At one point in my life, I was very depressed. I had moved across the country to a city where I knew absolutely no one, had no friends yet, and had recently failed at a sales job so hardcore that I pretty much had spent the entire summer moping about.

If that weren’t enough, the apartment that I had rented (over the internet) was a roach infested hellhole, and I had apparently landed myself in the Hispanic part of town, which meant that many of my neighbors and I couldn’t communicate other than through body language and wild gesturing.

It wasn’t pretty.

I was starting a new college. I had transferred from Kansas State University to the University of Arizona, and I had no idea how I was going to make friends, let alone a difference in the world.

Within a year, I had an absolutely amazing circle of friends. The kind of friends where you don’t quite know what you did to deserve them, but whatever the hell it was you want to keep doing it. I had a leadership position that was beyond anything I could have imagined, a rich social life, I was helping to make the world a better place, and – most importantly – I was happy.

Genuinely happy.

When I moved, yet again, to a new city, I found myself reflecting on this experience. What did I do right to allow all that amazingness into my life? (By the way, that question alone is worth its weight in gold.) How did I go from shy, mopey girl to someone who was training college leaders?

It boiled down to one thing: Focus.

Focus

What I focused on, I was able to bring into my life. When you get down to it, it’s not any more complicated than that, but when you’re in the depression, the sadness, the guilt or whatever low vibration you may be stuck in, focusing on a happy thought can seem like an overwhelming task.  I know I often found it difficult.

I discovered a secret, though. I didn’t have to go from zero to so-happy-I-could-die. I could go for just a little bit happier, a little bit less mopey, and as long as I did it consistently, that was more than enough.

I didn’t even have to know where I wanted to end up. If I simply focused on what made me feel a little more alive, a little more vibrant, and chose to go one step closer to that, then the universe took care of everything else. The people showed up. The opportunities showed up. The mentors showed up. They were willing to work with me because I was willing to go just a little further than I had before.

I had something that they wanted to be around, and that’s the feeling of expansion. Because I was connected with my own spirit’s knowing, and was willing to lean into the expansion ever-so-slightly, everything fell into place. Magic happens when we allow ourselves to grow, and when we don’t try to control that growth.

If I spent only 30 minutes feeling good, and taking action in that happy place, that effortless place, success would be bound to come to me. The universe doesn’t need you to be happy 100% of the time (although it’s a lot of fun), it needs you to be willing to be just a little happier than you are right now in this instance.

Are you willing? Truly willing? If so, take the next step.

Meditate on it

You don’t have to know where you’ll end up, or even where you want to end up. The only thing you have to know is that you want to connect with the feeling of expansion and the aliveness that comes with it. Take 2-5 minutes and shut down your facebook, your email, and turn your phone off.

Relax. Feel your chest expand, and feel your heart reaching out. It doesn’t need a destination. It can reach out for the simple sake of reaching out. Sit in this state for just a few minutes. If that’s too long, then stay in it for a few breaths.

That’s all you need to revolutionize your life. A few focused breaths where you allow yourself to expand into your own growth and divinity.

Isn’t it a lovely world we live in?

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