The first thing I do is to change my mindset. When I feel myself getting frustrated or when I start to feel the anticipation coming on, I find it is best to stop and remember that my agenda is not always the best agenda. Everything happens for a reason and the Universe has a perfect schedule in mind even if it doesn’t always feel that way to us.

Sometimes it is necessary to just stop the frustration, or the anticipation, or whatever you would describe the feeling as, and look at the bigger picture. When we try to force things to happen according to what we want and our schedules, we are missing the full picture. The Universe holds more knowledge than we can ever imagine from our own limited point of view. Sometimes we just need to surrender, let go, and know that all is as it should be. When the time is right, it will happen, and if it doesn’t than that is also right. That is not an easy thing to accept oftentimes, however when you do embrace that thought, you will experience a sense of peace.

When I change my mindset and allow in that belief that all is as it should be and that the Universe knows what is best, I immediately am able to release the tightness in my body and let go of the stress. Doing so also allows you to get in a flow with life so that you are no longer fighting an uphill battle, and instead you are flowing with the beautiful stream of life.

1) Tell yourself that motherhood is all about the journey. It is an uphill battle when you push against the natural flow of life and motherhood. Stop, take a deep breath, relax your shoulders and jaw (the 2 places where most stress is held), and just “allow.” You will then find the stress dissolving. Be in the present moment with your kids and remember that this moment is all you really have. This can help put things into perspective when you are ready to fly off the handle.

2) Ask yourself, “Would this matter if I were to die in five minutes?” That may seem
harsh, but it helps put things in perspective. Stress can be managed by controlling your thoughts, so the more you ask yourself thought-provoking questions like these, the more you will be able to see what really matters. When you are thinking in terms of what really matters, you will naturally let the stress go.

3) Focus on solutions, not problems. Did you ever notice that when you focus on the problems, you dig yourself deeper into overwhelm and frustration? On the other hand, when you focus on creating solutions, the problem will rectify itself much easier. This also sets a very good example for your kids in handling problems that come up in their lives because they will learn to not just get lost in the problem and to come up with solutions that will easily solve their problems before those problems stress them out.

4) Know your limit. Take some time beforehand to determine your breaking
point. Instead of being caught off-guard when high levels of stress hit, develop a plan to reverse that path beforehand. That way, when you feel stress coming, you can bring yourself back to center before your world crashes around you.

5) Give yourself some extra padding. You have a better foundation to live from when you are well rested and cared for and you will naturally handle stress with more ease. Make it a habit to take time to nurture and care for yourself. You can only care for those little ones when you are well-cared for yourself! This is so important!

Thinking positive thoughts does not activate the law of attraction; feeling the way you want to feel does. In other words, you cannot just focus on thinking positively and then feel badly about a situation at the same time if you want to attract positive things to you. Our feelings have much more magnetic force than any thoughts we can ever have, so if you feel unhappy with a situation in your life, you will attract more “bad stuff” to you. This can seem daunting at times and you must be wondering how it is even possible to feel positive about something you are unhappy about. It’s not always easy, but it is very possible.

Start by checking yourself. Check your alignment with good feelings. Throughout your day, ask yourself, “How am I feeling right now?” That question actually translates into “What am I attracting at this moment?” and that is why it is so powerful to ask. By asking yourself how you are feeling, you are essentially peering into the future and seeing the feelings you will be attracting to yourself. So ask yourself that question often and then when you discover that you aren’t aligned with positive feelings, do whatever you need to do to get back in alignment.

Life is a constant realignment. Balance is a complete myth. Our lives will always teeter back and forth, and so realigning ourselves is very important. Don’t feel badly because you are out of alignment. Just do what you need to do to get realigned as soon as possible. Do what makes you feel good. Repeat an affirmation or a mantra that will get you feeling positively again, Take a step outside. Take a deep breath.

Sometimes when we are in a “bad” mood, we don’t even want to get out of it. I know, I’ve been there. There are plenty of times when we feel miserable and we like to wallow in it. If that happens, just let yourself wallow in it, but then get the heck out of it. Don’t linger there. The longer you stay in a negative mood, the more unpleasant things you will be attracting to yourself.

The key is to always do what makes you feel good. Sure, there are plenty of times when we need to do things that we don’t want to do. In those cases, find a way to make them more enjoyable. Bring an iPod into the kitchen and sing while you are doing dishes, for example. The rest of the time, when you don’t have to be doing something, do something you enjoy. The happier you are and the more you enjoy yourself, the more wonderful things you will manifest in your life. The way you feel is the indicator, so choose your feelings wisely.

When you trust, you open yourself up and you allow the Universe to lead you along the right path by letting control go. It’s not an easy thing for most of us to wrap our heads around, however, because we feel that letting go of that control will mean our lives might go spiraling out of control. The opposite is actually true however.

Here’s an example of controlling your life in negative ways. Do you know of someone in your life who has decided that happiness isn’t in the cards for them so they’ve just given up and resigned themselves to an unhappy life. Perhaps they are unhappy in their job but the thoughts of leaving it seems too scary so they just keep on enduring. Having that mindset cancels out all possibilities. How can there be possibilities when there is such an unwillingness to allow them to come into your life? They are being blocked off. You are only controlling your life in a negative way.

Or maybe you know someone who is bound and determined to accomplish something and they just keep struggling because it never seems to happen. I am by no means saying that you should not have goals and strive to achieve things that you want. Of course you should. But the biggest thing you need to do is trust. Give up the control. That person struggling to achieve something so hard may be striving so hard because she is trying to do it in one certain way and that’s the only way she sees. She is not open. She’s trying to pound a square peg into a round hole and the Universe is saying, “no wait, here’s a round one.” And she’s saying, “No thanks, I’m gonna make this one work, damn it!” You see, you must remain open. When you do, you will have gotten in the flow of life and things will come to you with ease.

When you learn to release the control so that you can allow in possibilities and transformation, you will find that new opportunities come your way and new ideas and people come into your life who can help you. All these wonderful things come to you because you’ve opened a door instead of shutting it and saying “oh well, this is my life.”

Remember, it might not work your way, but your way might not be the best way for you. Be open to other ways.

Judgment is one of the greatest problems in our world as far as I am concerned. And I am guilty of doing it too! It is not easy to avoid judging others and it is very difficult to not judge yourself. Our egos want us to judge because it keeps up the illusion of separateness, which is what the ego thrives on. The problem is that when you judge, you stifle growth. All we are here to do on this planet is to grow. This is an earth school. We are not here to be perfect. We are here to grow into the soul that we are. Why do we judge others and ourselves when we are not coming across as “perfect?” That only holds that person or yourself back from growing and being all that they can be.

The simplest judgment can have lasting effects on people. Don’t do it! When you find yourself judging others, tell yourself to be a bigger person and leave that person be. When you begin to judge others less, you will find that you begin to no longer fear others will judge you. And that sets you free as far as fear is concerned because when you no longer fear what others think, you will feel free to do what you want without the fear that is usually attached to it.

Learn to be more focused on being instead of doing. We do do, do but we forget to be. I find that even when we read self-help books and listen to motivational CD’s, we read and we listen, but we don’t really experience them for ourselves. We don’t give them time to become part of us before moving onto the next thing.

When you focus on being, you will see life from an entirely new perspective. You will view life through the eyes of your soul, not just through your personality. Suddenly, the world become a different place. You are no longer wrapped up in the illusion constructed by the egoic mind, but are instead awakened and experiencing the beauty of life. Things will flow easier for you because you will be more in touch with your true self, since being naturally draws out your soul identity instead of your ego identity.

Focus on doing tasks with more mindfulness. We can’t get away from the many things we have to do, but we can change the way we do them. Add more “being” into them and life becomes more enjoyable.

Also learn to think of yourself in terms of who you really are, not what you do. Your soul will thank you for it!

There is no such thing as balance. Our lives are in constant motion and we constantly need to move with life. We need to stop the obsession with trying to get in perfect balance and then being upset when it feels a little off. News flash: life will always be a balancing act. All we need to do is notice when we are out of balance, or out of alignment, and just get ourselves as close to center as possible again.

We don’t have to beat ourselves up because we fell out of balance again. We don’t need to continue longing for a perfectly balanced life. It won’t happen! We don’t live in a balanced world. We live in a constantly changing and evolving world – and thank God! If we were in constant balance, there would be no room for growth. We stumble and fall so that we can grow, so we will always fall down on the balance scale and then hopefully, we will get back up, and then things will be great until we fall again.

Falls don’t have to be detrimental. Falls are just steps in our path of growth. Don’t be so hard on yourself. Don’t worry if your life feels out of balance 99% percent of the time. Just flow with it! Notice when you are out of alignment, and do what you need to do to get as close to being in alignment as possible.

All this means is that as you are walking to your car, you take notice of the gentle breeze on your face and you hear the beautiful song coming from the birds up the trees. When you are working on your computer, you stop for a brief moment and you feel the warm sun shining in through the window. When you are doing yard work, you feel the earth energy and really experience the beauty in the flowers and trees. It’s about becoming mindful as you go through your day. Don’t just do each activity without noticing all the wonder that surrounds you.

When you begin to add this mindfulness into your life, you will naturally feel calmer, as I mentioned before. You will also begin to see the oneness of everything, and you will know that everything is interconnected. We come to this earth and we forget that we are connected to everything that exists. This is because everything, and I mean everything, is made up of energy. We are made of energy. The computer you are looking at is made of energy. The rocks on the ground are made of energy, as are the flowers, trees, the food you eat, the books you read, the oven, the table, the grass, the driveway, even your thoughts, your words, your feelings, and your actions all carry an energy. I could go on and on because literally everything is made up of energy. Therefore, we are all united by that fact.

The beauty of oneness is that you are not alone. When you can really grasp this point, you will notice things flowing more easily in your life because you will begin to allow the energy of the Universe to help you through life.

I would like to challenge you to release the “how.” When you are worried
about the “how,” changing your life will be difficult and overwhelming. Keep your focus on the “why.” Why do you want what you want?

By keeping your focus on the “why,” you tap into the positive energies and you will feel uplifted and excited. You don’t have to know how it will all play out. Just focus on why you want your goal and how you will feel when you achieve it. Then, be open and allow the Universe to bring to you what you need to transform your life.

It will happen when you let the “how” go and consciously be aware of new insights, “coincidences” and opportunities that present themselves to you. As you do that, you will know intuitively how to proceed and you won’t be crippled with fear. That is how you stay in the flow so that you can transform your life with ease and joy, and it will be so fun to see how the journey unfolds.

The law of resonance is all about how you feel. You cannot think positive thoughts, and then still feel like you have lack if you want to manifest. You must feel like you have what you want now! What you feel is what you will manifest more of. If you want to manifest more money but you feel like you are broke, it’ll be very difficult, if not impossible, to manifest more money.

And that is what most of us do. We have a longing for things to be different in our lives, and while that is good because it pushes us to strive for more, it also hinders us. The longing is the problem. The key is to remove the longing by focusing on the present moment and feel in the now as though you have what you want.

Begin to vision the outcome you want to achieve, but it can’t be an empty vision where you just see yourself getting it. It must be rich with feeling. Make it as vivid as possible. Get your 5 senses fully involved. What do you see in your vision? Enhance what you see by adding vivid colors and textures. What do you hear in your vision? What can you smell or taste. And what do you feel emotionally. What do you feel in your body?

Create the vision as if you are experiencing it now and really FEEL it in every possible way. Then replay that vision as often as possible and keep that feeling first and foremost in your mind.

Stop focusing on how happy you will be WHEN you achieve it. Feel that happiness now! That is how you bring it into being.