Oh, The Places You’ll Go!

The thing about positivity is that it’s relatively easy to focus your thoughts and feelings on appreciation, gratitude and joy when life is flowing smoothly. But when you hit a bump in the road, or you get forced to take the wiggly, winding scenic route, things can get a little trickier.

Perhaps the most important thing I’ve learnt from The Pollyanna Plan is that it’s on those pesky, trickier days – the days when I feel least like being happy or optimistic and when I’m tempted to start feeling sorry for myself – that I need to make a concerted effort to turn things around. It’s on days like today when I’m stuck in bed feeling unwell that I need to summon all my Pollyanna vibes and get my happy on.

But, as Dr Seuss so rightly says: “When you’re in a slump, you’re not in for much fun. Unslumping yourself is not easily done.”

Unslumping yourself is something that takes practice, effort and a little sprinkle of creativity, because some days the gap between feeling like crap and feeling super happy and grateful is just too wide to cross in one big leap. Sometimes you need to take the little by little approach and ease yourself in gently to your good feeling place.

So, today as I was lying in bed wondering where to begin with getting my happy vibes flowing, I thought I’d look for inspiration on Pinterest. That’s when I came across this photo of a beautiful beach and it hit me – “Oh, The Places You’ll Go”.

And just like that I was off…in my mind…imagining all the wonderful places I will go, collecting pictures and day dreaming. As the brain can’t tell the difference between real and imagined experiences (weird but true) I honestly could feel myself feeling happier and more optimistic with each minute that passed and with each beautiful place I found.

I know that this little health blip is exactly that – a blip. It will pass. I will feel healthy again very soon. And in the meantime, I’m off on my imaginary travels feeling (and looking, of course) fantastic! Result! :)

So if you’re feeling kinda slumpy today, why not come with me? Oh! The Places we will go…

Star gazing on Song Saa Island in Cambodia:

Watching the sun set over Florence in Italy.

Stopping off for a refreshing dip on this Greek Island.

And watching the Northern Lights from a glass igloo:

And you know what? Suddenly I’ve found my reason to feel glad/happy/joyful today – this amazingly beautiful planet we are privileged to live on.

I’m open to suggestions, so please feel free to let me know where you’d like to visit by leaving a comment or a picture below.

“You’re off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So…get on your way!”
-Dr Seuss

© N. Lamy – The Pollyanna Plan – 2015- All Rights Reserved.
All images taken from Pinterest

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In Case You Need Reminding, You Are Doing Brilliantly!

How did it get to be nearly the end of February already?!

I woke up today with a panicky feeling that this year is slipping away so quickly and it might pass in the blink of an eye without anything much changing in my life. And that is just not on. Because this is the year when everything changes… big time. I’ve decided! :)

I want to write more blog posts, I want to create more silk paintings, I want to be able to call myself an artist and sell my work. I want to write a book, or at least start writing something. I want to exercise more, get out of the house more, socialise more, meet new people, travel more, get more done in my days, have more energy, heal quicker and achieve many more of the 100 goals I set myself at the beginning of the year.

However, with all this striving for more, all I seem to be doing is putting a lot of pressure on myself and not giving myself credit for everything I’ve achieved in the past few months already. Like moving into my own place, adapting to living on my own (something that was unthinkable just a few years ago as I was too ill to look after myself). Being able to go out for walks most days, getting out of the house frequently instead of rarely, staying awake during the days (I used to have to rest for a few hours every afternoon and now I only need to do this very occasionally). AND selling my first silk painting online within an hour of listing it. Woohoo! :) Really, there have been so many miraculous, humungous changes in my life, so it’s funny how I seem to forget all about them when I’m looking at things from a wonky, un-Pollyanna-ish perspective.

When this happens I first have to notice myself doing it, which isn’t all that hard seeing as this type of thinking is always accompanied by not so happy feelings. Once I’ve caught myself in the act, I next lovingly tell myself to stop, take a deep breath and chill the heck out. Because the truth of the matter is that I am doing amazingly well. Sure, I’d love to be able to do more and be more, but right here, right now, with the energy, time and resources I have, I am doing the very best I can and that makes it plenty good enough.

Just telling myself that and writing these words allows me to let go of all the panicky, worried, time-is-running out kinda feelings and I can just relax in the knowledge that I am exactly where I need to be and I’m doing just great. Phew!

And here’s what I’d like to say to you today. You are doing brilliantly too. Regardless of all the stuff in your life you haven’t got done yet, or the fact that you might not have things together, or you mess up sometimes, or whatever it is, please stop for a minute, take a deep breath and remind yourself that you are doing your very best right now, right where you are and that makes it more than good enough. Then, think back over all the little things you have achieved this year so far and give yourself a much deserved pat on the back. (And now…..relax!) ;)

© N. Lamy – The Pollyanna Plan – 2015- All Rights Reserved.

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To Thine Own Blog Be True

I’ve been thinking a lot about this blog lately and wondering which direction I’d like to go with it. As you may know by now, The Pollyanna Plan sprung into life in January 2013 when I set myself the challenge to find a reason to feel glad/happy/joyful every single day for 1 whole year and write a blog post about it. Yep, there were 365 reasons and 365 blog posts. Phew!

You see, I had struggled with chronic illness (namely Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Hashimoto’s Disease – an autoimmune disease that affects the thyroid) for a long, long time and my life had effectively been on pause since the beginning of 2007 as my health got progressively worse. Some days, just getting out of bed and doing everyday stuff like having a shower was too much for me. I’d tried so many different things to heal – I’d been to regular doctors, specialists and tried countless different alternative therapies, some of them pretty crazy and bizarre, but nothing really seemed to help very much.

That’s when I decided to stop giving my power away. To stop waiting for someone to come and make me better and get on with the business of healing myself. And so a series of events (you can read about them here) led me to starting The Pollyanna Plan as a kind of experiment, to see whether the power of happy, positive feelings and a bucket load of gratitude could improve my health and life in some small way.

And guess what? It really, really did. You see the thing with focusing on all the good stuff in life and all the stuff that is going right is that it attracts more of those things to you. In effect, you become an appreciation magnet – you give out those happy, grateful vibes and you attract right back to you more things to appreciate and feel thankful for. I attracted so many things to me that helped with my healing – information, courses, new discoveries about countless food intolerances I never even knew I had and a wonderful nutritional medicine/functional medicine practitioner – all of which I am so very thankful for.

And this is the part where I’m in two minds as to what to blog about. You see through all this I have learnt A LOT about how to heal from autoimmune disease. I’ve been following different protocols, trying different diets (some which have helped hugely, others not so much) and part of me wants to share all of this information with you.

I also have a feeling that blogging about stuff like that would probably get me loads of new followers and a higher profile for this blog (which is a little bit tempting I have to be honest) but that was never what The Pollyanna Plan was about.

And here’s the big BUT about that approach. Even though I’d be writing about recovery, I’d also have to write a lot about illness and from everything I’ve learnt about law of attraction, I know that’s the very last thing I need to be doing. I would be writing from a positive standpoint of course, but I’d still be subconsciously focusing on illness and seeing myself as someone who needs to be healed (thereby attracting more of needing to be healed) rather than seeing myself as completely well and healthy.

Also, I firmly believe that we are all completely and amazingly unique, so even if someone has the same diagnosis as I do, what works for me may not work for them at all. And, believe me, I know how disheartening it is to read about someone’s recovery, try the very thing they are doing and have no success with it whatsoever. So, there we have my dilemma.

But, as always seems to happen when I start pouring my thoughts onto paper (or onto screen, in this case) I have realised something. And that something is that instead of writing about things I think I “should” write about, I need to be true to myself. And being true to myself (and my blog) means keeping my thoughts and vibes firmly focused on wellness, gratitude and all things happy and positive. YAY!

So that is what I shall be doing. I will of course keep you up to date with my progress and share with you any spiritual/law of attraction/personal growth type tidbits I come across that I find beneficial and that I hope will help you too.

All in all, this little chat of ours has helped me enormously, because it’s also made me realise that I need to apply the “to thine own self be true” motto (thank you Shakespeare) to every area of my life. No more doing things I think I “should” do and certainly no more doing things that don’t feel right to me. It’s taken me 35 years, but I now know what it feels like to be true to myself and I’m going with that feeling every time.

Thank you so much for listening. It’s always good to have a friend to talk to when you’re making big decisions. :)

© N. Lamy – The Pollyanna Plan – 2015- All Rights Reserved.

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This Is Your Year To Dream Big

This morning, I spent some time writing out a big, long list of all the wonderful, fun, exciting (and also little bit scary) things I’d love to do this year. It was so much fun! :)

To start with I could only think of a handful of things, but as I put pen to paper (well, I confess I made the list on my laptop, so it was actually putting fingers to keyboard), it was as if somebody turned on the tap and my tiny, modest trickle of ideas soon became a steady, flowing stream. I began with things that felt realistic to me, and it was more like a to-do list than anything else. But soon, a smile spread across my face as I started to dream bigger. Some things on my list were silly, some were fun, some were spiritual, others more practical, some were everyday things, then came the life long goals. And it wasn’t long before I was typing in a flurry and adding amazing things I’d never even thought to dream of before. I’m currently up 61 wonderful things I’d love to do in 2015. Yippee!

I’m about to finish off my list now and I intend to get to 100. This may seem like a lot, but whether I achieve them all is neither here nor there. The fun is in the dreaming, in the expectation of exciting  things to come, in the process of creating and manifesting. That is where the magic happens. It’s what invites in unexpected surprises, blessings and gifts from the universe.

I must go and get on whilst the ideas are still buzzing round my head, but I wanted to share this with you first, as this process is so very powerful. I’ve found that it’s the best way to get all my hopes and dreams out of my head and into reality.

So, what are some of the things you’d LOVE to do in 2015 to make it your best year ever? Go grab yourself a notepad and pen and get scribbling, or tap away on your keyboard. Remember to dream big and have fun with it – that’s the most important part.

If you’d like to share some of  your ideas here I’d love to hear from you. Happy dream making! :D

© N. Lamy – The Pollyanna Plan – 2015- All Rights Reserved.

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An Invitation To The Pollyanna Plan 30 Day Challenge Group 2015

How do you fancy kicking off the new year with your focus firmly on gratitude and happy, joyful things? I’m thinking it’s high time for The Pollyanna Plan 30 Day Challenge Group on Facebook to spring into action once more and I’d love it if you joined us. :)

The challenge is to find a reason (or lots of reasons if you’re feeling adventurous) to feel glad/happy/joyful every day for 30 days…or however long you’d like to continue after that. Yep, that’s 30 glad/happy/joyful reasons to look for, focus on and enjoy. I know time can be an issue, so posts can be just a quick one reason sentence, a photo, or as long and detailed as you like.

I feel that taking part as a group is really powerful and is also a great way to hold ourselves accountable. We shall begin on Sunday 11th January. Please click here for the link to the Facebook group. Can’t wait to see you there! :) (Oh and please feel free to spread the word and invite others to join in. The more the merrier!)

Here are some testimonials from members who took part in the first Pollyanna Plan 30 Day Challenge in April 2014:

“The Pollyanna Plan 30-day Challenge is a great way to apply the art of gratitude into your everyday life! Not only was I finding reasons to be grateful each day, but there was also a large group of people who were there to join me in the 30-day journey. It was great to read their posts about why they were feeling grateful each day, and it was wonderful to receive their feedback and support. I would strongly recommend this program…you’ll be seeing the glass half full by the end of taking this challenge!”

“Posting daily what I am grateful for has elevated my vibration in a positive way. I know that I have the support of all the other members and we rejoice in each other’s reasons for gratefulness. I think it has made me even calmer about life knowing that I can see every single day many things that I am grateful and appreciative of in my life.”

“The Pollyana Plan has been 30 days of magic. I am truly grateful for this experience because the people in this group have brought so much love and joy into my life. If you were feeling down you only needed to read the posts of all the amazing members and you couldn’t help but be uplifted. I would recommend this group to anybody if they are looking to improve their lives. Most of the members have kept going past the 30 days because we have all seen so much improvement in our lives that we want to keep going. It is a pleasure and a privilege to be a part of this group. Thank you for this honor!”

 

© N. Lamy – The Pollyanna Plan – 2015- All Rights Reserved.

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2015 – How Much Better Can It Get?

Hello lovely friends! I hope that the start of 2015 finds you healthy, happy and loved. But, if by any chance you’ve had a less than ideal start to the year, then it can mean only one thing….better things are coming your way. :)

I can say this with some authority as I have been stuck in bed with the flu for over a week. Sure, I have had my moments of feeling glum and sorry for myself, but in true Pollyanna style, I am refusing to see this blip as a “bad” thing, or a “bad” way to start the new year. Instead, I am choosing to feel grateful that the only way forward from here is up, and that soon I will feel healthy again and be able to enjoy all the marvellous, magical things this year has in store for me.

In the meantime, this period of enforced confinement has given me time for the things that are usually at the bottom of my must-do-list, like reading, listening to inspiring/motivation talks, watching feel good movies, discovering new music, oh and my most favourite activity, excitedly planning out and eagerly looking forward to my year ahead.

Rather than being stuck in the “how much worse can it get?” frame of mind, I’m choosing to keep asking myself “how much better can it get?” In fact, I’ve just this minute decided to make this my question for 2015. I like it so much, I’m going to say it again: “How much better can it get?” :)

So it’s onwards and upwards and I’ll be back to blogging regularly soon. Yippee!

Happy 2015 to you all! <3

What’s The Worst Thing That Would Happen If I Didn’t Do This Right Now?

I haven’t been online much for the past few weeks and although I’ve missed you all, my unusual quietness has been for a very good reason, as I’ve been out living life and enjoying my blossoming good health. Yippee!

So, this afternoon I have been catching up with things like answering emails – there are so many I hadn’t even opened yet – which is something I have been putting off doing for the past few days. Before the start of The Pollyanna Plan, I would have made myself get on with this task even though I really didn’t feel in the right mood for it. But I’ve learnt now to wait, to not feel bad about not doing the things I feel I have to, or should be doing and instead to focus on what brings me joy. And every time I do this, I find that I am suddenly inspired to do the not-so-enjoyable tasks, which I then complete easily and in a calm and happy way.

I was just pondering writing a blog post about it (this one here!), when amongst all the emails I need to/have to reply to, I found this daily quote from Abraham Hicks, which describes perfectly what I have discovered for myself:

“If there is something that you have to do, resist the temptation to do it under duress. Ask yourself, “What’s the worst thing that would happen if I didn’t do this?” And if you can get away with not doing it at all, don’t do it. And then imagine what would it feel like to have this done. Spend a day or two, if you can, just 15 minutes here, 5 minutes here, 2 minutes here, here and here, imagining it completed in a way that pleases you! And then, the next time you decide that you’re going to take action about it, the action is going to be a whole lot easier.” — Abraham-Hicks

 

Image: http://www.fallfade.com/christmas-puppies-wallpaper-x/

So, in the run up to the holiday season, with all the things that “have to” or really “should” be done, if I’m not feeling inspired to take action, I’m going to be asking myself, “What’s the worst thing that would happen if I didn’t do this right now?” And from that place of letting myself off the hook and of relaxing and going with the flow, I suspect life will run a lot more smoothly.

© N. Lamy – The Pollyanna Plan – 2014- All Rights Reserved.

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