This morning, I’ve been thinking a lot about positive thinking. It’s something I really believe in; if you think positive, positive results will follow. I’ve been trying to actively think positively and make healthier choices, in hopes that things in life will be more positive (not that I don’t have a nice life now, but there are things I’d like to change). Here are my thought bubbles related to positive thinking for today;
Thought Bubble No. 1: Coffee VS Tea + H2O
Something I’ve been trying to do more is switch from coffee to green tea. So something about me you should know is I’m slightly obsessed with looking up health facts or healthy lifestyle junk on pinterest. I loooove it. And something that I’ve seen for years are the benefits of green tea.
It does have caffeine like coffee, though not as much, but it also speeds your metabolism and has loads of healthy antioxidants . Basically, its just great for you to drink. What I like about it most is that it doesn’t leave me all jittery and shaky like coffee could sometimes do. The tea I’m drinking right now is a Tazo Lemongrass and Spearmint Green Tea. Personally I like to just mix a bag of green tea and a bag of peppermint tea to give it flavor, but this is an excellent alternative. I’m also a huge advocate for peppermint tea. It is so refreshing in the morning, and makes you feel awake and alive and refreshed.
I do like coffee still. Really I depend on caffeine to wake up in the morning, as too many people do. But by limiting my coffee intake to once or twice a week (for days when I’m just lagging like the old desktop computer at home), I’ve felt happier in the morning and less bloated. I also feel more aware for the day and awake, but without the awful jitters.
Speaking of drinking liquids, I also recently purchased a Nalgene Water Bottle. WOW. I never knew how little water I drank until I got this bottle. I must have been so dehydrated before purchasing this! The rule of thumb is to drink half of your body weight in water ounces. I try my best to drink two of these 36 ounce bottles to stay hydrated. Since buying it, I have noticed my skin changing and looking better and smoother, my nails are looking better (could be from the vitamins im taking too but whatever), and I don’t feel the need to snack on the candy in the office as much. Everyone needs to buy this water bottle! Drinking more water is as important as every makes it seem.
Thought Bubble No. 2: Successful People Read
I have always loved reading. There is such a great feeling buying a new book in the summertime and breaking in the spine of it. I once even spent an afternoon reading at Barnes & Nobles (yeah, yeah, I know its lame). And something I’ve been seeing a lot online about super successful people is that they read very often. Bill Gates supposedly reads 50 books a year . I have a hard time reading when its not sunny and warm outside, and I’m working on changing that.
Right now, I have four books on my shelf I’m trying to read. I’m currently really into Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann. It was written and based in the 60’s, and its about young women living in NYC and trying to become successful, the pressures they deal with inequality and fame, and also dives into addiction. So far, I’m only on page 70 but am very invested. It reads so easily, like you’re reading a magazine or subtitles on a screen. It is a wonderful story and I suggest that anyone likes books about fame and addiction or glamour, read this!
Flux by Orion Carloto is a poetry book I picked up from The Strand Bookstore a week or so ago. I’ve always loved poetry and reading books written in poems. Fun Fact: I actually had a poem published in high school in a local magazine! Anyways, its poems about a break up and questioning the relationship you had with someone and how difficult it can sometimes be to let go of the past. It’s really beautiful and heartbreaking to read, and I try to read it sparingly because it can tend to put me down sometimes. However, if you like beautiful poetry and a quick read, pick that one up.
One day I was doing research about books successful people read (I really am focused on being successful right now, if you can’t tell!) and one book that came up often was Think & Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. I haven’t gotten around to starting it yet, but from reading the description online, Mr. Hill makes the book seem like it is a guide to the secret method successful people like Albert Einstein and Andrew Carnegie used to make their names. My father said he might have read it and believes its simply about the power of positive thinking. If you read the intro to the post, you’ll know that I’m really into positive thinking right now, so obviously this book interested me. I’ll let you know how it is…
Last book I have on my shelf to read is Party Girls Die in Pearls by Plum Sykes. I haven’t gotten much of this book yet (I bought it because it was only $1 and I remembered my party girl days), but according to the jacket, it’s a murder mystery about a girl found dead at Oxford University. This is probably the book that is the lowest of my priorities to read, but once I do I’ll let you know how it goes.
Overall, my goal is to read 2/4 of these books by the end of the year. I want to stop falling asleep to my laptop and stop binging hours of tv on Netflix. Its terrible for my brain.
Thought Bubble No.3: Release Negative to Pull in Positive
When I worked at Earthbound, we had a specific selling point for our salt lamps that worked often; “This salt lamp produces negative ions in order to draw in positive ions, thus improving your mood and environment that the lamp is!”. It worked so often that I began to actually believe it.
Recently, I realized that I have let go of all the negative people in my life. Whether it was a mental or physical let go, I no longer am holding onto the people I used to know and feeling sad or angry over them. A few years ago, I had a very hard time letting go of people that were negative influences in my life (just ask my mom- she knows how long I held onto them for). I can’t tell you why I let go, could be my fear of failure and drive to never quit or give up, but it was unhealthy our relationships and I needed to release myself from them. That took until last year to do so. And as of this morning, when I woke up, I had this realization that the people I was still stuck on from college, the negative influences that weren’t encouraging or motivating and instead made me feel crazy and awful about who I was, I have let go of.
I have released the negativity from my life, and so far, I have been seeing positive results from it. I feel more light headed, like my head doesn’t feel as clustered with worry or fear or anxiety, and I’ve begun to feel more confident and empowered. I feel there is nothing I cannot achieve and if I want it, it will be mine. I now can see so much of my life ahead of me, and by no longer holding onto the negative people of my past, I feel free to do whatever and move on.
Dazed & Confused in the 212 