Monthly Archives: February 2009

herfuture.com

I was feeling a tad down in the dumps, when Jenny, my ex-coworker let me know about a lecture by a woman named Gabrielle Bernstein — “Falling in Love With Your Future”. Normally these motivational speaking type things isn’t my bag. But I felt the need to be inspired tonight.

 

Gabby’s basic premise is that if you consume yourself with negative thoughts, then everything around you will be affected by that. I realized then that a lot of my thinking can be clouded with negativity, specifically jealous and insecurity. These types of thoughts can only hinder your potential. Her general overall theme of taking the negative thoughts out of your mind through the three step: “Recognize, Record, and Release” was very impactful. First, you have to recognize/identify the negative thought- i.e.– I’m jealous of that bitch because she has a cuter boyfriend and a better job than me. Record is a way to further identify the negative thought by getting it out on paper. Once you write the thought out, you allow yourself to feel the pain for 90 seconds, then you Release it by re writing it to be positive- i.e.– I’m happy for her because she has an awesome boyfriend and a great job. Identifying negative thoughts, then separating them, then blocking them out, clears up the clutter in your mind. I started to wonder what kind of negative thoughts I might have. A girl at the lecture mentioned that she would have the same negative thoughts at certain times each day. I wonder if I would start noticing trends in my thought process.

 

Even if you aren’t into “meditation” or “affirmations”, everyone can enjoy a little bit more positivity in their day-to-day life.

 

Gabby states that with the promotion of positive thoughts, you can achieve your goals. If you think it, then you’ll feel it, then you’ll become it. Negativity and fear are what’s keeping you down, and what’s holding you back. Sometimes I have thoughts like “I want to study design, but I fear as though I am not creative enough”. If you have that type of thought, you automatically won’t succeed, because the fear inhibits you from reaching your potential. Maybe being a designer isn’t meant to be, but that initial doubt and fear is only crippling you.

I have never meditated before. I have tried, but I am too impatient and my attention span is too short for me to not get figidy. My mind starts wandering after the first 2 minutes. But Gabby asks us to meditate every morning and every night. At the end of the day we are suppose participate in a “Gratitude Meditation” and say what you are grateful for. Every morning she wants us to get up and set the intention for the day and be grateful. 

 

I’m going to try Gabby’s method for thirty days. I’m going to begin to recongnize the joy and release the negative. I’m going to change my world by changing my mind! Let’s see what happens in thirty days… stay tuned…

The End of Days Sale

blog-end-of-days

The recession has changed New York City in many ways. The most obvious way is the drastic shift seen in the job market. Increased budget cuts has led to massive lay-offs that has resulted in a startling unemployment rate. Spearheading from this, our economy further suffers because citizens who are no longer employed have no money to spend, and those of us who do have jobs, are so tense and nervous that we are saving our money.

This viscous cycle leads to a spiraling economy or as The Daily Show calls it- Clusterf*ck to the Poor House.

There has however, been ONE positive consequence of this cycle — sales.

Walking down Madison Avenue, every store window says “Buy One Get One Free”, “Sale! Up to 70% off the Entire Store!”, “Store Closing- Everything Must Go!”. Although it is a bit scary, I can’t help but leap at the opportunity- after all, I can’t resist a bargain.

The other day I was in Banana Republic with my mom. We found a pair of pants for $11.99! Whether or not I really liked these pants was irrelevant, they were twelve bucks! Its like a pair of pants for the price of lunch! Geez, I thought, the Banana must really in trouble, because they are practically giving away clothes!

The discounts out there are so palpable, that you don’t even need to be a New Yorker to appreciate them. I spend the better part of my day at the office scouring the web for online discounts. Its abusurd! Absurd and scary. Absurd, scary, but also amazing! A few months from now and I’ll be able to afford Christian Louboutins!

As the discount percentages get higher and higher, and sale posters increasing by the day, the economy is suffering more and more. This bittersweet reality is what New Yorkers are living. So as I log into my fidelity account and track my 401k depleting, I can feed my depression by heading out to the latest DVF Sample Sale, or sucessfully purchasing my first pair of Manolo Blahniks.

Recession you say? “Recession” is looking at the glass half empty. I like to think of this “recession” as the “best damn shopping season we will ever see in our lifetime”.