The need for power!

Why do we as humans want power so badly? Why do we feel the need to be in charge? Why do we feel better when we have control over our life? Whenever I think about absolute power I'm reminded of the "Fellowship of the Rings" trilogy & the "one" ring that will rule them all. For those of you not familiar with these books & movies it's based around a Hobbit named Frodo who's one mission is to destroy the "one" ring. The rings power corrupts all that come near it & only Frodo's pure heart allows him to finally destroy the ring. At the end of the movie it is noted that although he's gotten rid of the ring he will never be the same because of the way it affected him. It also shown in this movie that "man" is the first to try & take the ring or the first to be affected by it's power.

Why do we crave power so badly? I think the answer to this is two fold. First power is connected to the EGO. The EGO feels fulfilled with power because it can get what it wants. I've written before about the EGO and how it has an unquenching desire for everything. You more you give into it the more it wants. The EGO is something we all need to learn to deal with in our life. Some say we need to "banish" the EGO to become a more enlightened person. I believe we need to learn to live with the EGO & understand when we are reacting from a place of EGO. This isn't an easy task but once you start to understand what the EGO wants you are able to move beyond the EGO to a more centered/spiritual place.

The EGO tends to be the loudest voice you'll hear. It wants & needs you to pay attention to it. So to move beyond it we need to acknowledge the noise it's creating & move inward to our true self (soul). Once you're able to do this you can live in harmony with your EGO. It's voice will still be there but the noise will be less.

The second part of the need for power is one of control. We all want to be in control of our life. This control creates the illusion that we know what's going to happen in our life or that we can effect what we want to happen in our life. This may be true from time to time because of the circumstances of your control but the truth is control is sham. We can control only two things in our life; 1) Our reaction to others & 2) Ourselves. That's all we can truly control in our life, if we're able understand this we are able to release the need for control & open ourselves to God/universe.

Power can be good or bad but the need for power will only lead us to self destruction. True power is given not taken & true leaders rise without the need for power. In fact sometimes the best leaders are reluctant to even lead. Let go of the need for power. Understand the personal power you have inside is your connection to everything. Trust in God/universe & understand that life will unfold perfectly before you release the need for control & accept the joy that is in each moment.

Till Monday, have a great weekend!!

Bill

PS I'm still looking for "Guest Bloggers" is you'd like to write a blog here, let me know. Send me an email @ Timberwolf12345@gmail.com

Quote of the day:"Let go of the need for power & watch your life unfold perfectly before you!"

Letting Go!

In the past we've touched on how trying to take control of everything in your life can lead to many problems. This need to control everyone & everything can never be accomplished. We often delude ourselves into believing that we can control everything in our life but in fact we can't. The only things we can control are ourself & our reaction to others, everything else is out of our control. We may be able to influence others because of our relationship with them (i.e. Boss, spouse, parent)but we can't control them. In fact the more we try to control the people in our life the more they will rebel against us.

So how do we begin to let go? The process of letting go begins with the realization that we can't control everything in our lives. The next step is to begin to trust the people in your life. Realize that every person that enters your life is trying to do the best they can. This "best" may not equal your expectations of what's "best" in a given situation, but the truth is most people try to do their best in everything they do. The understanding of this fact can open your mind & allow you to let go in any situation.

The next step to truly letting go is to quiet your mind. This step has always been an issue for me. I have always had an overactive mind & to quiet it has taken a lot of practice. I have discovered the best way to quiet my mind is to focus on small or beautiful things in my life. I can focus on a flower & see the beauty in it. By changing my focus to this small flower my mind lets go of everything else. In contrast to the small I can look at the great expanse of the sky & again find beauty. This shift in focus has lead me to a more relaxed life. Through this process I am able to quiet the noise in my head & this leads to letting go of the stress of everyday.

The final step in the process of letting go is to take time to reconnect with your true self. It is the connection to your soul (true self) that will lead you beyond the noise of the world & into a place of self realization. The time you take for this connection isn't as important as actually doing it. There have been times in my life that I could only take a few minutes out of a busy day to reconnect to my soul but by taking this time I discovered a calming that helped me through the rest of the day. I've written previously on the process to achieving this connection but here's a quick summary:

Close your eyes.
Breathe deeply in through your nose & out of your mouth.
Focus on slowing your breathing down.
Shift your focus to your heartbeat.
Listen to your heartbeat.
Move beyond the sound of your heart & listen to the quiet voice deep inside.
Feel the relaxation of your entire body.
Continue to focus on the voice even if you can't understand it.
Spend as long as you can listening.
Open your eyes & reconnect with the world.

By letting go we find a calming of everything in our life. This calming leads to moving through the world with an ease & without stress. Trust in the process of letting go & discover a more fulfilling life!

Till Monday, enjoy your weekend.

Bill

Quote of the day:"By letting go & allowing the world to happen around you. You will discover an ease of moving through life that can't be matched. Let go today & discover true joy!!"

Relationships

Relationships can be an amazing addition to your quest for a more joyful life. The love you discover in another person can lift you to new heights. The drawback is that instead of having love within yourself to give to someone else we expect the other person to give us love to fill us up. Love is truly the answer for everyone but we need to begin with loving ourselves first. Without love of yourself any relationship will run into problems down the road. Discover the love we all have inside of us & you'll have more love in your life then you can imagine.

On your journey to self discovery the support of a partner can help you overcome the demons of the past but there are a few things to be careful of. I unfortunately discovered these the hard way in the past.

1. Change - although you may be going through a great deal of change individually in your journey, you can't change your partner. Change is a personal choice & even when you've discovered things in your journey that really help you. Your partner may not be helped by the same discoveries or just simply may not want to change at all.

2. Control - When we feel like we have so many "balls" up in the air & we're trying to deal with all of them. One of the first things we try to do is to take control over everything in our lives to be able to handle it better. The truth is that we can't control anything in our life except for ourselves & our reaction to whatever happens. This is a hard lesson for some people. Observe life & listen to the messages that God/universe is sending you don't try & "make" things happen.

3. Rescue - When we are injured ourselves we look for someone to be partnered with that we feel we can rescue. It makes us feel better about who we are to be able help someone else overcome their demons. The truth is that as in #1 we can't "will" someone better & we can't hurt deeply enough to remove the pain from someone else. If you want to help others (which is a great thing to do) volunteer for organizations & give freely of yourself to causes.

4. Forgiveness - The greatest gift you have to give in a relationship is forgiveness. Remember the reason why you feel in love with person & understand that we are all human & therefore imperfect. Forgive with all your heart & let go of the mistakes your partner has made.

Remember that we are all on our own journey & together we are always stronger then on our own. Discover the beauty of the people in our life & cherish each relationship you have. As I've said in the past; every person that enters our life is there for a reason, discover that reason & the universe will unfold before you. Love with all your heart & live a more joyful life.

Till Monday...enjoy your weekend,

Bill

Quote of the day: "A relationship can be a beautiful way to discover a more joyful life."

Perfection

With the Olympics on my mind I thought about striving for perfection. Do you try to be perfect? Do you expect others to be perfect? These are both very difficult questions. I use to be a person who always strove for perfection & expected everyone else in my life to be perfect. For me this came from my feeling of never being good enough in my father's eyes. To make up for that feeling I tried to be perfect in everything that I did & I would get very anger with the others in my life when they made mistakes. But I would, of course, get even more angry with myself when I made a mistake.

This desire to be perfect was a driving force for many of the early years of my life. It totally consumed me & although I was still a positive person the life I lead was not very fulfilling. In fact my life was very inconsistent even when I always made the "right" decisions. The problem is that we are all humans & as human beings we make mistakes. It is through this realization that no matter how hard I try, I will make mistakes that I began my transformation.

Accepting that we all make mistakes & forgiving ourselves & others for the mistakes we make can move us to a new understanding of who we are. Striving for perfection leads us to trying to take control of everything in our life instead of allowing our life to unfold in front of us. Control rarely works the way we think it should & we end up blaming ourselves for the failures we experience in our lives. The truth is that if we live our life in the moment & let go of the need for control amazing things can happen.

In the Olympics all the athletes strive to be perfect even though they know that perfection is nearly impossible. Striving to be better & striving to do the best you can in any circumstance can certainly help you grow as long as you understand that you will always make mistakes. As with the athletes who lose a 1/10th of a point for this or that understand that you don't have to be perfect to live a more joyful life.

Let go of the need for control. Trust in yourself & believe in the others in your life. Live in the moment & enjoy the beauty of your life as it unfolds before you.

Till tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day: "Understanding that none of us, as human beings, are perfect can help us learn to forgive ourselves as well as others for the mistakes that are made. Through forgiveness we can lead a more joyful life."