Our April Hug event has now passed and I am without words to truly describe the impact this event has on me personallyy, the other huggers, those getting hugs, and simply those that walked past us with a big smile on their face. It is such a powerful feeling to me that I now choose to consciously recreate that feeling every day. Two days later, I’m still on a high from Saturday and can’t stop smiling.

Team Huggers were amazing at 20! Those sharing their Saturday afternoon with us included:

Past huggers:  Steffani, Lena, Jennifer,  Leila, Justen, and yours truly.

First time huggers: Kirsten, Juddha, Rossi, Justin, Shantai, Joe, Melissa, Joe, Tiffany and her son Renato, Michael, Chris, Melissa and Barbie.

Pictured below from left: Jennifer, Lena, hugee, and Kirsten

Pictured below from left: Justen, Shantai, Chris, Joe

Pictured above from left: Chris, Steffani (it’s so windy the sign doesn’t need to be held), and Joe. 

 Juddha (pictured above) a new Positive Focus Community Leader had a great reception to his first event. You’ll see him around a lot!

 For 2.5 hours we gave and received hundreds of hugs. I am simply in awe of the reception free hugs get and how people walk away happier than when they came. So many thank yous and that is what I needed are heard by all of us that I can’t imagine your spirits not being lifted.

One woman was a bit too enthused about our event and tried to man handle people into getting hugs. She eventually calmed down after it was explained our mission isn’t to force the issue but rather welcome people with open arms. The vast majority of people who chose to walk by without a hug, walked a way with a smile on their face.

 Then there was the kids on a school field trip from Morris, IL, who asked to join us in line. They joined us for over an hour and we ended up hugging even longer as their mom hadn’t come back yet to claim them. They were fun and hugging 30 more minutes was easy, although cold as it was really WINDY.

There was a fire chief who pulled his car up, got out and sternly asked us what we were doing - and then proceeded to get hugs and then drove off with his siren going and waving at us.

I wasn’t able to be everywhere, but the biggest hug I saw of the day happened to Michael (pictured below) as a group of high school kids all lunged on him at once and the entire group tumbled to the ground. Nobody was hurt and there was a lot of laughter as they all got up. 

Rossi (pictured below), who is often behind the Positive Focus photographs was able to get in there and enjoy the event herself.

Then there was Justin (pictured below)  who received hugs in March and looked us up, joined the community and came out to hug. I’ll share his story in the sharings portion as it is truly remarkable all on it’s own.

I wish I could show you every smile, every hug, and let you listen to the laughter and joy of the event. I’ve tried to capture it on camera and in words, and perhaps this will inspire you to join us next month or start a hug group in your community if you aren’t around Chicago. We held this event as a Global Hug Day as there were huggers in Toronto, Indianapolis, and a city in Australia. When I receive pictures from those events, along with Rossi’s pictures, my pictures, and anyone else who shares them from Saturday, I will create a video montage, as well as add the pictures to our website.

Community sharings:

“It couldn’t have been any more wonderful!”  ~ Steffani

“Amazing amazing amazing! The energy was off the charts!!!” ~ Rossi

“I love doing the hug events! It’s so much fun and a positive twist to stranger’s lives.”  ~ Lena

“This was awesome!!! I hugged so many people, felt so amazing, and I’m sure helped other people feel amazing too. the group was also really great—wonderful people to be around!” ~ Shantai

“It was so awesome meeting you all!!! It was such a great atmosphere and it set the tone for the rest of the day!!! I can’t wait until we do it again!!! Hugs to everyone!!!” ~ Barbie

“So after all the huggers left I decided to walk up to State and Division while holding my sign with great reception the whole way  including a girl getting out of her friends car to give me a hug and ran back to the car. I

then walked back to the park around 4:30 and stayed there for another 45 minutes then hit the road walking with the sign and a huge smile. I think I gave over 500 hugs up and down Michigan Ave. from Delaware all the way south to the Art Institute and then through Millennium park, where I learned free hugs are forbidden. Two people went and hugged the security guards walking me out! Then back North on Michigan Ave to Water Tower park again, where I stayed for about 20 minutes until 6:15pm, before going to meet a friend for dinner. Then I went to go see Blue Man Group. A positive show all around, by the way. As I was standing waiting to get in to the theater 20-30 people in the lobby area approached me. I had my sign backwards and checked it during the show, they recognized me and came and gave me and my friends one more hug, my friends were shy… keyword: were. My friends were amazed by the amount of people who seemed to be thoroughly touched today by our free hugs (all of ours) This was an amazing experience and I must say thank you… for organizing this and getting it going in Chicago.” ~ Justin

Thanks again for everyone participating and I look forward to May’s event. As a matter of fact, I plan to make include this more than once a month! Keep checking the calendar to see when you can join in.

Have you ever felt stuck to move forward? Stuck that you can’t find the right words to say? Stuck in fear? Stuck, stuck, stuck!! I had an aha moment on feeling stuck as I prepared to write today’s affirmative message, as yes, it’s actually Wednesday morning past the normal time I send this out - as I was stuck! I thought about writing about earth day and making little changes in your life to help Mother Earth. I thought about writing about fear and how it holds us back unnecessarily. I even thought about sending a past message and allowing myself to do so by saying even Oprah has reruns. But after writing the initial couple sentences, figuring out what quotes do I use , and coming up with a link to share, - I realized, I was stuck!

Then it hit me, why am I stressing about this message when in fact, worrying about it, is exactly what is keeping me from letting the words flow. So due to my own stuckness (yes, I’ve penned a new word), this message was born. So if there is anything in your life you feel stuck at, reframe it and see the endless ideas and possibilities that will flow from you when you choose to move forward. Release your stuckness from the ‘need to do’ and open yourself to allowing the ability to ’simply be’ flow through you.

“You may never know what results come of your action, but if you do nothing there will be no result.” ~ Gandhi

“There are no failures - just experiences and your reactions to them. ” ~ Tom Krause

“Failure is not falling down but refusing to get up.” ~ Chinese Proverb

Laughing at least 10 times a day. Laugh at the silly things you do. Laugh at the silly things you see. Laugh at the silly things you worry about as you realize worry keeps you stuck and laughter will free you.

Saying YAY Carol (insert your name of course) when you become aware of where you feel stuck, as awareness allows you to quickly move forward.

Saying YAY to yourself at least 10 times a day on the many ways you give to the world that you don’t see as a big deal. Those little things you do, do make a difference. When you give a smile to someone you are shining your light. When you open a door for someone you are showing they matter. When you open your heart and share your beauty, you lift the world energy.

Mostly, I invite you to be kind and gentle to yourself and simply have fun. Decrease your judgment of others and yourself. Exponentially grow your gratitude. Laugh big, love big, live big, and I guarantee your abundance in all aspects of your life will flow.

Have a fantastic week until next time.

~Carol

Looking for a way to stay focused on Living Life Fulfilled? Make sure to surround yourself with people who lift you up, inspire you, support you, and simply love to laugh and have fun.

“In every real man a child is hidden that wants to play.” ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

“Life’s like a play; it’s not the length but the excellence of the acting that matters.” ~ Seneca

“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.” ~ Plato

Do you remember all the different things that brought you happiness as a child? Do you remember when a puddle brought a smile to your face as you couldn’t wait to jump in it, rather than having to walk around it? Do you remember when snow meant sledding, snowmen, and snowball fights, rather than adding another hour to your commute? Do you remember having an active imagination and playing house, cowboys and Indians, cops and robbers? Or imagining ‘when I grow up I’m going to be an actor, singer, athlete, doctor, fireman, etc, etc’ and playing that role? Do you remember simply having fun and not worrying about the outcome?

How often do you allow your imagination to have a full out play time as an adult? In our busy schedules, we now have arranged appointments for kids to gather and play for a couple hours together called play dates. I highly recommend it as adults too!

For the next week, I invite you to schedule play dates for yourself by taking time to:

Activate your imagination each day to daydream about your dreams and desires. Feel them to be true, right here, right now.

Play out your perfect job as a place where you are an integral part of the team’s creativity, vision, success, and receive great compensation.

Play out your perfect relationship as a partnership based on open communication, absolute trust, tenderness, passion, and simply lots of fun and laughter.

Play out whatever it is you truly desire in your life for when you are in play mode, your resistance is down and fun has to occur.

Mostly I invite you to allow yourself the freedom to play, to dream, to love, to laugh, to be silly, to be loud, to be goofy, and to be childlike. As when you allow yourself to act out your dreams and desires and not take life so seriously, you will find your ‘adult self’ will see life as a big play date of love, adventure, success, and fun. Oh - and don’t forget to jump in the puddle!

Have a fantastic week until next time.

~Carol

Looking for a way to stay focused on Living Life Fulfilled? Make sure to surround yourself with people who lift you up, inspire you, support you, and simply love to laugh and have fun.

About Steffani

Steffani Fort LeFevour is an actress, a fitness specialist and an expert in the law of attraction and living your best life. She has been teaching the law of attraction to kids and adults for over 5 years and applying it in her own life for over 15 years. Her passion is to help others to focus on their ultimate lives and consciously create the life of their dreams.

Why Positive Focus? I believe that attitude is everything.  And that through our positive thoughts and our positive focus we can change our lives and change the world.

I am so excited that it’s spring as BASEBALL IS BACK. I love baseball and in particular the St. Louis Cardinals. It brings back so many great childhood memories for me and in particular the 1982 season where they won the World Series. It was my first World Series experience and that year their theme song was “Celebration” by Kool in the Gang. Come on - you all know this song, or you haven’t gone to a wedding or a sporting event in the last 25 years.
 

Celebrate good times, come on! (Let’s celebrate)
Celebrate good times, come on! (Let’s celebrate)

There’s a party goin’ on right here
A celebration to last throughout the years
So bring your good times, and your laughter too
We gonna celebrate your party with you

Come on now

Celebration
Let’s all celebrate and have a good time
Celebration
We gonna celebrate and have a good time

Have you ever thought about your life as a celebration? Do you spend time really getting into the feeling place of celebrating the greatness that is you and surrounds you? Do you recognize even the smallest event that brings a smile to your face as a celebration? I find it easy to celebrate the obvious events of promotions, new jobs, new relationships, great relationships, etc. How about celebrating those events and situations that usually carry a negative reaction?
 

Quotes of the day:

“The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.”   ~ Oprah

“I celebrate myself, and sing myself.”   ~ Walt Whitman

“The thing about performance, even if it’s only an illusion, is that it is a celebration of the fact that we do contain within ourselves infinite possibilities.”   ~ Sydney Smith
 

For the next week, I invite you to celebrate:
 
The rain on a dreary day as it nourishes the world around us.
 
The car honking at you and see it as a recognition that you are seen.
 
When you recognize your negative thoughts as you are becoming aware, and awareness is where change occurs.
 
YOU by knowing that whatever circumstance you find yourself in, you are a unique and amazing person and within that awareness is where your power lives.
 
Mostly, I invite you to celebrate the love being sent through this message as you are going to need to remember that when you can’t get the song “Celebration” out of your head. : )
 
Get going - celebrate YOU!

Last night we got together for our final meeting for “The Success Principles” and 13 of us finished off a great book. I highly recommend you reading this book as it has a wealth of information and we all have decided it will be good reference material..

It was really a great group of people and it looks like most of them plan to continue with the next book, “Happier Than God” by Neal Donald Walsch. Go to the event page and sign-up.

Group Sharings:

“loved it! I needed this tonight” ~ Dawn

 Have you ever wanted to be a movie star? How about a rock star? How about a sports star?  I invite you to become the biggest star of all and SHINE BRIGHT AND BRILLIANT as the lead performer in your own life.

Take a moment to sit with your dreams and desires and become crystal clear of your vision. Quiet your mind so what others expect you to be is insignificant and you can reach that feeling place deep within. That place where you dreamt as a child of stardom.

Once you become clear of your vision that instantly turns the light on. Now it’s time to start shooting your life. See yourself playing that role of your dreams. See yourself being surrounded by a loving supporting cast and that the retakes are a simple step to let you perfect your path.

And when the time comes for action, if you’ve quieted your mind, breathed in a deep knowing you are an amazing star, the inspired action will come. You will run into the person you’ve needed to talk to for the last week. You’ll hear a conversation between others that sends you to look into something you’ve been thinking about. Or you will simply have what some people call ‘coincidences’ take place showing you that you are on the right path.

Is action required to making your dreams come true? I believe yes with a heavy dose of ’inspiration’ attached. The action may be sitting silent and getting in touch with your truth and ridding yourself of negative self talk.  Inspired action feels good. Inspired action feels right. Inspired action feels fun. Inspired action might be a stretch from your norm, but it’s an excited stretch not a fearful one.

Quotes of the day: 

“When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the action steps.”  ~ Confucius

“You are the embodiment of the information you choose to accept and act upon. To change your circumstances, you need to change your thinking and subsequent actions.” ~ Adlin Sinclair“It’s kind of fun to do the impossible.”   ~ Walt Disney

For the next week I invite you to:

Let go of the negative self talk of ‘I can’t, there’s not enough, life is hard’ and replace it with ‘I am amazing, I am love, and I am peace.’

Fill your soul with love. See the kids laughing in the park. Smile at the elderly couple sitting together on the park bench. Smile and allow your inner self to shine.

From this space, write your screen play, write the lyrics to your dream life, or create a play-by-play of the best game you’ve ever seen - your own.

Mostly, I invite you to celebrate you and give an Oscar award winning performance as nobody can play you better!

Heck - why not invite your friends over, and have a ceremony fit for a performer getting their star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame or being inducted into the Rock N’ Roll or Sports Hall of Fame’s. Dream Big, Give Big, and Love Big!

Have a fantastic week until next time.

~Carol

Looking for a way to stay focused on Living Life Fulfilled? Make sure to surround yourself with people who lift you up, inspire you, support you, and simply love to laugh and have fun.

We had 16 people attend the webcast and then discussion on Chapter 5 - the pain body. I enjoyour conversation after the webcast as it deepens the understanding of the online discussion. We had several new people and I am so grateful for all that came and shared their Monday evening with Positive Focus.

Community sharing:

“It was wonderful to see everyone that I know but a wonderful surprise that there was so many new people! Always a pleasure :)”  ~ Justen