Exercise

Do you exercise? I believe that keeping your body fit helps to lead to a better life overall. I was always very active in sports & I had one of those metabolisms that worked overtime until I was in my early 40's. I never really had to worry about staying in shape or gaining weight. That all changed when I hit my mid 40's after many years of sitting behind a desk doing taxes & not having the time (so I thought) to exercise I put on some weight. Once I realized it I got back into an exercise routine. Currently I ride my bike between 16-20 miles a day in the morning & hike with the dogs through our state park approx. 4 miles in the evening. Sure there's times it's a bit hard but overall I feel much better because I'm getting myself back into shape.

The type of exercise I actually want to talk about today is spiritual exercise. Everything I've written over the last 11 months about spiritual growth & living a more joyful life depends on taking the time to work on the things in your life that you need to work on. I know we're all busy & I know that many of us put our needs behind everyone & everything else that comes into our life. We need to stop doing that!! We need to put ourselves first at least most of the time. The work you do on yourself will lead to a more joyful life which in turn will help everyone else in your life. Take time delve into the subjects I've discussed. Find the trouble spots in your life. Work through these issues & reconnect with your true self (soul).

In taking the time to reflect, grow & work on the things we need to work on in our life we will discover the path to a better life. I know, you think about it all the time. You mean to get to it. I understand how life can get away from you, before you know it you'll be looking back & wondering where your life has gone. Stop coasting through life & learn to live life to the fullest. I believe in each & everyone of you because I've been there & I changed my life through the very things I write about. I love my life (other then the looking for a job part), I'm very happy with who I am. It took me a longtime to get there. I know how much work is involved but just like exercise for your body the return is amazing.

Take time for yourself today. Start an exercise program to improve yourself. Move beyond the norm in your life. Find a way past the EGO, let go of the need to help others for just a short time & take care of yourself, grow, learn & become everything you can be!!

Till tomorrow,

Bill

P.S. Tomorrow is my 200th blog I'm not sure what I'll write about yet but I would love to hear from each you on what blogs were your favorites. Thanks for all the support.

Quote of the day:"Exercise not only your body but your mind & spirit. Take time to do the work on you & discover a more joyful life today!!!"

Dreams

It begins with the closing of my eyes. I slowly drift between reality & another world. Sometimes I pause at this in-between place where I can still hear the sounds of reality but the beauty that's waiting for me continues to call me deeper. Slowly, ever so slowly I drift off to my new reality the place of my dreams. Often my dreams start with a walk through a garden. I smell the beauty of nature as I continue my decent into the reality of my dreams.

Dreams are an amazing thing. Something we all do. In fact if we didn't dream we'd actually go insane. There's a lot of research that's been done on the meaning of our dreams & I've read several books on their interpretation. Dreams, for me, are one of our easiest connections to our true self if we can move beyond the noise of the day.

The natural process of dreaming is to digest the day & make sense of it. The mind uses this process to quiet our fears or to make them bigger. We feel our raw emotions when we dream & it's through that connection that we can find our true self. Dreams can be self-directed to some extent but in my experience this direction only lasts a short period of time. Once you've fallen into a deep sleep it's very difficult to direct your dreams because your conscious mind let's go & allows your sub-conscious mind to take over. The wonderful thing about the sub-conscious mind is that it is much more preceptive than the conscious mind & therefore through dreams we can discover the signs we are looking for in our life that were previously overlooked.

The biggest challenge many people have with their dreams is actually remembering them. The average person only remembers a small percentage of their dreams each morning & the further they move away from waking up the less of those dreams they actually remember. The best remedy for remembering your dreams is to leave a notebook on your nightstand so that you can write down your dreams as soon as you wake up.

The interpretation of specific dreams is beyond what I can write here, if you're truly interested I would suggest picking up several of the dream interpretation books. One of my favorites is: "The Dream Encyclopedia" by James R. Lewis. I would caution you in that some of the explanations for dreams vary from book to book so take what they say with a grain of salt. What's important to me is to understand the depth of your perception of events that occur in your life. You have a deep meaningful connection with everything around you & through your dreams you can begin to understand that connection.

Trust in your dreams for they have signs & meanings that need to be explored. Begin to keep track of each of your dreams & you'll discover the steps you need to follow to bring more joy into your life.

Till tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day:"Dreams have deep meanings beyond our conscious mind that will uncover the path to true joy & the true connection to our self."