Letting Go!

Ok, it's time to talk about letting go!  One of the most difficult things we must learn on our journey to joy & being more positive.  I spoke briefly the other day about how when I was younger I would just, by sheer will, make things happen & the results didn't always work out the way I really wanted them to work out.  I have found as I have gotten older & gone through my own transition that although this use of sheer will works in the short term. Because you're not opening yourself up to the universe/God you are in opposition to what is really the best thing for you.

We as human beings always believe that we know what's best for us, but the truth is that we rarely know what's best for us.  Instead, we tend to bounce from one thing to another to try and find the joy we're missing in our lives. 

The answer for me begins with letting go.  Once we learn to detach ourselves from the outcome of anything we open ourselves up to more possibilities.  This opening up leads us without effort to what truly is a better more joyful place.  This letting go works with anything in your life, friends. family & even other people.  If we let go of our own result or our own opinion, we become more open to a result we couldn't even imagine.

Practice detachment every day, not emotional detachment, detachment from results.  Here's some simple examples.  You want a coffee & when you get to the place you buy it from there's a long line.  Instead of getting upset because you must wait, understand that everything has its time & maybe the reason for you waiting is to meet someone in line or to have time to reflect, remember anything can happen.  Next, you are in line at the grocery & a person in a hurry comes up with two items....by letting them go in front you create a good feeling for them that could actually change their day & may in fact in some way affect your own life.

These are just a few brief examples of how letting go will continue to open you up.  The world is here to give you everything you need but you must accept the signs & let go of the outcome!

As I mentioned before I'm always open to your questions or comments.  I'm also willing to try and address any subject that you'd like me to approach over the coming weeks.  I hope this is helping each of you......life is a wonderful gift....enjoy every moment!

Till tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day "Life is all about the journey, not the destination....enjoy every moment!"

 

Vision Board

The next step on the journey to joy and being more positive is to create a vision board.  A vision board can be anything that you want it to be.  As simple as words written on a piece of paper hung by your computer or as detailed as you want it to be with pictures & other pieces that mean something to you.

For us, we have created a bulletin board in our "office".  On this board we cut out of magazines several pictures & words that have meaning to us.  We have chosen to use the board for both the things we want in our life now & things we hope to have long-term.  It doesn't matter what you do with this board (very much like the morning gratefuls).  What does matter is that you take a few minutes each day to focus on the things that are on the board.  As you do this some of these things will begin to materialize into your life.  You can add these things to your gratefuls as they do materialize.

You can adjust this board as often as you like or as little as you like.  The important thing is, as I said, to spend time focusing on the different things you've placed on the board daily.  As with morning gratefuls, imagine how these things will make you feel or imagine what your life will be like because of these things.

For example if love is important to you, find a picture that means love to you or write the word love on your board.  Then everyday take time to envision what your life would be like with love in it & be very detailed about how it would feel and what it is that you mean by love.

This process will again start to open you up to the universe/God & help to create positive changes all around you.

Remember, you are a co-creator in your own life and you can create anything that you want if you envision it and let it go into the universe.

Till tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day "The world will change when we realize that love is the answer & that there are no other questions."

The Awakening

Today I think it's time to reflect on what we've talked about the last few days.  The practice of morning gratefuls, the reflection of the feelings of how those grateful moments make you feel & the release of the past is all part of the journey to joy that we are all taking.

All of these first steps have one thing in common; a new way to look at the world.  That's the bottom line with starting this journey.  We all prejudge so much in life, especially as we get older, & to move forward to more joy we must change the way we look at everything in our lives.

Is this an easy thing?  For some the answer may be yes!  For me, it was very difficult.  I always thought that I knew what was best in my life.  I was always "lucky" with many things & I was fortunate to be very good at school.  But because of this I became entrenched in what I thought was the right thing to do was in my life.  So, I would have some amazing times but then I would have some very bad times where I felt totally disconnected.  When I first met my wife (Heidi) she would at times ask me if she should put some pillows up.  I would say, “What?”  She would respond; "So it doesn't hurt so much when you hit your head against the wall!"  I never looked at it that way.  I always believed that if I took control of the situation, grabbing the bull by the horns" that I could make it work out.  Many times, this did work but the end result was not always what I wanted.

The best way for me to illustrate this is reflecting on a story like this.  Did you ever want something really bad, like a certain job or a certain vacation and then when you got it, it was never what you thought it would be.  That's what happens when you're disconnected from the universe/God.

The change comes when we open ourselves up & we find that everything in our lives comes without effort.  Bringing more joy to your life is the first step in this process of living an open and more fulfilling life.

There's so much more to reflect on here but I've promised myself to keep these blogs at a reasonable length.  We'll continue to explore this "Awakening" that leads us to joy in the coming days.

Thank you all for your support of this blog.  Together we can change the world!

Till tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day:

"The joy we find as a child should never be lost.  Live life as a child, open & free, accepting of everything you encounter."

Put the Past in the Past

To continue to move forward to a place of joy in your life.  One of the most difficult but important steps is to move past your past.  We have all been through a variety of things in our lives and in fact it is our experiences that have made us who we are today.  Unfortunately, because misery loves company, we tend to hold onto the negative things that have happened to us in our lives.  We show them proudly like a badge of courage.  But what truly happens is that we are holding that negative feeling deep within us and so we continue to send out negative thoughts which come back to us over & over again.  Many people will say, now my life is "good" and that's a wonderful thing but usually when you talk to them about their life. They will say my life is "good" except for "xyz".  It's in holding on to the past that you'll never get over the "xyz".

I realize that some things in our lives are hard to get over and I'm not trying to diminish anything that you've had to overcome in your life.  I am instead trying to bring you past your past and onto a more joyful/positive life.  The way to move through this difficult topic is to acknowledge the feelings and release them.  The second part of this is to forgive, forgive yourself first and second forgive anyone who did you harm. 

A great example of this to me is Dr. Wayne Dyer, who I'm sure many of you know.  He was abandoned by his father when he was young.  This caused a great deal of anger, finally when he was in his 30's he decided he needed to find out about his dad.  He found that his dad had been married 4 more times & abused every woman he was with.  He found out that he had been in and out of prison, he was an alcoholic and died with nothing.  He went to his grave and forgave him.  He says because of this act of forgiveness he was able to open himself up to joy and in fact his first book was written in only 14 days after this epiphany.

Forgiveness is the key to letting go of the past, move forward to a more joyful place in your life.  Release the pain & the hurt, forgive yourself & others and move into all the joy that can now fill your life.

Celebrate who you are and know that no matter what happens you'll make it through....just look at all you've made it through already!!  Keep moving forward and continue with me on this journey to a more joyful/positive life.

Till tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day:

"Live in the moment, because the pauses between the breaths are what lead you to your next adventure.  Every moment has meaning."

Being Grateful - Part II

The journey to leading a more positive/joyful life is different for everyone.  The first step of making morning gratefuls is a great start.  The process of being grateful opens you up to the good things in your life rather than focusing on the negative.  This shift of consciousness is the beginning of leading a more positive life.

It is this change in the way you look at things that opens you up to more & more positive things in your life.  For some this shift is easy and just taking the first step of doing the gratefuls leads them to the next step.  For others the process is more difficult, and the shift takes more time.  The main reason for this is in the acceptance of the feelings that the gratefuls lead you to.

Take time after writing your gratefuls to realize the way these things make you feel.  Internalize the joy that is now a part of your life.  This extra step of feeling what you write helps to move the process out of your head/ego & into your soul.  The ego will always hold you back & we will explore the traps of the ego later.  For now, know that the willingness to feel & continue to open yourself up is what codifies the process and moves you forward to the acceptance of good & positive things in your life.

It's in this realization that you will begin to see things change in your life.  As in the example I gave yesterday of the stone in the pond, your acceptance of joy from the smallest things in your life will be sent out over & over again, bringing you back more and more things to be grateful for.  

Release the fear & all the negative feelings in your life, even if it's only for the time it takes to write your gratefuls.  Every move toward the positive will bring you more joy & the process will become easier & easier & more & more fulfilling.

Accept, let go & enjoy life.

Till tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day:

"Life is a bout love, if we all loved more the world would be a better place.  Expand your comfort zone and love someone new today."

Being Grateful

Yesterday I mentioned that one of the easiest first steps for moving from a place of negativity to being more positive is by expressing your gratitude.  I believe that by finding ways to be grateful in our lives we open ourselves up to a whole new world of possibilities.  This small step, that I practice daily, is an exercise that is well worth your time.

For those of you who don't know this practice, it's really very simple.  Every morning, I sit & think of things from the day before to be grateful for.  I try to write them down to have a record of my expressions.  It can be as simple as; I am grateful for all the wonderful people I've met on Twitter or as personal as I am grateful for the love & support of my wife.  What you are grateful for isn't as important as going through the process every day.  The more routine you can make this process, the more you can begin to open yourself up. 

What I have found over the past several years of doing this is that what you are grateful for begins to show up more in your life.  There are many reasons for this but the simplest way to explain it is that we are all connected & your thoughts have power.  Even the thoughts you don't express are heard by the universe/God & those thoughts create actions without you ever knowing it. 

I like to think of this process as being like throwing a stone into a pond.  A single thought grows outward from its source (yourself) till it is heard throughout the universe.  There have been many studies that show that this process does work.  One of the most dramatic for me was the effect of thoughts on water.  By thinking about the water no matter how far apart the people thinking of the water were, the water actually changed its shape & structure.

Know that we live a beautiful universe where love is the greatest gift we can give and because of this the universe/God wants to give us back what we desire.  If we only think negative thoughts, we will continue to bring negative things into our lives as the universe/God only knows to give us what we ask for.

Today start the practice of being grateful, reflect on what you are grateful for and know how that gratitude feels to you in your heart & soul.  Believe it even if it's forced in the beginning.  Together we can do anything & if we all start to move to a more positive place imagine how great this world will be.

Have a wonderful day.....tomorrow we continue the journey.

Bill

The Beginning

Ok, this is my first attempt at writing a daily blog.  It's hard to know where to start because I don't know who will read this blog or where they are at.  The purpose of this blog is to lift each of you up & help guide you to a life of joy.  

How to begin?  That's the hardest thing for most people, it took me years of listening/reading many things, to change.  Most people are afraid of change in their lives.  A part of me totally understands this but I've always tried to be a person that embraces change.  I truly believe that change will happen with or without you so why not be apart of the formation of the change!   Every person has the power to be a change agent in their own life, all it takes is the willingness to take the first step.  Over the coming days/weeks I will explore the things that helped me to accept the changes happening around me. 

For today, I want to explore the move from being a negative force in the world to becoming a positive person.  For a lot of people this first step is the most difficult.  It's easy to be negative, and the old saying that misery loves company can make it even harder to break away from the darkness of despair & negativity.  But, if you're willing to change a small thought it can led to a whole new life.  Realize that every step you take leads you to a new place & movement towards the positive will led to more positive things happening in your life.  All you have to do is believe in the steps you take, no matter how small, and pay attention to the things that will happen in your life.

So what is a "small step", well it's different for everyone.  It can be as simple as a smile or a warm greeting to someone who you haven't cared for before.  For me, the change began with doing morning grateful's.  At first I didn't even really believe what I was saying I just did them to try & find joy in the middle of despair.  What happened is that they became easier & easier and I started to see that things were happening around me to support this change.

Why not take that first step.  Why not move to the positive.  Why not become a change agent in your own life!

Enjoy every moment, for that's where you find joy!

Till tomorrow,

Bill