"  Bountiful,  Beautiful, Blissful,   Am  I "

Beautiful Mantra, isn't it?  Some mornings you wake up and you are happy for no reason. Then this little ditty is easy to say.  You smile at everyone, don't mind traffic,  maybe even poke someone back on facebook;  all with a song in your heart.

Then there are the days when this mantra sounds like a big load of crap. Bountiful?  I have $5.00 to my name!  Beautiful? HA!  Look at those "laugh lines".  What the hell has been so funny all these years?  Blissful? Seriously? 

Then maybe it's time to start saying it to yourself even if you don't believe it....yet. 

If you haven't turned off your computer and thrown it out the window and taken me off your friend list then here we go.

"Bountiful"  .  Are you breathing?  Good start.  Not bad.  Better than some started their day today.  You have $5.00 in your bank account?  You have $5.00 in your bank account! (Notice the exclamation point).  I am not saying "turn that frown upside down".  But you could start by being grateful that you have something more than a negative balance. 
What else?  Can you walk?    Can you see?  Is the sun shining on your face?  Is the rain falling ?  Do you have a place to sleep tonight?  Do you have a pet that you love more than anything in the world?  Do you have food in the refrigerator.  OMG ! you have a refrigerator! 
Seriously, find something.  One little thing.  Right now.  Close your eyes and be grateful.  If you can do this you can change your day around.  Just try it.  Your energy will slowly shift and things will start to change.  Don't take my word for it. Stop mocking me (HA) and give it a go.
For crying out loud, how much do we really need?  We are so brainwashed that we need to acquire more things, bigger things, better things!  We are so attached to the way we should be living.  Well don't let anyone be the boss of you!
One day a week, try the practice of going without one meal in your day.  You will be very grateful for an apple or a piece of bread or a full lunch!

"Beautiful"  Here's a tough one.  How many of us look in the mirror and don't like what we see.  Oh some days you  are like "lookin good girllll"  and feeling good.  Then you go to Macys and try on bathing suits.  What the heck is up with their lighting? And those fun house mirrors that add cellulite?
You do know you are much more than this body, yes?  It is important to take care of these bodies with a regular yoga practice or fitness routine, but once again we have become attached to bigger, better.  We try to maintain our 25 year old body . Or if we are 25 we want our 21 year old body.  We try to look younger.  We work so hard to try and go backward. My friend Todd and I came up with the "Benjamin Button Diet" where you too can get back to your birth weight!  
Relax.  Enjoy where you are.  Have you ever thought you looked old, then 5 years later find a picture of yourself from that time and think "I looked great!"?
As it gets harder and harder to maintain that youthful face and physique, you will either become bitter and resentful, or you will find that feeling good comes from within.
We have all been in the presence of someone who just shines from within.  And maybe they are not the magazine airbrushed beautiful.  However, their light is contagious and you feel good around them.
Try some acceptance.  Maybe a little surrender.  It actually takes the pressure off of trying to be someone you are not.  And thank God those years are behind me.  I learned a lot!  The hard way.  And I have the laugh lines to show for it! 
Look for stuff you like about yourself.  Are you breathing?  Here we go again.

"Blissful"  Hardest saved for last.  You cannot live in bliss all the time.  It would actually be no fun.  There have to be clouds and hard times and sad times.  And you can't just whistle a happy tune and be done with it.  Someone dies, you get sick, you break up with someone, all difficult.  Here is what we all know (if you 've been there before).  Time heals.  It really does.
You can help by not retelling your  story over and over and over.  Yes, if you have been deeply hurt or you are grieving, you need to talk about it.  But when someone cuts you off on the freeway and you get mad, do you find yourself retelling that tale over and over and getting mad each time you do?  that is not good for you, your body or the person you  are telling it to.  An emotion goes through you in about a minute or so.  You get mad. It's gone. Done.  Until you play the story over again.
We all do it.  See if you can just let things go.  Someone talking about you behind your back?  Well done, you!  Bad press is good press. Don't take it all so personally.
Here is something I have found out.  none of it is about you. Truly.  
So in each moment we can choose a little brighter attitude.  Just gradually choosing a better feeling.  A higher vibration to attract more and more of the same to you.
Before you know it, Bliss, is a general state of being and you are never far from it. 
A Sunset will bring you to tears, a smile from a baby will make you giggle, you will sing out loud to your dog (and your dog will be very impressed.)
And you won't care what people say because no one is the boss of you!
namaste

Now Ma Stay Right Here:)