NEW BEGINNINGS COME FROM WITHIN
- Written by Eric North aka “The Happiness Warrior”
No matter how hard the past is, you can always begin again — Buddha
As the Happiness Warrior, I’ve always believed in new beginnings and the great possibilities of human life. The old saying “each day is a chance for a new beginning” is something that always resonates and stays close to my heart. As corny as it might sound, there’s an underlying and undeniable truth in how we frame our mindset and create the intention needed to take control of our destiny. I know in my heart that each day is an opportunity to be better and that I can only disappoint myself if I catch myself failing.
Each day is truly an opportunity for starting over, but we must remove the self-imposed and external barriers that many of us experience in our lives. These barriers provide many lessons and opportunities to find meaning, but they can also feel overwhelming and create fear. They prevent us from moving forward, decrease happiness, shorten lifespans, and waste our lives with unnecessary drama and conflict. We’ll never be happy unless we can learn to believe in ourselves without relying on external validation.
As we enter the third year of a global pandemic, the need to change to survive is on all our minds whether we admit it to ourselves or not. Life is not always easy, but with the belief that we can change our perspective we can find hope and reset the path of our lives. We can create a more focused mindset where we can be the best version of ourselves. We can create personal core values to guide us on our journey. We can create magical lives!
By developing a fresh start mindset, we can give ourselves the permission we need to renew, begin again, and reinvent ourselves with a more authentic and cherished vision of who we are. As humans we live in a constant state of change and renewal. If we’re unprepared, this can feel chaotic and cause us to retreat and never find our way forward. Our cells are always regenerating, and our brains are constantly learning. When we follow our instincts we can see our lives with more self-awareness, feel happier, and make the world around us a better place.
A few months ago, I had a disastrous accident on my new and very fast bicycle. I was in a remote location, severely injured, and needed to get home. There was no one to rescue me. I gritted my teeth, uttered a bit of profanity, and got back on my bike. Adrenaline kept me moving and I began a slow steady pedal home. My big toe was broken, and my knees and shoulder were battered and bloody. I could see flesh and there was blood running everywhere. I had never been so battered and in pain in my life but something in my spirit (or stubbornness) guided me the two miles home.
It was a stupid mistake that changed my life in just a few seconds. I had been injured before in athletic accidents, but this time was the worst, and I knew that it was serious.
In the next couple of days of emergency room and physician visits, I soon found myself in a prominent orthopedic surgeon’s office. I was in a wheelchair, couldn’t walk, and wouldn’t walk again until I had surgery on both legs. My quadricep muscles needed to be stretched and reattached to my knees. My life had changed so quickly and for the first time in my life I wasn’t able to function at the high level that I’m used to. As my surgeon said, “no one expects to be disabled”. I felt humbled, extremely vulnerable, most of all grateful for the help and compassion that I received.
In those early days, the unknown was on my mind, but I knew that I needed to remove my fears and live in the present. Without a doubt, my life was going to take on a different perspective until I healed and recovered my spirit.
I knew that I needed to take a close look at myself and face hard truths. I told myself that this was a chance for me to better and find more meaning in my life. Life gave me a puzzle and I knew that I would have to dig deep and rediscover my true self and define who I wanted to be when I recovered and rejoined the world again. I would face everything head on and make something positive happen from the pain and beauty of the healing process.
CREATE AN AFFIRMATION
I’ve always believed that life is better when we believe in ourselves and can give ourselves permission to break down our defenses by creating life-giving affirmations. To do so we must remove our ego and be honest with ourselves and the life we desire.
My daily morning affirmation is simple, always effective, and clearly said out loud every day upon waking “Good Morning, Eric. It’s going to be a great day!). I know in my heart that this will be true, but I also know that obstacles will always come and that I will find meaning, balance, and even happiness through my struggles and victories. Life gives us lessons and opportunities and avoiding and hiding from the truth will never help us find our way.
CREATE NEW SYSTEMS AND ROUTINES
I’ve always believed in the power of a self-disciplined life. I know that I can accomplish my mission through carefully thought-out systems and core values. For me, a morning routine is essential and life-giving. However, I was no longer physically able to do my routine on my own and suddenly found myself living and living in a new reality of healing and a humble understanding of my physical limitations after surgery. I had to adapt and serve myself as best as I could in my new paradigm.
My mind-body connection felt fragmented and needed to be rebuilt. Each day I celebrated small improvements in my mobility and actions. It wasn’t easy and at times was very exhausting, but it changed my view of the world and showed me the great healing powers of empathy and forgiveness.
Living life through a different lens was enlightening. Belief that I would be walking unaided again was the source of my intention and guiding light.
CHANGE INTERNAL DIALOGUE
When we create a healthier internal dialogue, we can change who we are and learn to embrace our authentic selves. Too often, we live our lives for others and lose touch with our inner source of energy:
1. Focus on removing negative self-created emotions and language. Stop telling yourself that you can’t or should do something.
2. Forgive and let go. This starts with forgiving ourselves and giving ourselves permission to find happiness, raise our vibration, and resonate with the things in life that are important to us.
3. Change your language and remember that our words and thoughts never disappear. As the Happiness Warrior I believe that our words have spirit and can just as easily raise or lower our vibration. We can choose our destiny and feel empowered by changing the intent of our thoughts and words.
4. Focus on how you want to feel in the present and future. Shift your mindset to what you want to achieve to create the action needed for increased momentum and purpose. Stop living your life to conform to others expectations.
5. Remember that we’re the company that we keep. Find like-minded individuals and groups that support your beliefs and values. We can’t rely entirely on ourselves to change and renew. Humans are at their best and happiest when they’re collaborating and feel connected.
6. Make the mind/body connection and be in tune to your body’s signals and feelings. Pay attention to sensations and feelings and how they increase your vibration.
7. Schedule time to move every day. Celebrate your strength if you’re physically able to walk or move with stamina. Aim small and build from there. It’s what got me through 8 weeks with both of my legs in straight leg splints post-surgery.
8. Nourish your body and mind with healthy foods. Understand the importance of timing for food and exercise.
CREATE A MORE CAPABLE MINDSET
“The world we see that seems so insane is the result of a belief system that is not working. To perceive the world differently, we must be willing to change our belief system, let the past slip away, expand our sense of now, and dissolve the fear in our minds.” — William James
The first thing to do to create a more capable mindset is to focus on what we can control and not be influenced by external events and happenings. When we can uncover our unconscious mind the quality of our life changes and we become aligned with our true self. To create a better future our thoughts must be in harmony and aligned with the life that we wish to live.
Ask yourself if you’re comfortable with the notion that your unconscious mind determines the quality of your life?
It can be difficult to determine the origin of our subconscious thoughts and judgments unless we can use the power of self-awareness to determine areas in which we are lacking. When we remove our ego and make an honest assessment our personal growth will expand in abundance. Re-internalizing a new belief is the beginning of a new and enhanced consciousness. Unless we reconcile our internal beliefs, we will never reach our full potential. Forgiving ourselves for our pasts and believing in the possibilities in our life is the foundation for any new beginning or reinvention of ourselves.
UNLOCK EGO
Letting go of ego essentially means letting go of the need to always be right. When we let this part of our ego dominate our thoughts and actions we can never learn, grow, and move forward in our lives. Never being able to admit when we’re wrong is the best way to hurt ourselves and others.
There’s so much sadness and loneliness in the world that comes from our egos. When we learn to live in the present without fear of judgment from others, we can finally set ourselves free:
1. When your mind wanders, bring it back to the present.
2. Open your awareness to sensations all around you. What do you see when you quiet your mind?
3. Keep a relaxed open awareness to just one field of sensation. Close your eyes and listen to music, turn off headphones when outdoors, hug a tree and feel it’s life-giving energy.
4. Drop your sense of separation. All things are connected.
5. Lean to breathe for relaxation. I’ve breathed my way through many terrifying moments and gained courage!
We never know what life is going to give us, but if we learn to control our ego and believe in our authentic selves we can overcome life’s challenges and understand the meaning of happiness. We can all learn to be our own Happiness Warriors!
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