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Vail Daily column: Oh, what a feeling

Michael Norton
Climbing to Success

This is the third and final part of a series of columns that I have shared throughout the past three weeks looking at the power of words and the inspiration of visualization, and today we will complete the cycle as we discuss the positive energy found in shared feelings.

As a quick recap in case you missed the first two columns, we talked about the positive power and influence of maintaining a word bank that is filled with motivating and inspiration words. Replacing any negative words with words like love, kindness, forgiveness, peace, purity, simplicity, gratitude and praise.

And last week, the topic was the power of visualization. First, a big thank you to everyone in the community who shared their thoughts and even pictures of their own vision boards representing their goals and dreams. We can achieve what our mind’s eye sees.



the power of words

Today as we close out this series, I wanted to focus our thoughts around shared feelings. We talked about shared words and a shared vision board, and now it’s time to talk about how we share our thoughts and feelings with our friends and family, and those we hold most precious in our lives.

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It is so easy to take for granted that others know how we feel. Surely they must know that we love them, that we are grateful for what they have done for us and that we appreciate their generosity. Certainly they must know that we thoroughly enjoy their company and companionship and respect their faith and compassion. And without a doubt, everyone must know that we are completely aware of how they feel about us. Right? Well maybe not always, but telling them more often could very likely go a long way to improving and strengthening any relationship.

Life comes at us fast and furiously sometimes. And as we fight even to keep pace with the rush and crush of the business world, politics and situations going on or brewing in our own families, we sometimes forget to share our feelings at a level that could potentially make a difference in someone’s life at that very moment. Just think about that for a minute. Think about a time when you were stressed at work or going through a tough time at home, and then all of a sudden you heard someone say, “I love you,” or “Thank you for all that you do for me.” How did you feel? Probably pretty good.

We can verbalize our shared feelings, we can show them through a smile, hug or other gesture. We can leave little notes or cards around the house or office. And we can send texts, emails or post messages to people through social media. We can even share our feelings through emoticons or an emoji. And here’s what’s really cool, now that we have our positive word bank filled with loving and kind uplifting words and we have created a mental image and visions of who and what we want to be, we can now express our shared feelings from a foundation of a positive outlook and attitude.

It’s easy to be influenced by something negative. But if we surround ourselves and build our base around positive affirmations, encouraging visualizations, and we can accept and share loving and grateful thoughts and feelings, we can guard our hearts and our minds against the toughest and most negative source and force in our lives.

I know it sounds idealistic or even maybe over-simplified. But when someone brings up a negative situation or tries to crush your spirit, have your positive words and the images of who you are and where you are going firmly planted in your heart, and have your spirit filled with feelings that you are willing to share and open to receiving those same feelings in return. Try this and I believe that in a very short amount of time, you will begin to see yourself and the world around you in a completely different way.

So how about you? I would love to see your list of go-to words, pictures or thoughts about your visualized goals and dreams, and learn how you choose to share feelings in a way that can provide others with hope and encouragement. You can email me any and all of your thoughts at gotonorton@gmail.com and when we build a positive foundation of words, images and feelings, it really will be a better than good week.

Michael Norton is a strategic consultant, business and personal coach and motivational speaker. He writes a weekly motivational column for the Vail Daily.


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