Your mind is one of the most powerful tools … have you heard the saying, ‘Your mind is playing tricks on you!’?

What does this actually mean?

It usually refers to a time when we are tired or not thinking clearly and the mind starts running away with itself. Have you ever convinced yourself of something that isn’t true? I’m all for gut instinct, as we have it for a reason, however, there are times when our mind decides to wander into depths of the unknown, that unknown becomes real to us, to a point we convince ourselves that this is our belief. For example; we convince ourselves we’re not good enough, that people don’t like us, that we are not worthy! Sound familiar? This is why mindfulness is important. Mindfulness is somewhat a new buzz word, but the concept has actually been going on for centuries, however, mindfulness is very important to our well-being; mentally, physically and emotionally

If we can convince ourselves of our unworthiness, we sure as hell can convince ourselves of our worthiness.

No-one is more important than you and you are no more important than anyone else. We all exist on this physical plane together, if we encouraged, supported and lived alone, the world would be a better place. Now you may have some kind of passion that you feel you can’t quite muster up the courage to fulfil, you’re worried about what people will say, you’re worried you will be judged, now this little voice is your ego. Your ego will convince you that you are no good at these given talents … because that’s what your passion is, ‘your given talents’ – you’ve been given these talents as a gift to give to others.

Will you listen to your mind, or that of those around you?

Now you can either allow your mind to listen to your ego, which may have been influenced by those around you; not giving you encouragement or support with your passion. This is very common. Parents, siblings and other family members can be the worse influence, believe it or not, most of the time it is not done out of malice, but from a place of fear. ‘They don’t believe that great things can happen to people like you (them)’. ‘They don’t want you to be disappointed if you fail’. ‘It’s best to go down a safe route’. These statements, like many others, can chip away until you believe them. Until you believe them more than you do in your passion.

If I’d listened to my parents I wouldn’t be writing this blog

My passion is writing, it has been since I was a little girl. I love writing fiction, which you can see more about my women’s fiction here, however, I also have the drive to inspire others through my writing, hence the reason I feel drawn to writing my inspirational blog. I could have centred my blog around writing fiction, I have a MA in Creative Writing, I am qualified to teach others on how to put a story together, but instead, I’m drawn to influencing others through my writing. Encouraging others through my writing. If I’d listened to others, even my parents, I’d be working in a 9-5 unfulfilling job. I did that until I had my daughters and quite honestly, I found it soul-destroying. I knew I had to follow my passion. I also know I have to encourage others to follow theirs. There are far too many nay-sayers in the world. People who believe we are here to pay our bills and just get on. We are not. We are here to fulfil a purpose. So let your mind wander, let your mind take over, let your mind take you in the direction of your dreams.

Creatives need freedom

If you’re a creative person who needs freedom, you’ll understand where I’m coming from with feeling soul-destroyed because of rules and regulations. You feel restricted. Now, this is because you have a purpose that needs fulfilling. One of the main reasons you are not fulfilling this purpose is because your mind has convinced you that you are not worthy. But if you have that urge or desire then grab it and don’t listen to anyone around you who brings you down, or doesn’t allow you to fulfil your potential. Even if it’s a loved one. This is their fear, don’t allow it to be yours.

So, it’s time to start practising mindfulness and ensure our mind has our back … our mind doesn’t want to rule against us, our mind wants to ensure we fulfil our destiny. It’s the ego that chips away. So let’s get ignoring that ego and focus on nurturing our mind so we can achieve our dreams.

In this week’s therapeutic writing exercise, let go and write about your passion(s);

However, before you start free-writing, take 10-15 minutes out to just breathe. Sit in silence and breathe. If you have children, I understand you’ll be thinking, ’10-15 minutes to breathe, that would be nice’, I get that, but I urge you to do this … and try not to fall asleep!

Once you’ve breathed deeply for 10-15 minutes, write …

Write about your passion. If you could fulfil your purpose what do you think it would be? What do you think you’re here to do?

Write until you feel the need to stop. Get your thoughts out on paper. You are here to fulfil this passion. You have a purpose. Convince your mind of this and ignore the ego.

I realise many of the exercises throughout this blog is to write about what you want to achieve in life, but once you start understanding and reiterating this, you will soon find yourself pushing yourself towards your dreams. Your mind will start focusing on the positives. Positives lead to more energy. Energies lead to greater mindfulness.

Inspire yourself to be mindful always with downloadable prints, see my online shop for these and much more

Remember: Positive messages throughout the day, helps the negative thoughts stay away.