Mantras

I'm a big fan of mantras.  I've had lots of them over the years.  Most of them are geared to keep me exercising.  A few of them have been geared toward calming me down ......and if you know me, you know how well those have worked ;)

A couple weeks ago, I talked at the City of Portage about creating a mantra to help yourself become a life long exerciser** and  gave some examples of my favorite mantras.

This morning, something else I was reading caused me to see mantras in a new light.

In the October 14th reading in Simple Abundance, the author defines mantra as "that personal phrase that brings all things into focus".  Cool, right?  I like all things being in focus!

But what happens when our mantras run amok?  What happens when we choose to let our mantra be:

"I can't do that.  I'm too fat."
"I'll never be successful"
"I'm a loser"   ..........

Even though I don't believe for a minute that we want those to be our mantras -- effectively, if those are the thoughts running through are head, and we are not actively combating them, they ARE our mantras.  They are bringing everything into focus.  You won't be successful in managing your weight -- your mantra says so and you are constantly reinforcing that thought.

Is that really what you want for yourself?  Don't you deserve a more positive "personal phrase that brings everything into focus"?  Maybe it's time to get to work and create a new mantra.  You can be successful.  Accept no excuses.

**if you're interested, you can download a copy of that power point.  Click here and scroll down to the "Downloadables" on the right hand side of the screen.