My OperaThe Baritone
Friday, December 30, 2011 3:10:28 AM
With my boy Louis in grade 6, and my girl Ferne in grade 3, the start of a new school year brings new school subjects our way including those with cool new musical instruments. Louis was tasked with playing the baritone. I was not even convinced that a baritone was a musical instrument until he proved it to me by Googling it over the internet.
He spent two days spitting into his mouth piece in an attempt to ‘practice’ playing Yankee Doodle (of course, even Canadians know that one) when he announced that he needed a protective pouch for his mouth piece and that we definitely had to go to the dollar store to purchase one. In the spirit of stimulating his passion for music, off we traveled to the dollar store, just the two of us. We headed straight for the protective mouth piece section and retrieved the pouch we came for when Louis said, “Mom, let’s go down the aisles one by one just for fun.” I realized it was his way of finagling the purchase of some extra goodies and gizmos and in order to extend our cherished one-on-one time together, I willingly obliged. We picked out some things that we really didn’t require such as extra plastic containers for leftovers, double A batteries for our milk frother, a photo frame that says “family”, plus some bobby socks for Ferne, his sister, with little cat pompoms on the ankles.
As we were exiting the store, Louis said, “Shopping is nice sometimes, it cleans you out.” Thinking of the $35 I just spent on one dollar items, I had to agree, but knew he was talking about a different sort of cleaning.
“What are you talking about, Louis?”
“It cleans you out. If you’re mad or pissed off or frustrated and you go shopping, you leave just feeling better and it’s all ‘hakuna matata.’ (A term he picked up from the movie The Lion King that means “no difficulties": no troubles, problems, worries or cares.)
What surprised me was his wisdom. This was not a talk about shopping. It was a conversation about Frame of Mind. It was about how when you shift your focus away from the stuff that frustrates you to things that calm or inspire you, your entire mood can change. Therein lays a key: what you focus on is what becomes your life. But the bigger secret is this - you can intentionally shift your mind if you want to by constantly focusing on the things that you desire in your life. It is called building the mind muscle and making it the one biggest goal in your life and knowing how crucial your thinking is to the quality of your life and your overall success.
Of course shopping is not for everyone - even though it definitely works for some as a short term way to redirect one’s focus. Other things can work too… listening to music, workouts, watching a show, talking with a friend, pretty much anything that makes you feel better. Here is what I do… I write in a journal daily and focus my thoughts on the stuff I want to see, do, and experience throughout my life. The moment I write it down, it’s real and it’s permanent and I begin to create all the things I desire. My Frame of Mind is the foundation of that creation and I work on it every day.
How about you? What do you do to focus your thoughts and shift your way of thinking?
Kim Ades, MBA, President of Frame of Mind Coaching and JournalEngine™ Software, is one of North America’s foremost experts on performance through thought management. By using her unique process of coaching through journaling, she works with clients to unveil and switch their thought patterns to ignite significant change and life transformation. Visit www.frameofmindcoaching.com to sign up for your own free, secure, online journal.
He spent two days spitting into his mouth piece in an attempt to ‘practice’ playing Yankee Doodle (of course, even Canadians know that one) when he announced that he needed a protective pouch for his mouth piece and that we definitely had to go to the dollar store to purchase one. In the spirit of stimulating his passion for music, off we traveled to the dollar store, just the two of us. We headed straight for the protective mouth piece section and retrieved the pouch we came for when Louis said, “Mom, let’s go down the aisles one by one just for fun.” I realized it was his way of finagling the purchase of some extra goodies and gizmos and in order to extend our cherished one-on-one time together, I willingly obliged. We picked out some things that we really didn’t require such as extra plastic containers for leftovers, double A batteries for our milk frother, a photo frame that says “family”, plus some bobby socks for Ferne, his sister, with little cat pompoms on the ankles.
As we were exiting the store, Louis said, “Shopping is nice sometimes, it cleans you out.” Thinking of the $35 I just spent on one dollar items, I had to agree, but knew he was talking about a different sort of cleaning.
“What are you talking about, Louis?”
“It cleans you out. If you’re mad or pissed off or frustrated and you go shopping, you leave just feeling better and it’s all ‘hakuna matata.’ (A term he picked up from the movie The Lion King that means “no difficulties": no troubles, problems, worries or cares.)
What surprised me was his wisdom. This was not a talk about shopping. It was a conversation about Frame of Mind. It was about how when you shift your focus away from the stuff that frustrates you to things that calm or inspire you, your entire mood can change. Therein lays a key: what you focus on is what becomes your life. But the bigger secret is this - you can intentionally shift your mind if you want to by constantly focusing on the things that you desire in your life. It is called building the mind muscle and making it the one biggest goal in your life and knowing how crucial your thinking is to the quality of your life and your overall success.
Of course shopping is not for everyone - even though it definitely works for some as a short term way to redirect one’s focus. Other things can work too… listening to music, workouts, watching a show, talking with a friend, pretty much anything that makes you feel better. Here is what I do… I write in a journal daily and focus my thoughts on the stuff I want to see, do, and experience throughout my life. The moment I write it down, it’s real and it’s permanent and I begin to create all the things I desire. My Frame of Mind is the foundation of that creation and I work on it every day.
How about you? What do you do to focus your thoughts and shift your way of thinking?
Kim Ades, MBA, President of Frame of Mind Coaching and JournalEngine™ Software, is one of North America’s foremost experts on performance through thought management. By using her unique process of coaching through journaling, she works with clients to unveil and switch their thought patterns to ignite significant change and life transformation. Visit www.frameofmindcoaching.com to sign up for your own free, secure, online journal.
