Make It Easy!

Lazy blogger logging on. Sorry for the MIA-ness but we’ve been moving TPG worldwide to our fabulous new office space over the last week while trying to run our events and it’s been hectic to say the least. I’ll be back on track asap.

Anyway, in the meantime, here’s a great reminder from one of my favorite websites/ezines, www.CherylRichardson.com. Cheryl is a big time Oprah girl and I love her advice. This actually creeps me out a little bit because I had just written a blog on “having an easy day.” Oh, by the way, got confirmation that Mercury IS in retrograde. Shocker. Here’s a great post from Cheryl, enjoy!

      ~*~ Topic of the Week - Believe in Easy ~*~



Do you expect things to be hard or do you allow them to be easy?  Whensomething goes wrong are you able to step back and imagine a simplesolution or do you automatically envision a major problem waiting to besolved? Recently I discovered that I belong to the worst-case scenarioclub – I expect things to be hard.



During a warm, spring day I decided to try the air conditioning system inour new home only to discover that it didn't work. I contacted the companyand waited for them to show up three days later to investigate theproblem.  In the meantime, I found myself imagining that the unit wasdefective, that there was a broken line in a wall and that the wall wouldneed to be torn down for the line to be repaired, or that the whole systemhad been designed improperly.  Talk about worst-case scenario.



When the repairman finally showed up, he discovered a broken seal on anoutside line -- a simple repair that took a couple of hours to fix. As hedrove out of the driveway I thought to myself, “Why didn't I even consideran easy solution?”



Generally, I'm an optimistic person.  I tend to see the upside of life andam able to look for the positive opportunities in even the mostchallenging situations.  But, the trouble with the air conditioning systemmade me aware of a habit of thinking that I hadn't realized before:  Thetendency to expect things to be hard.



As I considered this pattern of thinking, I immediately remembered pastexamples.  When I used to prepare my own taxes, I would ruminate about howlong it would take to get them done.  I imagined days of arduous laboronly to have it take three or four hours.  Or, when my computer contracteda virus, I expected to lose all of my files only to have my computer guynot only repair the problem, but improve the performance of my machine. When I considered present day examples, I realized that I'd been worryingfor months about how difficult it would be to sell our former home once wegot it on the market.  My mind revolved around thoughts like, "The housingmarket is bad, homes aren't moving at all and I'm sure it will take monthsor even years to sell ours!"  Yup, I expected the worst.



While there are certainly benefits to considering worst-case scenarios --being better prepared or better able to handle setbacks, etc. – stewing ina pot of negativity is not productive.  When our mind is focused on allthat could go wrong or how hard it will be, it's as if we empower the veryoutcome we most want to avoid.  If you're about to go through a divorce,for example, and you keep worrying about how contentious or painful itwill be, there's a good chance that you'll behave in a way that allows forthat experience.  If, on the other hand, you breathe through your fear andfrustration and keep returning your mind to the present moment trustingthat all will unfold in perfect order, you'll have a much better chance ofexperiencing a smoother ride.



When we expect simple or easy solutions to life’s challenges, we setourselves up for a more positive experience (whether it turns out to beeasy or not).  We show up with the right frame of mind, we focus on whatworks instead of what doesn't, and put ourselves in a more open andreceptive state that attracts the people or resources we need to getthings handled.



My new awareness has inspired me to change my expectations and it'sworking.  Last week we put our house on the market after clearing it out,cleaning it up and restoring it to its original beauty.  We priced itright and I placed a photo of the house with the word “SOLD!” across thetop, in the wealth corner of our new home.  I imagined a wonderful coupleenjoying this amazing home that's brought us so much joy over the yearsand guess what happened?  The house sold within 12 hours for more than theasking price!  No contingencies, no hassles, just an easy sale with thenew buyers ready to close in a couple of weeks.  Sure enough, when thepaperwork was signed, I found myself imaging the deal falling through. But, the moment it happened, I smiled and said, “Cheryl, let it be easy.” Then I took a deep breath and went about my day.  And so it was...



How about you?  Are you ready to allow life to be easy?