Category Self -Imporovement

Inspiration and strategies to help you grow, stay motivated, and build daily habits that support the best version of yourself.

THE SECRETE TO OVERCOMING ADDICTION FOREVER (Part 1)

CHRISTINA DITZEL Leave a comment

Part 1 | The Mindset

Photo by MART PRODUCTION on Pexels.com

The Addiction Journey

Let me please first start by saying to those who are actually hear seeking help and concern for a loved one, thank you for taking the time to read this article. It means the world to me that you found my blog and I hope you find value in something here today! Yes, I know I am going to get a lot of slack for this article, but I honestly don’t care anymore! I am not here for those who don’t want to believe in change, I am here for those who NEED to believe change is possible! And not just Change but transformational change! Let me just add that I have “Been there done that” on both sides of the spectrum, so I come from a place of hard love, but TRUTH! Besides you don’t have to read this article, there are others out there that will patronize you with their “medicine, degrees, and book smarts”! That is no me! I am an honest individual who writes based on personal experience and through trial and error of life’s messy influences, I have overcome many obstacles. Some things include, sexual, physical, and mental abuse, homelessness, jail, in and out of shelters, and even went into hiding from my attacker which led to my addiction to drugs and alcohol.

Not everyone will resonate with me or my concept and that’s okay. I am used to people not understanding me. (Giggles) Maybe you understand the process that most addicts go through. Maybe you have a friend, family member, or loved one who is fighting an addiction right now. Or maybe you lost someone to substance abuse due to an addiction. Let me first say I am sorry for you lose. I have lost many and I am certain I will lose many more to the illness. But there is hope for change! My mission is that through my own experience I can share my journey and it will cause a ripple effect of that change. A change on how we look at addition so that we can treat it differently! We need to do better! Either way we look at it, you are reading this because the title caught your attention and if you are wondering if there is a way to actually “OVERCOME ADDICTION FOREVER”? I am here to tell you YES! Yes, we can overcome the label of addiction and we can live normal happy lives. Actually, we can overcome anything and everything, including addictions but we must be willing to look at it through a new lens and do some things different.

I can say this with full confidence because I HAVE DONE IT! So, for those of you who will read this and want to throw your “un-belief” systems, professional scholars, and medicine” at me, go right ahead! Because I have overcome all kinds of abuse, and I will overcome your nasty, opinionated, comments as well! I am not actually here for you anyway! Like I said, I am here for those who NEED to Believe! Not here for those who live in doubt, fear, and are incapable of understanding the power of wisdom and mindfulness!

Real Help for Addicts

I know it’s not easy admitting we need help, or facing our difficult situations, but if you are still here, you have a purpose and there is more for you. Let’s make a difference in your life, your family’s life, and in the life of those who suffer from across the nation. So, to start I want to begin with some obvious facts about addiction that keeps addicts not only stuck in addiction but never really living life they feel is “normal”.

Facts that keep you stuck in Addiction

  1. “Recovery” keeps us in Recovery forever. Call it a “bad habit” instead, and really overcome it. Move on! (Easier said than done, I know)
  2. Mindset is everything. You’re living in the old life. As long as the person you were exists, you’ll never Live as a new person in a new environment, with a new life.
  3. You feel sorry for yourself. (Constantly Blaming others and not facing your issues keeps you in a state of making “excuses and justifying” your addictions)
  4. You keep thinking and saying your life is too hard! (Remember someone else always has it harder and they get through it)
  5. You make excuses! Once you decide to change your life, you have to stop making excuses “why you can’t live life”!
  6. You’re not thankful for your life and the opportunities that you DO have available to you right now. (Fill up with Gratitude)
  7. You keep dwelling on the past and on the shit that pisses you off! Learn something new, love today, Let go of the past and Let GOD guide you to new paths!
  8. You must step forward if you ever want to move ahead. (Do something different than before)
  9. SUCK IT UP! Life is hard sometimes, we all have hard times, learn from it, grow from it, and discover new ways because of it.
  10. You are not mindful of your own thoughts, emotions and actions. Become aware of the body, mind, soul connection.
  11. Stop worrying about everyone else! Focus on YOU!!! And ONLY YOU! 
  12. Learn to Date yourself before you date someone else. (Get to know yourself and learn to love yourself first and foremost)
  13. “Be single not settled” (Know what you want before you settle for what you don’t want)
  14. Don’t make any big decisions. Don’t make big purchases unless it’s to help you learn grow and expand in a healthier environment.
  15. Express the expectations you have for others. (But remember to Do what YOU say, and say what YOU do)
  16. You give up to easily on the things YOU want. Shit is hard, deal with it and push forward but don’t give up so easily!
  17. Stop listening to the belief systems that are contrary to your inner beliefs
  18. Discover your new path that excites you.
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By doing all the above you allow yourself to begin healing. You then become more aware and capable of making better decisions moving forward. When you become your OWN person, your belief system works for you and your purpose in life, Bringing you complete joy, happiness and abundance. Here is the kicker that I have learned about addiction centers. “They say they want to help us ‘recover’, yet the word alone keeps our mental state in “recovery” forever”. And I know many of you don’t want to go to the meetings and be reminded of yur addiction week after week, year after year. If you don’t get right in your head, you will be stuck in a place where people are constantly looking at you like “you’re the problem”! Instead of getting to the actual source to overcome it completely you will be fighting with people who don’t care to know the real you! Don’t get me wrong. I’m not totally “anti-rehab center’. I just have my own system to overcome addiction by eliminating words that distort the mindset. And the process to actually “overcome” addiction is less complex than most people make it. I can tell you this, most addicts don’t want to just live life as a “recovering addict”. The label sucks and it keeps us stuck thinking of our past personality, our past environments and always talking about our past traumas. That is not fixing anything, and it dam sure is not helping anyone overcome addiction, depression, manic behavior or helping them live a happier more fulfilled life. My system is not for everyone, and that is okay!

Get my system and help beat addiction today!!!

I am one person I don’t have the means or time to help everyone. I am not trying to change the entire world. That would be nearly impossible. But I do believe I can change a small piece of the worlds puzzle. The pieces filled with people who feel unique and different and want to belong and not just exist. “Nobody wants to exist in this world without purpose and meaning”. No one wants to just exist feeling stuck living in other people’s beliefs systems. Isn’t that why we are screaming through social media, protesting and causing havoc right now? No one person was created to live life uncomfortable and unknown! And so, not everyone has to like what I say but we should all be open minded to hear what others have to say. If I can resonate and impact one life and that life goes on to help another, then I have not only made my ripple effect into the world to make it a better place, but I also felt loved, in unity with another human. I felt appreciated and special because I helped another, person. I didn’t’ feel neglected because of my trauma but instead I used it to help others overcome or avoid it completely. I didn’t feel alone in my thoughts, ideas, or emotions. because I got vulnerable, and someone said “YES YES! I FEEL THAT! I HEAR THAT! I RESONATE WITH THAT!” And that is what every single individual wants right now. Right? Not just addicts or the mentally ill, but all humans crave empathy, compassion, and acceptance.

For those of us that have always felt special, unique, and different it is important that we learn to accept ourselves before we allow the world to make us feel unworthy because we are different! Because that is where addiction begins. Some of us find it easy to make it day to day with our daily struggles, while others choose to destroy themselves in the struggle. I have lost so many friends, family, and loved ones due to this “addiction” label! And the many other Labels that keep people abandoned and mistreated. Today, I am DONE! I am just done being quiet! And I’m done watching so many loved ones die because they are being labeled! I am done watching this world divide us because of our differences. WE ALL BLEEED RED! It doesn’t have to be this way! We can all be different and live a happy and fulfilled life in the same world! It is a choice! It’s a mindset!!!!

I don’t understand how I Made it through without rehab, and other people didn’t make it a year out of rehab! Yet they went to the professionals! They went to the meetings! They took the medications! And Here I am, and they’re gone! I don’t understand why so many people keep doing the same thing over, and over again, knowing the success rate of addiction is not getting better! As doctor Joe Dispenza says, “This is not the time of just knowing, this is the time to be doing”! There is too much information out there right now, for us to be doing the same damn thing, year after year, trying to get better results! Most rehab centers are lacking! Let’s start doing better! Let’s start listening to the people who know better! The people who have been through it. Let’s stop shutting out other options and start listening to all the different ideas of those who have taken the journey. Stop underestimating the power of the mind and medicating everything! You know chemicals cause reactions so why do we continue to medicate and cause more of an imbalance before we even clean out the system completely of all toxins? And I mean the exterior and interior! Let’s try harder to find a common denominator with addiction so that we can pinpoint the problem before it happens! Let’s take a journey together and learn how to beat addiction and overcame it FOREVER! Let’s work harder to remove all addictions from our life and learn to be mindful of our thoughts, emotions, and actions so that we can avoid and prevent bad habits like this one. We are capable of coming up with a solution so we can avoid “overdoses” from happening in the future.

Are you aware that most addictions begin when life throws something at us that we are unable to manage, cope or deal with? We basically pick up bad habits like drugs, alcohol, sex, gambling, and the like, to numb ourselves from our own reality! That’s right! We act out by doing things that numb us mentally, emotionally, and physically from the events that are happening in life. If we can acknowledge that, we can limit the addiction rate by teaching our children to cope with their issues at a younger age. We must start a new cycle by teaching our children awareness.  However, awareness must start with the parents first! The home is where we listen, learn, observe, experience, and build belief systems. When we are not mindful of these things and we just live in a state of “going through the motions”, these things define our character and determine the paths we take in life.

Maybe we should begin this journey with “awareness” for people to be better parents so that the children can learn how to cope with life. Then again it should probably start with the parents, right? As parents are the ones that should be leading their children without the dependency on substance abuse, or any other bad habits that can become addictions. Parents should lead their kids to experience proper skills for how they should properly manage life when struggles come along.  Listen, life is going to happen! That is just LIFE! You can be 100% certain life will come down on you at some point!

But without being faced with bad or difficult times, you wouldn’t even know what good even looks like!  I hate to break it to you, but you must learn how to maintain yourself during the ups and downs of your own journey through life! Life is not going to be unicorns and rainbows all the time! That is fantasy world, and the fact of life is this, sometimes we need to hit rock bottom to know where we want to go! Your personal journey would have no balance without the GOOD AND BAD experiences! If it was all good, you would never have a reason to push forward into newness! Yes, I said “NEWNESS”! Don’t you want to have new experiences, new relationships, new environments, and a new life?

If you never experience anything different you will never experience anything new. How do you think humans learn and grow? We experience life, good and bad, and we become stronger for it! How about we try to find solutions to our struggles with more poise, instead of getting angry, depressed, or frustrated. By acting out we are placing a label on ourselves and as we go through life, and when we do that, we give permission for “the professionals” to call us clinically depressed, bipolar, manic, an addict, etc. And we end up with labels placed on us based on our behavior. Society says, “just give them prescription medications” (drugs). Which keep us unfocused, loopy, and completely unaware mentally, spiritually and physically”. I say, “become aware of your environment, your circumstances, your conditions, and yourself ‘mentally, spiritually, and physically and learn to love all that you are”. Love all the messy parts of yourself and all the blessings you’ve already received, because it makes you who you are!

My past addiction is not even something I think about anymore. Accept when I am trying to feed into someone who is in recovery or currently in their addiction. Today, I can actually go out and have a drink and live a normal life without thinking I am going to have a relapse! I never worry about relapsing and my family is not worried about me overdosing or getting back on drugs when my life gets a little difficult! Adversity is part of life; we are all going through something. Regardless of what “the professionals” teach us, addiction is just a bad habit, and habits can be broken! Like the habit of working too much and not paying attention to your kids. Or using your phone too much and not even being present with the people who you say you love! Or continuously lying to your loved ones because you gambled all your bill money away. So, if anyone tells you that it’s a disease and it can be treated but not cured, they’re lying!!! Your addiction is a bad habit and habit can be broken!

I think alcohol and drug use is the culprit of most illnesses like aids, STDs, HIV, and many other diseases. I don’t believe it has anything to do with race color or ethnicity. Unless we are talking about statistics based on an individual’s beliefs. I am not going to talk about that right now. For that sake of this article, I am sticking to topic, which is addiction. So, what I do believe is that depression, psychological disorders, and trauma cause people to resort to drugs, alcohol, and other substance abuse, and addictions. So, there is a cycle that we ignore in “addiction”, and that is, they are just people with a bad habit caused by some trauma or underlining issue they have not learned to manage or cope with. BOTTOM LINE!!! Why do we treat the use of drugs and alcohol as a disease with more drugs? It makes no sense to me!

One Solution to Overcoming Addiction

Let’s lose the label altogether and treat these people as regular human beings with just a “bad habit”. They are choosing to live a lifestyle that they have become accustomed to for some reason. And as a friend, family member or professional therapists, our only job is to help them overcome this addiction by helping them discover their WHY. That way we can help them learn the HOW to stop! And please, when they want help, they will send signs and ask for help and that is when we should help. But I guarantee most families had a chance to help early on and failed to listen! Because people don’t listen anymore! They’re too busy talking listening to their own voice. Everyone is out for themselves, and everyone is so quick to judge others without looking in the mirror at their own reflection. Many people have become selfish, greedy, power hungry, narcissists who don’t listen to their loved ones. They sit back and judge them when they don’t agree with a specific belief system and yet, they refuse to listen, and I mean really listen! This behavior has gotten so out of control because poeple don’t see the signs of a person crying for “HELP” before they progress into something dangerous or into unhealthy habits! So instead of friends, family, and professionals helping these individuals, we unintentionally make the problem worse. When we pretend everything is fine it only allows more time for our problems to fester and build! Making people feel like their thoughts, feelings, and emotions are abnormal is a dysfunctional way to treat someone to make change. And maybe they are completely dysfunctional. I have had some dysfunctional thoughts myself back in the day. But for that same reason, instead of me seeking help, I chose to save myself and almost died in the process!

The divine will catch you when you fall

but you must be the one to get up!

Christina Ditzel

Continue to Part 2 | “How to overcome addiction”. Where I will go over step-by-step instructions to overcome addiction. I will give you simple steps for the addict, and for family, friends and professionals to discover new ways of helping these individuals. Because at the end of the day, EVERYONE has changes to make. Not just the addict!

If you need more advice in other areas of your life, please comment below, and follow me on social media. You can find my PODCAST at ZEN LENZ MEDIA ON SPOTIFY. or just grab my book “Hot mess to totally blessed” on Amazon Today. This is how you begin your journey into an abundant life. Living in abundance is a lifestyle choice…

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Finding Perfection in your Imperfections

CHRISTINA DITZEL Leave a comment

Photo by Maria Eduarda Loura Magalhu00e3es on Pexels.com

Are you feeling less then enough? Does your life suck and stay the same year, after year? Do you know why? Because of one simple common denominator…YOU! You don’t see your perfection in your imperfections! If you don’t get this, I promise you will be here next year looking up the same type of articles looking for solutions to all your problems. I get it, I’ve been right where you are and there are so many seasons that come back around to make me reflect and redefine myself. So, while you read on, please don’t for one second think that I am judging you or being opinionated. I am just very familiar with the cycle of playing the comparison game and zooming in on my imperfections.

We get so caught up in comparing ourselves to others that we never find our own perfection in our imperfections. Actually, you are perfect because of your imperfections! If you don’t listen and start DOING something different today, I guarantee next year you will be sitting in the same place trying to figure out why your life still sucks! If you are not happy with your job, your relationships, your health, your financial situation, your living arrangement, your shitty car, or anything in your life, listen up! Because today, you could change your life forever!

I know you don’t want to hear this, but the real reason your unhappy is simple…YOU! You don’t see anything good in your life, you complain about all the things you don’t have in your life, you don’t think YOU need to change or do anything, and you have literally convinced yourself that everyone else is the problem. Well, I hate to break it to ya’, but the truth is, YOU are the reason you’re not happy, and YOU and your thoughts are the reason you are so miserable! It is time to hold yourself accountable and own up to your part!

Getting in the right Mindset

You have a mindset that says “everyone else is the problem”, so you don’t even see your own flaws long enough to adjust your approach to life. You sit dwelling on all the things wrong in life and never see the good in anything. If you ever want a life that doesn’t suck, you need to do these 3 things…..

  1. You need clarity
  2. You need some new ideas
  3.  And you need to see things through an entirely different lens, starting TODAY!

When we “THINK” everyone else is the problem, or that everyone else has it better or easier than we do, we never look thought a lens that is clear. It is foggy and the reflection in the mirror is covered with ego. We don’t focus our attention on our own thoughts, our own emotions, or our own actions, and that is a real issue.

See what happens is, you focus all your energy on complaining about the people around you and yet, you don’t even realize that you are the one that is unhappy! There is something deep down under the surface that you are not facing, and other people are triggering these emotions in your subconscious mind with their words and actions. How can you sit and gossip or complain about anyone else when you can’t even sit with yourself long enough to determine the things that hurt you and why they hurt you?

Even the people who cut you off on the road, you get so upset at them, and yet, they could be rushing to the hospital because they just got a call that their kid is dying. And all they want to do is go save their kid or at least get to say goodbye. You don’t know what other people are going through and it’s not your job to worry about them. You are only responsible for your own life. You need to worry about yourself first and focus on all the good in your life. You need to dig deep into your life and figure out why you act and react the way you do on a daily basis, Until you start having some real appreciation for your own life, stop blaming other people for your problems. Because only YOU can make or break your life!

You are responsible for your life!

When you wake up in the morning, do you even smile when you realize you get another day? Do you kiss the guy or girl laying next to you? Do you go and say good morning to your kids, do you get up and make yourself and or your family a healthy breakfast? Like, where are your thoughts when you wake up first thing in the morning? And the same for your evening. What do you go to bed thinking about? What do you leave your family thinking about before they go to bed?

“Where your thoughts go your energy flows”

Your mind should be focused on you and your own life. Do those people have some hold on you that you feel the need to allow everyone else to have control over your thoughts, feelings and emotions? Do you mean to tell me that you don’t even appreciate your life enough to “Think on It”? That other people and their life is more important than you, your spouse, your kids, your job and your life? No! I don’t believe that for one minute!  

If all you can do is think about other people and how they have issues, or how they effect you, maybe it’s time to reflect on what’s going on under the surface, don’t you think? Maybe you complain because other people have what you don’t have and that is only because you are not willing to put in the work that they did. So, let me help you see through a new lens. You hate your own life but you don’t want to take the actions necessary to change it? WHY? What is under the surface that is holding you back from creating a better life yourself? Or maybe you don’t give yourself enough credit or enough thought. So, instead you waste your mind thinking about other people and their drama induced lifestyles? Yea, how’s that working for you? Again, you have to take back that energy that you give to everyone else, and give it to yourself. You are worth it!  

And here is another thing, you can’t help other people, if you can’t even help yourself! Listen, you can’t know better if you are not doing better! You don’t get to tell other people how they should live their life or complain about other people brining drama to you, if you’re allowing it! You are not doing anything different. So, when you can’t get right in your own life, you can’t give advice. If we are not being mindful of our own growth and our own mental state, we try to use any tactic to take the attention off of us. And that included, complaining about everything else around us. If you are not breathing, living, proof of the light, you can’t talk about the light! It makes you a dictator. And no one likes a dictator! You can’t lay down rules for someone else, that you don’t follow yourself. It’s just wrong on so many levels. And if you are a parent and you’re doing this, STOP IT NOW! Get right in your own life, then lead your children by “being the example”!

Look, the most inspirational individuals in life are those who express their true essence by admitting their flaws and encourage us to embrace ours. If you can’t own up to your own mistakes, you never learn from them, and you never acknowledge why you do them in the first place. And until you realize “WHY” you do these things, you can’t ever make peace with them, and you won’t ever move past them. If you ever want to experience a life of fulfillment, you need to make peace with yourself, (all your past events, mistakes and actions), accept yourself as you are now and when you fall short, and understand that “you CAN seek perfection in your imperfections”.

There is “perfection” in “im-perfection”

I became who I am TODAY, by accepting all my “imperfections” as things that make me “perfect” in who I want to be TOMORROW. So, I don’t focus on who I was or even who I currently am, but rather who I want to be. Of course, I had to reflect on my past to understand my thoughts and why I act and react the way I do. But once I broke through the surface, I was able to rise above it! Looking through a lens of weakness, gave me strength for an opportunity to make peace with my imperfections. I was able to move past my mess, and continue through life striving for a better version of myself. I am a better mother, a better daughter, and I am a better friend for it. NO I am not perfect by any means, but I strive ALWAYS for a better version of myself. I always want to be “BETTER NOT BITTER”!

Furthermore, because I am aware that my mess no longer “defines me”, I am very mindful that my mess continues to help me “find me”. If I never opened myself up to the possibilities of being an “imperfect person”, I wouldn’t know what my perfect self even looked like. There would be nothing to compare myself to accept other people. By not owning up to our mistakes in our own life, we limit ourself from learning how to become a better version of ourselves. And as a result, we stay stuck in trying to be like everyone else and never find our true essence.

Agin, I am not saying I am perfect! I am not saying to strive for perfection! Trust me, I know I am far from perfect, and we will kill ourselves striving for perfection. We all know there is no such thing as a “perfect person”. So, lose the stigma of perfection, but allow a little grace.

We must be aware that if we are working on all the things we don’t like about ourselves, we are always going to be working towards a better version of “me”! And when we strive for a better version of “me”, we don’t seek acceptance from outsiders, and we don’t need other people’s approval. We just need to be our authentic, happy, self, and as a result, we will attract the same kind of authentic happy people! Because at the end of the day, where your energy flows your energy goes! So, if your energy is happy, peaceful and loving, you will attract happy, peaceful, and loving people. If you are toxic, gossipy, and broken, you will attract toxic, gossipy, and broken people.

So how? How do we live happy about our life? How can we end the drama, stress, anxiety, worry and fear? How can we get our minds to focus on good things and stop being victims of all the messy things? How can we stop focusing our energy on outsiders and embrace our unique self?

6 tips to help you thrive and become your authentic, happy, self.

  1. Write it down. Write down everything you want, and everything you don’t want in your life. (Face the past, the mess, and crap you don’t talk about. Find out why you attracted those things in the first place and recognize them, so you don’t bring them into your future)
  2. Don’t do it alone. Find a mentorship you can trust and good people to walk with you into the next season of life. You must have people who you can go to just to vent, get advice from, and get clarity when you are clouded and can’t make rational decisions.
  3. Do things that help you get grounded. Do you enjoy gardening and nature? Being outdoors can help you stay grounded. (Beach, park, nature, earth, hiking, biking, and anything that keeps you in balance, moving, and focused)
  4. Seek your true essence. Do things that bring joy to yourself, “by yourself”. Do something you love, and something you can do alone (do something without distractions that YOU love and avoid influence from the outside world).
  5. Exercise and eat healthy foods. Your health and mental state are important. Clarity can only come when you are healthy mentally and physically. (Good food stimulates the brain function and helps maintain high energy).
  6. Build a firm foundation. Faith keeps us strong and moving forward with purpose so that we never fall too far behind when life gets difficult or messy.
Get the help you need now

These tips may seem simple and silly, but they are helpful. If you want a better life you need to know what “better” means to YOU! By writing it down you will know what you want, and what you don’t want in and out of your life. You can’t determine the things you want or don’t want if you don’t sit and visualize the reality of what it was and what it is now. Just letting your mind wonder off on its own is not healthy, and it is not giving you clear space to identify what areas of your life you need to adjust. When you write it down you are forced to focus your mind and energy on a specific area, and that is when the magic happens. “Allow vision and creativity to manifest”, and a new life and purpose is established.

“You are perfect in your imperfections,

 But you must accept your imperfections,

To see your perfections!”

Christina Ditzel

So, to conclude this article, go through the list above and write it down. You must get a visual of what you want. If you don’t want your life to suck anymore, you must turn to things that don’t suck the life out of you. Instead turn to things that give life to you! Persevere in the things that light you up inside. Think on things that make your heart smile, that get you excited for tomorrow, and that brings a joy to every part of your being. Do things that make you feel happy, fortunate and blessed. Be around people who lift your spirit and elevate your soul. Work harder for the things that you want, and spend less time on the things that are distracting you and holding you back.

May you find the peace and love that lives in your soul, because when you do, your light will shine so bright it will begin to make changes that will make this world a better place to live.

“Have a Desire for life,

So that others may see what it means to have a LIFE”

Christina Ditzel

If you need more advice in other areas of your life, please comment below, join my channel on YouTube, or just grab my book “Hot mess to totally blessed” on Amazon Today. This is how you begin your journey into an abundant life. Living in abundance is a choice…

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3 Stages that help you Find Success in all areas of Life

CHRISTINA DITZEL 2 Comments

Photo by Seven Storm JUHASZIMRUS on Pexels.com

Whether you’re looking for success in your relationships, business, parenting, health or any other area of life, the fact is, we all want success. So many people ask me “how do you do it”? How do you successfully single parent your children, run your own business, and still find time to write and do the things you enjoy? And you know what I tell them? “Less work and more self-communication”. I know what your thinking, “SELF-COMUNICATION?” Let me explain.

This journey has not been easy by any means and I still come across obstacles. But I have always been the kind of person that if I want something bad enough, I will find a way. If “life happens” in the process, well, I find it as a blessing to send me into a new direction. But the key is to always find a solution. But how? How do you find solutions when you feel like there is no options?

Okay, let’s be real, there are 5 myths of success:

  1. Success means “comfort”. Never struggle and never unhappy. You’re always comfortable.  
  2. Success in relationships means you’re with the person who is perfect for you and you’ll never fight because you have money.
  3. Success means having lots of money, and lots of free time which allows you to go on vacations, sit on the beach with a laptop, and tell other people what to do while you sit and relax enjoying the fruits of your “non-labor”.
  4. Successful parenting means I will be ”Super mom/dad” and my kids will be better then everyone else’s kids because they won’t want for nothing.
  5. Success means a healthy lifestyle and I will always look like a “supermodel”.

Well I am here to tell you that if you think success looks like that, you have a LOT to learn. But, don’t worry because I am going to give you 3 tips that will get you on the road to your success today. The people who become “BOSSES” are the one’s who are willing to “do and dare”.  So if your still here, the question you have still lingers? How??? How did I become successful? Hang in thee because I am about to give you 3 tips to become successful in any areas of your life?

Some of you have heard me say, “SRA SRA SRA” and you still don’t get it! But this really is my key to success in all areas of life. When life knocks me on my ass, yes, I do get irritated, yes, I do get frustrated, and yes, I do hate hitting the floor and falling flat on my face! Who the hell doesn’t hate failing? But one thing I know for sure is that when I am beginning to feel comfortable, I know “shit is about to hit the fan! It is just the balance of life! “A Smooth Ride” is what we all want! It’s that comfort zone we all desire! But unfortunately, “comfort” doesn’t get our asses up off the coach! Does it? No! And it definitely doesn’t get us moving into the unknown or being excited about the unexpected and uncomfortable events in out life! Sometimes, we have to fall to get back up and be forced to move into a forward and up motion.

So, let’s get to it! Shall we? My method is super easy, and you can use these three stages to build success in any area of life. Wealth, health, success, relationships, with family, or even personal goals. I do this to get clarity of my circumstances and realign my thoughts and get refocused daily. So, what the hell is this “SRA SRA SRA” already?  And why is this the key to success in all areas of my life? Let me explain these three easy steps to success…

  1. S stands for STOP – it’s the stage is a reminder STOP IN YOUR TRACKS
  2. R is for REALIGN – this stage is a reminder to REALIGN YOUR THOUGHTS
  3. A is for ASSESS – this stage is a reminder to Assess YOUR FOCUS

Okay let’s go into a little more detail of each.

STAGE 1 is S and stands for STOP! The “S” means you have to SSshhhhh “Stop in your tracks”. Stop and quiet yourself the second you realize you’re getting upset, depressed, angry, frustrated, scared, or any other negative emotion that comes across. You need to recognize this emotion before you react! and just sit in the moment and say this a few times until you bring your heart rate and mood back down to calm level. “SRA SRA SRA” This is where you actually realize “what you’re currently doing is not working and you acknowledge you want some change in your life”.

STAGE 2 is R and stands for REALIGN! You have to realign your thoughts. Once you’ve taken in the moment and the situation and allowed yourself to soak in the situation you can now get a handle on it! You acknowledged your current situation; you are able to make space to sit with yourself and your own thoughts and begin to gain clarity. This is by far the most important step and most people won’t do this! And do you know why? Because most people never spend 5 or 10 minutes alone in their own thoughts long enough to figure out what the hell they want. But they will spend hours of wasted time browsing social media and googling how other people think and strategies! That might even be how you found me. But see, I don’t sugar coat shit on this site, and I don’t do the work for you. That would be doing you a disservice! I want you to dig real deep into your own mind and make your own choices. Because by doing this you will begin to “RE- THINK” everything in your life. If you never take the time to sit with yourself and figure out what YOU want in your life, and I mean really think how you look at success? Yes, Happy people are Healthy people! Because they have CLARITY of their self, they live with intention, they know where they’ve been, where their going and where they never want to go again! They have complete awareness of the desires of their heart and the direction of their life. Thats why they are happy. They only focus on the things that bring them joy and happiness and eliminate the things that don’t. Start to realign your thoughts and learn as much as you can in stage two. Find a way to get to know yourself, your desires and your skills or you won’t be able to move forward. WRITE IT DOWN!!! Get your thoughts aligned with a new focus and in a new direction. Then you can move to step 3!

STAGE 3 is A and stands for Assess. This is the fun part! This is the ACTION stage. This is where you have to ASSESS your focus! You sit down and get a vision of everything you learned about yourself, your situation, and figure what thoughts in step two empowered you to want change. Where do you need change? How are you going to begin making change? This is where you focus all your energy on the actions that will move you into living life more intentionally. I have an entire series on this which you can find on my podcast. Look, here is the kicker! If you don’t begin taking actions to make a plan to do something different in your life, you’re going to be here next week, next month, or next year wondering the same dam thing. How do I become more successful? Why do all my relationships suck? Why does bad shit keep happening to me? WHY? WHY? WHY???? So, begin taking steps to learn how to have new thoughts, and begin taking actions that get you moving closer to success, happiness and abundance in all areas of life.

These three steps are my key ingredient to finding success! Please leave your questions or comments I love hearing from my readers. If you need more guidance in other areas of your life, please purchase “Hot Mess To Totally Blessed” today on Amazon or go to: ZEN LENZ MEDIA to listen to my latest podcast!

For coaching, or personal advice, please contact me!

“May you find your success by looking at your life through a new Lenz”

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Author Christina Ditzel

Life’s Ripple Effect Revealed

CHRISTINA DITZEL 21 Comments

By reading my content you enter into my Ripple Effect! Continue this journey and you will become the light in a world of darkness!

Welcome To My World…

Make Waves but Stay Humble!

“The Ripple Effect” is a subject I speak about towards the end of my book “Hot Mess to Totally Blessed”. The words and actions we use to express and articulate ourselves has an impact on others and makes waves in our society. In all our actions, whether they have a positive or negative effect, those vibes get sent off as energy into the people around us. “Having an influence on 1% of the world, has a much larger impact than we can even imagine”. So many of us are so caught up in our own current situations that we miss so much blessing in the physical realm, that is right in front of us.

For example, as I write this, I am experiencing a couple of struggles in my life. However, I refuse to allow a few of life’s obstacles to prevent me from experiencing the light while I am in a dark season. Life is nothing other than a never-ending ripple effect of events. The fact that I love writing and inspiring others, is what drives me. However, my awareness tells me that with every struggle, I get a little stronger. So, I try to embrace all the seasons of life with poise, purpose, and excitement. The only way to avoid dark pathways in life is when we become so aware that we realize the things that will eventually drag us down the rabbit hole. These are the things we think we can’t escape. I never want to disregard my dreams, goals or purpose driven life. Helping others find their “Zen” and live life full of Abundance, brings me true joy inside. Watching a person transform is amazing. And to know I was a part of that is like water to my soul.

So, just because life gets a little difficult in the moment, we should never allow our “ripple”, to be negative vibrations of dark energy. Don’t allow the difficult times in life prevent you from receiving true joy. Furthermore, don’t allow other people hold you back with their negativity because you can make an impact in the lives of others who desperately need you and your gifts. So, when people try to steer me in a different direction I have to sit with God and ask some questions. Why would I stop doing what I love just because life is happening around me right now? I just wouldn’t! I will always push forward so my ripple effect remains positive and effective. “The larger the ripple, the more I expand”. Besides, how shady would it be if I was living contrary to what I was trying to preach and teach in my blogs and books? I just wouldn’t do that! If I am honesty, I have done that and I can tell you from experience, it SUCKS! You lose yourself; you lose your energy, and you lose your focus! Today I sit and edit this article, because I don’t want to just “preach the Ripple Effect” I want to be the example of the “Ripple Effect”. In this very dark time in 2022 after covid, I am eager to prove that it is possible to shine a little light toward others, even when life seems a little darker than we had hoped for.

What is the Ripple Effect?

The Ripple Effect is When an event or action causes a continuous spread”. As stated above, this can be a positive or a negative effect. In today’s society, with all the social media sites, we witness this sort of thing happening all the time. People make an impact based on their words and actions in Reels, TikTok’s, YouTube videos, or other content they push out. Whether it’s the bully picking on someone or the hero who stands up to the bully, we all choose our battles and we spread a message based on those choices we make. So, what is a ripple effect? It’s a trend! Something that happens good or bad that spreads through the world we live in. The most exciting thing about the Ripple Effect is that we have the power to choose if it is Light or Darkness.

Why Mindfulness of The Ripple Effect is Important

As we live each day experiencing events in our workplace, at school, driving in traffic, on vacation, at church, or just in our everyday life; “Mindfulness of thyself”, is the difference between positive or negative impacts. The ripple effect we make daily causes a huge impact in our community and in our world!

  1. It is as simple as one single person who makes a ripple effect of change with their words and actions.
  2. It’s the decisions people make daily that turns a bad situation into an experience that leads to a life of abundance, or a life of suffering.
  3. It is a sick child who spreads the word of Grace by giving back in her most tragic moment.
  4. It is a single mom who struggles every day to put food on the table for her growing children, but still helps a stranger at the gas station.
  5. It is the CEO of a company who promotes the guy who delivers mail to his floor; because he goes above and beyond with a smile on his face, even though he has a sick wife at home that he struggled to support.
  6. It is a father that works 3 jobs just so he can buy his daughter her dream dress for prom.

All these actions cause not just a small impact on one person, but it created a ripple effect on multiple families. So, why the ripple effect? Why am I even writing an entire article about this topic? Because it is important to understand that our own mindfulness creates awareness of our own words and actions. And by being aware we can move through our day knowing that we have an impact in this world. We can choose to cause the people around us to either hurt or we can choose to help the people around us so they can be blessed to help others. Causing this ripple effect of positivity.

“Mindfulness of the ripple effect”, gives hope to the lost, it offers encouragement to the weak, it gives confidence to the insecure, and it provides healing to the sick. Most of all, it creates a continuous spread of light in the darkness of the world we live in. That is, if we choose to do it in a positive healthy, meaningful manner.

That is why I sit here today, in my own struggles and write about Ripple Effects. I love creating a ripple effect of light in the darkness! Instead of pondering on the things I can’t control in my own life, I leave it to GOD and continue to be a blessing in others life. Here in this moment with you, writing for my readers, my wish is that I offer you a small piece of hope, love, encouragement, and confidence! I would rather show you how easy it is to “change the mindset” by being the example. See most people show you their success after they have attained it. But I am no one! I am a struggling single mom, a cleaning lady, and only have about 267 followers on Instagram at the time I am writing this.

The Darkness That Blocks Our Light

See, although I published the book, created the podcast, write all the blogs, and continue to tweak and build programs that will help transform people’s lives, I have not seen any return on these things. In fact, all this time I’ve invested I expected to have sold many more of my books, had a successful podcast, have at least a few thousand followers, and have at least been asked to speak on one stage! But NO! All this work and I don’t have any of that! I sit back and watch scammers make millions off vulnerable people all day long. And yet here I am honest, genuine, hardworking and trying to make a simple living, and continue to struggle. So, I am very familiar with the Darkness that comes in and tries to block our light that we are so desperate to shine. Yes, it is frustrating to the core! We all want to be successful!

I get it!!! However, what keeps me going is the feeling I get when I read a comment on my blog, or someone reaches out to DM me for help & advice, or to share how something I said or did help them move mountains. By doing these things, without expectation of a reward, recognition, or money, I not only feel better about my own situation, but I am open and willing to helping others in the process. Every time I step out of my own selfish desires, I leave room to offer time and space to another human. And when I do that, I am blessed in just knowing I contributed my knowledge, gifts, and talents to help another soul. It makes the journey much more exciting in the midst of the storm.

Help Those Who Help Themselves So They Can Help Others

I don’t’ want to just exist in this world, I want people who cross paths with me to always find meaning behind our connection. Meeting and speaking to strangers can bring clarity in the mess and help us all live with a sense of joy, blessing, and abundance. Truth is, the only way to find clarity in our mess, is by opening up our mind and looking at life, and all things, through a new lens. Changing the vibrations of our own thoughts and actions always creates room for positive ripple effects.

How You Can Create a Ripple Effect and Succeed at Anything

Is there anything you enjoy doing? Is there something you feel compelled to do or say? Are you allowing the negative ripple effects of others ruin your chances of a happy, successful life? Well, my advice to you is “DO WHAT YOU WANT AND DO THE THINGS YOU ENJOY DOING! SAY WHAT YOU FEEL IN YOUR HEART, ALWAYS DO WHAT YOU SAY YOU WILL, AND NEVER HOLD BACK!”

In most cases, these deeper ideas and feelings we have at our very core, is our intuition and our inner self leading us to success and fulfillment. Sometimes, we may overstep and get ourselves into trouble, but we learn in those times of hardship and struggle. Sometimes the only thing that holds us back is our own self-doubt and other times we have to trust God/Univers to take care of the things we have no control of. There will be times that we have lessons to learn and other times we must offer encouragement and provide healing to our self, before we can learn to do that for others.

Can I just add that, as humans we must always live in a state of mind that remains teachable! If we are not willing to learn something new and make changes in our own life, how can we preach and teach others to change the circumstances in their lives? We can’t be the light if we’re living in darkness. If we can’t give ourselves grace in difficult times, how can we extend grace to others in their difficult times?

So today, I sit here as living proof that we each have the power to cause a ripple effect in some way. I am doing it right now as a single mom and “struggling” author and influencer. Yes, we can do it while we are in our own darkness, but we also have to be mindful of how we extend ourselves. We can’t preach what we are not living proof of! Whether we tell it through words in books and blogs, create a program, or through the stories of your own struggles and gains in life, remember; our words and action have the power to make a difference. YOU have the power to make a difference in your community and in your world. You make change by taking a hold of that silent nudge at the core of your soul and taking action. You spread ripple effects “through and to the world around you”. With every act of kindness or act of disrespect, you have the power to cause a ripple effect that will impact your life and the life of those around you. Through teachability (allowing others to shine a light on you), the light in the ripple effect can help you succeed at anything your heart desires.

Awareness & Clarity in Our Ripple Effect

So, what ripple effect are you creating? What change are you making in your 1% of the world? And what is the vibration of your ripple effect in your life? Positive or negative? Good or bad? Are you being the light in the darkness no matter how dark your world is? Because I am here to tell you, when you look outward towards others instead of inward at yourself, life feels so much brighter and feels a hell of lot lighter. When we clean the foggy lens that we look through, sometimes we can find clarity through our own struggles. Discovering that the chaos actually makes us stronger can offer healing and blessing. Sometimes, the struggle is there to guide you back on track, and although it may seem to have high and lows in the ripple every now and again, the reflection of light on the waters of the storm will guide you. I promise if you can get mindful and present with yourself in the moment, the effect of ripples in life, well, it is extraordinary!

If you need more advice in other areas of your life, please comment below, join me on social media, help create a ripple effect by grabbing my book “Hot mess to totally blessed” or one of my journals on Amazon Today. This would help me get my content out to you and others, while also help you become teachable and begin your journey into an abundant life filled with positive ripple effects. Living in abundance is not just a choice, it’s in the actions that follow our choices…

Stay connected and follow the Author and stay tuned for Part 2 of “Ripple Effect”

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Thank you in advance for all your participation, support, and encouragement.

Much Love xo

Author Christina Ditzel