Making Progress... That's what counts :)

"I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not perfect in the pursuit of my personal goals, but I’m making progress compared to where I was."

link here

Purity

3/28/13 Good day

What a great day beyond the muck of my brain. Woke up in a close and lovely friend's home to have her home to myself in Pacific Beach. I had full access to Netflix and proceeded to watch a film on street art. I ate some grapes, drank coffee, and looked through a book about traveling in New York City. Then I was inspired and used her straightener and makeup and did myself all purty. I also wore my friend's clothes that were much more fabulous than how I usually dress. I felt beautiful.

Then I went to the bay by her house and sat, thank, and took photos of myself. I took in the air and water.

Then I walked about 2 miles to Mission Beach. I went and sat in the sand for a little while, pulling my shirt down to tan my shoulders. It was such a beautiful day. I love feeling the heat of the sun. It is like a drug and provides me so much internal and external warmth and energy.

Then I walked back to Pacific Beach and went into a shoe store. I got five pairs of shoes for teaching - really scoring.

Then I went to Buffalo Exchange. I literally said out loud when I got there, "Uh. I don't want to shop right now!" I was complaining about the privilege and gift of shopping. Well, I got an even greater gift inside that has never happened to me when trying on 9 articles of clothing - they all ended up fitting and working! I got them all! To know something about me, I struggle getting new clothes and shoes. I am picky and things just don't tend to fit right. It was wonderful.

Then I went into Fred's Mexican Cafe and talked to my kind waiter for about 7 minutes to figure out how we can make their veggie burrito vegan (the rice were cooked in chicken broth, etc). It was also happy hour so in the meantime it was being prepared, I had myself a blended House margarita as I sat looking through the window towards the road. I was skimming more through my friend's book on New York. My phone was also dying so I had to figure out a way to get home.

My burrito came out and I happily ate my custom-made meal. I talked on the phone with my lovely friend who hosted me so kindly, and she gave me great advice that pushed me forward - pushed me forward just to be happy. It was a moment for me, and I have been happier 7 hours since that conversation and life already has a whole new glow. I just have to keep it up.

It's been a great day because I took time to be in nature, ease my mind, take in the sun, buy things for myself I will need for my interview, summer of training, and once I'm a teacher. I'm also happier now and feeling more liberated and in connection with my friends. Spent a bit today reconnecting with wonderful souls I am blessed to know. They filled me with love, support, kind words, and happiness.

Life is good.

~Jess

Wow, how the time goes. How you fit the shoes you stared at for years. How your heart finally has was you begun to crave from the first time you watched Titanic at 8 years old. How you know the deepest and most meaningful reality known to humanity for yourself. How you are in love. How you can know love. How you are getting distracted looking up rings. . . My how I've grown. And I'm glad I'm growing into the woman you need. I'm glad we are growing into one.

You have my heart, babe. I want a life with you.

~J.B.

How to Hack Your Brain

With a few simple tricks, you can exploit your brain's innate functionality to change just about anything about yourself.

most of what you consider part of your identity is a product of influence.

We have a tendency to think that change is difficult, but it's really just a matter of changing your influence.

While everything stored in your recent memory may not be immediately accessible, all you really need to bring something up is a trigger word.


This is a list of words synonymous with or related to ambition. It's designed to be read aloud to put you in a more ambitious mindset, focusing your thoughts and priming your brain to react ambitiously when these words, or portions of these words, come up later in your day.

-drive
-do
-go
-make
-objective
-important
-create
-commitment
-purpose
-enthusiasm
-eager
-motivation

For more reading on priming, and a look at some really interesting studies, don't forget to check out the references for this article.

Using Your Emotions

If you've ever found yourself making out-of-character decisions based on your emotional state—such as binging on ice cream after a breakup—you know how easily your feelings can overtake your actions. Rather than letting your emotions lead you towards poor judgment and irrational behavior, however, you can learn to compensate for different emotional states and to fabricate emotions to alter your mood. In order to do that you need to, simply put, get in touch with your feelings. The idea isn't so much to cry into a pillow about your wasted childhood, but understand what you're feeling when you're feeling it, what the root cause is, and what you can do about it. We're going to take a look at how you can dissect your emotional state to use it to your advantage, and also look at how you can fabricate emotion to change how you're feeling.

Make Yourself Uncomfortable
Your emotions aren't in full force if you're not really doing anything, so you need to put yourself in uncomfortable situations in order to bring them out. This doesn't mean you should make yourself feel horrible, but that you should go out and do things that you might resist because you're worried about the downsides. Meeting new people is something that makes most people uncomfortable, and it's a great place to start, especially if it's a first date. Try new things that scare you. If you notice you're glued to the couch and don't want to get up, do the opposite. Spend time with people you don't like. Go to a movie you're sure you'll hate. Your experiences won't always be pleasant, but they should incite emotion that you can later analyze and better understand.

Keep Track of How You Feel
Like an abbreviated diary, every time you have an emotional reaction to something, write it down. You don't need much detail, but just a sentence or two noting the emotion you're experiencing and the (possible) cause. For example, I get extremely irritable when I'm hungry. I will lose my temper far more easily when I'm hungry, so whenever I notice myself thinking irrational (and sometimes hateful) things, I always remind myself that I'm just hungry, I'll eat in a minute, and the "asshole" who accidentally missed the garbage can and didn't notice is mostly a result of my frustrated stomach. Until I started to pay attention, I never really noticed that I was a jerk whenever I was hungry. Instead, I just thought I was a jerk. This is a simple example, but the point is this: pay attention to how you feel and the other issues currently present, and you'll find it much easier to manage your negative emotions.

These expressions do surface from genuine emotion, so repeating them can actually make you feel happier/sadder/angrier/etc. through repetition. If you need to change your mood and your mindset, the ability to fake it ‘til you make it is very, very useful.

Always be healthy first before playing mind tricks- taking care of your body and your mind.

http://lifehacker.com/5747213/how-to-hack-your-brain#references