter levels as we rest, making sleep one of the most important ways you can help maintain a healthy brain chemistry.
• Therapy
  Emotional and psychological well-being can help promote healthy brain chemistry. The practice of positive thinking makes future positive thoughts (and their accompanying dopamine and serotonin release) come more naturally. Additionally, therapy can help resolve any existing emotional traumas that take a toll on our brain chemistry through nightmares, memories and flashbacks that retraumatize us, releasing needless adrenaline. Therapy can also help heal negative self-beliefs that adversely affect our brain's chemical levels.

• Detoxification
  Alcohol and drug intake can have a drastic effect on neurotransmitter levels within the brain, causing chemical imbalances to occur. By achieving recovery, you can allow your body to detoxify in the short and long-term. After the withdrawal period has ended, your brain will move towards healthy, natural neurotransmitter levels once again. From Pacific Hills Treatment Center

Having a juicy life is within reach if we choose our thoughts carefully, manage boundaries, monitor our reactions, take care of ourselves, indulge our senses, acknowledge the angels among us, push through the discomfort, reduce the drag coefficient and communicate with honest compassion.

Notice where you’re giving up your power in your choices and make requests to get life back on track. Start over anytime…just hit the reset button and pull out a clean canvas.

I used to say I wanted my life to be a technicolor romantic musical comedy….then some people laughed at me and said I was weird. Ya know what? I don’t care if I’m weird…I want my life to be a Technicolor Romantic Musical Comedy dang it! And for the most part, I’m on my way. Trusting positive intentions to steer for awhile sure couldn’t hurt.

Wanna play along with me?

What’s in your life is what you choose. Choose consciously and powerfully!

Tessgreen3@gmail.com, www.tessgreen.com