You Get to Choose!

I learned this affirmation from Louise L. Hay, and created a card to share with my Mom as she was going through her treatments. (p.s. at the very top is Orchids Rock, which I stamped and watercolored.)

I was enlightened several years ago. It happened as my husband and I were going through a separation. Man, that stuff is a rollercoaster. I was trying to figure out how to keep my wits about me and stay focused on my work, be there for my kids, to find time for myself, and to do all the paperwork and negotiations that go along with divorce. Some days I was like, “I got this!” Other days I was a big blob of blah. Confused, resentful, sad, etc, etc... all the emotions you might expect.

My Mom shared with me (have I told you lately how awesome she was?) that I might find peace and inspiration reading the writings or listening to PBS specials by the spiritual leader Dr. Wayne Dyer. Well, that pretty much changed the direction of my life. Because on top of all the 9 million things I feel that I have since learned from Wayne Dyer, the main takeaway for me was: YOU GET TO CHOOSE HOW YOU RESPOND IN LIFE.

You get to choose.

You do not get to choose your emotions or your feelings. Most of the those will just rise up in us because we are human. But the funny thing is that when you realize that you CAN choose your response and your reaction to those feelings, and you choose a calm, peaceful, even joyful response, it changes the whole dynamic. It changes YOU. Dr. Wayne (as I affectionately refer to him, and sadly he passed away last year — we’ve really lost some of the greats in 2015-16) has another mantra that I loooooove: When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.

I can tell that I am about to go into a rabbit hole of musing about all the wonderful things that Wayne Dyer taught me about behavior, spirituality, and being. Gotta stick to the point here! And we have a stamp set to preview today, and lots of inspiring creations to share!

During that rollercoastery time I was going through, I started a practice of writing down the marvelous thoughts and perspectives I learned from Dr. Wayne. I put them on Post-It notes as soon as I would hear one in a talk he was giving, or in an audio book I’d downloaded. Soon, my entire computer monitor was edged in a border of colorful, inspiring sticky notes! I would sit down and see a big note saying, “YOU CAN CHOOSE PEACE!” (as opposed to whatever you are feeling right now, stress, sadness, irritation.) What a liberating thought. I started to make more sticky notes for other areas of the house. I adapted the affirmations of Louise L. Hay — she is an awesome conversation for another day, whew is she inspiring, and added “All is Well.” to my list of things to remind myself. Because really, all is well. No matter what manufactured drama you think you have going on in life, most of the time, you can remind yourself that God has got this. There is a plan, and we may not understand what it is, but All is Well, and you just need to chill.

Note the tiny “Circumstances do not make the man, they reveal him.” - that one’s from the philosopher Epictetus.

I posted this graphic with my very first blog post, see my lil Post-Its? That was just the tiniest smattering I shared in that shot! I’ve got ’em all over the place!

I’ve created a set of stamps that feature some of my favorite positive affirmations. They are written in the first person. We call that “I am” statements. (as in, I am peaceful. I am a child of God, a divine creation and a piece of His work. I can do any task I set my mind to with ease and comfort.) These statements really truly help to ease your mind, and to encourage you to shift your thoughts to a positive, can-do spirit. Here are a few of them, stamped onto 2" x 2" sticky notes. I could decorate my whole house in these things!

I know that these guys aren’t your typical stamp set. But maybe they should be! Why can’t we create sets of these positive words and do a little bit to help encourage ourselves, and one another, to be a little bit better. DARE TO BE GREAT! :) Because you know what, you can choose to be great. And you gotta start somewhere.

This new set is called Small But Mighty Affirmations... part of our Grow Everyday collection of clear stamps.

This is a set PACKED with stamps — there are 15 in all. I see using them not just for ourselves (though that part is key) but maybe creating a set of affirmations to give to a friend who is going through a hard time. What about stamping “I CAN DO HARD THINGS” a whole bunch of times, in a rainbow of colors, for an encouraging poster for your kid on the day of the big test? Or a simple “Go Rock this Day!” on your husband’s brown paper lunch bag? (I seriously could stamp that on my hand and look at it throughout the day, and it would keep me motivated!)

The Bloom Brigade has gone above the call to come up with some really cool projects using these little nuggets of positive thought. Let’s go see!!

Allison Cope
Cindy Lawrence
Julie Koerber
Leslie Miller
Stacy Morgan
Tosha Leyendekker

Thank you so much for sharing all this goodness with me today. We will all be back tomorrow for one more stamp set in our new collection, and it’s gonna have flowers in it. That’s all I’m going to say...