It’s a miracle! Okay, okay, I am not one to use the word miracle in its traditional sense since I am more a believer in coincidence, statistics, plausible explanations, and science. I am actually referring to a set of steps or principles outlined in the book “The Miracle Morning” by Hal Elrod. The premise of the book is that by waking up only one hour earlier than you would normally and going through six 10 minute activities you will be more productive and energized which will lead to a more productive and successful life. The six steps are called Life S.A.V.E.R.S. and consist of Silence (meditation), Affirmations, Visualization, Exercise, Reading, and Scribing.

So this is obviously the portion where I am ‘scribing’ or simply writing. I already did the other five steps, well sort of. When it got to exercise and I tried to do jumping jacks it woke my dogs who started barking up a storm and living in a semi-detached, well that does not a good neighbour make. I am walking to work today though which will take about 25 minutes so I will complete that portion then (you don’t have to do them in order just as long as you do them in the morning).

Anyway, I tried Miracle Morning last year after a lovely Manager at my work mentioned the book to me and it worked really well… for about 2 months. Until I got sick with pneumonia and was bed-ridden, gasping for breath for about 3 weeks. Well here it is just after Renewal (my own values based holiday tradition around the same time as Christmas) and as part of my goals (similar to New Year’s Resolutions) I am working for the miracle again. I almost wrote looking for the miracle but realized working for is a much better way of putting it because in most cases if you want a ‘miracle’ you really have to work for it. It’s not something handed to you on a silver platter even if it may sometimes happen by chance.

Until next time, I affirm that I will be productive today, I will achieve the 10 goals I have set out for myself today, I will be energized, and I will be happy.

~ Crimson

So I celebrate my own sort of ‘holiday’ called Renewal during the Christmas holidays since I am not Christian and am not a fan of Christmas either (one reason being Christmas Eve was the last time I saw my best friend Joanna before she passed away when she was 16 and I was 17 so it is a constant reminder of that loss). Anyway, there are four pillars to Renewal which are ‘Renew Yourself, Renew Others, Renew Nature, and Renew Community’. To renew myself I do something nice for myself that makes me feel good (I dyed my hair blond), to renew others I give gifts (just like Xmas), to renew nature I usually plant a tree or clean a park of litter, to renew community I volunteer near the holidays. My celebration starts on the first day of winter because that is when the days start getting longer and a sense of needing to grow or change seems to come over me (like New Year’s resolutions. So I also set goals for myself for the coming year and I thought I would share mine. 1. Read a book a month (doesn’t sound like much but small steps when you always seem strapped for time); 2. Do not drink soda for the whole year; 3. Get more organized in my personal life; 4. Get my podcast posted by February (my friend and I have recorded 4 episodes so far which I have to edit); 5. Take small steps to improve health (mostly in regards to fitness and weight); 6. Spend more time with Todd Jr doing something other than watching TV and YouTube videos. I am trying to come up with four more realistic and measurable goals to add to the list. Anyway, I will post more about them as the year goes on but mostly I want to wish you all a Happy Renewal but needed to explain what it was first so you would understand what it means. Happy Renewal!!!

“A negative mind will never give you a positive life.”

I believe in that bit of wisdom so much that I should print it on t-shirts and hand them out like Halloween candy (mentally files that thought away for next October with a contented smile).

It’s a quote that can probably be interpreted in many ways but for me it means that if you have a positive attitude and mindset that is only dependent upon the self then you will tend to see things more positively and seemingly attract more positive events. I say seemingly because it is a matter of psychology and again interpretation. If both a negative-minded and positive-minded person experienced the same event, the positive minded person will look for the benefits, the silver-lining, the opportunity for growth and interpret the event as a positive occurrence. The negative-minded person will look for the things that went wrong, to complain about, to point out as insufficient and interpret the event as a negative occurrence. To the positive person they have more positive experiences to tally so it seems as though they are attracting positive things and experiences into their life.

Having a positive mind means you see your life with a positive view point while having a negative mind means focusing on the flaws and what is lacking.

Some people ask me how I can be so happy and bubbly all the time, well now my secret is out… I choose to have a positive mind. Choose is the operative word because it really truly is a choice. How do I do that? An expression of my own is how. ‘Even before my feet touch the floor in the morning, I choose my mood’ and I choose a positive mood every day.