These pieces of advice are really from other people, but they have been important to me, and I hope they make a difference in your life, too. The first bit of advice is “It’s only a thought, and a thought can be changed” from Louise Hay. I have thought about this quote thousands of times over the past 20 years. When I first heard it, I really didn’t understand how transformative it could be, but over time I began to realize the true power of this message. It was the basis for much of what Louise taught for so many years, and it has helped many people, including myself. This simple truth is empowering because once you really take it in, you know you can always make your life better just by changing how you think. Think about some of the troubles we have experienced, is it possible that our thoughts created them? We have about 10,000 thoughts a day, many of which are negative ones that we choose to think about ourselves and our circumstances when they aren’t true at all. The second bit of advice is very similar, yet it’s different in how I think about it. When Wayne Dyer was doing the PBS special for his book, The Power of Intention, he said, “If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” When he said this for the first time, it began to resonate with listeners and viewers. I read that he said this once on QVC, and the phones just lit up with callers because so many people related to this statement. I do believe that this quote, as simple as it may seem, can be a powerful shift in your life if you really apply it. Just take the time to look at circumstances in your life from a different perspective, and you will be surprised how those things change. You may not know this about me, but I love Country and Western music so the third bit of advice is from a country song called “Buy Dirt” by Jordan Davis. A lyric in the song says, “Do what you love but call it work.” This is probably the best advice I could give anyone because if you can do what you love every day (and get paid for it), your life will be much richer. This resonates with me because I consider myself very lucky to have spent the last 30 years doing what I love and calling it “work.” People ask me when I’m going to quit working, but I don’t think I’ll ever quit because I don’t think of what I do as work. This doesn’t mean I couldn’t find something else I love doing. And it doesn’t mean I have loved every single task, every single day; there have been some very challenging times for sure. But overall, it has been wonderful spending my time as a Nurse. Nursing has shaped the woman I am today and it’s this love for others that has led me to what I am doing now – health coaching. After Louise Hay founded Hay House at age 60, she spent the next 30 years doing what she loved daily. Wayne Dyer spent 40 years writing books, giving speeches, and teaching, and he loved it. They both found so much joy and meaning in their “work.” I love teaching nursing students and I give this advice to them often. It seems to make sense to them, and I hope it inspires them to apply it in their lives as they start out in their nursing careers. I hope you find something in these pieces of advice that you can apply in your own life.
