Connect To Resourcefulness

DON'T WORRY, BE HAPPY 

 I remember the reggae music, musicians on a tropical island sharing their perspective. It's easy not to worry and to be happy when you are on a beautiful island, with friends, singing and dancing, in the sun, the poster child of health and freedom, making money doing all this, and the list is endless. What are the reasons we give ourselves as to why we have to worry and why now is not the time to be happy even though it is the one thing I want more than anything else?

Tell Me It's Normal

It is normal to feel fear, doubt, worry and even panic. We are learning to focus our attention in more creative and constructive ways. When we are doing this conscciously, we are getting increasingly better at it.

But change happens, externals can be unpredictable and we have our moments where we are just not in the zone. If you consider that we are expanding our potential, and our potential is also expanding, we are regularly faced with challenges. We can learn new ways of perceiving these challenges, so we feel less overwhelm.

 Worry, panic, fear and doubt usually stems from us feeling overwhelmed. We feel overwhelmed when we tell ourselves that the situation is asking more than I am able to give. When we tell ourselves that this is too big, hard, emotional to handle right now. I can't do this. This shouldn't be happening... the list goes on. 


Reactive vs. Responsive

 The reaction is usually to go at it harder and more aggressively or to run away. The flight, fright, freeze reaction again. But what if we can put ourselves in a position to be RESPONSIVE instead. To be creative is to be responsive. How does on choose to be responsive instead of reactive? To use negative emotions as fuel as so many creatives say they do. How does one turn a negative into a positive?

 Resourcefulness & Resiliency 

 The answer lies in RESILIENCY. What if I can keep my head while the world is losing theirs? Resiliency comes from an awareness that "If there is an answer I will find it" thinking. The turning point is cultivating resilient thoughts and choosing to believe in one's ability and capacity to rise to any challenge. I call this a faith in one's inner creativity, in one's Resourcefulness.

We are by nature resourceful. When the going is good, it is important to cultivate a resourceful state, to enhance one's experience and connection to those inner resources of creativity, creative growth and creative resolution.

Even greater benefits come from connecting to this Resourceful State when faced with any challenge. Resiliency & Resourcefulness comes from a belief in one's own capacity to connect to one's creative centre. The belief that it is there and I can mobilise it.

 Creative Practice 

1. Take a sheet of paper and write down the words "worry, fear, panic and doubt". 
2.  Circle these words. 
3. Now draw arrows leading away from these words into open space on the page.
4. Now write down the words, resilience and resourcefulness. 
5. Meditate on how you connect to your resilience & resourcefulness. 
6. Be aware of where you have this as you move more creatively through your day. 
7. Write down three affirmations that describe what you are feeling. e.g.

• I feel more and more connected to my creative capacity. 
• I feel stronger when I am aware of my strengths 
• I feel like I am looking beyond overwhelm, connected to my calm in better ways.

Uniquely You: 20 Things To Love About You

If someone were to say “You are indeed unique.” What does this mean to you? This column is to guide you through the process of making an appreciative inquiry into what makes you special, and create a more conscious awareness of many ways in which you express your uniqueness. Your practices are the many ways that you express your uniqueness. 


The first step is to list 20 qualities that are uniquely you so we can inquire into them. The purpose of this exercise is to connect with what is best and then to make it even better. I am not asking you to come up with 20 things that you or someone else thinks is wrong with you; neither of us feels inspired to create there!


We want to do something different. I am asking you to note 20 things that are great about you and then the ways you express these qualities.  Can you be comfortable enough to make the assumption that these qualities exist? What if you are doing at least 20 things right? Can you live with that thought? If they are there, are you willing to look into them? For example, you might write that you’re creative, generous,genuine, focussed and funny.


Proceed until you reach 20. Here are a few processes that can help you get there.

• Ask somebody 
• Brainstorm, and free associate 
• Focus on an image, plant, animal or fruit and write down the words that come to mind 
• Choose any five words and then substitute these for the qualities that ring true for you. 
• Perhaps the words to a prayer, a song or quotation come to mind. Write these down. 

Stay in the flow, and truly open your mind to this process. I encourage you to truly see the beauty that is you—and uniquely you. By now you are relaxing into this process of appreciating the authentic you and becoming increasingly comfortable. Notice how you are feeling differently already, notice how you are making the difference in your perception and experience. What is changing for you as you progress through this appreciative inquiry?


Now lets review your list. It’s probably a good guess that the majority of items on your list aren’t just physical attributes. You may have already noticed that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. You may have also noticed that you have inner qualities that you express in ways that are uniquely you.


We are now in an even better position to expand your list to include what it is about these qualities that makes you different and unique. The answer lays in the way you and only you practice these qualities. Practices are your ways of thinking, expressing, doing things and getting things done.


Now you are ready to continue to the next step which is to register each of these qualities onto an index card.


Once you have completed this, you will plan to create multiple opportunities to affirm and consciously appreciate your unique capacities. Carry these with you and put in places where you can connect to them easily.


You are different and you are similar. These special qualities will help you connect in more meaningful ways to yourself and to others. You will notice how others also hold these qualities in ways that are unique to them, similar yet different at the same time. We do practice what is in our awareness and you will find yourself sharing your experiences with others, projecting an increasingly creative and positive self-image. In other words, you will feel more connected, confident and empowered.


And it keeps getting better. Your growing awareness will not only continue to sustain you, it will also expand into all the areas of your life, personally and professionally. In this way, they form your unique Success Blueprint that will honour and continue to celebrate the authentic you. You will continue to tell an ever-improving story of how you made it, a story of appreciation and worthiness. Your experiences will continue to grow, to empower and to sustain you.