Be the Good in You Everyday: Embracing the Good G's and Letting Go of the Bad G's

This week, I'm featuring my daughter's artwork. This is a picture she wanted to draw and put in my workbook, Magnetize Your Light. At first I resisted her putting a picture in the book, but I'm glad I gave in. I think it's a bird? But I love her message. It emulates what I have been feeling this week and want to bring forward to you: Be the good in you everyday. 

Admittedly this is not always an easy task. I hate saying that but if I'm being honest here it is 100% true. I was an angry-a$$ kid. For many reasons. Lots of emotions that I didn't know what to do with. In today's society I'm sure I would have been diagnosed with a plethora of issues number one being ADHD, which I was recently diagnosed with. This wasn't a surprise at all, being ADHD. I'm not sure if I'm glad I didn't find out till now  or not. If I was diagnosed when I was a kid it may have helped with focus, but maybe I would never have found yoga and meditation, which is how I realized I could ground and find focus on my own. I may have been too reliant on drugs. Who knows? Plus, I still have a hard time with the word disorder. Because in my mind, it's just a different way my brain operates. You're welcome. Most of which I am grateful for, the times it gets frustrating is when I have to adhere to a system/ society that doesn't naturally cater to how my particular brain works. It helps keep me curious, be sensitive to emotions - mine and others, keeps me creative and forgetful, so nothing can bother me for too too long. 

But as a true ADHD'er I digress. This week's message: Be the good in you everyday. I mean how simple is that? It's super simple! May not always be easy, but super simple. When my kids were going through toddler stage, of no's and testing the boundaries of behavior, which btw someone please tell me when that phase ends, I came up with what I call the good g's and the bad g's. These g's are ways to be kind and loving. A quick rule book or mini commandments on how to: Be the good in you every day. I've used these when I teach yoga to kids and with adults and I'd love to share then with you now. 

The good G's: 

Grateful: Grateful is the queen bee of all the good G's. She is the one that comes before all others. If you are grateful, you are always accepting what comes at you with an energy of thanks and love. The simplest way to be grateful is to say thank. you. It also helps shift the lens on "why me" if you come at a particular situation with gratitude instead of the self-pity energy originating from an imbalanced ego, you will find a way to accept the lesson, clear and move on with love instead of anger, frustration and pain in your heart. Gratitude. Queen G. 

Generous: Generous is a close second on the good g's. With the little kids I explain this as sharing is caring. Which is also true for adults. But to take it a step further, being generous not just with material items, but also energy. How can you create space for another? How can you give of yourself more and listen deeper? How can you give more of you and your love? Your time? Your insight? Your wisdom? Your help? 

Gracious: Gracious I explain to the little ones as being able to give and receive with love even if someone is not being kind or nice to you. So if someone is mean, instead of being mean back, be kind. This one takes massive practice. But if you can consistently do it, you can eliminate a lot of yucky stuck energy in your aura and life. I think of this one as life's energetic egg toss. If you have ever done an egg toss before, you know that when the egg comes to you, you can't grab at it harshly or aggressively. The best way to stay in the game and not get the raw egg all over you is to gently take it in with an open palm, guide it in and back as you redirect it towards your partner or whoever you are playing the game with. So too, with life's energetic egg toss. Receive the energy, situation or issue, take it in, guide it back and redirect it with love away from your aura. 

Genuine: Genuine. Being truthful. Or honest. Now this one comes with three sub qualifiers. Yes,  you should always be truthful. You should always be honest. But...is it 1) kind, is it 2) True...is it 3) necessary. If it doesn't hit all three of those marks, it may be best left unsaid. You can be honest and it can be the truth, but if it is hurtful what is the point? It can be true and kind, but if it is not necessary, will it truly be received and who is it aiding then other than your ego? Truth can be used as a weapon. It can hurt. This truth, this genuine, this good g I am speaking of is to be used for kindness. Therefore, the three qualifiers: kind, true, necessary. 

Gentle: Gentle. This one seems pretty obvious. When I teach the littles we speak only about how we are with ourselves and neighbors/ friends. But as adults, we can take this a bit deeper. Being gentle with others and self. In yoga we call this ahimsa: non-violence. This is partly why some yogi's don't eat meat. Eliminating the violence from killing of another being and ingesting it. But if you marinate on this more, how do you treat yourself? How do you talk to yourself? Are you gentle? Are you kind? I read somewhere once that we can see the state of our physical health, for the most part, when looking in the mirror or at each other. But if we could see the state of health of the mind, what might it look like? That one made me sit and breath deep. How healthy is your mind. How gentle with yourself are you? How do you nurture your energetic and mental self?

Now for the ones that my kids seem to remember the most: The Bad G's

How not to be kind and loving. 

Greedy: Greedy is the number one bad guy, g. Yes, it can refer to food, sharing, but if we look at it in terms of energy, how do you share your space? Do you talk more than others? Do you take over a room when you enter? Yes some of us have big personalities, but are you being generous or greedy with the energy around you. You can have a big personality and still be generous with your energy. With the little kids I explain this with, talking out of turn. Taking the gift of your energy focus away from the person who's turn it is, or the teacher. Our energy is a gift. How do we choose to use it? Sleeping more than you need can also be greedy. Listening to yourself deeply and what this beautiful vehicle for your energy, our bodies, needs on a day to day basis. 

Grumbling: Grumbling. This is what I tell the littles, is complaining. Glass half empty. I can't (which I also say is a four letter word we don't say - there is a song, but I'll leave that for another time ;P) I don't want to, I don't like it, this is stupid, blah blah blah. Grumbling is not being grateful and is being greedy with your energy. Bad g. 

Grotesque: Grotesque, yes I was grabbing at straws here to find a g. But this one is how I explain being distractive, or abnoxious. Yes this is another way to be greedy with energy. But it is intentionally distracting others to pull focus to yourself. It can also be violent behavior. Raised voices. Extra.-ness. 

Gloating: Nanana boo boo I won and you didn't. This is a way to intentionally make someone feel less than. Unkind, not loving. Bragging. Showing off. Finding a way to elevate yourself over others. Forgetting that we are all a piece of the whole. Or we are all representations of the whole. Either way, we are all one massive energy in tiny parts. So there is no better than, worse than. To elevate yourself over others is also the same as belittling yourself since we are part of the whole. 

And finally...

Gruff: Gruff, aggressive. Much like grotesque, but more in language, behavior and how we speak to ourselves. How we treat others. Are we gently or are we aggressive? Hitting, yelling, etc. When you are on the path to a healthier version of you, how do you treat yourself? When you are in a bad mood, how do you treat others? 

These are the 5 good and bad g's. My mini play book on how to be kind and loving. Do I do it all the time? No. I'm not a saint. I'm just a human trying to heal and help others do the same where I can. But I find this quick little guide a great tool to have in my back pocket at all times. For when I get thrown in life and grab too harshly at that energetic egg that was tossed at me. For when I have a bad day and start yelling at someone who didn't deserve it. For when I start to think, why me? For when I walk away from a conversation feeling yucky because I was greedy with conversation or energy. I'm not perfect. Perfection, in my opinion is a myth. Perfection is a journey to being, becoming and living the best version of yourself. An iterative process. But like learning to walk as a baby, we fall. But we get back up (another song, no I will not share today - you're welcome) 

So here is my gift today: the good and bad g's. Put them in your back pocket. See how and where you can use them in your life. Where you already do. Share them with others. And "Be the Good in You Everyday"

Big Buckets of Love, 

Meghan