The Glass is Always Half Full

     I have always been an optimist. I was blessed with being a happy and carefree person, and even in stressful or tumultuous times, I have been able to plug away un-phased by the hurdles that lay before me. Some would call me a trooper, others a survivor, and a few would call me just plain ol crazy LOL! The eternal optimist that I am has really been put to the test the past few years; the feeling of being under a dark cloud and the shadow of bad luck cast in every direction lay before me. My attitude and outlook changed to one of pessimism and cynicism and I just felt like a big ball of ICK! Why? How can I make this better? How could I go from being the conqueror to the victim/the driver to the passenger, without even realizing it? The Answer: Being out of balance. 

Life is a balancing act, and sometimes taking on way too much and not compensating for it can have horrible and lasting side effects. No one wants to be a failure, or to feel like they are suffocating.... but many of us find ourselves feeling this way. Sure there are things that are beyond our control, such as health problems, family emergencies, computer viruses, and such... but that doesn't mean you surrender and give up control of your life. You must give yourself permission to live life to its fullest, and in doing so, you must balance work and pleasure. My children were fortunate enough to attend a fantastic school that is based on Steven and Sean Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective people. The curriculum is amazing and the opportunities endless, but what I love most is the fact that these seven principals have been instilled in my children so that they might not have to suffer and learn the lessons the hard way.... like me. We, as a family have decided to make a concentrated effort to adopt these Seven Habits into our lives, and it has already made a huge difference on my outlook. I have decided to share with you one of the 7 Habits each week. Week 1: 

• Habit 1: Be Proactive

Synopsis: Take initiative in life by realizing that your decisions (and how they align with life's principles) are the primary determining factor for effectiveness in your life. Take responsibility for your choices and the subsequent consequences that follow

Your life doesn't just "happen." Whether you know it or not, it is carefully designed by you. The choices, after all, are yours. You choose happiness. You choose sadness. You choose decisiveness. You choose ambivalence. You choose success. You choose failure. You choose courage. You choose fear. Just remember that every moment, every situation, provides a new choice. And in doing so, it gives you a perfect opportunity to do things differently to produce more positive results. Habit 1: Be Proactive is about taking responsibility for your life. You can't keep blaming everything on your parents or grandparents. Proactive people recognize that they are "response-able." They don't blame genetics, circumstances, conditions, or conditioning for their behavior. They know they choose their behavior. Reactive people, on the other hand, are often affected by their physical environment. They find external sources to blame for their behavior. If the weather is good, they feel good. If it isn't, it affects their attitude and performance, and they blame the weather. All of these external forces act as stimuli that we respond to. Between the stimulus and the response is your greatest power--you have the freedom to choose your response. One of the most important things you choose is what you say. Your language is a good indicator of how you see yourself. A proactive person uses proactive language--I can, I will, I prefer, etc. A reactive person uses reactive language--I can't, I have to, if only. Reactive people believe they are not responsible for what they say and do--they have no choice. Instead of reacting to or worrying about conditions over which they have little or no control, proactive people focus their time and energy on things they can control. The problems, challenges, and opportunities we face fall into two areas--Circle of Concern and Circle of Influence. Proactive people focus their efforts on their Circle of Influence. They work on the things they can do something about: health, children, problems at work. Reactive people focus their efforts in the Circle of Concern--things over which they have little or no control: the national debt, terrorism, the weather. Gaining an awareness of the areas in which we expend our energies in is a giant step in becoming proactive.

So this week, let's practice being proactive. Let's turn those I cant's into I cans, lets say I will, instead of I have to. Let's think about our response and our actions before we react. Balance begins with ourselves, we are the foundation.
Wishing you a happy healthy and proactive week!
XOXO - Genevieve Rule