The hidden powers of the “Glad Game”

I am so glad to have started this blog a few weeks back, because it allows me the opportunity of uplifting you. I like to follow the famous quote of “being the change I wish to see in the world”. I had this idea in my mind that by keeping my writing simple and entertaining I could show you, my readers, what I have learned to apply over my 20+ years of searching. My wish for you is, that you yourselves can also learn to apply it, in order to change your own worlds to your liking.

By doing this in an inclusive way, without making it sound like anything too religious, spiritual or scientific, I hope to appeal to a large audience. I do think I have accomplished some of that so far, considering the feedback I have received. I thank all that have left comments on my blog and especially the ones that decided on receiving my stories in their emails and clicked subscribe ;). This keeps me motivated to share more of my insights.

Despite all the good news, I have this niggling feeling that most of my audience does not fully grasp what I am aiming for and does not read between the lines to see the real power of this “game” I am playing here. The reason why I have decided to do something a little different in this post and try and clear that up a bit more, is that I want you to understand the amazing benefits for yourself and the rest of the world and see things from a real different perspective!

So how did I come to the conclusion that the “Glad Game” can have this kind of impact? (more about this in: https://happypollyesther.com/2014/05/13/introduction-to-happy-pollyesther/) Can something this simple really change your world, our world? I have observed my memories from before my discovery and became fully convinced by what I saw there, that thoughts, accompanied by feelings, really create (sometimes via an unexpected path) the result of reality. Once I came to this realisation, by seeing the proof in my own life, I started thinking about this a lot, what the consequences could be if everyone knew about this, and the results we are seeing because not enough people are aware of it! What is important to know, is that it always works whether you are aware of this or not! I looked at the world and realized all of a sudden that there are so many good willing people out there doing the opposite to what they should be to achieve their desired results!

I see a lot of Face Book posts asking for attention to some problem or other and feel sad looking at animal abuse, bullying, illness and human rights issues, just to name a few categories. I am drawn to these causes and want to know the truth of what is really going on in the world behind the news and who’s really in charge. I watched Zeitgeist, the Freedom movie and many more like that. They shocked me into opening my eyes to a lot of different agendas and possibilities we generally don’t see on the evening news or in the paper. I started doubting what information to trust and believe. Some were good enough to conclude with some possible solution or hope for the future, but most of it makes you feel pretty small and powerless overall. I felt angry that our so called “chosen” and self appointed authorities appear to do as they please and act without apparantly taking any notice of what the population they represent really want. This kind of thinking places the responsibility elsewhere besides ourselves which is counter productive to a positive change on any level, be it personal or global.

The good thing that came from educating myself in this way, was that it created the burning internal question of “what can an ordinary citizen do to change all this injustice?” As you may have seen in my previous post, about overcoming my health issues (https://happypollyesther.com/2014/05/26/how-my-illness-made-me-healthier-than-ever/), the passionate internal questions have a tendency to get answered by the right information showing up in time. This came for me when I found out about the power of our thoughts and feelings on creating our reality. I started to see the pattern why all this misery is not declining! Through all the exposure to our problems, coming from multiple media, we focus more on them and as a result we actually are contributing to them! When we feel powerless we maintain our focus on the problems and how they impact us on a personal level, leaving us in an angry, upset state. This state is a great conductor for more problems and confusion! If we wish to free ourselves from the issues, we have to focus on creating the right mindset for solutions first, starting by changing ourselves. Like the quote by Albert Einstein:

“A problem never gets solved from the same level of thinking that created it in the first place”.

This is where the “Glad Game”, or GG for short, comes in (just in case you missed this link earlier, more about the GG in: https://happypollyesther.com/2014/05/13/introduction-to-happy-pollyesther/). The GG creates a mindset of gratitude and happiness, which is an excellent conductor for solutions. Not only that, it will also create the right chemicals in our bodies that are beneficial for health and brain functioning! We start to feel stronger, more vibrant and creative. We become more productive and likely to take responsibility for our decisions . This is a place where solutions to problems are born! Another important thing to realize is that mindsets are contagious! If we can uplift others by being a living example of this positive mindset, we are already making a small impact on our predicament by setting off a chain reaction that can lead to actual results on a global scale.

This understanding is what made me so passionate about starting this blog. To show to everyone that by small personal changes in mindset we can be so much more powerful than we realize. To give the power back to the people. We can all learn to direct our thoughts away from fear and hopelessness to happiness, hope and solutions for a better future with this simple GG. By just doing this, we are taking the first steps to actually creating this future now, for our own personal and the worlds benefit! Please share your thoughts on this post in the comments below.

Controlling fear

view from flight MH 148

“Our plane got cancelled due to a mechanical defect and now we have been waiting here for another flight since this morning.” a couple of young Australian travellers told me, when I ran into them waiting for my connecting flight to Europe at the airport in Kuala Lumpur on March the 8th., earlier this year. I was travelling by myself to visit my family and friends, so to make the wait a little more entertaining I normally like talking to fellow travellers.

The next thing they told me was even more worrying: “Glad they cancelled, because they lost another plane today.” I am sure my eyes widened as far as they could from the shock of this news as I uttered something like OMG! This was NOT something I wanted to hear in my position of having another 13 hour+ flight ahead of me. Immediately I realized how lucky I was, having arrived here in one piece on Flight MH 148, while at the same time Flight 370 went missing. I was struggling to keep my mind from picturing what those people went through or what happened, knowing that this would not help them or me at all. I managed to direct my thoughts to silently hoping they would be found somewhere safe and well. I also thought what are the odds of it happening twice in a day with the same airline? This gave me a little more peace of mind as I queued up for my next flight.

The line had built up massively since the last half hour and was moving only inches at a time. I supposed they immediately had tightened security after the earlier incident, so I waited patiently shuffling along with the crowd for about 20 to 30 minutes before entering the packed Boeing 777.

I thought I had secured a seat on the window side, next to the path, when I booked my flights. I liked to be able to see out and get up whenever I felt the need to stretch my legs, without having to disturb others that might like to sleep. I started feeling very disappointed and confused when the staff directed me to a seat in the middle isle wedged between two strangers. Thoughts of “why is this happening to me?” started creeping in. Then it dawned on me, that the lady at the travel agent had said something about not being able to book seats on some of my flights as I tried to make sense of it all (Later I found out that it was possible, but only 12 hours prior). I decided that this was not going to ruin my trip and to look forward to whatever pleasant surprise this could unfold into.

I put my hand luggage in the designated compartment and sat down. I observed the man already seated next to me. He appeared to be a businessman going by his choice of clothing. From the way he was clutching his laptop bag, I could tell he was nervous. What was he nervous about? Flying? Someone stealing his laptop? I never found out, because he immediately gave me the vibe he did not want to talk and sleep the whole way.

Next, my other neighbour arrived. She seemed the opposite to the man next to me with a friendly face and a short bob haircut. She told me she did not mind getting up for me if I needed a stretch and to let her know whenever I felt like it. We started chatting and found an amazing amount of common ground to talk about. She felt very scared, every time we encountered turbulence and the plane would drop a bit. She grabbed my arm in fear so I offered to hold her hand and told her about my (unusual and very personal) way of dealing with that fear, which is (in my mind) asking my deceased uncle to guide the pilot safely to our destination. My uncle had been doing this in his profession throughout his life as the technician looking after all the instruments in similar planes and had safely retired, long before passing away only a few years ago. It seemed to give her a little comfort too, seeing we were stuck on the same plane.

We exchanged some interesting ideas to look into after the trip and it was only after many hours we realized that we should try and get some sleep to not arrive completely exhausted. I am sure she was very pleased to have spend the journey next to me and I felt the same about her. She told me how surprised she was at the fact that we talked for hours, because she travels a lot on her own and normally this does not happen to her. If I have to sit next to a stranger for 13 hours again, I hope to have another experience like this one!

I know now that if it had not been for me taking control of my feelings and thoughts, steering them into the direction of wonder and anticipating a positive experience, it would not have been such an exciting journey. I am glad I arrived safely and added another pleasant memory to my life. Have you ever had experiences like this? Please share in the comments below.

Why I am exited about the coming snow season!

I am going to start off with a flashback from last season:

August 29, 2013
Today l was sitting in the lift hut on top of the small beginners run, looking at some showers over a distant valley, thinking about the forecast for the coming week when the following poem came to me:

______________________________________

“Wishful Thinking”

Grey clouds gathering above,
surrounding us with warmth and love.

Sending down some precious rain,
while I am wishing here in vain

for the cold air to return real soon,
to cover our hills once more in a fluffy white cocoon.

______________________________________

This was the last day of that run being open for the season that ended in a fizzle for most Australian resorts with some closing a week prior to the end of the official season, which is normally the last weekend of September, due to lack of snow.

I had been enjoying working on this beginners run for 6 years now and knew what was coming, but tried to stay positive. Over the years I had dropped a few hints here and there on how snow making would make the run much more reliable for a large group of customers, that preferred the family atmosphere there, to the much larger and more crowded main resort. These hints were generally met with comments similar to the well known flying pigs one… In other words, the resort had a lot of other priorities to spend money on, before this was even a consideration.

Why is there a hole in the ground?

Easter this year, while up there to make preparations for Winter, like getting fire wood and cleaning the house, I went past the run to have a look if anything had changed. I noticed that someone had dug a big whopping hole, below the lower lift hut, right next to the fire hydrant connection! I could not help but wonder and hope. Was this a sign of preparations for snow guns to be installed?

Shortly after writing the above poem and thinking about how snow guns would have made my job easier and more reliable over the last few months, I had a conversation with a local council member about the possibility and talked about the positive impact I expected from having snow guns on the continuity of customers and revenue. This conversation was suddenly met with a little more hope raising response than any of my previous ones on this topic.

Newly arrived

A few weeks back my attention was drawn to a post on Face Book, in which the announcement was made that confirmed my suspicions. The snow guns had arrived! I felt extremely exited! I am eager to find out what the coming snow season has in store and am so glad we now have snow making for everyone to enjoy!

Testing commences

It is difficult to prove what had changed, that all of a sudden people in charge decided that snow guns are an important asset for the revenue of the small slope, but I can’t help but wonder if my thoughts and poem had something to do with it. Was it just wishful thinking? Or can thoughts, like the ones mentioned in this story, actually become a reality? Through my own multiple experiences with this phenomenon, I have become convinced this is the case. Please share yours in the comments below. I am glad I never gave up on my dream to create better conditions for everyone on “my beloved ski run” and am looking forward to the coming season.

The lesson my dog taught me

Gibbo

My dog, “Gibbo”, an 8 year old black and white Kelpie cross Labrador managed to totally surprise me in the last few days. I have been busy digging in the garden to create room for some old bricks that I want to move and pave under the old woodshed roof. This will be the floor of my new potting area, which was previously under the car port. Seeing that all the posts are rotten, I am expecting it to fall down sooner or later, so it is best to prepare for that day and move things away. The roof of the new potting area is not very high and I just fitted under it, standing up straight, leaving only about 3 cm’s to spare, so in order to put the bricks down, I had to lower the surface. It is a pretty massive job, seeing the clay is very dry and of course rock hard, so it feels like I am carving rather than digging!

Towards the end of the afternoon, Gibbo always gets a little restless in anticipation of our evening walk and indicated that he wanted me to stop digging and play with him instead. Unfortunately he does this by barking loudly, so I jokingly said to him to come and help me dig to shut him up. To my amazement he started digging! Not quite in the spot where I needed it most, but in one of the softer corners. That showed to me that he’s not silly! The last time I asked him to help me dig anything, was at least 7 years ago, when I had to dig some holes for the tree ferns I was relocating in my back yard. So he showed an incredible memory as well!

Next, my husband came home from a short visit. He yelled out to me over the gate, because he did not take his keys and needed me to open up the front door for him. I had locked it, because I could not hear if anyone would come into the house from the back of the yard. I went to open the door and as usual Gibbo followed me there to welcome my husband. He always greets you at the front door by picking up his favourite tennis ball, to show he is ready to play with you and excited you are home again, so he dropped the one he was playing with in the backyard and picked up a tennis ball. I went back to what I was doing and shortly after, Gibbo comes out again to check what I am up to. He decided he wanted to play some more and started his annoying barking routine again. This time I said to him to go get his ball. He looked around puzzled as to where it could be. Because he gets so excited about what is happening he does not seem to realize where he drops it, so I told him where he left it. I said: “You left it at the front door where we go out to do walkies”. I pictured it in my mind as I said it. I went on with what I was doing and he disappeared into the house, through his doggy door. A moment later, he was back with his beloved back yard ball! I was totally amazed at his comprehension and praised him for his cleverness and started to play with him and his ball.

This event proved to me that pets understand a lot more than we generally give them credit for! If you look into their eyes, you can see their soul and how they feel. If you respect them as an entity with feelings, just in a different body, they know this and you will be rewarded by their love and respect. You will gain a special bond that is different from any human interaction. I feel very blessed to feel so loved by Gibbo and have this understanding and communication with him. I am glad he came into my life, not only to learn this important lesson. What are your experiences with this? Please share in the comments.

How my Illness made me healthier than ever

My mum was a very caring “stay at home” mum, who loved running a good household. There wasn’t a moment she didn’t have time for me whilst doing her duties as well. As most children, I suffered my share of childhood illnesses like the measles, chickenpox, the regular cold and occasional flue. When that happened it was very comforting to know that mum would go out of her way to make me feel as comfortable as possible in my condition. She would make me a cup of chicken stock and give me the medication the doctor prescribed. Sometimes she would buy me a little gift to feel better and sit by my bed a bit more then usual. I think she was so good to me because she could relate to feeling bad with chronic health problems herself. I guess you could say that to me as a small child it was a bit of a special time to be ill and it felt good to be spoiled despite the discomfort of the illness.

Now from a different perspective in adulthood, I realise that all that special treatment made me feel good and that I wanted more of that feeling, so as a consequence I “found” myself sick more often! (This is NOT a suggestion to neglect comforting ill children, but to try create balance and to encourage them to focus on the more rewarding benefits of being well). I was later diagnosed with Asthma, Hay Fever and other allergies as well as becoming known at the doctor’s as the kid with the unusual symptoms that could not be diagnosed and left him puzzled. I still remember what he jokingly said every time I came to see him: “Your a strange child and that’s what you are!” Mind you, he did sometimes have some strange ways of expressing his thoughts. One time I went to a Summer holiday camp and came down with a mysterious flecked skin and feeling unwell, conveniently at the moment I decided I had enough of being there…By the time mum picked me up and we arrived at the doctor’s, the skin had returned to looking normal! This memory proved to me that the mind does indeed influence the body.

As I since have learned while trying to understand my health issues, everyone has the ability to “make themselves sick” (mostly accidentally, unintentionally and subconscious) for whatever reason, but on the flip side if we focus on being healthy and feel good about being healthy we really can achieve good health. I discovered that being healthy is not a blessing, it is a choice! (It is not a brain one but a choice with determination you feel deep down from the bottom of your chest.) I made that choice when I finally realised that being sick was interfering with my life too much and holding me back from what I liked doing.

The final drop that caused me to feel very angry at the health care system and solidified my decision to ultimately free myself from all medication, was the response of a skin specialist I saw when I was about 19. After years of using cortisone cream and not seeing any improvement in my skin problem, I was getting desperate for a cure. It was so bad, I had to keep my hair from touching my face not to aggravate it. It would feel like my skin was on fire, also turning bright red in large patches and when that subsided it would itch really bad and the skin would peel off. I had to take the train for an hour to see this expert specialist, that was supposed to be able to do what the local specialists could not. After several appointments I straight out demanded to know what the cause was, as it seemed that not one of the many specialists I had seen for this problem had been able to tell me that. He did not hesitate to tell me that “stress” was the cause. Ok, that was great news, now I knew how to get rid of the skin problem, just get rid of the stress! In my opinion, if stress was the cause I should go and see a psychiatrist to combat stress instead of a skin specialist who gave me cortisone cream that was not having any positive effects on stress or the skin problem whatsoever! His response was: “That would not work, would you like another prescription for the cream?”!!! I felt so let down (and more stressed out), that I did not want to waste any more time than absolutely necessary in a doctors office!

I started “finding” the right information, every time I was ready to learn the next step, in books, health magazines and things people said to me. I discovered that my skin problem was caused by an allergic reaction to nail polish, after reading about that possibility in one of the books I found about curing allergies. It completely went away after I stopped using nail polish in less than a couple of weeks! I was baffled that those “clever” skin specialists never looked at my beautifully manicured hands! Despite my anger at them at the time, I am now extremely glad they didn’t, because that was the turnaround point in my life. This “victory” was the moment where I became ready to start taking responsibility for my own health. This ultimately has led me to start this blog to reach others that might need to hear what I have found out the hard way. Now I am back at a point that I can honestly say that there is definitely a need for doctors and they do good work too, but be selective if you need one and find the doctor that understands your needs and treats you as you deserve, with respect!

It took several years of changing my eating habits, finding the right (mostly mineral) supplements to boost my immune system and going to alternative health practitioners. I slowly changed the way I thought about health and what is possible. I can now confidently say I am completely free of any medication for the first time in my life and feel better now than when I was in my teens and twenties! I made the choice to be healthy and free of medication and things “fell into place” to make it a reality and I have learned to embrace life again! (I still catch an occasional cold like everyone else, but the severity has decreased dramatically and now not even once a year, 6x less than before.)

Now I can hear you think: “But what about the more serious and life threatening Illnesses, what about incurable diseases?” Well, I am glad I never let it get that far, but in my studies to regain my own health I have stumbled on many so called “miracles” that other people have written about, like Kit Campbell, who beat Crohn’s disease ( http://kitcampbell.com/about-kit/ ). That proves to me that the decision to focus on health also works for those cases, depending on the individuals ability to believe (and feel) the “unbelievable” and to read their inner compass.

For those that would like to learn more about the subject and aid their recovery from so called “chronic” and/or “terminal” illness, besides having the guidance of a good qualified doctor and/or specialist, I also recommend to look into works by Bruce Lipton PhD ( https://www.brucelipton.com/about ), Lissa Rankin MD ( http://lissarankin.com/ ), Andrew Weil MD ( http://www.drweil.com/ ), and others like them, who are much more knowledgeable, regarding the way the body and mind really work together, than me. Have an open mind, relearn to feel your own intuition and you will find your own miracles. I am glad I found my health, because it gave me so much more!

“I admit that thoughts influence the body.” —Albert Einstein-

Quoted by W. Hermanns in A Talk with Einstein, October 1943. AEA 55–285. http://einstein.biz/quotes.php

The Lady in the Supermarket continued…

Yesterday, I put off going to the supermarket, for only a handful of groceries, again! I needed to take the dog for a walk as well, but for some reason I had a gut feeling that I should take the car and do the lazy “stop at the park on the way home walk”. Lucky I did, because after gathering my items and finding the shortest queue, I found myself lined up again (déjà vu) behind the lady from my previous story! I had not seen her since I wrote the story a few months back!

After a few moments of fear and hesitation, I found the courage to tell her about the story I wrote about our previous encounter. She gave me a puzzled look and asked why I wrote a story about her. I replied that I thought it was worth sharing, because it could make people happier. Next, I asked her if she had access to a computer, so she could have a look at it. She told me her daughter could help her, so I asked the attendant for a pen and some scrap paper to write my blog address down for the lady. I must admit that I stumbled a bit trying to remember how to actually write it on paper with the “http” and appropriate amount of dots and slashes. So I added “Word Press Blog” and wrote “story about ‘the ladies name'” followed by the title of the story, hoping that would be enough information for the daughter to locate it on the web.

I could tell she was still surprised and had quite a few questions as to my motive and what was so special about her that I had written a story about it. I assured her it was all good and that she should check it out to get the answers. I felt really good about the fact that I could return the good feelings and was hoping the story made her feel as good as what she had done to me on our previous encounter. As I walked out, I again felt the same way I did last time!

Thinking about this on the way home, I drove straight past the park and had to turn around to take the dog for his anticipated run! Poor boy, I was so happy, I could not wait to get home to write this down, because to me it felt like things “fell” into place, because I had thought about how nice it would be for her to read it as I published it last week! I am glad I acted on my gut feeling!

How annoying mobile messages saved my life

Skikes in action

In Autumn last year I decided to check out a new bike trail along a freeway close to home. I had purchased a pair of “Skikes”, which are like cross country ski’s on wheels just before Easter.

It was a beautiful Autumn Sunday after a period of cold weather and rain (this is Australia). I had to do quite a few chores on Saturday and had not been able to really enjoy the last of the sunny days before Winter, so by mid afternoon, after a few internet distractions, I could no longer delay the urge of boosting my vitamin D stores and put my Skikes, poles and the dog in the car to drive to the new trail. I realised that I only had a short window of time left before the sun would set, so a sense of urgency crept in.

Next my phone beeps with a message. This does not happen frequently, because I am a bit old fashioned and still use my landline more than my (“ancient”)mobile, which I only carry for emergencies. I waited till I got to the car park to look at it. It was a friend for whom I was looking after her place while she was away. She was helping a friend of hers clean up a rental property and everything was a lot worse than expected. She felt that this was putting a strain on their friendship. She was stuck there with no other transport options back besides her friends car. I suggested to look into bus fares or catch a train, via texting, which takes me a long time with the old phone. Then I proceeded to strap on my Skikes quickly.

The dog was very keen to go for a run with me and showed the typical signs of impatience and anticipation. Next, my phone beeps again! I look to see another message from my dear friend in need and am starting to get annoyed by this delay. Looking at my watch, I now have only an hour or so before dusk is going to set in! I did not plan on taking the phone with me because of the risk of it getting damaged in a possible fall, so I had to finalize this conversation quick. I text her back as fast as I could (not very) and locked the car to get going.

The wind had picked up a lot during the afternoon, which usually happens when there is a change in the weather on it’s way, but it was still not very cold. I did not have a lot of experience with my Skikes yet and there was a fair bit of debris from the huge pine trees on the path to watch out for. Cautiously I tried to find my rhythm, whilst keeping my eyes peeled for obstacles that could possibly trip me up (I have since learnt that when I am zipping along that the large pneumatic wheels on my skikes will actually roll quite easily over sizeable sticks, stones and even small tree roots, without a hiccup). Being such a nice weekend there were a few families out riding their bikes giving me smiles along the way, probably because they had never seen a cross country skier without snow before!

My dog was having a ball, running along and sniffing here and there. Next I hear a sound, not too far ahead, as if a bulldozer knocked down a tree. I remember thinking how strange it was on a late Sunday afternoon, that they were still working on the new trail!

I happily kept on going, feeling really good about the fact I was finally out here doing my training for Winter. After about two to three hundred meters, there was a little rise and as I got to the top of it, I suddenly realised that in front of me across the path was a massive old pine tree, that must have come down just moments before! It appeared that the wind had blown it over. With quite a bit of effort I managed to bush bash around it to continue down the path as fast as I could to get out of the pine tree lined area. Then slowly, as I recovered from the shock, the realisation set in, that I could have been right there, under that tree, if it had not been for my dear friend with her “annoying” messages!

Next time I am annoyed by something, the first question I ask myself is: I wonder why this is happening? I can’t wait to see and am so glad for being alive!

PS My friend resolved the issues she had soon after and everything worked out well for her too.
Also: For people interested in finding out more about Skikes, check out their website: http://www.skike.com.au
(There is even a picture of me having fun on my skikes at http://www.skike.com.au/gallery.html )

The Lady in the Supermarket

A little while back, I was not very motivated to go to the shops all day and kept putting it off. I finally got to the small local Supermarket late in the afternoon. While I was there I thought of dinner for that night and decided to keep it simple, because of the hot weather, and just buy a tin of (dolphin friendly) tuna and add cold steamed rice, lettuce from the garden and a few other bits and pieces from the fridge, like home made dressing and a couple of boiled eggs. So there I was with my one tuna tin in hand lining up to pay. Waiting in line I observed a small lady in front of me and found myself wondering about her story and looking at her packed basket.

Next she turns around and looks at my tin and me. She starts to point at me and the register saying “You Go” with a warm smile. I said that I was not in a hurry, but she would not take no for an answer. So I went up to the register and finished my business as quick as I could, so her ice cream wouldn’t melt. I made sure to thank her very much for her kindness as I walked out of the shop smiling.

When I started to reverse my car out of the parking spot, right out the front, she came walking out with her smile lighting up some more when we made eye contact. Then I drove off to go home while returning her smile and waving goodbye and thanks again. I felt really happy!

On my short drive home I thought about this encounter with a total stranger, How often do I look at people behind me in a queue? How such a small gesture can make two people both feel really happy? She felt great for her good deed and so did l for the warm hearted gift! Not only that, upon arriving home I went on line to write this down and spotted an old friend logged on, that I had not spoken to for ages, so I had to share this story with her and guess what? It even made her feel good hearing about it!

This event reinforced to me why I am writing these stories and my mission to try and make this world a better place. I am glad I put off going to the supermarket all day and went there when I finally did!

Introduction to Happy Pollyesther

Before I start, I want you to know that I am glad you have taken the time to come here and welcome you reading my blog! It has taken decades of thinking, research and getting clarity, before I was ready to start writing my stories, but finally feel ready to take the plunge and be the change I wish to see in the world.

My real name is Esther and “Pollyesther” is a nickname first uttered by a close friend on a hiking trip about 15 years ago. He came to it after watching me bring out nut bars all the time when I felt a bit hungry, to combat low blood sugar, jokingly asking if “Polly wants a cracker?” At the time I did not enjoy being called Pollyesther as it gave me a negative feeling thinking about the cheap, synthetic, environmentally unfriendly material. Natural materials like silk, cotton and wool feel so much better, so thankfully it did not stick in my circle of friends at the time.

So why on earth did I resurrect it now? The reason is that things now look a lot different than back in those days and it has taken on a whole different meaning for me that becomes clearer when reading on.

It all started many years back when I held a job that felt like it was sucking the life out of me. I felt trapped and depressed. As a result I started having health problems. I resolved not to continue on this path, which led me on a decades long quest of finding health, happiness and meaning in my life. Sometimes the information I found was useful, sometimes confusing and even overwhelming. There is so much information available in the “self help, spiritual and religious” sectors, that it is hard to see the trees from the forest most of the time.

The one thing that has been clear to me for most of my life, was my strong desire to help others find happiness and make the world a better place for everyone. The research helped me realise that most people (me included) make it far too complicated with thousands of processes to achieve happiness to choose from. Not even starting on all the confusing and negative input from different media in our lives, that tends to bring us back to “reality”.

Recently, my attention was drawn to the old story of Pollyanna, an orphan, who is send to live with her grumpy aunt, who is stuck in her way and full of resentment. At first, her aunt is not impressed with her duty of looking after this unusual girl, but slowly over time warms to her positive attitude and in turn becomes more positive herself!

Pollyanna’s method to being happy is playing the “glad game”, in which she tries to find as many things as possible to be glad about. With this game she manages to cheer up even the most stubborn, grumpy people she comes across. Feel free to look for it on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Pollyanna-Eleanor-H-Porter/dp/1439297290/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1462364852&sr=1-1&keywords=pollyanna+eleanor+porter. Of course this is a fictional story and “real” life is what you and I have to deal with every day. So why is this story so significant?

A few years back my research led me to the discovery of our personal influence on the reality we experience through our words and thoughts that result in feelings and emotions. These appear to reach far beyond our own body and influence circumstances, affecting us and others in return. I don’t want to go into explaining about the how’s and why’s as many others out there have excellent material on this for anyone looking to find out more.

We are all familiar with the days where nothing seems to go right for us, for example starting with stubbing your toe getting out of bed, spilling your coffee limping around the kitchen and as a result leaving too late for work to find a traffic jam on your way there as well! Your grumpy boss only adds to the load etc.

What if we had played the “glad game” after spilling our coffee? Maybe we have avoided being in the accident that caused the traffic jam, due to the delay, and arrived at work in one piece? Would our day have been different?

My studies and life experiences have convinced me to answer this question with a resounding YES!

This blog intends to keep it simple and uplift you by sharing real stories about my own everyday life, where I see the results of the “Glad Game” in action. Allow me to be your “Pollyanna” and LET’S PLAY!

With gratitude,
Pollyesther