Don’t let your current reality dictate your future possibility. Hold true to your dreams. Miracles are entirely possible if you dispense with miserable thinking!~ Nicole Cody
The reason for today’s post comes from something seemingly ordinary. But what’s ordinary for some can be positively miraculous for others.
Yesterday I walked up the stairs carrying two laptops and a ridiculously heavy bag of books. Ordinary enough, hey? But not for someone with cardiomyopathy. For over two years I have struggled with stairs, let alone carrying a load at the same time. Stairs usually leave me breathless as my enlarged heart battles to get blood and oxygen around to all the right places with the sudden burst of physical activity.
Yesterday I got to the top of the steps, walked into my office and then thought, “Oh. My. God.”
No chest pain, no panting or racing heart – just normal old got to the top of the stairs and kept walking.
Why is this such a big deal? Well, to me it proves a very important point:
Changing your thinking can change your life.
There is no point in fighting the reality of your current situation. If you’re fat, you’re fat. If your finances are a mess, they’re a mess. If you procrastinate, well that’s just what you’ve been doing. Stop fighting it, making excuses for it, or pretending it isn’t happening. Accept what is.
Accepting what is, without judgement, is the first step in making positive change in your life.
The second step is letting go of your attachment to what is.
Where you are today is the result of yesterday’s thinking, yesterday’s actions, yesterday’s focus or lack of focus.
The third step is to hold a clear picture in your mind of what you DO want in your life, and find a way to summon positive emotion around that.
According to the Law of Attraction, (there’s a good definition of the Law of Attraction here) whatever you focus your attention on, is what you draw to you in your life. Resisting or fighting anything, dwelling on it, obsessing on it, worrying on it, speaking of it – all those actions keep that thing you don’t want fixed firmly on your horizon.
This quote from Abraham really sums it up:
You will notice that those who speak most of prosperity, have it. Those who speak most of health, have it. Those who speak most of sickness, have it. Those who speak most of poverty, have it. It is Law. It can be no other way… The way you feel is your point of attraction, and so, the Law of Attraction is most understood when you see yourself as a magnet getting more and more of the way you feel. When you feel lonely, you attract more loneliness. When you feel poor, you attract more poverty. When you feel sick, you attract more sickness. When you feel unhappy, you attract more unhappiness. When you feel healthy and vital and alive and prosperous—you attract more of all of those things.
— Abraham
When my doctors first gave me a diagnosis of cardiomyopathy caused by a virus which had induced a heart attack, after everything else I’ve been through, I took a day or two to come back to a place of calm after the shock of their news. I accepted what they’d told me, and I set about making peace with that. I decided to make every day count, and that has been a lasting Blessing in my life.
My doctors also told me that after two years, there was no chance of improvement, and to expect a decline, which might be steady or fast, and that would lead to needing a transplant, or possibly, death.
If I have cardiomyopathy, then that is my current reality. After the news I mourned, grieved, got over myself and moved on. I have made choices to focus on health and on life. I have embraced natural therapies, food as medicine, and visualisation. I live with it, and I embrace the current reality of it. It is what it is. Sure I have had many reminders of my health situation, such as chest pain and lack of breath, but I have not let it define me, and I have often forgotten it is even there!
Each morning in my meditation, and each night before I go to bed, I see myself as healthy, vibrant and living a full life where I can share my joy and gifts with others. Why bother with this, when my life doesn’t look like that now? Because reality has a funny way of changing itself over time…
And yesterday my reality shifted. Today I am in a different space!
I have always believed in holding a picture of a brighter tomorrow, of embracing optimism, doing what I can, and turning the rest over to the Universe. I expect miracles. And in expecting them, they show up in my life.
So what about you? Stop looking at your life as it is and being unhappy with that. Accept what is. Forgive yourself and others if that is what’s needed. And then find a place in your life where you can summon the smallest amount of gratitude, appreciation or happiness. (Don’t know how to do that? Here’s some info that will help!)
Hold a picture in your heart of a brighter tomorrow. Trust. Cherish and nurture your dreams. Miracles happen daily. They can happen for you too! ♥ xx
I always enjoy your posts and thank you for sharing your story. I am so very glad that you are doing so well. We need more giving loving people like you in the world. Namaste.
Thank you for your lovely words! Love is why we’re here. Bless xx
This is an awesome post, Nicole. Words to live by for sure. Thank you for putting your truth out there for all to see and hear.
Thanks Brenda. It makes the hard times in my life worthwhile if by sharing them it helps others. xoxo
Huge thanks Nicole. I am always heartened by your writing. You have the wonderful ability to touch people in a way that is so easy to relate to. I am always in awe of the magnificent way you have shaped your reality andare overcoming your own obstacles. It empowers me to continue to strive to follow suit, and when it’s tough I rememer that you are an example I can follow. A million thanks from the top of my heart and soul 🙂
{{{HUGS}}} It took me quite a while to get the hang of this, Susan, and I still see myself very much as a work in progress. Much love to you xx
Thanks Nicole! You’re living life just the way we all should: appreciating what we DO have. Life is such an amazing gift! Thank you for sharing your stories. You made my day brighter! ( :
Thanks for your kind words, Frank. I do try to live by mine… and it seems to be working 😀 Much love to you xx
Nicole, you are truly amazing! I can just feel your positive energy through your words and images. You are so right about needing to accept the way we are because only then can we move forward!
Also, your personal story is so inspiring. Thank you for sharing your journey with us!
I don’t know about amazing, but I do know that I am hungry for life, and joyful with the goodness of it. Thanks for sharing the journey with me.:)
Well, I think you are being pretty modest!
And it’s all about the journey! I feel very lucky to get to share it with you!
Thank you. Universe speaks through you to me! You really are awesome. I follow many blogs, and your energy always leaves me feeling less alone and uplifted. What a joy you are! 🙂 Sam
That’s my job – allowing the Universe to speak through me for you! 🙂 And my intention is that you feel uplifted, supported and well loved on your journey. xoxo
I came back today to read the “Everything you’ve been through” link on this post. Something called me to this. What parallels we have. I can relate to most of the challenges you faced. Hmmmm? Also, the more I share my gifts, the more they grow and the better I feel. Thank you so much. Hugs. 🙂
And what beautiful gifts you have to share with the world! Bless xx
Have just finished reading an article all about parenting styles. One of the stand out parts of the article was that just because people have terrible childhoods does not mean that they will parent in a terrible way or lead unhappy lives. It suggested that if people can integrate what happened to them early in life they can change the cycle and go on to lead wonderful lives. Although the article is not about physical health and learning to look towards a better way of existing it highlighted to me that people can change the destructive cycles in their lives and have lives that are full of love and hope. I myself had a wonderful childhood but wanted to let people reading Nicole’s blog that life is always full of hope and it is always possible to change cycles of unhappiness or despair.
That’s beautiful wisdom, Jen. Thanks for sharing! I agree about the parenting, and know many incredibly wise and giving parents who themselves came from nothing but neglect and despair. Much love to you xx
Brilliant, simply brilliant – many thanks for your wisdom and courage.
I just hope my experiences can help others to have hope when they feel that there is none. Sometimes we have to create our own magic! Bless xx
Thank you for another wonderful post – you are an inspiration to all of us who read your words, learning of what you are dealing with in your own life but finding the joy in each moment. We truly do create our reality, I have had so much evidence of that in my own life. Thank you for the reminder to always keep believing in the strength of my soul.
Life wouldn’t be very tasty if we couldn’t find the joy in it! Bless xx
Really, really, really great news. I feel very happy for you. It has been a huge staircase :), and you clearly demonstrate to us all how to ‘walk the talk’. Thank you Nicole, it gives me a great surge of positivity just reading the post. Working with more and more success now thanks for all your guidance.xx
Thank you, lovely friend. What’s there for me is there for you too. Wishing you miracles! xxoo
What a wonderful post! I think the tension between acceptance and surrender on the one hand, and positive affirmation on the other, is one of the hardest ones to wrap our minds around. I love the way you create space for what IS, but do not become attached to it. It really helped clarify this for me. And I am truly happy that you are experiencing greater health. Sending you love!
Love gratefully received! Thank you 🙂 Surrender and acceptance is so important, because it lifts us out of struggle, and softens our energy so that we can allow…
Look around and say, okay, this is where yesterday got me, make peace with that, and then hold that brighter picture in your mind and visit that positive place often, so that you totally fall in love with and believe in that place as your new reality, the one you are moving towards and that will soon show up in your life.
This is wonderful, true, and timely, Nicole – awesome! I’m really, really, really trying to work on this! ~ Julie xoxox
Just let it flow, Julie. It will come. Focus on anything that makes you feel better and gives you that shift towards relief. I’ll include you in my healing meditations too. Much love to you xx
I would really like to email this to my mother, but can’t find an email button. Any suggestions? Great post! Thanks!
Grab the link at the top of the page, or use this
http://cauldronsandcupcakes.com/2012/04/28/making-peace-with-right-now-while-holding-a-picture-of-a-brighter-tomorrow/
and paste it into your email to your Mum. She’ll be able to click on it to read this page.
Bless xx
thanks.
So right.Till we continue to consider us a patient, health will stay away from us.Mind power is a very strong mechanism.Whatever your mind thinks, it has an ability to make that happen, because mind controls your body.All the unwanted hormones, and unwanted emotions and thoughts only create an unwanted effect.
Diseased have nothing to risk.Why not target health instead?If we desire it, God will help us in every way to achieve it.
Must say, once again, AMAZING PICS!
Thank you! Sending much love your way xoxo
Bless you Nicole! Thank you so much for sharing your story and for another uplifting post. I don’t feel like I can write everything I am feeling as I need time to fully digest everything you wrote. I too have spent many years clearing through illness and there were times my Guides felt like my only friends. You are doing such tremendous work–truly beyond measure– and I am so grateful.
Illness can be a wonderful teacher. It has shown me how to slow down, how to value life, and how to focus on what I want and only what I want. And yes, I totally relate to the support and love our Guides give us at times when we feel quite alone in the world. Thanks so much for your kind words and support – they mean the world to me. Bless xx
Timely post for me Nicole 🙂 Thankyou xxx 🙂
Blessings to you 🙂 xoxo
yOU ROck 🙂
Aw, thanks Julie. You know, you’re pretty fab too! Just sayin’… ♥ xx
Wow! Positivity is all that I see here…! Amazing post…..and like you I too believe that changing our thinking changes our lives…..and I’m currently experiencing that wonderful change 🙂
I love hearing about that positive shift for you, and 2012 is a great year for creating that dynamic in our lives. Bless xx
I Love it!! I really love this. Thank you so much Nicole!!!!
I always chose to hold on to the positive, or let’s say I try and that is what I mentioned in my latest post on my Blog. When |I am living a situation I cannot change, I can at least change it in my mind. That would make it easier to live with.
Yes, it will, and by thinking positively and holding a brighter picture in your mind you can change how your future will look. Believe! Thinking is free, and fun, and miracle-making. {{{HUGS}}} xx