Inspired Parenting Newsletter

Expanding Your Joy

Abraham talks about getting into the Vortex, so you get lined up with all your dreams and desires. That simply means getting in sync with who you REALLY are. We get very caught up in our roles - Busy Mom, Efficient Worker, Stressed Commuter, Supportive Husband etc. But in this crazy busy world, we often do not really connect enough with our inner wisdom, with our loving energy, or even with our bodies. We are mostly in our heads thinking of all the things we need to DO!. One of the best ways of stopping and connecting with ourselves - and of course our kids and partners - is to practice
Ten Things I Love About. . . . .

I'll explain how you can use it in several ways that will have a powerful effect. Firstly I'll explain the context that Abraham suggests is the BEST way to use it. It is not always so easy to get ourselves "in the Vortex" - and most of us have plenty of times where we are struggling to feel good - the kids are squabbling, money seems tight, there simply are not enough hours in the day, etc etc. Of course those are good times to reach for tools that help you to move to a happier, more peaceful state. Lets face it, Happy Parents, make Happy Kids. The more you are connected with your own inner wisdom and joy, the better parent you will be.

But Abraham suggests we use this tool when we ARE happy. Why? Because the more we train ourselves to notice what is good around us the more we tune our energy to that, then of course the more we connect and bring more joy into our lives. So the Ten Things I Love About This game is a great one to play with the kids when you are having FUN. You are teaching them appreciation, you are increasing the good energy around your family, you are showing them how much you enjoy and love them, or how much fun you are having, and you are modelling to them how to increase the joy in any situation.

I also think it is a great little tool to use with your kids, only change it to 10 Things I Love About YOU . . . (It is also a really good one to do for your partner!) This is actually more powerful than just I love you. We often say this almost automatically, and of course we mean it, but we may not actually be very connected to the energy of it. Calling it out as they rush out the door to school, is only sending a smidgen of love with them, but if you have stopped and connected to the things you love about them, you are adding so much more power and energy to your love.

I would also suggest you take three slow deep breaths to give yourself time to stop and connect inside before you rush into your list! There are lots of opportunities you can use the Ten Things I Love tool, here's a few of my ideas - please let me know how you used it!

• Write a letter and pop it in their lunch-box (or slip in in your husband's diary)
• Sit with them at bedtime and look at them and tell them all those wonderful things you love about them
• This is a great tool to use when THEY are out of sync. When they are unhappy or struggling with something. You listen to their story and feelings first, and then say, you know you have so much going for you, I am going to tell you 10 things I LOVE about you. And try to relate them to the issue they are talking about. They are kind to their friends, Or you love how well they find solutions, Or you love how they solved that problem last week. Try to link it to specific things they have done, or aspects of them that will help in their situation and then you will be anchoring in their skills or abilities by adding your loving appreciation
• You can use this as a tool to bring yourself back into sync - and show your kids that you don't just stay stuck in feeling miserable, you do something to shift it.

  You start by acknowledging how you feel about the situation, then find ten things to love (or even at least like!) about it. "You know what, I'm so annoyed right now that car has a flat tyre but I am going to find ten things I love about this situation."
  "I love that I get to play this game"
  "I love that I can show you guys how to change a tyre"
  "I love that I have a car that gets us places mostly on time"
  "I love how I get to spend more time with you while we wait for the Road Service People"
  "I love how that car behind is stopping to help us"
  "I love how we managed to get a flat tyre right near that icecream shop over there"
  "I love how I won't bother cooking dinner tonight now we are going to be late home"
  "I love that I have a mobile phone so I can call for help"
  "I love that this gives me some time to stop rushing"
  "I love that I ran out of the house in my gardening clothes so it doesn't matter if I get them dirty changing the tyre"
  Get the idea? Stop and connect with what is happening and then find things to love in every moment no matter how sh*tty!

• Use Ten Things I love about this, as anticipation - when you are planning a holiday or leading up to Christmas, or have something exciting happening in the future - You are not only building the excitement and enjoying the pre-event stage, you are also preventing a lot of pre-event stress!
• Use it to set the scene and build positive energy about something that might be stressful, or a challenge. Show the kids how to use it to set the scene for what they want to have happen:

  "I love knowing that I will have finished my talk by the end of today and can relax and enjoy all the others"
  "I love that next time I will have much more experience and it will be easier"
  "I love that I have gotten so much more confident at speaking in front of a group"
  "I love how well prepared I am before giving a talk in class"
  "I love how much I learned about making diagrams that look good"
  "I love finding out about new things"
  "I love that I have practiced and my family loved my talk"
  "I love knowing that I have lots of people who support and believe in me"
  "I love seeing people's faces looking interested and attentive as I speak"
  "I love imagining the applause at the end of my talk, and people congratulating me"
  

Guess what I'm about to do? My husband and I both totally forgot our wedding anniversary yesterday, so I am going to write him a letter with Ten Things I Love About YOU!

How did you use this powerful little tool? Comment or share your stories below

If you want to find our more about the Abraham-Hicks material, visit our pages:
Reviews of Abraham Hicks Publications
Reviews and information about books, CDs and DVDs by Esther and Jerry Hicks and of course Abraham.

Jerry and Esther Hicks
An article about the Abraham-Hicks teachings.

Law-of-attraction quotes
I've put together a range of LOA quotes about children that I find inspiring. There are many Abraham Quotes about raising Children included here.

Offical Abraham Hicks Website Heaps of articles, and information, and you can sign up for their quote of the day, or subscribe to their automatic CD delivery service.

Free Gift For Independence Day

Even if you are not in USA or don't celebrate Independence Day, you can still have a present!

July is Freedom Month, and July 1 thru 7 is National Financial Freedom Week, so my friend Amanda van der Gulik who is one of the worlds experts in teaching children about money has offered my readers a free gift! Amanda is a homeschooling Momepreneur who is dedicated to helping improve the financial literacy of children and young adults around the world through her creative, fun and interactive products and courses.

Now the cool thing about your gift, is the gift changes depending on when you visit the page! You might get 50 Money Making Ideas For Kids or The Six Magical Piggy Banks Video! Or you might even get the book I featured in which is Allowance Secrets - a fantastic collection of chapters from Parenting or Financial Experts around the world. She has a number of fantastic gifts that will give you some great ideas about how to teach your kids to be financially savvy.

What will your gift be? Click Here To find out!

Featured Parenting Question

This week's featured question is one that came in a while ago, and the theme relates to many similar questions I often get asked. This Mom is worried about how much influence her relatives will have on her little boy. We want our kids to be surrounded by positive uplifting energy, but clearly we can't control every environment they are in.

Read the question and my reply here:
Worried About Fearful Negative Grandparents

What's your biggest challenge as a parent?
Ask Annie Your Parenting Questions Here