Feeling Lucky

I went for a run yesterday. I am not a natural runner, lacking somewhat in the lean, long legged department. However, I am determined. I am also lucky…

Yesterday I was lucky because a friend posted about an app on Facebook that promised to take me from “Couch Potato to 5k” in 8 weeks. It sounded like a good idea to me. All it required from me was the downloading of the app, the donning of trainers and the stepping out of my front door. All things considered, I thought that all of the above were achievable. I waddled off down the road, walking then running, walking then running. At one point I was passed by a man clad all in fluorescent orange who bounded by like an Olympic level athlete.

“Keep going!!! Well done!!” he yelled as he sprinted by. He lifted my spirits and encouraged me with his words.

“Thank you!!!!” I yelled back, trying not to sound too out of breath…

As I jogged along through the puddles I felt so glad to be alive, so lucky to be outside, able to run if only for short periods of time…

Its All a State of Mind

Now… you could have looked at my day yesterday through different eyes… Some people might think that I looked like a numpty, waddling along in my running gear, puffing and blowing. You might have thought that the tangerine runner was taking the micky out of me as he hurtled past. You might have thought that going out for a run walk was a complete waste of time… Why would anyone want to go out in the grey drizzle at the age of 51? What would it achieve?

We all look at life through different eyes… We are all affected by the experiences we have been through. Two people can lead similar lives, but have an absolutely different perception of that life.

My fantastic mentor Trevor Silvester talks about us all walking through our own Reality Tunnel. Our lives are a pathway built of our experiences. Our minds paint them with the colours of our perception. For one person, like me, the running experience in the rain is a wonderful thing, full of joy and possibility. For another person, the running experience could be a nightmare of sweat and lycra and humiliation… Its all about perception.

The thing is… we paint our tunnel as we go along, and we can choose the colours we use. Even if awful things happen to us…. or if we are just a “Glass Half Empty” person…. Just because our lives have been grey up to now doesn’t mean that they have to stay that way.

How Do you Paint a Rainbow?

You might think, especially if you are in the mindset of greyness, that changing the colour of your Reality Tunnel to a brighter, happier hue is just nonsense. Its easy for that namby pamby, airy fairy Sarah to talk about painting my Reality Tunnel a different colour…. You are who you are…aren’t you?

Well actually… no.

The mind is such an amazing thing and, no matter how old or young you are, you can change. Your mind can be nudged to notice the rainbow colours of this world we live in.

Enter Stage Right….. da daaaaaah… Cognitive Hypnotherapy! You knew I’d get there eventually, didn’t you?! Do not despair, dear reader… this is something you can do wherever you are, and for free!

Think yourself Lucky

There have been studies which show that the more you look for good things… the more you will notice them. Next to my bed I keep a journal. Its rather lovely – pale blue with gold edged pages – and every night before I go to sleep I write in it. I list 3 things that have made my day happy, or lucky. Three things that have stood out for me. It might be something like the encouraging words of the Orange Man, or a rainbow. It might be the fact that my husband made chilli for dinner so I could write…But every night I write it down.

And do you know what? Because I am writing down 3 things, every day, I have started to look for the lucky things… Some days there are so many things that I have to edit my list to the top 3. Its strange how the mind works… Once it has been given the suggestion, it starts to focus on all the things that might make the list. And that means that more things pop into view. Funnily enough the more things that pop into view, that make you feel happy or lucky, the luckier or happier you start to feel. Its like a little burst of happiness every time you notice something good in the day.

Slowly but surely the Reality Tunnel starts to take on a brighter hue… It feels good. Slowly but surely the rainbow starts to appear through the greyness and the feeling of wonder encourages our minds to look even harder for the good things.

Fancy a Run?

Now… it might not be that you are about to drop your phone or tablet and run shrieking joyously to your wardrobe, searching for your old running kit, or even a pair of old tennis shoes… It might be that, for you, happiness and luck come in a different format to mine… It might be that you finish this post and carry on as you were for a while…But somewhere at the back of your mind there might be a little seed that your Unconscious Mind might begin to nurture… You might smile to yourself as you dig out a little old note pad and start making notes of the luck in your life…That pesky post on how to be lucky!!  Just think though…this post might be the start of 2016 being a little bit more rainbow coloured for you…

I wish you all the good luck in the world xxx