Many of us set out on New Year’s Eve to start fresh with 2011.  Lots of folks had New Year’s resolutions, many traditional one’s such as lose a few pounds, lose a lot of pounds, go on a diet, change our eating habits, start exercising, join a gym, quit smoking….and on and on and on…

I too set out on establishing a New Year’s resolution.  Only this time I set out with a different perspective, a different outlook so to speek.  It’s actually March 1st, 2011 and I’m still focused on mine, why? Because instead of setting out to fail, I set myself up to be free to win or lose, because I knew that with what I set my intention for, it was only for me.  For me, to make me feel better….what you say?  I decided to go on a diet too, but not any old diet! I chose to do the “Negativity Diet”.  It’s true. 

I made a huge realization towards the end of last year, and after reading a few books that truly inspired me (The Map, by Colette Baron-Reid and The Angel Therapy Guidebook and Angel Words by Doreen Virtue, PhD)

When you are on the right path, the flowers smell so much sweeter

 just a few weeks ago, they validated my choices and as I move forward in my life I can say that each day gets a little easier!  All though I will admit it hasnt’ been easy.  There have been many days in the past three months that have truly challenged my so called “Diet”.

What does my “Negativity Diet” consist of? Just that, No More Negativity!  Everything we see on TV, from the news to fashion shows someone has always got something negative to say.  If you watch the EChannel, you can watch a fashion show and a comedy show in one full hour do nothing but talk badly about celebs and other people that accidently may get in their way.  I’m not saying that they are bad or wrong, its for them to decide what they want to air on television, and it must be connecting with a lot of folks because their show are doing well.  Which goes to show you that there are many people out there in this world that actually find humor at the expense of others.  As a celebrity goes, its part of what you sign up for I suppose.   More power to them.

For me though, I have found times where I can watch television and find humor in the jokes, if they are jokes, but can actually personally feel the sting when things are said that seem less like jokes and more like stabs.  I guess its the empath in me that has such a hard time with it.

So when the news ends up on TV, I change the channel or turn it off.  I get it, those newscasters get paid to tell you everything that is bad in this world, and all of from the past 24 hours. whew!   I find watching TV harder to watch as I get older, I don’t think I’m turning into my mother just yet, but I have discovered that my spirit has grown allowing me to make better choices for myself and my family.

So I watch what I say, this is the hardest because it is part of our programming.  So I have learned to slow down and think about what I say before I say it.  The hardest thing for me so far on my “diet” is finding that new friends with similar outlooks and interests are mandatory, and I grieve for the friendships that I have had to step back from because of the negativity.  I find that with some old friends, our relationship is so comfortable that to change it would be worse and it would be false.  I love them just the same but have had to reduce the amount of time I spend conversing and sharing stories.  I find it way to easy to get sucked back into the dark hole of negativity.  And before I even realize it, I’ve been talking on the phone for 30 minutes with a friend, half of which I have spent my time bitching and complaining about absolutely nothing. At first I thought it was because I was in fear of bringing the negativity to light with the other person, then I realized that the old addage is true…some friends are in your life for a moment…some for a lifetime.  And so blessed am I that there are friends that actually grow with us instead of away from us.  I love them all, and they will all remain in my life to some degree, just some at a higher degree than others.   The hardest lesson for me was to learn how to shorten a negative conversation, and how to end one that clearly had no place to go but down.

I have to say that I owe my Archangels and my Spirit Guides and animals a huge sincere thank you as they have been tremendously helpful during this lesson in my life.  I think it needs to be said that when we need our guides and angels they are always there for us, we just have to remember to ask them for help.  This lesson has been a positive one!

So try being positive for just a day, catch yourself when your being bad. Don’t be to hard on yourself as this can also be considered to be a negative act. So keep it real, and keep it positive.  You would be surprised at how others change their behavior, their demeanor, their attitude around you when you are going out of your way to positive and kind, just smile if that is all the energy you may have for that day.  But stay aware of how that positive remark, or that smile can truly lift some else’s spirit.  And when you see the ripples from your action it becomes easier and easier because you get to see the actual results in real time, not a week or month later but usually within the next ten minutes that follow. 

It’s funny since I’ve been really working on removing the “negativity” from my life I feel better, I feel happier, I feel healthier and I feel lighter!  So I guess the conclusion to my “resolution”,  to my intent for the wonderful year of 2011 is that negativity is like carrying around extra weight. It can make you feel tired, miserable, and isolated.

So say “No” to “Negativity”!  Try the “Negativity Diet”, you’ll be surprised at how much lighter you’ll feel! 

Wishing everyone light, love and laughter! 

Namaste ~

Micha’ele

http://www.HealingIntuitiveGarden.com