The Simple Secret to Changing the Energy of Your Home
There are few things more powerful than optimism. When an optimist show up in the room, the energy is bound to shift.
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“Hope and fear cannot occupy the same space. Invite one to stay.”
It’s hard to be around someone who likes to see the negative. It’s even harder to be the person that only sees the negative. Have you ever noticed how you feel when this is you or someone you’re around? Things seem to get a little heavier. I remember through my early teenage years I added so much weight to my life by noticing the “wrongs” instead of the “rights”. I finally learned about the word perspective and it felt silly how much that shift could change how I felt & how I showed up. Not only did my shifts of perspective change my reality, but it made me a much more pleasant person to be around & began to cultivate an environment of deeper connection & joy.
So let’s get started. Here’s how you can make that simple shift to uplift the energy in your home.
Sources of Energy
Life can feel heavy so often. Hard circumstances (especially those out of our control) can feel common & constant. Those become even heavier when we let our minds & conversations drown in doubt, frustration & despair — which tends to be our default mode of coping. This mode of pessimism feels contagious, but that contagion leads to being unwell. This will only build a space that feels as heavy on the outside as it does on the inside. Thankfully — like all default modes — we have the opportunity to choose a better way. A path with much more light, hope & wellness for all.
The good news is that we are in charge of our emotions because they are generated by our thoughts. This is the power of perspective. And the true superheroes of perspective are optimists.
The Optimist’s Formula
What is it that makes one person so keen on finding good, and someone else stuck in the challenge of seeing any good? I believe it’s their ability of awareness (which is well-practiced!), and their acting upon that awareness to shift thoughts for uplifting, forward momentum. Winston Churchill once said, “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” So what can we tactically do to recognize the opportunity in every difficulty?
The first step to the optimist’s formula is to recognize your thoughts. An optimist isn’t someone who has positive thoughts by default, I’m not even sure that is possible. Instead, an optimist catches the negativity in their thoughts & course corrects for productive thoughts. As the inevitable negative thoughts show, the pessimist accepts them as their reality immediately & acts according to their misery. Adversely, the optimist challenges them until they discover a deeper, higher truth & acts according to their joy. And “men are, that they might have joy” (Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 2:25). If you want additional support, download the free Immediate Gratitude practice that will help you to put optimism into practice.
When we learn to steward our thoughts, we unlock our ability to shift the energy of our bodies & in turn our spaces. The simple test to see whether you’re completing this challenge well or not: Are you feeling a greater measure of joy or misery? While more factors may certainly be at play with how you feel, your thoughts generate more emotion than we may realize.
The Power of Optimistic Energy
Places of worship seem to have some of the best possible energy. By no coincidence, I believe that this coincides strongly with the measure of faith (trust & hope) & committed relationships found within the walls. Those who are deeply committed to their faith, are also deeply committed to building a community of faith. It’s the kind of contagion that actually benefits us. Because feelings of hope do so much to uplift us, we naturally want to share that with others. In that sharing, we build relationships founded on joy, & the spaces we share those relationships in are filled with light. Where there is light, there can be no darkness. As Maya Angelou said, “Hope and fear cannot occupy the same space. Invite one to stay.”
A Caution to the Eternal Optimist
In the pursuit of optimism, we can find ourselves blind to the reality of other’s challenges. While our goal should always be to help uplift, sometimes that uplifting will more effectively come in the form of validation & presence than in an attempt to change someone else’s mind for them. While your optimistic thoughts may be left unspoken, they will emit an energy regardless. One optimistic thing always worth speaking is your belief in someone, & a reminder of who they really are.
The Optimist Within You
You are perfectly capable of becoming a superhero of perspective: an optimist. I’m not sure anyone is truly born with a cup half full, but when others around them have practiced that perspective it can more easily become the nature of all those within reach of the well practiced. Especially as parents & managers of our homes we have the responsibility to teach by modeling. If we can practice awareness & correction of our thoughts to see the “opportunity in every challenge”, then we give our families a great advantage to be able to do the same. And as our families gather in our four walls, we will emit greater joy & light than we can now imagine.
Where to Start:
To begin the process of becoming an optimist, download our freebie Immediate Gratitude! This simple practice will help you to develop the skills needed to become a superhero of perspective.
If you want something more comprehensive allowing you to become the model your home needs for more constant good energy, I invite you to join our Foundation First course. Here you will work from the inside out to build a life & home that cultivates deeper connection & joy with considerations of the things that are actually worth your time & energy.
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There are few things more powerful than optimism. When an optimist show up in the room, the energy is bound to shift. Here’s how you become that optimist.