I've been going through a lot of changes in the last few years. I generally don’t handle change and uncertainty very well and so I’ve experienced a lot of stress and anxiety in navigating these events.
One way I learned to cope was taking long walks outside, and what I discovered over time was that these walks became even more valuable if I had a dialog with myself about the worry I was having and what was causing me stress. In forcing myself to audibly articulate the ideas and thoughts bouncing around in my head I was given the clarity and presence of mind to sort things out. The act of giving voice to these thoughts made it much easier to identify which were off base and harmful and could thus be discarded, and which were actually deserving of my time, attention, and focus. Unfortunately, I also found that I was too quickly forgetting the insights I had just gained! I then found myself returning again to a long walk and coming to the very same conclusions after another arduous week of worry and stress. There was definitely a recurring theme to these insights, and while on one of my walks I had the thought to develop them into a set of mantras. My intention was that by repeating them regularly I could keep myself on track with what is important to me in the life I wish to live.
The mantras that follow evolved and matured over a number of days while talking with what I refer to as my guides. As mentioned on my about page I believe in forces outside our current understanding that help and guide us through life. The true nature of these forces is not important. It could be any number of things; God, angels, spirits of our departed loved ones, our inner being/source, or simply our own subconscious mind. Whatever label or explanation you choose is fine and not really important to the discussion here. What is important though is that there is power to be found outside the everyday conscious mind. I believe that tapping into that power is what helped me to arrive at such a concise set of mantras that perfectly encompass my core values and embody the grounding principles that help give me focus. Repeating these mantras daily as part of my morning routine has proven invaluable. There are 6 mantras altogether and they are as follows:
- I believe that my guides and the universe can help me reach my full potential for happiness and growth.
- I believe I can have everything I want.
- I believe I can live a life full of meaning, purpose and fulfillment.
- I believe it is within my power to remain loving and kind in all of life's situations.
- I believe it is within my ability to always see a positive path forward and a next step towards the attainment of my hopes and dreams.
- I believe that I can develop my own unique voice, both written and oral, and that I can share my voice with the world and feel good about it.
I hope that you will take these mantras as a suggestion and a prompt for you to create your own. In times of trial or stress repeat your mantras; slowly and with contemplation. As you repeat each one think about how it applies to your life as it is right now. As thoughts come to your mind are these things you want to keep and hold on to? Is it something you want to change, or discard completely? Listen to the answer to these questions, then do your best to act accordingly.
Thanks and appreciation
I’d like to thank Christa Pell for the inspiration to share these mantras. At her prompting I have started this website and hope to share more in the coming weeks and months.