by Annette Colby, PhD<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Have you seen the motivational plaque that reads,<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n “Life is a do-it-yourself project. Get excited about it!”<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n I love that expression because it reminds me <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n that it’s up to me to make each day special. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n That doesn’t mean that each moment of every day<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n is going to be wonderfully smooth,<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n uneventful, and happy. But it does mean<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n that it is up to me to take action each day <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n to make sure I’m excited about being<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n in a body and about being alive.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n If you’re not as excited about your life <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n as you want to be,take comfort in knowing<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n that increasing the joy in your life is something <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n that you can actually take control of.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Becoming inspired, energized, and fully engaged <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n in your lifeis definitely possible! Gaining excitement<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n isn’t so much about working to “fix” yourself <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n as it is learning new skills of acceptance,<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n emotional flow, and focusing your efforts on activities<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n that have personal meaning.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n There are numerous actions that support your <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n ability to achieve a higher level of excitement<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n about your own life.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Below are several powerful places to begin:<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/i57.photobucket.com\/albums\/g208\/ammango\/angel_love\/life\/nodrama.jpg\")
<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n 1. Stop the Drama<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Excitement about your life emerges as you <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n gain a deeper capacity to accept things as <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n they are right now. Often times when things<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n get rough, it is easy to fall into the worry trap,<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n worrying about the issue, picking at the problem,<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n and conjuring up the worst-case scenario.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Intense focus on the problem accelerates negative <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n emotions and stirs up even more chaos.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Acceptance of the situation allows you to <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n stop flailing about and see the situation in a <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n new light. Life is an ever-changing flow of moving,<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n breathing, suffering, and hoping. It includes<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n sorrows and dreams, and the mystery of things <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n actually working out for the best. You’re not having <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n a particular challenge because you are bad, wrong, <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n or being punished. Instead, you can look at the situation <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n and bring compassion to yourself. Discover if there is <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nsomething to gain from the experience. Often, a difficult<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n challenge also has within it a transformative power that <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\ncan assist you in creating a more fully developed life.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/i57.photobucket.com\/albums\/g208\/ammango\/angel_love\/love\/free.jpg\")
<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n 2. Emotional Flow<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Obviously, life is not about the absence of emotions.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Therefore, allowing yourself to be excited about being alive<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n involves an understanding that joy and sorrow are not a<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n mutually exclusive proposition. Both are possible, and both<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n can occur simultaneously. With this new definition of wholeness,<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n your life journey is no longer about attempting to abolish<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n difficult emotions, but learning new strategies to recognize,<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n accept, and allow emotional flow.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Emotions have energy, and big emotions have big energy.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n A key to emotional flow requires learning to accept emotions<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n as they occur while also attaining the ability to stand back<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n and let the emotional energy move on through. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n I will be the first to admit this is tricky business. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n It’s so easy to wan to resist uncomfortable emotions, <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
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