Hello and happy Monday!
This is Susan Hyatt and it’s GO time.
This is the 87th episode in a series of GO mp3s to wake you up on your Monday morning and get you going.
In this episode I’m sharing a simple trick you can use to shift you mindset and create more of what you want.
[smart_track_player url=”https://soundcloud.com/susanhyattgo/87-plant-your-flowers” social_gplus=”false” social_pinterest=”true” social_email=”true” ]
Wanna read the full transcript? Here ya go:
Can you believe that it’s March? We’re already a couple months deep into 2017.
How’s it going?
You doing OK?
I know that so many of us, myself included, are still reeling from the Presidential election last fall. Many of us are still horrified about the fact that Trump is… the President. Yup. It’s really him. It really happened.
I have lots of friends who feel so discouraged every time they turn on the radio, or read the news online. I hear a lot of people saying how 2016 was just a complete shit-show of a year, and honestly, this year’s not looking much better.
I get all of that. I’m upset, too. Not just about Trump, but about… so many things. Our world needs deep healing and revolution on so many levels.
With everything that’s broken and scary in our world, we’ve got to remember that we each have so much personal power. We each have the power to make things a little better. Or a lot better. We can all use our time and energy to do great things. And we can find plenty of reasons to feel optimistic about the future.
I saw this cute little cartoon a few weeks ago. It was circulating around the Internet and I happened to see it on Facebook. In the cartoon, there are these two little creatures. The first one is standing there with crossed arms, looking panicked and anxious. The second one is kneeling and planting flowers.
The first one says to the other, “Why are you so optimistic about 2017? What do you think it will bring?”
The second one says, “I think it will bring flowers.”
The first one says, “Yeah? How come?”
And the second one says, “Because I am planting flowers.”
I love that. It’s so simple, so true, and such a beautiful metaphor for life.
When you plant a seed in the ground, you know it’s going to grow. You can be hopeful. You can be excited. You know that something beautiful is coming soon, because you’ve put in the work to ensure that it’s going to happen.
That’s what “empowerment” is. It’s using your personal power, and your personal actions, to create a better future for yourself and for the world.
So, what kinds of flowers are you planting this year?
What kinds of flowers would you like to be planting?
Are you behaving like the first creature in the cartoon, with your arms crossed, standing there and feeling disgruntled and exasperated about everything?
Or are you behaving like the second creature, kneeling, getting your hands in the dirt, and planting flowers in the ground?
There are certain things in this world that you can’t always control. You can’t control the weather. You can’t control when your coworker gets sick, or the fact that he passes his gross flu bug onto you. You can vote, of course, but you can’t personally control the outcome of a Presidential election. Some things in life are not entirely up to you.
And yet, there are so many things that you CAN control. You can go to bed earlier. You can make time for your daily workout. You can take good care of yourself. You can donate to a good cause. You can volunteer for a politician that you admire. You can run for political office, yourself. You can write 5 pages of your book today, and another 5 pages tomorrow. You can reach out to 3 clients and ask if they’d like to hire you again.
There are so many ways that you can take charge of your life and create the future you want.
The thing is, nobody is ever going to hand that future to you on a silver platter. That’s never how it works.
In gardening, and in every area of life, if you want to enjoy those beautiful flowers in your backyard, you’ve got to put in some effort and plant them yourself.
My challenge for you this week is…
Think about something you want to have, earn, feel, or experience in the near future. Some type of goal or dream that’s important to you.
Then ask yourself, “What do I need to be planting right now in order to make that future a reality?”
Figure out what you need to be planting. Figure out what you need to be doing every day, or who you need to be contacting, or the habits you need to put into place. And then just do it. Take one step. Plant one seed. You’ll feel so good once you do. Your optimism will soar. And you’ll be that much closer to having the life you really want.
Bust out your watering can, and your rake, and your favorite hoe. (LOL. Not that kind of ho.)
Get out there and plant some beautiful flowers this week.
It’s GO time.