The only way to grow through the processes I have mentioned before in this blog is to be honest with yourself. I touched on this subject briefly in my blog about honestly but I believe we should examine it more closely today.
There's a lot wrapped up in this issue. Sometimes it's because of your self worth, sometimes it's because of EGO & sometimes it's because you've lied so much to everyone else you actually believe the lies. The truth is that whatever the reason the first step to leading a more joyful life & reconnecting with your soul is to be honest with yourself.
I don't believe that this means being hard on yourself, part of being honest is forgiving yourself for your mistakes. This can be a difficult thing to do but it's the first step of being honest with yourself. Accept what you've done, forgive yourself and move forward. Sometimes it sounds so easy to do but in life it's very difficult. I've written before that once anything is in the past you can't change it. You can try to make amends for your mistakes if it's appropriate but you can't change the past. So forgive yourself, we all make mistakes & move on.
After forgiveness, to continue the process of being honest with yourself, you need to accept responsibility for all of your actions in your life. Even those that weren't harmful to others, recognize the choices you made, don't make excuses, & accept responsibility for all of them.
Understand who you are right now & know that taking the first step is the hardest. Moving forward will become easier with each step you take but you need to accept yourself for who you truly are & be honest with yourself before you can continue on the path to a more joyful life. You are a divine being & there's always a way back to your divine connection. Trust in your ability to change & become the person you know you can be. Everything is possible & it all starts with you.
Till tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day: "To deceive one's self leaves you disconnected from everything. Open your heart forgive yourself & move on to a more joyful life!"
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Personal Responsibility
I had a nice discussion with @ponet on twitter yesterday regarding yesterday's blog on "Power". During the discussion we talked about Personal Responsibility & the need in the world to shift towards reclaiming it, so I thought I'd write a blog about it today.
What are your thoughts about Personal Responsibility? Do you think it's a problem? Do you think it has anything to do with finding joy? I believe there is a crisis in the world in regards to Personal Responsibility. I think many people look to blame someone else for anything that happens to them. They try to, in a lot of cases, profit off of a misfortune by blaming this other person. Our society, at least in the U.S., is based on suing first & asking questions later. I believe this is an unhealthy way to live because in many cases you're truly lying to yourself.
So what is Personal Responsibility? To me it means accepting responsibility for your life. We all make mistakes, it's part of bring human. We need to accept that we made a mistake, forgive ourselves for making the mistake & move forward into a better life.
Taking responsibility for my actions was never an issue with me because I've always been honest. But, forgiving myself for the mistakes I made took me a longtime to understand. As I've noted in this blog before I had some issues with my Dad & I never felt like anything I did was good enough. Therefore when I made a mistake it just played into the not being good enough feeling so I was always very hard on myself about mistakes.
The solution to this issue has to be both parts because the only way you can move forward to a more joyful life is to accept Personal Responsibility for your actions & to forgive yourself for your mistakes. The joy you're looking for in your life comes from being true to yourself & reconnecting with your soul. The only way to do this is to be honest to yourself & accept responsibility for your actions.
Move forward today & stop the blame game, accept responsibility for everything in your life & lead a more joyful life!
Till tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the Day: "Accept responsibility for everything in your life & forgive yourself for your mistakes. By doing this you'll lead a more joyful life!"
What are your thoughts about Personal Responsibility? Do you think it's a problem? Do you think it has anything to do with finding joy? I believe there is a crisis in the world in regards to Personal Responsibility. I think many people look to blame someone else for anything that happens to them. They try to, in a lot of cases, profit off of a misfortune by blaming this other person. Our society, at least in the U.S., is based on suing first & asking questions later. I believe this is an unhealthy way to live because in many cases you're truly lying to yourself.
So what is Personal Responsibility? To me it means accepting responsibility for your life. We all make mistakes, it's part of bring human. We need to accept that we made a mistake, forgive ourselves for making the mistake & move forward into a better life.
Taking responsibility for my actions was never an issue with me because I've always been honest. But, forgiving myself for the mistakes I made took me a longtime to understand. As I've noted in this blog before I had some issues with my Dad & I never felt like anything I did was good enough. Therefore when I made a mistake it just played into the not being good enough feeling so I was always very hard on myself about mistakes.
The solution to this issue has to be both parts because the only way you can move forward to a more joyful life is to accept Personal Responsibility for your actions & to forgive yourself for your mistakes. The joy you're looking for in your life comes from being true to yourself & reconnecting with your soul. The only way to do this is to be honest to yourself & accept responsibility for your actions.
Move forward today & stop the blame game, accept responsibility for everything in your life & lead a more joyful life!
Till tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the Day: "Accept responsibility for everything in your life & forgive yourself for your mistakes. By doing this you'll lead a more joyful life!"
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Power
I've noticed over the past few days that it seems like I've been on a "P" kick (Patience, Peace & now Power), oh well. I've also noticed that I have been starting most blogs lately with questions. These questions are my thoughts as I think through a subject. Let me know if you like the idea or not. I'm trying to be as open as I can about my thought process and how I feel about each subject I write on. Finally, if there's questions or other topics you'd like me to write about feel free to leave me a message here or on twitter.
On to Power; do you crave power? What is authentic power? Is power something you can create? I find power to be something difficult to write about because many people feel that they need to be in charge & have power.
To me power is something, as with most things, that comes from within. It can be created through a title or a job. This creation of power isn't true power, it's only created for the workplace or for the country/government that the title pertains to. It's very easy to abuse this power because it's not given necessarily to a person with true leadership & authentic power. This type of power tends to corrupt the person in the role because once they have the power given to them they don't want to lose it. Most people believe that in order to hold on to power you need to control everything. They feel the need to know what's going on so they can prevent someone from taking their power away.
The Tao says just the opposite. It says the way to "rule" (have power) is to let go of everything & do nothing. People will do the right thing because basically people are good. I truly believe in this, I have always managed the people under me through empowerment. What this means to me is that I help them learn & trust & believe in them to do their best job. This doesn't mean they don't make mistakes, mistakes are part of the learning process, but instead of focusing on the mistakes. I focus on what we've learned through the process. Through this process everyone learns & grows.
So what is authentic power? I believe there are natural born leaders. They are the people that everyone is naturally drawn to. The reason why we're are drawn to these people is because they have authenic power. They have learned to tap into the soul & connect to the true power of God/universe. In the Tao it says when we release everything we will be given everything we can imagine. It is through no effort that everything is accomplished. Learn to tap into the soul & find the deep fulfilling energy of God/universe & you will never lack anything!
Till tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day: "Be gentle with power for true power comes from within."
On to Power; do you crave power? What is authentic power? Is power something you can create? I find power to be something difficult to write about because many people feel that they need to be in charge & have power.
To me power is something, as with most things, that comes from within. It can be created through a title or a job. This creation of power isn't true power, it's only created for the workplace or for the country/government that the title pertains to. It's very easy to abuse this power because it's not given necessarily to a person with true leadership & authentic power. This type of power tends to corrupt the person in the role because once they have the power given to them they don't want to lose it. Most people believe that in order to hold on to power you need to control everything. They feel the need to know what's going on so they can prevent someone from taking their power away.
The Tao says just the opposite. It says the way to "rule" (have power) is to let go of everything & do nothing. People will do the right thing because basically people are good. I truly believe in this, I have always managed the people under me through empowerment. What this means to me is that I help them learn & trust & believe in them to do their best job. This doesn't mean they don't make mistakes, mistakes are part of the learning process, but instead of focusing on the mistakes. I focus on what we've learned through the process. Through this process everyone learns & grows.
So what is authentic power? I believe there are natural born leaders. They are the people that everyone is naturally drawn to. The reason why we're are drawn to these people is because they have authenic power. They have learned to tap into the soul & connect to the true power of God/universe. In the Tao it says when we release everything we will be given everything we can imagine. It is through no effort that everything is accomplished. Learn to tap into the soul & find the deep fulfilling energy of God/universe & you will never lack anything!
Till tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day: "Be gentle with power for true power comes from within."
Monday, September 21, 2009
Peace
I noticed in the paper today that it's the International day of peace. I wondered what we all think about peace? Not only world peace but the peace we have inside of us. The peace in the way we deal with others in our life. Have you given any thought to peace?
Like everything else in order to truly be able give or project peace we need to have it inside of us. Every journey we begin must start with us. So take a moment and think about peace. What are your thoughts? Can you find the quiet inside yourself?
The soul is as deep as the ocean & by connecting with our soul we can find true peace within us. Once we begin to know peace for ourselves we can then begin to spread peace throughout all of our life. Deal with everyone in your life from a place of love & peace.
World peace is within our grasp if we all can bring peace into our own life. When each of us as individuals become more loving & peaceful the world will begin to shift towards a more peaceful place.
Most people believe the only way for large issues to be resolved is by large actions. I believe instead that it's in the smallest steps that each of us take that truly make the difference. All it takes is making that first step & the journey will be under way. Join me in bringing more peace to the world.
Till tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day: "Together we can change the world all it takes is a small step from each us to begin the journey of change. Start today!"
Like everything else in order to truly be able give or project peace we need to have it inside of us. Every journey we begin must start with us. So take a moment and think about peace. What are your thoughts? Can you find the quiet inside yourself?
The soul is as deep as the ocean & by connecting with our soul we can find true peace within us. Once we begin to know peace for ourselves we can then begin to spread peace throughout all of our life. Deal with everyone in your life from a place of love & peace.
World peace is within our grasp if we all can bring peace into our own life. When each of us as individuals become more loving & peaceful the world will begin to shift towards a more peaceful place.
Most people believe the only way for large issues to be resolved is by large actions. I believe instead that it's in the smallest steps that each of us take that truly make the difference. All it takes is making that first step & the journey will be under way. Join me in bringing more peace to the world.
Till tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day: "Together we can change the world all it takes is a small step from each us to begin the journey of change. Start today!"
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Perfection
Are you a perfectionist? Are you hard on yourself because you can't live up to your own expectations? Wow, this is a tough subject matter for me because this is the way I always use to be. As I have explained in previously, growing up I had a difficult relationship with my Dad & no matter what I accomplished in my life, it never seemed to be good enough for him. What happened with this "not being good enough" is that it caused me to to strive to be perfect & expect that others will be perfect as well.
This is a very difficult & very damaging way to be. Not only does it close you off but it puts you into a cycle of negative behavior that's very difficult to get out of. Your expectations of yourself leads you to feel badly because you can't find perfection in your daily life. Then you are lead to anger because everyone else in your life can't live up to the perfection you expect from them.
How do you get out of this vicious cycle. The way I was able to find my way out was by starting with forgiveness of myself. Why is this important? The truth is that none of as human beings will ever be perfect. We make mistakes, we say & do things that we later regret. So by forgiving yourself first and understanding that you are going to make mistakes you can start to move past this toxic behavior.
The finally part of getting past this behavior is to love yourself & to find the good in everyone else in your life. Remember that everyone in their core is a divine being & no matter what they do or have done in their life they are just trying to do the best they can for themselves. There's always something you can find about them that's good. Forgive them for making mistakes, as you forgive yourself & love them for the good that they do.
Tomorrow, I have some family stuff to take care of so I won't have time to write. I'll be back on Monday morning. I hope you all have a great weekend.
Bill
Quote of the day: "Release the need to be perfect. Forgive & love yourself through any mistakes you make. Live a joyful life!"
This is a very difficult & very damaging way to be. Not only does it close you off but it puts you into a cycle of negative behavior that's very difficult to get out of. Your expectations of yourself leads you to feel badly because you can't find perfection in your daily life. Then you are lead to anger because everyone else in your life can't live up to the perfection you expect from them.
How do you get out of this vicious cycle. The way I was able to find my way out was by starting with forgiveness of myself. Why is this important? The truth is that none of as human beings will ever be perfect. We make mistakes, we say & do things that we later regret. So by forgiving yourself first and understanding that you are going to make mistakes you can start to move past this toxic behavior.
The finally part of getting past this behavior is to love yourself & to find the good in everyone else in your life. Remember that everyone in their core is a divine being & no matter what they do or have done in their life they are just trying to do the best they can for themselves. There's always something you can find about them that's good. Forgive them for making mistakes, as you forgive yourself & love them for the good that they do.
Tomorrow, I have some family stuff to take care of so I won't have time to write. I'll be back on Monday morning. I hope you all have a great weekend.
Bill
Quote of the day: "Release the need to be perfect. Forgive & love yourself through any mistakes you make. Live a joyful life!"
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Dealing with fallow times
I've always liked the word fallow when talking about "bad' or "unproductive" times. To me fallow is connected with nature & as I discussed in the blog on "Time" everything has it's natural time. Today I wanted to discuss what we do during this fallow time.
I think the first thing to remember is that no matter how connected you are to God/universe there are going to be "fallow times". Many people believe that we need these "fallow times" to grow because it's only through struggle that we can change. I know for me I have truly grown through my struggles but I've also grown through my daily life. I've always tried to learn & grow in each & every day!
I do know that if you are not connected to God/universe or if you're ignoring the messages that are coming your way. God/universe has a way of making sure you get the message. Sometimes that means going through "fallow times".
Once you understand that these "fallow times" are a normal part of life. The next thing I do is try to look at what the message is that's being shown to me. This can be difficult because you're trying to deal with the issues you have right in front of you. What I've tried to do, just like during my daily life, is to take some quiet time & reflect on what the message is.
Once you understand the message you can deal with the things you need to learn & grow through. Changing can be difficult for many people but God/universe will always try to give you the information you need to change. The rest is truly up to you.
Remember that once anything happens in your life it's in the past & it can't be changed. You may be able to make amends but you can't change what's happened. Learn from the fallow times, let go of the past & move forward to a more joyful/positive life.
Remember that these times will pass, as in nature no storm lasts forever. Believe in yourself & your ability to change & grow through these fallow times.
Till tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day: "Even in the darkest times if you look inside you can always find the light. Grow through the challenges & lead a more joyful life"
I think the first thing to remember is that no matter how connected you are to God/universe there are going to be "fallow times". Many people believe that we need these "fallow times" to grow because it's only through struggle that we can change. I know for me I have truly grown through my struggles but I've also grown through my daily life. I've always tried to learn & grow in each & every day!
I do know that if you are not connected to God/universe or if you're ignoring the messages that are coming your way. God/universe has a way of making sure you get the message. Sometimes that means going through "fallow times".
Once you understand that these "fallow times" are a normal part of life. The next thing I do is try to look at what the message is that's being shown to me. This can be difficult because you're trying to deal with the issues you have right in front of you. What I've tried to do, just like during my daily life, is to take some quiet time & reflect on what the message is.
Once you understand the message you can deal with the things you need to learn & grow through. Changing can be difficult for many people but God/universe will always try to give you the information you need to change. The rest is truly up to you.
Remember that once anything happens in your life it's in the past & it can't be changed. You may be able to make amends but you can't change what's happened. Learn from the fallow times, let go of the past & move forward to a more joyful/positive life.
Remember that these times will pass, as in nature no storm lasts forever. Believe in yourself & your ability to change & grow through these fallow times.
Till tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day: "Even in the darkest times if you look inside you can always find the light. Grow through the challenges & lead a more joyful life"
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Believe in Miracles
Do you believe in miracles? Do miracles happen in your life? I think with all the noise & the push to have everything quantified & proven we've lost some of the magic. One of the ways to shift to a more joyful/positive life is to rediscover the magic in the world & of course, in your life.
Up until the industrial revolution of the last 100 years people always believed that miracles happened. They saw miracles big & small in their daily lives but with all the new inventions & the growth of science we tend to not even look for miracles. We get to the point where even when a miracle happens we don't believe that it's a miracle. We think there must be a reason for what happened & we look past the wonder of the miracle.
Don't get me wrong I love the world we live in & the continued innovation that this world creates. But, for me looking at the world as a child is the way to live. Everything in the world to me is a wonder. I am always amazed at the beauty around us & I see miracles happen everyday in my life. Sometimes these miracles are small & sometimes they are just amazing.
Open your eyes to the wonder in your life. Let go of the noises telling you that things are a certain way, become a child again & reconnect to the joy in the world. Love with all your heart & trust that miracles happen!
Till tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day from Deepak Chopra: "Every decision I make is a choice between a grievance & a miracle. I let go of grievances & choose miracles."
Up until the industrial revolution of the last 100 years people always believed that miracles happened. They saw miracles big & small in their daily lives but with all the new inventions & the growth of science we tend to not even look for miracles. We get to the point where even when a miracle happens we don't believe that it's a miracle. We think there must be a reason for what happened & we look past the wonder of the miracle.
Don't get me wrong I love the world we live in & the continued innovation that this world creates. But, for me looking at the world as a child is the way to live. Everything in the world to me is a wonder. I am always amazed at the beauty around us & I see miracles happen everyday in my life. Sometimes these miracles are small & sometimes they are just amazing.
Open your eyes to the wonder in your life. Let go of the noises telling you that things are a certain way, become a child again & reconnect to the joy in the world. Love with all your heart & trust that miracles happen!
Till tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day from Deepak Chopra: "Every decision I make is a choice between a grievance & a miracle. I let go of grievances & choose miracles."
Monday, September 14, 2009
Being Yourself
Do you know who you are? I mean truly in your soul? Do you know what you want to do? Do you know what you're good at? These are all very important questions. We've talked a lot about how to lead a more joyful/positive life over the last 3 months. I've shared the ways that I've learned to change your life, to open your heart & to become a positive influence in this world. All of this information is great & I truly hope it helps, but the bottom line is you need to know who you are & what you want.
In the world today there's a big push to always go further, become more famous, make more money & to be a big success. I think sometimes in all the noise of the media we think the only way to be who we are is to do more, make more, etc. The bottom line is that none of this really matters. No matter the pressure you feel by family, friends or co-workers you need to discover what you truly want. I realize that this isn't always easy. Quieting the noise around you & focusing on what is true to your heart takes time.
What I want you to realize is it doesn't matter what it is that you truly want. If you love to be a janitor & that's what makes you happy, be a janitor. The world goes around because each of us have our own talents & skills. Don't get caught up in all the noise around you. Find where your heart wants to be & do what you want to do.
I've done a lot of different things in my life. It took me a longtime to know who I was & what I wanted to do. The work I've done over the past 10-12 years has helped me to discover my talents & who I really am. Before you can change your life completely you need to take time to figure out what you want & who you are.
Believe in yourself & know that once you're clear God/universe will provide what you want. Know whatever path you want to pursue it's ok, the world needs all skills & talents to continue to grow.
Till tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day: "Believe in yourself & know your talents, for the world opens up to anyone who's honest with themselves."
In the world today there's a big push to always go further, become more famous, make more money & to be a big success. I think sometimes in all the noise of the media we think the only way to be who we are is to do more, make more, etc. The bottom line is that none of this really matters. No matter the pressure you feel by family, friends or co-workers you need to discover what you truly want. I realize that this isn't always easy. Quieting the noise around you & focusing on what is true to your heart takes time.
What I want you to realize is it doesn't matter what it is that you truly want. If you love to be a janitor & that's what makes you happy, be a janitor. The world goes around because each of us have our own talents & skills. Don't get caught up in all the noise around you. Find where your heart wants to be & do what you want to do.
I've done a lot of different things in my life. It took me a longtime to know who I was & what I wanted to do. The work I've done over the past 10-12 years has helped me to discover my talents & who I really am. Before you can change your life completely you need to take time to figure out what you want & who you are.
Believe in yourself & know that once you're clear God/universe will provide what you want. Know whatever path you want to pursue it's ok, the world needs all skills & talents to continue to grow.
Till tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day: "Believe in yourself & know your talents, for the world opens up to anyone who's honest with themselves."
Friday, September 11, 2009
Creativity
Do you consider yourself creative? Is creativity part of your daily life? These are interesting questions for everyone. I've found that as you open up to the divine connection in your soul that everything becomes more beautiful. If you pay attention to this new beauty in your life you can't help but to become more creative.
How does creativity work? I think it's different for everybody. For me I become the most creative with other creative people, that's one of the reason I've enjoyed twitter. I enjoy bouncing ideas around with creative people & listening to their ideas. It's this interaction that really expands my creativity. I've always had an interesting internal dialogue in regards to creativity. As many of you may know for the past 11 years I have done taxes for a living. In the previous 10 years though I was a professional actor so this duality has always been hard for me. Part of my transformation to a more joyful life was to let go of my logical mind. I use to over analyze everything in my life.
I found that by opening myself up to creativity I could limit the over analysis of everything in my life. The smallest things could spark very creative things in my life. A great book for anyone who wants to expand their creativity is "The Artists Way" by Julie Cameron if you take the time & follow the excerises in this book you will rediscover your creativity. By expanding your creativity or rediscovering your creativity you will open yourself up to a whole new world of possibilities.
Take time to enjoy more creativity & enjoy the benefits of a more joyful life.
Till Monday,
Bill
Quote of the day: "Open your life to more creativity & enjoy the beauty of the world around you."
How does creativity work? I think it's different for everybody. For me I become the most creative with other creative people, that's one of the reason I've enjoyed twitter. I enjoy bouncing ideas around with creative people & listening to their ideas. It's this interaction that really expands my creativity. I've always had an interesting internal dialogue in regards to creativity. As many of you may know for the past 11 years I have done taxes for a living. In the previous 10 years though I was a professional actor so this duality has always been hard for me. Part of my transformation to a more joyful life was to let go of my logical mind. I use to over analyze everything in my life.
I found that by opening myself up to creativity I could limit the over analysis of everything in my life. The smallest things could spark very creative things in my life. A great book for anyone who wants to expand their creativity is "The Artists Way" by Julie Cameron if you take the time & follow the excerises in this book you will rediscover your creativity. By expanding your creativity or rediscovering your creativity you will open yourself up to a whole new world of possibilities.
Take time to enjoy more creativity & enjoy the benefits of a more joyful life.
Till Monday,
Bill
Quote of the day: "Open your life to more creativity & enjoy the beauty of the world around you."
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Dreams
Do you dream at night? Do you remember your dreams? One of the other great ways to improve synchronicity in your life & to set your intentions is through your dreaming. As we've discussed before I'm not really into meditation, I instead use quiet time to clear my head & set my intentions. But, one of the other things I do before I fall asleep is to clear my mind, think positive thoughts & set my intentions. To me this works wonders because you have hours while your sleeping to think about positive things & to have your intentions working for you with no other distractions.
Most of you may be wondering how you "control" your dreams to do this. I don't really try to control my dreams all I do is clear my head of the day, recall the positive things that happened for the day & the things I'm grateful for. I always do this "clearing of my head" in the last few minutes before I fall asleep. I believe by taking this time to let go of anything that's bad or troubling & I set myself up for another wonderful, joyful day.
The second part of this process for me is to pay attention to what I dream. Some people keep a journal near their bed so when they wake up they can write down what they dreamed. This works very well for a lot of people. For me, I've learned that if I have a dream that I remember in the morning it's important to pay attention to it. In other words if I don't remember a dream or if I don't dream it's not something I need to know. Whatever works best for you is great, in the beginning using the journal may work best for you.
The point behind this is that since your EGO isn't normally involved in your dreaming you can start to see things in your dreams that will lead you to snychronistic events during your waking day. Pay attention to your dreams for God/universe will help show you the path to a more joyful life.
Till tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day: "Your dreams are the key to unlocking true joy in your life. Pay attention to your dreams & open yourself to more snychronicity."
Most of you may be wondering how you "control" your dreams to do this. I don't really try to control my dreams all I do is clear my head of the day, recall the positive things that happened for the day & the things I'm grateful for. I always do this "clearing of my head" in the last few minutes before I fall asleep. I believe by taking this time to let go of anything that's bad or troubling & I set myself up for another wonderful, joyful day.
The second part of this process for me is to pay attention to what I dream. Some people keep a journal near their bed so when they wake up they can write down what they dreamed. This works very well for a lot of people. For me, I've learned that if I have a dream that I remember in the morning it's important to pay attention to it. In other words if I don't remember a dream or if I don't dream it's not something I need to know. Whatever works best for you is great, in the beginning using the journal may work best for you.
The point behind this is that since your EGO isn't normally involved in your dreaming you can start to see things in your dreams that will lead you to snychronistic events during your waking day. Pay attention to your dreams for God/universe will help show you the path to a more joyful life.
Till tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day: "Your dreams are the key to unlocking true joy in your life. Pay attention to your dreams & open yourself to more snychronicity."
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Motivation
What Motivates you? How do you stay motivated? These are questions I've gotten from several people over the last few months. There's not an easy answer for this because with me as with most people I find motivation in several different places.
We all have days that we're not as motivated as other days & sometimes there are days where we don't feel like doing much of anything. To me these are all part of the natural cycle of nature. We all have good times & we also have bad times. We need to have both to learn to enjoy the good times, I wrote about this in my "Opposites" blog a week or so ago. No matter how connected you are to God/universe you will still have this natural cycle. The difference is the more you are connected to God/universe the more you'll understand why you are having a bad time and this connection will also make the bad times shorter & easier to take.
So back to motivation, in my daily life I have several things that I tend to need motivation to deal with. The first is the day in general. The way I deal with this is two fold. The first thing I do when I wake up in the morning is lay in bed and be grateful for another day. Then I thank God/universe for all the amazing things that are going to happen to me today. The second part of my daily motivation is to pay attention, for the first few hours of everyday I pay attention to as many small things as I can. In these small things I find positive things. It could be just a feeling I get from reading something or the smell of the State park that I ride through on my bike. Between these two things I tend to start the day very positive & this feeling sets the tone for the rest of the day.
The next thing I need motivation for on a daily basis is my bike riding. Many of you know that I've been riding my bike every morning for the last couple of months. I am currently riding 30 miles a day through the State park that's about 5 miles from our home. But this riding is not always easy for me. There are mornings when I wake up that I just ache & I really don't want to get on the bike & ride. The motivation I use for this is also two fold. I first tell myself the benefits of riding the bike. I talk to myself about how this will help my physical conditioning & overall health. The second thing I do is tap into my competitive nature. I tell myself that I'm not going to let this ride beat me. I'm going to make it through no matter how tough it becomes.
The final thing I need daily motivation for is looking through job ads. As many of you know I've been laid off for 3 months now & on a daily basis I go through 100 - 150 job ads looking for jobs I believe are a match for me. If any of you have done this, it's very dull & not a lot of fun. My motivation is again is looking for the positive, I try to tell myself that the prefect job will be found in this daily review of ads. I believe that only through the action of looking can I find the perfect job even if this job isn't in the ads I review. Action often sets things in motion with God/universe.
The bottom line with motivation should be whatever works best for you. I believe by finding the positive in everything situation you can always find some motivation. This motivation adds to your overall joyful/positive life because the more motivated you are the better you'll feel about anything that comes into your life.
Until tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day: "Find motivation in the small things everyday. For true motivation will lift you to a more positive life."
We all have days that we're not as motivated as other days & sometimes there are days where we don't feel like doing much of anything. To me these are all part of the natural cycle of nature. We all have good times & we also have bad times. We need to have both to learn to enjoy the good times, I wrote about this in my "Opposites" blog a week or so ago. No matter how connected you are to God/universe you will still have this natural cycle. The difference is the more you are connected to God/universe the more you'll understand why you are having a bad time and this connection will also make the bad times shorter & easier to take.
So back to motivation, in my daily life I have several things that I tend to need motivation to deal with. The first is the day in general. The way I deal with this is two fold. The first thing I do when I wake up in the morning is lay in bed and be grateful for another day. Then I thank God/universe for all the amazing things that are going to happen to me today. The second part of my daily motivation is to pay attention, for the first few hours of everyday I pay attention to as many small things as I can. In these small things I find positive things. It could be just a feeling I get from reading something or the smell of the State park that I ride through on my bike. Between these two things I tend to start the day very positive & this feeling sets the tone for the rest of the day.
The next thing I need motivation for on a daily basis is my bike riding. Many of you know that I've been riding my bike every morning for the last couple of months. I am currently riding 30 miles a day through the State park that's about 5 miles from our home. But this riding is not always easy for me. There are mornings when I wake up that I just ache & I really don't want to get on the bike & ride. The motivation I use for this is also two fold. I first tell myself the benefits of riding the bike. I talk to myself about how this will help my physical conditioning & overall health. The second thing I do is tap into my competitive nature. I tell myself that I'm not going to let this ride beat me. I'm going to make it through no matter how tough it becomes.
The final thing I need daily motivation for is looking through job ads. As many of you know I've been laid off for 3 months now & on a daily basis I go through 100 - 150 job ads looking for jobs I believe are a match for me. If any of you have done this, it's very dull & not a lot of fun. My motivation is again is looking for the positive, I try to tell myself that the prefect job will be found in this daily review of ads. I believe that only through the action of looking can I find the perfect job even if this job isn't in the ads I review. Action often sets things in motion with God/universe.
The bottom line with motivation should be whatever works best for you. I believe by finding the positive in everything situation you can always find some motivation. This motivation adds to your overall joyful/positive life because the more motivated you are the better you'll feel about anything that comes into your life.
Until tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day: "Find motivation in the small things everyday. For true motivation will lift you to a more positive life."
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Control
Control is an issue we've touched on before but I believe we should take a deeper look at today. What is Control? Do you consider yourself controlling? Do you feel like you have to have control over everything in your life? Let's take a look at each one of these questions & see how each relates to the issue of control.
Control to me is taking over everything in your life. Making everything work on your schedule with no margin for error. If your in a relationship or have children it includes the need to know what they are doing & where they are at every minute of everyday. Do you get upset if things don't go exactly according to plan? Do you feel like you can't handle anything happening outside of your plan? These questions may open your eyes to the second question whether or not you are controlling. The first step to letting go of control in your life is to understand that you are controlling or that you need to have control in your life. These are slightly different issues of the same coin. The need to have control is slightly different then being controlling. The answer to needing control can be a past issue that you need to work through.
I have never been a person that needed control in his life. I've always tried to enjoy the now but there were times in my life when I decided to take control of a certain issue. I made up my mind that I was going to make this happen no matter what. Unfortunately, I've found out the hard way that this isn't the best way to be. I usually was able to make things happen & I would end up getting what I wanted but most of the time it was never what I thought it was going to be.
One of the best examples of this would be a job. I decided I wanted a certain job & did everything I could to make sure I got this job. The once I had the job it wasn't what I thought it would be at all. In fact it turned out to be a job that I didn't want at all.
So why did this happen? Control, negates everything good in the universe. It destroys synchronicity and the natural flow of things. You may feel like you're happy because things are the way you want them to be. But, the truth is that if you let go of control & become one with God/universe your life will unfold into a new an amazing life that you can only imagine.
Letting go of control doesn't mean not doing anything. It simply means letting things happen as they should not making them happen. For true fulfillment in your life you need to let go of control & release your desires into the universe. The end result of this will be a more joyful/positive life.
Till Tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day: "Release the need for control in your life. Allow the universe to work for you & you will discover a more joyful life."
Control to me is taking over everything in your life. Making everything work on your schedule with no margin for error. If your in a relationship or have children it includes the need to know what they are doing & where they are at every minute of everyday. Do you get upset if things don't go exactly according to plan? Do you feel like you can't handle anything happening outside of your plan? These questions may open your eyes to the second question whether or not you are controlling. The first step to letting go of control in your life is to understand that you are controlling or that you need to have control in your life. These are slightly different issues of the same coin. The need to have control is slightly different then being controlling. The answer to needing control can be a past issue that you need to work through.
I have never been a person that needed control in his life. I've always tried to enjoy the now but there were times in my life when I decided to take control of a certain issue. I made up my mind that I was going to make this happen no matter what. Unfortunately, I've found out the hard way that this isn't the best way to be. I usually was able to make things happen & I would end up getting what I wanted but most of the time it was never what I thought it was going to be.
One of the best examples of this would be a job. I decided I wanted a certain job & did everything I could to make sure I got this job. The once I had the job it wasn't what I thought it would be at all. In fact it turned out to be a job that I didn't want at all.
So why did this happen? Control, negates everything good in the universe. It destroys synchronicity and the natural flow of things. You may feel like you're happy because things are the way you want them to be. But, the truth is that if you let go of control & become one with God/universe your life will unfold into a new an amazing life that you can only imagine.
Letting go of control doesn't mean not doing anything. It simply means letting things happen as they should not making them happen. For true fulfillment in your life you need to let go of control & release your desires into the universe. The end result of this will be a more joyful/positive life.
Till Tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day: "Release the need for control in your life. Allow the universe to work for you & you will discover a more joyful life."
Monday, September 7, 2009
Service to Others
On this "Labor Day" in the US I thought it was time to write about the most important way to have a more joyful/positive life. That way is service to others, what does service to others mean? I think it means whatever you'd like it to mean but, to me, it means giving of yourself to someone else. This can be through volunteering with a local charity or shelter. It can mean helping a neighbor or someone stuck on the side of the road. It may also mean service to your country either in the active military or through organizations like the Peace Corps.
The bottom line to me, is that you give of yourself to others. This giving of ones self opens you up to receive everything you give back in a new & wondrous way. I know what you're thinking....I have a very busy life how am I suppose to find time to volunteer or give to someone else? Well, I used that excuse before in my life. The act of "service to others" doesn't mean that you have to set-up a time to volunteer every week or squeeze it into a small piece of time around everything else you're doing. It means to open yourself to others understanding that we are all divine beings & all connected. The way you do this is truly up to you, it's the idea of looking first to give, first to help that will bring more joy to your life. The rewards you receive from helping others far out weigh anything that you give up.
Find a way to be in service to others today & your life will begin to change around you!
Finally, a small side note: To all our service men & women who are in action across this wonderful world of ours or who are home after serving their time to their country. Thank you for your service & sacrifice to help keep this country & the world free.
Until tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day: "Giving of ones self in service to another is truly the greatest gift of love you can ever give."
The bottom line to me, is that you give of yourself to others. This giving of ones self opens you up to receive everything you give back in a new & wondrous way. I know what you're thinking....I have a very busy life how am I suppose to find time to volunteer or give to someone else? Well, I used that excuse before in my life. The act of "service to others" doesn't mean that you have to set-up a time to volunteer every week or squeeze it into a small piece of time around everything else you're doing. It means to open yourself to others understanding that we are all divine beings & all connected. The way you do this is truly up to you, it's the idea of looking first to give, first to help that will bring more joy to your life. The rewards you receive from helping others far out weigh anything that you give up.
Find a way to be in service to others today & your life will begin to change around you!
Finally, a small side note: To all our service men & women who are in action across this wonderful world of ours or who are home after serving their time to their country. Thank you for your service & sacrifice to help keep this country & the world free.
Until tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day: "Giving of ones self in service to another is truly the greatest gift of love you can ever give."
Friday, September 4, 2009
Judging Others
Do you judge others? Do look at someone & immediately say they are this or they are that? Do you put everyone in your life into boxes? This person is my friend but not a good friend because of xyz. This person isn't that bright. Be honest with yourself, is this what you do?
Judging others & giving them labels is one of the quickest ways to disconnect from God/universe but one of the easiest things to fall into. The reason why we feel comfortable in judging people is because of our EGO. We feel better if we can put other people in a box & especially a box that's not as good as me.
The 5th verse of Tao Te Ching states: "Heaven & earth are impartial; they see the 10,000 things as straw dogs. The sage is not sentimental; he treats all his people as straw dogs. The sage is like heaven & earth; To him none are especially dear, nor is there anyone he disfavors. He gives & gives, without condition, offering his treasures to everyone. Between heaven & earth is a space like a bellows; empty & inexhaustible, the more it is used, the more it produces. Hold on to the center. Man was made to sit quietly & find the truth within."
What does this mean to me? We are all the same, we are all divine beings created by a Divine source. On a very basic level we are all energy & our energy is connected to everything & everyone. If you look for the divine in everyone you meet you will not be inclined to judge.
The old adage "You can't judge a book by it's cover" is very true & you'll never know what someone can bring into your life unless you listen with an open heart. Move past the EGO & into your soul, for in your soul we are all one!
Have a great weekend! Till Monday,
Bill
Quote of the day: "We are all divine beings created from a divine source. Open your heart to others & let go of judgment."
Judging others & giving them labels is one of the quickest ways to disconnect from God/universe but one of the easiest things to fall into. The reason why we feel comfortable in judging people is because of our EGO. We feel better if we can put other people in a box & especially a box that's not as good as me.
The 5th verse of Tao Te Ching states: "Heaven & earth are impartial; they see the 10,000 things as straw dogs. The sage is not sentimental; he treats all his people as straw dogs. The sage is like heaven & earth; To him none are especially dear, nor is there anyone he disfavors. He gives & gives, without condition, offering his treasures to everyone. Between heaven & earth is a space like a bellows; empty & inexhaustible, the more it is used, the more it produces. Hold on to the center. Man was made to sit quietly & find the truth within."
What does this mean to me? We are all the same, we are all divine beings created by a Divine source. On a very basic level we are all energy & our energy is connected to everything & everyone. If you look for the divine in everyone you meet you will not be inclined to judge.
The old adage "You can't judge a book by it's cover" is very true & you'll never know what someone can bring into your life unless you listen with an open heart. Move past the EGO & into your soul, for in your soul we are all one!
Have a great weekend! Till Monday,
Bill
Quote of the day: "We are all divine beings created from a divine source. Open your heart to others & let go of judgment."
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Resistance
What's your biggest resistance? What daily actions do you take that you feel resistance to? Resistance is an interesting Paradox most people think that when they have an automatic resistance to something that there's a good reason for it. I disagree, the only time that resistance has a deeper meaning is when you are living in the moment & connected to your soul.
So what is resistance? It's the EGO's fear of change or anything that's different. One of the quickest ways to change your life to a more joyful/positive life is to pay attention to the things you quickly resist. This resistance is normally old patterned behavior that the EGO doesn't want to let go of.
Remember from the blog I wrote on the "EGO" that the EGO lies. It wants what's easiest & doesn't want change. Resistance is one of it's first lines of defense, that's why paying attention to it is so important.
In "Perception" we talked a lot about the way you filter everything that comes into your life. Most of this information is stuff that has been ingrained in us since we were a child. The battle we always have as we move to enlightenment is to be able to leave the messages we learned, but that don't ring true to our soul, behind. Most of our automatic reactions are learned behavior. So, if your parents were prejudice against African-Americans until you unlearn that prejudice & challenge it, your first reaction is to feel uncomfortable or worse around African-Americans.
I'm not trying to imply that everything you learned as a child is wrong. Instead I'm trying to point out how difficult it is to move past those automatic responses. The best way to do this is by paying attention to resistance. Resistance is the first marker of fear, if we can move past these automatic responses, past resistance & beyond fear we can lead a more joyful/positive & fulfilling life.
Until Tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day: "Resistance is the language of the EGO, move past resistance and lead a more joyful life."
So what is resistance? It's the EGO's fear of change or anything that's different. One of the quickest ways to change your life to a more joyful/positive life is to pay attention to the things you quickly resist. This resistance is normally old patterned behavior that the EGO doesn't want to let go of.
Remember from the blog I wrote on the "EGO" that the EGO lies. It wants what's easiest & doesn't want change. Resistance is one of it's first lines of defense, that's why paying attention to it is so important.
In "Perception" we talked a lot about the way you filter everything that comes into your life. Most of this information is stuff that has been ingrained in us since we were a child. The battle we always have as we move to enlightenment is to be able to leave the messages we learned, but that don't ring true to our soul, behind. Most of our automatic reactions are learned behavior. So, if your parents were prejudice against African-Americans until you unlearn that prejudice & challenge it, your first reaction is to feel uncomfortable or worse around African-Americans.
I'm not trying to imply that everything you learned as a child is wrong. Instead I'm trying to point out how difficult it is to move past those automatic responses. The best way to do this is by paying attention to resistance. Resistance is the first marker of fear, if we can move past these automatic responses, past resistance & beyond fear we can lead a more joyful/positive & fulfilling life.
Until Tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day: "Resistance is the language of the EGO, move past resistance and lead a more joyful life."
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Opposites
Have you ever thought about the opposite side of you? Do you accept your negative emotions? How about your negative behavior? Can you look at yourself honestly in the mirror?
The whole natural world is created on opposites, otherwise it wouldn't exist. There has to be a winter in order to have a summer, light to dispel the darkness. In Chinese philosophy this is shown with the symbol of Yin & Yang which many of us have seen or know. The idea behind Yin & Yang is that there is a balance to everything & in order to be a whole person we need this balance as well.
The questions I asked above may be difficult questions for some, but in order to grow & have a more joyful/positive life we need to accept & acknowledge our negative side. If instead we choose to just bury it or ignore it. The negative will always come back into our lives & it will continue to hold us back.
When I wrote the blog entitled "reflections" I mentioned how people will come into your life that annoy you right away & that these people are reflecting a piece of yourself back to you that you don't want to acknowledge or that you don't like about yourself. This will always be the case God/universe will always find away to bring back these negative emotions until you accept these emotions as part of who you are.
For a lot of my younger life I was known to have a very bad temper. I didn't get angry often but when I did get angry I would get very angry. There were many reasons for this but most of it centered around my feelings of insecurity & not feeling good enough. What happened to me in order to defend my point, so I wouldn't feel like I was wrong, was I got very loud & angry. Until I accepted this negative behavior & until I resolved my insecurities I couldn't move past this negative emotion. I still have, on a very rare occasion, this negative emotion. It will always be a part of me. But now that I understand it & accept it, I'm able to live a more joyful/positive life.
There are many more examples of this not only in my life but in all your lives. In order to love greatly you need to know hate. In order to know good times you have to have experienced bad times. This balance is always there and necessary.
Look into your soul & accept all the negative as an equal part of who you are. By accepting & understanding this "dark side" of you, you can expand your joy & live a more positive/joyful life.
Until tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day: "We are all made up of light & dark, accept both parts of yourself & you will grow to have a more joyful life."
The whole natural world is created on opposites, otherwise it wouldn't exist. There has to be a winter in order to have a summer, light to dispel the darkness. In Chinese philosophy this is shown with the symbol of Yin & Yang which many of us have seen or know. The idea behind Yin & Yang is that there is a balance to everything & in order to be a whole person we need this balance as well.
The questions I asked above may be difficult questions for some, but in order to grow & have a more joyful/positive life we need to accept & acknowledge our negative side. If instead we choose to just bury it or ignore it. The negative will always come back into our lives & it will continue to hold us back.
When I wrote the blog entitled "reflections" I mentioned how people will come into your life that annoy you right away & that these people are reflecting a piece of yourself back to you that you don't want to acknowledge or that you don't like about yourself. This will always be the case God/universe will always find away to bring back these negative emotions until you accept these emotions as part of who you are.
For a lot of my younger life I was known to have a very bad temper. I didn't get angry often but when I did get angry I would get very angry. There were many reasons for this but most of it centered around my feelings of insecurity & not feeling good enough. What happened to me in order to defend my point, so I wouldn't feel like I was wrong, was I got very loud & angry. Until I accepted this negative behavior & until I resolved my insecurities I couldn't move past this negative emotion. I still have, on a very rare occasion, this negative emotion. It will always be a part of me. But now that I understand it & accept it, I'm able to live a more joyful/positive life.
There are many more examples of this not only in my life but in all your lives. In order to love greatly you need to know hate. In order to know good times you have to have experienced bad times. This balance is always there and necessary.
Look into your soul & accept all the negative as an equal part of who you are. By accepting & understanding this "dark side" of you, you can expand your joy & live a more positive/joyful life.
Until tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day: "We are all made up of light & dark, accept both parts of yourself & you will grow to have a more joyful life."
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Being "Not good enough"
Over the last 3 months I have tried to discuss many broad issues that occurred in my life. I've tried to guide you through the things I've learned to help all of you live a more joyful/positive life. It occurred to me the other day that the one subject I haven't really touched on is the subject that had an overriding effect on my life. The feeling of not being good enough. I realized that this issue is probably common amongst all of us, so here we go.
I believe parents in general don't try to cause issues with their children & often they believe that what they are doing or saying will truly help. That was not the case for me. I have mentioned before that growing up I had a difficult relationship with my father. The bottom line was that it seemed to me that no matter what I did it wasn't good enough for him & to me, the approval of my father was very important.
This caused a great deal of issues in my life. There was a positive side to it, it gave me an undying will to push on & prove him wrong. But, no matter how much success I had in my life (personally or professionally) it never felt satisfying. I was outwardly very self confident & successful but inside I was the little boy who just wanted to know he did good. This need for approval at times would disrupt my life & make it more difficult to move forward with my life.
So, how did I get through this? & what can you do if you feel the same way? I first started to truly deal with this issue with the death of my father in 2006. I was overwhelmed with grief and never truly understood why. It took me nearly a year of "working through" this grief before I realized that part of the grief was the fact that I would never hear him say "you did a great job". Although this process helped me the true turning point was in 2007 when I hired Susie Wise-Peterson as my life coach. When these issues would come come up she would ask me just one question "How's that working for you, Bill?". I realized then that I was holding onto something that was only holding me back. I knew that I could never grow into the person I wanted to be without letting go of this need for approval.
So how did I get past it? I spent a lot of time thinking about that question & the bottom was this: First I wrote my Dad a letter saying to him that I realized that he was only trying to do his best & that I forgave him for making me feel like I was never good enough. I also spent a lot of quiet time thinking about how he would respond to the letter. Then and only then I brought that insecure feeling to my heart. I felt the fear, I felt like that little boy who just wanted his Daddy to love him and then I let it go! I told myself this is not me, this feeling wasn't working for me & I am good person. Then anytime after that when a situation came up & I began to feel those old feelings I continued to let them go. I changed my thoughts to all the successes I've had in my life. This change in thought & the reattachment of success instead of the feeling of not being good enough changed my first thoughts to the successes I've accomplished. I no longer feel that emptiness. I had moved past this issue by forgiveness, letting the issue go & changing my thoughts.
You can move through any past issue by trusting in this process. Remember that we are all divine beings we can do anything we set our mind to. Believe in yourself because God/universe believes in you!
Till tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day: "You are a beautiful divine being who can accomplish anything you put your mind to! Believe in yourself, find joy today!!
I believe parents in general don't try to cause issues with their children & often they believe that what they are doing or saying will truly help. That was not the case for me. I have mentioned before that growing up I had a difficult relationship with my father. The bottom line was that it seemed to me that no matter what I did it wasn't good enough for him & to me, the approval of my father was very important.
This caused a great deal of issues in my life. There was a positive side to it, it gave me an undying will to push on & prove him wrong. But, no matter how much success I had in my life (personally or professionally) it never felt satisfying. I was outwardly very self confident & successful but inside I was the little boy who just wanted to know he did good. This need for approval at times would disrupt my life & make it more difficult to move forward with my life.
So, how did I get through this? & what can you do if you feel the same way? I first started to truly deal with this issue with the death of my father in 2006. I was overwhelmed with grief and never truly understood why. It took me nearly a year of "working through" this grief before I realized that part of the grief was the fact that I would never hear him say "you did a great job". Although this process helped me the true turning point was in 2007 when I hired Susie Wise-Peterson as my life coach. When these issues would come come up she would ask me just one question "How's that working for you, Bill?". I realized then that I was holding onto something that was only holding me back. I knew that I could never grow into the person I wanted to be without letting go of this need for approval.
So how did I get past it? I spent a lot of time thinking about that question & the bottom was this: First I wrote my Dad a letter saying to him that I realized that he was only trying to do his best & that I forgave him for making me feel like I was never good enough. I also spent a lot of quiet time thinking about how he would respond to the letter. Then and only then I brought that insecure feeling to my heart. I felt the fear, I felt like that little boy who just wanted his Daddy to love him and then I let it go! I told myself this is not me, this feeling wasn't working for me & I am good person. Then anytime after that when a situation came up & I began to feel those old feelings I continued to let them go. I changed my thoughts to all the successes I've had in my life. This change in thought & the reattachment of success instead of the feeling of not being good enough changed my first thoughts to the successes I've accomplished. I no longer feel that emptiness. I had moved past this issue by forgiveness, letting the issue go & changing my thoughts.
You can move through any past issue by trusting in this process. Remember that we are all divine beings we can do anything we set our mind to. Believe in yourself because God/universe believes in you!
Till tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day: "You are a beautiful divine being who can accomplish anything you put your mind to! Believe in yourself, find joy today!!
Monday, August 31, 2009
Happiness
What is happiness? Have you ever given any thought to this question? Happiness, I believe, is finding joy in each & every moment. I think the problem that many of us have is going "in search of" happiness. It's an idea that's been with our country from the very beginning, after all right in the Declaration of Independence "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
Happiness isn't to be pursued, it's to be enjoyed. If you're always looking for happiness you'll never find it. Way to many of us make statements like; "When I get that new job, then I'll be happy." or "When I get married, then I'll be happy." we set ourselves up to delay what we can have right now.
Yes, the idea that happiness is enjoying every moment is a simple answer but truly it's the only way to discover what you're pursuing. In actuality, happiness is living from your soul. The closer we get to reconnecting with our "true self" or our "divine self" the happier we'll be. We all have it within us to have anything we want. God/universe only knows unlimited giving. The problem is that we let our EGO dictate what we want or need to be happy. This is rarely what we really need, as we discussed a while ago the EGO lies. It only wants the things that will satisfy the EGO not what will satisfy the soul. To find true happiness we need to rediscover our divinity....we have to find out who we truly are!
Live from the soul, reconnect with your source & find happiness in every moment of every day!
Till Tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day: "Happiness isn't something to pursue, it's something to enjoy in every moment of everyday! Be happy & live in the now."
Happiness isn't to be pursued, it's to be enjoyed. If you're always looking for happiness you'll never find it. Way to many of us make statements like; "When I get that new job, then I'll be happy." or "When I get married, then I'll be happy." we set ourselves up to delay what we can have right now.
Yes, the idea that happiness is enjoying every moment is a simple answer but truly it's the only way to discover what you're pursuing. In actuality, happiness is living from your soul. The closer we get to reconnecting with our "true self" or our "divine self" the happier we'll be. We all have it within us to have anything we want. God/universe only knows unlimited giving. The problem is that we let our EGO dictate what we want or need to be happy. This is rarely what we really need, as we discussed a while ago the EGO lies. It only wants the things that will satisfy the EGO not what will satisfy the soul. To find true happiness we need to rediscover our divinity....we have to find out who we truly are!
Live from the soul, reconnect with your source & find happiness in every moment of every day!
Till Tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day: "Happiness isn't something to pursue, it's something to enjoy in every moment of everyday! Be happy & live in the now."
Friday, August 28, 2009
Outside Observer
One of the best ways to continue your growth to a more joyful life is to become an "Outside Observer" of your life. What does being an "Outside Observer" mean? To me it means learning to step away from each situation in your mind & look at it objectively. We talked a lot about life being filtered through your own perceptions a few weeks ago. To me, after realizing you are filtering everything, the next step is to learn to be objective in each situation.
This is not an easy step but with practice it can make a big difference. You can describe this process however you'd like. Some people may just call it being objective, Deepak Chopra calls it the "Silent Observer" for me "Outside Observer" works best because for me the process is exactly that, stepping away from yourself & looking at the situation in a different light.
So the first question you need to answer is can you be objective with your own thoughts & actions? This is the hardest part of this idea because even when you think you may be objective you truly may be hung up on your own perceptions. I don't have an easy answer as to how to become better at this, I can only share with you the process I go through with any conversation/situation I am involved in.
The first thing I do is try to understand why the other person is saying/acting the way they are. Remember that each us reacts from our own experiences & more often then not we react to most situations by coming from a place of fear. We're afraid of what we feel are weaknesses in our own life or we're reacting from fear because of a past event that mirrors the feeling of the situation that's happening in-front of us. Once we understand this key piece we can begin to understand how to help move the situation away from fear into a positive environment.
The next thing I do is look at my reaction to the situation & try & understand what my motivation is. I am reacting out of fear, am I annoyed because this person is "reflecting" a quality back to me that I don't like about myself? For most people this may be the hardest part of the process, I know it is still hard for me. The easiest way I've learned to be able to follow this process is to slow things down in my mind, take a breath & take the time to truly listen.
Once you're able to be the "Outside Observer" in your own life you'll begin to hear the messages that God/universe wants you to learn from each situation. By beginning to learn the messages of everyone that enters your life you will begin to have more & more snychronistic occurrences in your life. The more open & objective you can be in your life the easier it will be to find more joy!
Hope you all have a great weekend, Till Monday!
Bill
Quote of the day: "By being the "Outside Observer" in your own life you'll learn to become more open & accepting. This openness will lead you to more joy!"
This is not an easy step but with practice it can make a big difference. You can describe this process however you'd like. Some people may just call it being objective, Deepak Chopra calls it the "Silent Observer" for me "Outside Observer" works best because for me the process is exactly that, stepping away from yourself & looking at the situation in a different light.
So the first question you need to answer is can you be objective with your own thoughts & actions? This is the hardest part of this idea because even when you think you may be objective you truly may be hung up on your own perceptions. I don't have an easy answer as to how to become better at this, I can only share with you the process I go through with any conversation/situation I am involved in.
The first thing I do is try to understand why the other person is saying/acting the way they are. Remember that each us reacts from our own experiences & more often then not we react to most situations by coming from a place of fear. We're afraid of what we feel are weaknesses in our own life or we're reacting from fear because of a past event that mirrors the feeling of the situation that's happening in-front of us. Once we understand this key piece we can begin to understand how to help move the situation away from fear into a positive environment.
The next thing I do is look at my reaction to the situation & try & understand what my motivation is. I am reacting out of fear, am I annoyed because this person is "reflecting" a quality back to me that I don't like about myself? For most people this may be the hardest part of the process, I know it is still hard for me. The easiest way I've learned to be able to follow this process is to slow things down in my mind, take a breath & take the time to truly listen.
Once you're able to be the "Outside Observer" in your own life you'll begin to hear the messages that God/universe wants you to learn from each situation. By beginning to learn the messages of everyone that enters your life you will begin to have more & more snychronistic occurrences in your life. The more open & objective you can be in your life the easier it will be to find more joy!
Hope you all have a great weekend, Till Monday!
Bill
Quote of the day: "By being the "Outside Observer" in your own life you'll learn to become more open & accepting. This openness will lead you to more joy!"
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Quieting the Noise
Yesterday we talked about being patient in the storm around you & enjoying each moment regardless of the circumstances. I think we need to explore the bigger idea here. In this day & age we are surrounded by way to many distractions, there is "noise" everywhere we go. In my opinion to much noise. I think technology is a wonderful thing but it has made us all accessible 24/7 and it creates an atmosphere of distraction. Remember when you were a child & you had "quiet time" where not much was going on?
Where you explored your imagination & created wonderful ideas.
I think we all need to try & slow down our busy lives & quiet the noise in our life. As I mentioned before I'm not good at meditation but I do try to give myself "quiet time" each day to reflect on my life & my intentions for the day & for my life. I try to take this quiet time at least a couple of times a day.
But let's talk a bit more about "quieting the noise". In order to truly bring synchronicity back into your life & improve the possibilities for your intentions to be heard by God/universe we need to quiet the noise in our life & relearn how to narrow our focus. To some people this may be a contradiction to opening up & being accepting to everything that comes into your life. I don't see it that way at all, I have found in my life that the things I need to pay attention to make themselves known to me. You'll learn over time what or who you need to pay attention to, trust in the universe.
How do you narrow your focus? Have you ever been so engrossed in a book that nothing can distract you? Well the idea behind narrowing your focus & quieting the noise isn't that extreme but it should be an idea that you explore. Focus on what is important to you & what makes its self apparent to you. Quiet the other noise & take time to be quiet yourself. Learn to slow life down & enjoy it, savor it like a good wine or a great meal. All we have is today nothing else is guaranteed, remember that when a day seems to get difficult, there's always a way to enjoy even those tough days. Together we'll find a way to enjoy each day and find the joy!
Till tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day: "Quiet the noise & narrow your focus, joy is all around you. Find the joy & eliminate the noise!"
Where you explored your imagination & created wonderful ideas.
I think we all need to try & slow down our busy lives & quiet the noise in our life. As I mentioned before I'm not good at meditation but I do try to give myself "quiet time" each day to reflect on my life & my intentions for the day & for my life. I try to take this quiet time at least a couple of times a day.
But let's talk a bit more about "quieting the noise". In order to truly bring synchronicity back into your life & improve the possibilities for your intentions to be heard by God/universe we need to quiet the noise in our life & relearn how to narrow our focus. To some people this may be a contradiction to opening up & being accepting to everything that comes into your life. I don't see it that way at all, I have found in my life that the things I need to pay attention to make themselves known to me. You'll learn over time what or who you need to pay attention to, trust in the universe.
How do you narrow your focus? Have you ever been so engrossed in a book that nothing can distract you? Well the idea behind narrowing your focus & quieting the noise isn't that extreme but it should be an idea that you explore. Focus on what is important to you & what makes its self apparent to you. Quiet the other noise & take time to be quiet yourself. Learn to slow life down & enjoy it, savor it like a good wine or a great meal. All we have is today nothing else is guaranteed, remember that when a day seems to get difficult, there's always a way to enjoy even those tough days. Together we'll find a way to enjoy each day and find the joy!
Till tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day: "Quiet the noise & narrow your focus, joy is all around you. Find the joy & eliminate the noise!"
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Patience
I observed many things on my vacation to England, I tried to live in each moment & I related to a wide variety of people. Through all of this one of the things that rang very true to me is patience. How much patience do you have? Do you have patience for people that are different then you? or do you just dismiss them? In a storm of activity can you remain calm and move through the storm as a quiet force?
These & many more questions are very difficult for some people to answer. Let's take it a step further & ask, is your outside appearance the same as how you feel inside? Patience can be a very difficult thing in this busy time. I believe it's something we all need to work on especially now.
We talked a lot in the past in this journey to joy about appreciating each moment, patience to me is very interconnected to this. I have always been thought of as someone who has great patience. Patience in teaching, patience in listening & patience in waiting, my struggle is that inside I'm not always as patient as I appear on the outside.
I've wrote some about my daughter's wedding, it was an amazing experience to me & something I think every father of a little girl should go through. The range of emotions that you experience in a short period of time (if you allow them) is amazing. But, there was a storm of activity. This storm was complicated by the wide variety of people involved in this wedding, from grandma's fairly set in their ways to my ex-wife to a couple not even invited to the wedding (that's another story) to the few friends of my daughter & son-in-law's friends & to my son-in-laws very British parents. I enjoyed the differences that each of these people brought to this wonderful event but I found everyone getting caught up in the storm & not truly appreciating what we all were there for.
I was able to move from group to group & bring some calm to each situation that presented its self. I calmed down people upset at small things beyond their control & brought some calmness to people that were stressed out by everything happening around them. The point of this blog is not to commend myself because as I mentioned earlier I struggle with what's going on on the inside as opposed to what people see in these situations. Instead I want to give an example of how life can pass you by if you don't slow down. This amazing event was a blink in the lifetime of everyone who attended it but many of the people didn't appreciate the experience because they were caught up in the storm.
Patience is letting go of the outcome, enjoying the now & quieting the storm. To truly have patience you must be open to the differences of the people in your life & accept them from where they are coming from. All of these traits are part of your expansion into a more joyful life. So today when the storm begins around you, take a breath & be the calm....your life will change because of it.
Until tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day: "Patience is the ability to calm the storm around you & appreciate each & every moment, practice patience today!"
These & many more questions are very difficult for some people to answer. Let's take it a step further & ask, is your outside appearance the same as how you feel inside? Patience can be a very difficult thing in this busy time. I believe it's something we all need to work on especially now.
We talked a lot in the past in this journey to joy about appreciating each moment, patience to me is very interconnected to this. I have always been thought of as someone who has great patience. Patience in teaching, patience in listening & patience in waiting, my struggle is that inside I'm not always as patient as I appear on the outside.
I've wrote some about my daughter's wedding, it was an amazing experience to me & something I think every father of a little girl should go through. The range of emotions that you experience in a short period of time (if you allow them) is amazing. But, there was a storm of activity. This storm was complicated by the wide variety of people involved in this wedding, from grandma's fairly set in their ways to my ex-wife to a couple not even invited to the wedding (that's another story) to the few friends of my daughter & son-in-law's friends & to my son-in-laws very British parents. I enjoyed the differences that each of these people brought to this wonderful event but I found everyone getting caught up in the storm & not truly appreciating what we all were there for.
I was able to move from group to group & bring some calm to each situation that presented its self. I calmed down people upset at small things beyond their control & brought some calmness to people that were stressed out by everything happening around them. The point of this blog is not to commend myself because as I mentioned earlier I struggle with what's going on on the inside as opposed to what people see in these situations. Instead I want to give an example of how life can pass you by if you don't slow down. This amazing event was a blink in the lifetime of everyone who attended it but many of the people didn't appreciate the experience because they were caught up in the storm.
Patience is letting go of the outcome, enjoying the now & quieting the storm. To truly have patience you must be open to the differences of the people in your life & accept them from where they are coming from. All of these traits are part of your expansion into a more joyful life. So today when the storm begins around you, take a breath & be the calm....your life will change because of it.
Until tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day: "Patience is the ability to calm the storm around you & appreciate each & every moment, practice patience today!"
Monday, August 10, 2009
Honesty
Do you always tell the truth? What does it take for you to tell a lie? Are you honest to yourself? These are all difficult questions, did you take time to think of your answers? If not it a minute now and think through these questions.
What does honesty have to do with bringing more joy in your life? I think it has everything to do with it. Why?, because honesty like so many other great qualities opens you up to more great things in your life. To me honesty is the basis of it all, especially being honest to yourself. The only way to grow & learn in your life is to be truly honest with yourself. So many people go through their lives trying to hide their weaknesses, not just from others but from themselves.
I've always trusted in being honest, to myself & to everyone in my life. Heidi (my wife) will tell you at times I'm bluntly honest. I've learned in my life to soften some of the bluntness but if someone asks me a direct question I'm going to answer them openly & honestly.
The universe/God only knows the truth, so truly who do you think you're fooling? You may be fooling people in your life & you may even be able to fool yourself for a while. But, is it worth it? Be open & honest to yourself & everyone in your life. Let go of the negative behavior of lying. Accept responsibility for your actions & be true to yourself. Start today & your life will change.
For all of you that don't know; I'll be in England starting tomorrow for my eldest daughters wedding on Friday 8/14. The blog will be taking a break for the next two weeks while I'm away. I'll try & post travel updates here & maybe some pictures when I can get internet access. This is a great time to re-read the blog from the beginning, I look forward to all of your questions & comments on my return. I'll miss you all till then.
Hugs,
Bill
Return date will be 8/25!
Quote of the day: "Honesty is the key to positive changes in your life. Be honest with yourself & everyone you meet & the world will be honest in return."
What does honesty have to do with bringing more joy in your life? I think it has everything to do with it. Why?, because honesty like so many other great qualities opens you up to more great things in your life. To me honesty is the basis of it all, especially being honest to yourself. The only way to grow & learn in your life is to be truly honest with yourself. So many people go through their lives trying to hide their weaknesses, not just from others but from themselves.
I've always trusted in being honest, to myself & to everyone in my life. Heidi (my wife) will tell you at times I'm bluntly honest. I've learned in my life to soften some of the bluntness but if someone asks me a direct question I'm going to answer them openly & honestly.
The universe/God only knows the truth, so truly who do you think you're fooling? You may be fooling people in your life & you may even be able to fool yourself for a while. But, is it worth it? Be open & honest to yourself & everyone in your life. Let go of the negative behavior of lying. Accept responsibility for your actions & be true to yourself. Start today & your life will change.
For all of you that don't know; I'll be in England starting tomorrow for my eldest daughters wedding on Friday 8/14. The blog will be taking a break for the next two weeks while I'm away. I'll try & post travel updates here & maybe some pictures when I can get internet access. This is a great time to re-read the blog from the beginning, I look forward to all of your questions & comments on my return. I'll miss you all till then.
Hugs,
Bill
Return date will be 8/25!
Quote of the day: "Honesty is the key to positive changes in your life. Be honest with yourself & everyone you meet & the world will be honest in return."
Friday, August 7, 2009
Destiny/Fate
So what do you think about Destiny? There has been many writings over the years about Destiny. They range from the belief that everything in our life is predetermined to the belief that everything in our life is self determined. Where on the scale do you stand? Have you even given the subject much thought? Throughout my life I've thought a lot about this subject & although this subject isn't directly related to living a more joyful/positive life for me it's all interconnected.
I believe we at our source are energy & as we've discussed before that energy is interconnected with everything in the universe. We can & do have an affect on everything in the universe because we are all energy & that energy is sent out from us by our thoughts & actions. So is everything in life predetermined? I don't believe in absolute predetermination. I believe instead that the intelligence of God/Universe gives us a path that we suppose to follow but God/Universe also gives us choices along that path.
The God/Universe will try to bring us back onto our path predetermined path in life by self correcting the path we have chosen but if we are not open & accepting we will continue to choose the wrong path. Many times, as we've discussed, these wrong choices are driven by our EGO. We decide that we want more money, more possessions or more fame and ignore our true path in life.
From the time we are born, into this human form, our soul is searching to return to our Source. Our Source is the divine attachment we have to God/Universe. It's the small voice that hear we when we actually listen deep inside us. This Source only knows positive energy & the fulfillment of what we ask for. When we can connect to this Source while we are alive we are truly fulfilled & everything works the way it should in our life. Our journey in life is to be reconnected with our Source. We don't have to wait until we die to reconnect, if we live a more joyful life & listen to our soul we can reconnect in our lifetime.
Whatever your thoughts on Destiny/Fate the more you open up to the God/Universe the more joyful life you will lead.
Until Monday,
Bill
Quote of the day: "Our destiny is a choice we make everyday. Choose to be open & accepting & joy will fill your life."
I believe we at our source are energy & as we've discussed before that energy is interconnected with everything in the universe. We can & do have an affect on everything in the universe because we are all energy & that energy is sent out from us by our thoughts & actions. So is everything in life predetermined? I don't believe in absolute predetermination. I believe instead that the intelligence of God/Universe gives us a path that we suppose to follow but God/Universe also gives us choices along that path.
The God/Universe will try to bring us back onto our path predetermined path in life by self correcting the path we have chosen but if we are not open & accepting we will continue to choose the wrong path. Many times, as we've discussed, these wrong choices are driven by our EGO. We decide that we want more money, more possessions or more fame and ignore our true path in life.
From the time we are born, into this human form, our soul is searching to return to our Source. Our Source is the divine attachment we have to God/Universe. It's the small voice that hear we when we actually listen deep inside us. This Source only knows positive energy & the fulfillment of what we ask for. When we can connect to this Source while we are alive we are truly fulfilled & everything works the way it should in our life. Our journey in life is to be reconnected with our Source. We don't have to wait until we die to reconnect, if we live a more joyful life & listen to our soul we can reconnect in our lifetime.
Whatever your thoughts on Destiny/Fate the more you open up to the God/Universe the more joyful life you will lead.
Until Monday,
Bill
Quote of the day: "Our destiny is a choice we make everyday. Choose to be open & accepting & joy will fill your life."
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Laugh
"I love to laugh, loud & long & clear"(video below) Yes I do love to laugh & I woke up this morning with this song for mary Poppins in my head so I decided it's a great thing to talk about. The benefits of laughter are incredible. According to Ode magazine's August Issue from an article entitled "The Medicine of Mirth" by Mary Desmond Pinkowish "Laughter blunts stress & pain; hearty chuckling increases levels of the "happy" brain chemicals known as endorphins. Laughter staves off black moods, which can damage heart health & increase the risk of stroke. It reduces levels of cortisol, the stress hormone that's tied to several health problems, including deposition of fat in abdominal area, the most dangerous place for it. Laughter can ease anxiety disorders, while breast milk of mothers who laugh hard contains higher levels of melatonin, which can reduce the chances of eczema in newborns. Laughter may also mitigate the damaging effects of inflammation, a process linked to heart attacks, arthritis, allergies & other conditions. The progress of diabetic kidney disease may be stymied by laughter, and laughter is linked to better respiratory function in those with chronic lung disease. Best of all, you burn more calories when you laugh."
Wow, I didn't know all of that, =D I just knew laughter was good for you & we all need to do more of it. Laughter is also a great social event, we tend to laugh more in groups. If we can all laugh a little more each day we'll brighten our mood and the mood of everyone around us.
I've never been afraid to laugh, whether in a play or a comedy club I'm happy to laugh anytime I think something is funny, even if I end up laughing by myself. The old adage "laughter is the best medicine" is really true. Bring more joy to your life through laughter!!
Till tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day: "Laughter brightens the soul, find time to laugh & bring more joy to the world!"
"I Love to Laugh"
Wow, I didn't know all of that, =D I just knew laughter was good for you & we all need to do more of it. Laughter is also a great social event, we tend to laugh more in groups. If we can all laugh a little more each day we'll brighten our mood and the mood of everyone around us.
I've never been afraid to laugh, whether in a play or a comedy club I'm happy to laugh anytime I think something is funny, even if I end up laughing by myself. The old adage "laughter is the best medicine" is really true. Bring more joy to your life through laughter!!
Till tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day: "Laughter brightens the soul, find time to laugh & bring more joy to the world!"
"I Love to Laugh"
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Perception
Wow, here's a big topic that we've touched on here & there over the past month but I think we should plunge into all the way! Your perception affects everything in your life. It's the most important subject to to truly become aware of.
Let's start with the Dictionary.com definition: " the act or faculty of apprehending by means of the senses or of the mind; cognition; understanding." Everything we know in life is filtered through our own perception. Our perception is developed throughout our life by the experiences we've had & the knowledge we've learned. The only way to change your life to a more joyful life is to change your perception of everything. Yes, I know that sounds like a big task, but actually it's just an effort, on your part, to look at things differently.
No matter how objective you think you are in life. Everything is affected by your perception & to complicate things a little more, everything you read, hear or see is someones else's perception which you then interpret through your own perception. So everything in life is filtered to some extent at least twice (1st by who's saying it & 2nd by your own).
What happens over our life is that we tend to get entrenched in the way we perceive things & this leads us to seeing things in the same pattern we've always known. The problem with this is that if we want to change our life we need to break these old patterns & look at things differently to begin to find more joy.
So how do we start to do this? There's no defined way it's whatever seems to work for you. What I've done over the past several years is to challenge myself to look at everything differently. I allow the 1st thought into my head & recognize it. I then challenge myself to look at it from at least one other point of view. The next step for me when it comes to other people is to not judge. I let go of all my preconceived ideas of what a person is I don't judge them by what they are wearing, what their appearance is what race or religion (if I know) or what sexual preference. I instead try to understand why they are saying what they are saying. In other words I try to understand their point of view, their perception of what they are telling me.
I believe strongly that every person that comes into your life is there for a reason. This reason is usually to teach something you need to know. Either something about yourself (as talked about in "reflections") or something you need to know to move forward in your life. If you try to open yourself up to this idea you begin to see the world in a different way.
For me the final step is to also look at everything else in your life (that's not people) in the same open (new) way. We can discover messages from everything that enters our life....everything is there for a reason! That's the way the universe works. (To learn more about the meaning of animals that show up in your life a great book is "Animal Speaks" by Ted Andrews).
Change your perception & your new life will begin to unfold in front of you.
Until tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day: "Perception is your filter of the universe. Change your perception & the world will change around of you!"
Let's start with the Dictionary.com definition: " the act or faculty of apprehending by means of the senses or of the mind; cognition; understanding." Everything we know in life is filtered through our own perception. Our perception is developed throughout our life by the experiences we've had & the knowledge we've learned. The only way to change your life to a more joyful life is to change your perception of everything. Yes, I know that sounds like a big task, but actually it's just an effort, on your part, to look at things differently.
No matter how objective you think you are in life. Everything is affected by your perception & to complicate things a little more, everything you read, hear or see is someones else's perception which you then interpret through your own perception. So everything in life is filtered to some extent at least twice (1st by who's saying it & 2nd by your own).
What happens over our life is that we tend to get entrenched in the way we perceive things & this leads us to seeing things in the same pattern we've always known. The problem with this is that if we want to change our life we need to break these old patterns & look at things differently to begin to find more joy.
So how do we start to do this? There's no defined way it's whatever seems to work for you. What I've done over the past several years is to challenge myself to look at everything differently. I allow the 1st thought into my head & recognize it. I then challenge myself to look at it from at least one other point of view. The next step for me when it comes to other people is to not judge. I let go of all my preconceived ideas of what a person is I don't judge them by what they are wearing, what their appearance is what race or religion (if I know) or what sexual preference. I instead try to understand why they are saying what they are saying. In other words I try to understand their point of view, their perception of what they are telling me.
I believe strongly that every person that comes into your life is there for a reason. This reason is usually to teach something you need to know. Either something about yourself (as talked about in "reflections") or something you need to know to move forward in your life. If you try to open yourself up to this idea you begin to see the world in a different way.
For me the final step is to also look at everything else in your life (that's not people) in the same open (new) way. We can discover messages from everything that enters our life....everything is there for a reason! That's the way the universe works. (To learn more about the meaning of animals that show up in your life a great book is "Animal Speaks" by Ted Andrews).
Change your perception & your new life will begin to unfold in front of you.
Until tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day: "Perception is your filter of the universe. Change your perception & the world will change around of you!"
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Fear of the unknown
A few weeks ago we discussed fear & the need to move past the fear in our life to have a more joyful life. In the past couple of weeks I've been confronted by people in my life with a very specific fear & in fact the fear that holds most people back, that's the fear of the unknown.
What is the fear of the unknown? To me it's just a big lie. It's our mind playing tricks on us. Here's what happens; we have something that's going to happen in a few days that we're concerned about like a doctors appointment. We've had some tests previously & something has shown up that requires more testing so we have to return to the doctor. In our minds, inbetween the appointments we start to envision more & more bad things that could be wrong with us. The fear within us regarding this appointment grows & grows even though we have no information that supports what we're thinking.
What happens is we get consumed by this fear, no matter what we do, every free thought we have creates a different or deeper problem that's going to occur. This can happen with anything in our life that occurs "later" and that we have some concern about. This "fear of the unknown" takes away from living in the current moment as we are instead obsessed with the future event. Besides not living in the current moment we move our thoughts to a more & more negative place. This fear for some people can be very crippling & the truth is the imagined fear rarely if ever happens.
So what do we do to get past this overwhelming fear? What I've always done is first & foremost live in the current moment. This alone will save us from most of the fear. If we are only focused on the now & enjoying the current moment we don't have time to create a fear of something that's going in the future.
The second way I deal with this "fear" is to clear my mind when the thought comes into it & then replace the thought with a positive thought of something that's happening right now. So it works something like this using the example above: The thought is I could be really sick otherwise the doctor wouldn't be running all these tests. I clear my mind and concentrate on my breathing and let go of all thoughts including the "negative thought". I then replace the thought with something in the current moment....."Look how beautiful my wife is looking in that outfit!" If you're able to do this with any negative thought you will begin to move past these thoughts & live a more joyful life.
Until tomorrow,
Bill
The quote of the day: "The fear of the unknown is in fact an illusion, let go of the fear & live in the now!"
What is the fear of the unknown? To me it's just a big lie. It's our mind playing tricks on us. Here's what happens; we have something that's going to happen in a few days that we're concerned about like a doctors appointment. We've had some tests previously & something has shown up that requires more testing so we have to return to the doctor. In our minds, inbetween the appointments we start to envision more & more bad things that could be wrong with us. The fear within us regarding this appointment grows & grows even though we have no information that supports what we're thinking.
What happens is we get consumed by this fear, no matter what we do, every free thought we have creates a different or deeper problem that's going to occur. This can happen with anything in our life that occurs "later" and that we have some concern about. This "fear of the unknown" takes away from living in the current moment as we are instead obsessed with the future event. Besides not living in the current moment we move our thoughts to a more & more negative place. This fear for some people can be very crippling & the truth is the imagined fear rarely if ever happens.
So what do we do to get past this overwhelming fear? What I've always done is first & foremost live in the current moment. This alone will save us from most of the fear. If we are only focused on the now & enjoying the current moment we don't have time to create a fear of something that's going in the future.
The second way I deal with this "fear" is to clear my mind when the thought comes into it & then replace the thought with a positive thought of something that's happening right now. So it works something like this using the example above: The thought is I could be really sick otherwise the doctor wouldn't be running all these tests. I clear my mind and concentrate on my breathing and let go of all thoughts including the "negative thought". I then replace the thought with something in the current moment....."Look how beautiful my wife is looking in that outfit!" If you're able to do this with any negative thought you will begin to move past these thoughts & live a more joyful life.
Until tomorrow,
Bill
The quote of the day: "The fear of the unknown is in fact an illusion, let go of the fear & live in the now!"
Monday, August 3, 2009
Compliments
I was reminded this weekend about a couple of guys from Purdue University that spend every Wednesday giving out compliments. (I'll attach a Youtube video at the end). The idea behind this started very simply. They wanted to do something to brighten people's day. So what they decided to do is to go the a heavy traffic place at Purdue every Wednesday & give out free compliments. Now they have been recognized throughout the country for this very simple idea.
So why I am I writing about these guys here? I see it as two fold: 1st) It shows how each one of us can have a large impact on everyone that enters our live by doing a small thing. 2nd) I think it's a great idea. I think people have forgotten to compliment people in their lives anymore. We get so caught up in our own lives & so caught up with our expectations of others that compliments aren't something that easily comes to our minds.
For these guys it doesn't matter who you are when you walk by they find something to give you a compliment on. The impact they've had on the campus of Purdue can't be measured. But from the responses they've received the impact has been unbelievable. People who were having a bad day had their day improve just by this simple act.
So, today let's all remember to pay the people in our lives a compliment. Let's start a small change in the world that can make a big difference!
I appreciate everyone who reads this blog. You have chosen to try & take simple steps to help change your life. Spread the joy of compliments to everyone in your life today!
Until tomorrow,
Bill
PS I love to hear from all of you either here or on twitter. If there's a subject that's important to you feel free to let me know & I'll try & write about. If you have specific questions I'll also try & address them.
Quote of the Day: "A compliment can change a persons day. Give everyone in your life the joy of a compliment today! Change the world!"
So why I am I writing about these guys here? I see it as two fold: 1st) It shows how each one of us can have a large impact on everyone that enters our live by doing a small thing. 2nd) I think it's a great idea. I think people have forgotten to compliment people in their lives anymore. We get so caught up in our own lives & so caught up with our expectations of others that compliments aren't something that easily comes to our minds.
For these guys it doesn't matter who you are when you walk by they find something to give you a compliment on. The impact they've had on the campus of Purdue can't be measured. But from the responses they've received the impact has been unbelievable. People who were having a bad day had their day improve just by this simple act.
So, today let's all remember to pay the people in our lives a compliment. Let's start a small change in the world that can make a big difference!
I appreciate everyone who reads this blog. You have chosen to try & take simple steps to help change your life. Spread the joy of compliments to everyone in your life today!
Until tomorrow,
Bill
PS I love to hear from all of you either here or on twitter. If there's a subject that's important to you feel free to let me know & I'll try & write about. If you have specific questions I'll also try & address them.
Quote of the Day: "A compliment can change a persons day. Give everyone in your life the joy of a compliment today! Change the world!"
Friday, July 31, 2009
Energy
A few weeks ago we talked about Synchronicity and being in the flow of the universe/God so that things flow naturally the way they should. Another side of becoming aware & open to the universal flow is to try & understand energy. There have been many scientific studies over the years that show that everything has energy. If you're able to wrap your mind around this idea it's the first step to understanding energy. These studies have shown that not only living things but everything has some energy & on a very basic level we are all made up of many of the same molecules, just arraigned differently.
The next step after the realization that everything has energy is to understand that we can feel & affect this energy throughout the universe. The easiest way to illustrate this, for me, is to talk about people in your life. Do you know a person in your life who is very negative. They're always talking about obstacles in their life or they are just always in bad mood. When you begin to talk to these people you will feel like you're losing your energy & your joyfulness/positivity. In actuality you are, I call these people energy vampires. They just drain all the good energy out of you because they are so negative that they need more & more energy just to get through the day.
On the other side of the coin we all know people that light up the room just by walking in. You feel better just have them around. Their positive energy just flows out of them & changes the mood in the room. This is the person that we should all strive to become. You don't have to be a great social person to become this person. It's not about being loud or overly friendly. These people sometimes don't say anything you can just feel their energy.
So how do we become this positive energy for the universe? For me it starts with the recognition that there is energy in everything. The next step is to understand who the people or which things in your life drain you. Then you need to try & limit the amount of time & energy you spend with these people. The final step is to live in the moment & be joyful about everything that comes into your life. To always look to lift yourself & others up. This sounds like a tall order & sometimes it can be. We all have bad days or circumstances happen that we have no control over, but for me the truth is that you can continue to work on all the things we've talked about so far to bring more joy into your life. It all starts when you are continually in a state of gratitude. When you're in this state the positive energy will continue to grow in you automatically. The hardest part is to limit these energy vampires in your life until you are able to feel their energy, understand their energy & let it go of their energy so it will never affect you again.
Discover the different energies that enter your life & become a positive force of energy. Affect a positive change in the universe.
Till Monday,
Bill
Quote of the day "Feel the flow of energy throughout the universe & influence it in a positive way everyday."
The next step after the realization that everything has energy is to understand that we can feel & affect this energy throughout the universe. The easiest way to illustrate this, for me, is to talk about people in your life. Do you know a person in your life who is very negative. They're always talking about obstacles in their life or they are just always in bad mood. When you begin to talk to these people you will feel like you're losing your energy & your joyfulness/positivity. In actuality you are, I call these people energy vampires. They just drain all the good energy out of you because they are so negative that they need more & more energy just to get through the day.
On the other side of the coin we all know people that light up the room just by walking in. You feel better just have them around. Their positive energy just flows out of them & changes the mood in the room. This is the person that we should all strive to become. You don't have to be a great social person to become this person. It's not about being loud or overly friendly. These people sometimes don't say anything you can just feel their energy.
So how do we become this positive energy for the universe? For me it starts with the recognition that there is energy in everything. The next step is to understand who the people or which things in your life drain you. Then you need to try & limit the amount of time & energy you spend with these people. The final step is to live in the moment & be joyful about everything that comes into your life. To always look to lift yourself & others up. This sounds like a tall order & sometimes it can be. We all have bad days or circumstances happen that we have no control over, but for me the truth is that you can continue to work on all the things we've talked about so far to bring more joy into your life. It all starts when you are continually in a state of gratitude. When you're in this state the positive energy will continue to grow in you automatically. The hardest part is to limit these energy vampires in your life until you are able to feel their energy, understand their energy & let it go of their energy so it will never affect you again.
Discover the different energies that enter your life & become a positive force of energy. Affect a positive change in the universe.
Till Monday,
Bill
Quote of the day "Feel the flow of energy throughout the universe & influence it in a positive way everyday."
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Wisdom/Maturity & Growth
Although these words don't have exactly the same meaning, to me they're all interrelated. I was having an interesting discussion with Heidi yesterday regarding this subject so I thought I would write a bit about it here.
My questions begin with Why?, Why does it take us so long to learn & grow. Why are we so resistant to true wisdom & knowledge when we are young? I think these are hard questions especially for anyone that has children. I have 3 daughters who range in age from 29 to almost 16 but I don't think these questions are unique to my children. I know when I was growing up I thought I knew it all, so I believe this is truly a universal question. I also know that the growth I've gone through over the past 12 years has been amazing. I've been able to learn & grow because of the things I've read, the people in my life & the amazing life coaching of Susie Wise-Peterson. Through this time I've been able to learn some very difficult lessons. Some of these lessons I've already shared with you, I'm hopeful that we can continue to share and grow together.
My question though is why it takes us so long to be open to growth/wisdom & maturity. I believe a big part of the reason is our EGO. I think it takes us years to try and tame the beast that is our EGO & so only after we do can we begin to open up to other possibilities. I've always liked the stories about King Arthur & in fact I wrote a large term paper in college on Le Morte d'arthur the original story of King Arthur written by Sir Thomas Malory. In this legend one of the things I've always found intriguing is the fact Merlin the wizard ages backwards. What a wonderful thought that when we're in our prime we have all the knowledge we've learned throughout our life.
Many people live their life in the past because of this paradox, they fill themselves with what if? what if I could go back in time & change things? What if I knew then what I know now? The real trap is getting yourself caught in this game. The important thing to always remember is to live your life in the current moment & no matter how hard you try, you can't go back & change anything. Accept the past for what it was & move forward to the next moment.
Unlocking the key to opening the mind at an earlier age would be an amazing thing. I think the other part of the equation is experience. I think it takes life expereince to open ourselves up & that's why we are resistant to wisdom, maturity & growth because we need to learn our own lessons in life. If you know anything about the Tao it says that everything will come to you when it's the right time & the right situation. I hope for all of you that the time is right to grow into the pure potential that each one of us has.
Finally, I have one other intersting note at least for me; many of the things I read & learned swam around in my head for years until they truly started to make sense & shift my way of life. Hopefully reading this blog will at least open your mind to the knowledge that will help you to change. The change is truly up to you & it will come when it's the right time & the right situation.
Until tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day: "Listen to the wisdom of the elders in your life, they know things you may need to know, to grow into a more joyful life."
My questions begin with Why?, Why does it take us so long to learn & grow. Why are we so resistant to true wisdom & knowledge when we are young? I think these are hard questions especially for anyone that has children. I have 3 daughters who range in age from 29 to almost 16 but I don't think these questions are unique to my children. I know when I was growing up I thought I knew it all, so I believe this is truly a universal question. I also know that the growth I've gone through over the past 12 years has been amazing. I've been able to learn & grow because of the things I've read, the people in my life & the amazing life coaching of Susie Wise-Peterson. Through this time I've been able to learn some very difficult lessons. Some of these lessons I've already shared with you, I'm hopeful that we can continue to share and grow together.
My question though is why it takes us so long to be open to growth/wisdom & maturity. I believe a big part of the reason is our EGO. I think it takes us years to try and tame the beast that is our EGO & so only after we do can we begin to open up to other possibilities. I've always liked the stories about King Arthur & in fact I wrote a large term paper in college on Le Morte d'arthur the original story of King Arthur written by Sir Thomas Malory. In this legend one of the things I've always found intriguing is the fact Merlin the wizard ages backwards. What a wonderful thought that when we're in our prime we have all the knowledge we've learned throughout our life.
Many people live their life in the past because of this paradox, they fill themselves with what if? what if I could go back in time & change things? What if I knew then what I know now? The real trap is getting yourself caught in this game. The important thing to always remember is to live your life in the current moment & no matter how hard you try, you can't go back & change anything. Accept the past for what it was & move forward to the next moment.
Unlocking the key to opening the mind at an earlier age would be an amazing thing. I think the other part of the equation is experience. I think it takes life expereince to open ourselves up & that's why we are resistant to wisdom, maturity & growth because we need to learn our own lessons in life. If you know anything about the Tao it says that everything will come to you when it's the right time & the right situation. I hope for all of you that the time is right to grow into the pure potential that each one of us has.
Finally, I have one other intersting note at least for me; many of the things I read & learned swam around in my head for years until they truly started to make sense & shift my way of life. Hopefully reading this blog will at least open your mind to the knowledge that will help you to change. The change is truly up to you & it will come when it's the right time & the right situation.
Until tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day: "Listen to the wisdom of the elders in your life, they know things you may need to know, to grow into a more joyful life."
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Expectations
Do you have expectations? Do you set expectations in everything you do? It's very easy in life to expect a certain outcome & we all tend to do it in almost everything we do. Expectations on their own are not necessarily bad, but in the universal sense they set as up for disappointment & by setting an outcome the universe works towards that expectation.
So, how do you feel when you've set an expectation & you have the outcome you expected? For most of us it's nice but not truly joyful because we already decided what will we get out of a situation. For example, if you plan a vacation to place you've never gone to before & set your expectation that you'll have a good time, even if you have a good time is it truly as good as if you'd let go of the expectation & just enjoyed the trip?
My feeling is that expectations only lessen the joy you can feel & if you don't reach the expectation you've set you're truly disappointed. So, why set them? Why not instead just enjoy every moment & fully enjoy every experience that you have. To me expectations are like are like a grade in school if expect an "A" & get a "B" you're disappointed and if you expect an "A" & get an "A" you're not really happy because you've reach what you already expected.
Take time to examine what you expect in your life from all situations you deal with & especially think about what you expect from the people in your life. Live life in the now & enjoy every moment, celebrate the joy of discovery & let go of expectations.
Till tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day "Let go of expectations & live life in the moment!"
So, how do you feel when you've set an expectation & you have the outcome you expected? For most of us it's nice but not truly joyful because we already decided what will we get out of a situation. For example, if you plan a vacation to place you've never gone to before & set your expectation that you'll have a good time, even if you have a good time is it truly as good as if you'd let go of the expectation & just enjoyed the trip?
My feeling is that expectations only lessen the joy you can feel & if you don't reach the expectation you've set you're truly disappointed. So, why set them? Why not instead just enjoy every moment & fully enjoy every experience that you have. To me expectations are like are like a grade in school if expect an "A" & get a "B" you're disappointed and if you expect an "A" & get an "A" you're not really happy because you've reach what you already expected.
Take time to examine what you expect in your life from all situations you deal with & especially think about what you expect from the people in your life. Live life in the now & enjoy every moment, celebrate the joy of discovery & let go of expectations.
Till tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day "Let go of expectations & live life in the moment!"
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Compassion
The greatest love we can have for another is true Compassion. In today's busy world we are desensitized by other people's stories. There's so much bad news on the TV, Internet, phone & newspapers that we've grown into people that don't feel, period. We're afraid to feel because we're afraid that once we give ourselves to another or to a situation we won't be able to manage our own feelings.
Dictionary.com's definition of compassion is as follows: "a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering.". Compassion truly is the opening of your heart to another...putting their needs before yours which is as close to unconditional love that we may be able to reach.
Trust me I know it's hard to open your heart, I've been told all my life that I care to deeply about people & I feel their pain when they go through difficult things in their lives. Have I been hurt by people because of this? Of course I have but I've never changed the way that I am. I love people deeply & I always look for the positive in any person I comes into my life, if I can't find the positive I try to look at what I need to learn from this person. I also try & remember that we are all divine beings trying to do our best. People making mistakes is part of us being human, if we can try & understand where they're coming from, we will grow as a person & the world will be a better place because of our understanding & compassion.
Deepak Chopra wrote this about if compassion is superficial : "When your individual self identifies with the universal self, then it feels compassion for anyone or any living creature. It’s not superficial in the least, because whatever you are feeling compassion for, it is your self that you are feeling. Nothing could be more personal and direct than your own feelings. And it is profound because it is more than sentimentality or emotional involvement, your soul is engaging and recognizing itself in the soul essence of the other. You are seeing yourself and knowing yourself in the life of the being you are feeling that compassion for."
Open your heart to love & compassion, let go of the fear of feeling, instead accept your feelings & grow as a person.
Till tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day "Allow compassion to open heart & discover what true love is."
Dictionary.com's definition of compassion is as follows: "a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering.". Compassion truly is the opening of your heart to another...putting their needs before yours which is as close to unconditional love that we may be able to reach.
Trust me I know it's hard to open your heart, I've been told all my life that I care to deeply about people & I feel their pain when they go through difficult things in their lives. Have I been hurt by people because of this? Of course I have but I've never changed the way that I am. I love people deeply & I always look for the positive in any person I comes into my life, if I can't find the positive I try to look at what I need to learn from this person. I also try & remember that we are all divine beings trying to do our best. People making mistakes is part of us being human, if we can try & understand where they're coming from, we will grow as a person & the world will be a better place because of our understanding & compassion.
Deepak Chopra wrote this about if compassion is superficial : "When your individual self identifies with the universal self, then it feels compassion for anyone or any living creature. It’s not superficial in the least, because whatever you are feeling compassion for, it is your self that you are feeling. Nothing could be more personal and direct than your own feelings. And it is profound because it is more than sentimentality or emotional involvement, your soul is engaging and recognizing itself in the soul essence of the other. You are seeing yourself and knowing yourself in the life of the being you are feeling that compassion for."
Open your heart to love & compassion, let go of the fear of feeling, instead accept your feelings & grow as a person.
Till tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day "Allow compassion to open heart & discover what true love is."
Monday, July 27, 2009
Reflections
I've always been a person who believes that God/universe has a sense of humor. The reason I bring this up now is that to me one of the most interesting/funny things that happens in life is the reflection of things you need to learn back at you. Some people become very annoyed by this process but I've always tried to find some humor in it because God/universe will continue to bring this lesson up to you until you learn it & move past it.
There several parts to the idea of reflection, I will try & give an example of each one. The first example, to me, is the people you meet. Have you ever wondered why a person in the office or neighborhood or church drives you crazy? They may have never even done anything to get you upset but there's something about them that you just don't like & you don't know why. Most of the time this is because of reflection. This person exhibits a quality of yourself that you don't like very much or are trying to work on, for example you tend to be a quiet person who wants to be more social & the person in the office that annoys you is loud & very social. This isn't an easy lesson & it took me a long time to try & look deeper into why I didn't like a certain person. But for me, I always try to come from the point of "what can I learn from this relationship" everyone we meet in our life is there for a reason & sometimes it's because of the idea of "reflection". To learn the things about ourselves that we have to forgive, work on or move through.
The second way this works is a little more direct. You have a problem with anger & you know you do but you can't seem to get it under control. Well, God/universe will throw situations at you in your life that will cause you to get angry. This may upset you, understandably, but instead you should be again looking at "what I can learn from this" . That's why I believe that God/universe has a sense of humor....not always a good one but all He knows is to help you to be a better person! If the same type of situation keeps reoccurring in your life look at what you need to learn, change or grow through to lead a more joyful/positive life.
Finally, although this isn't truly "reflection" it's worthy of mentioning here. God/universe doesn't understand "no" all the universe knows is to provide what we need. So if you keep repeating that I "don't have enough money" God/universe will give you more of not having enough money because that's what you asked for. This is a very complex final point & it takes a while to wrap your head around it but to use the example above you should say "I have all the money I need" & God/universe will continue to provide you "all the money you need". This is especially true with your gratefuls & visions board, don't think about lack, think instead about having everything you need.
Thoughts can change the world, watch what you think & try & learn from everyone that comes into your life especially if it's someone that annoys you. Look deep inside & see what's being reflected back.
Till tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day "Love the person you see in the mirror & learn from every person that enters your life. Love life & love yourself"
There several parts to the idea of reflection, I will try & give an example of each one. The first example, to me, is the people you meet. Have you ever wondered why a person in the office or neighborhood or church drives you crazy? They may have never even done anything to get you upset but there's something about them that you just don't like & you don't know why. Most of the time this is because of reflection. This person exhibits a quality of yourself that you don't like very much or are trying to work on, for example you tend to be a quiet person who wants to be more social & the person in the office that annoys you is loud & very social. This isn't an easy lesson & it took me a long time to try & look deeper into why I didn't like a certain person. But for me, I always try to come from the point of "what can I learn from this relationship" everyone we meet in our life is there for a reason & sometimes it's because of the idea of "reflection". To learn the things about ourselves that we have to forgive, work on or move through.
The second way this works is a little more direct. You have a problem with anger & you know you do but you can't seem to get it under control. Well, God/universe will throw situations at you in your life that will cause you to get angry. This may upset you, understandably, but instead you should be again looking at "what I can learn from this" . That's why I believe that God/universe has a sense of humor....not always a good one but all He knows is to help you to be a better person! If the same type of situation keeps reoccurring in your life look at what you need to learn, change or grow through to lead a more joyful/positive life.
Finally, although this isn't truly "reflection" it's worthy of mentioning here. God/universe doesn't understand "no" all the universe knows is to provide what we need. So if you keep repeating that I "don't have enough money" God/universe will give you more of not having enough money because that's what you asked for. This is a very complex final point & it takes a while to wrap your head around it but to use the example above you should say "I have all the money I need" & God/universe will continue to provide you "all the money you need". This is especially true with your gratefuls & visions board, don't think about lack, think instead about having everything you need.
Thoughts can change the world, watch what you think & try & learn from everyone that comes into your life especially if it's someone that annoys you. Look deep inside & see what's being reflected back.
Till tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day "Love the person you see in the mirror & learn from every person that enters your life. Love life & love yourself"
Friday, July 24, 2009
Emotional Attachment
Yesterday we delved into one of the biggest obstacles I've had to overcome in my life, my Father. What I learned from the experience & the process that I went through to remove this baggage from my life is called "emotional attachment".
What is emotional attachment, for me, the easiest way to explain it is this; have you ever wondered why a song brings certain feelings to you or a movie or a picture. The reason we instantly fall into an emotional state when we hear a song or see movie or picture is because we attached an emotion with them the 1st time we experienced the song, movie or photo. This emotion can be good or bad but we save it in our memory & we always go back to it, that's the way the mind works.
So, if we expand this idea to events in our life it's easy to see how we can fall into old patterns quickly. The proof of this to me, coming from a big family, is that each of my sisters can recite a event that happen when we were young but because it wasn't an important event for all of us, some of us don't remember anything about it. Yet the one reciting the story can give you every detail still like they were living through it again right now.
The problem with this is that if we've had difficult things happen to us in our lives, like my Dad saying "You could have done better". We attach emotions to anything similar that reminds us of those words & instantly you can be pulled down to a very bad place. It works kind of like this for me; 20 years ago I was fired from a job, I had no idea it was going to happen in fact I did a lot of good things for this place but in my head rather then thinking about the good I did, I went immediately to "I'm not good enough"....."I can never be good enough". Thus what followed was weeks of trying to get out of this depression that was caused by this "old emotion" which really didn't have to do with the job situation.
The way we get past this is to recognize the emotional attachment & choose a different reaction. This takes work but the rewards are great because just as the mind remembers the the original event once we re-attach the event to something different the mind will remember the new feeling. This change in thought is what will help us get past anything that has happened to us in our past. If we move our "old" destructive thoughts to "new" positive/joyful thoughts we can truly change our lives.
I hope this helps & I hope you all have a great weekend.
Till Monday,
Bill
Quote of the day "Find an old thought or feeling, change it to a joyful new thought & you'll never fear the past, again."
What is emotional attachment, for me, the easiest way to explain it is this; have you ever wondered why a song brings certain feelings to you or a movie or a picture. The reason we instantly fall into an emotional state when we hear a song or see movie or picture is because we attached an emotion with them the 1st time we experienced the song, movie or photo. This emotion can be good or bad but we save it in our memory & we always go back to it, that's the way the mind works.
So, if we expand this idea to events in our life it's easy to see how we can fall into old patterns quickly. The proof of this to me, coming from a big family, is that each of my sisters can recite a event that happen when we were young but because it wasn't an important event for all of us, some of us don't remember anything about it. Yet the one reciting the story can give you every detail still like they were living through it again right now.
The problem with this is that if we've had difficult things happen to us in our lives, like my Dad saying "You could have done better". We attach emotions to anything similar that reminds us of those words & instantly you can be pulled down to a very bad place. It works kind of like this for me; 20 years ago I was fired from a job, I had no idea it was going to happen in fact I did a lot of good things for this place but in my head rather then thinking about the good I did, I went immediately to "I'm not good enough"....."I can never be good enough". Thus what followed was weeks of trying to get out of this depression that was caused by this "old emotion" which really didn't have to do with the job situation.
The way we get past this is to recognize the emotional attachment & choose a different reaction. This takes work but the rewards are great because just as the mind remembers the the original event once we re-attach the event to something different the mind will remember the new feeling. This change in thought is what will help us get past anything that has happened to us in our past. If we move our "old" destructive thoughts to "new" positive/joyful thoughts we can truly change our lives.
I hope this helps & I hope you all have a great weekend.
Till Monday,
Bill
Quote of the day "Find an old thought or feeling, change it to a joyful new thought & you'll never fear the past, again."
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Love Yourself
The response to yesterday's blog was amazing & several of you commented to me that being quiet is something that's hard for you or something you don't like to do. Because of that I wanted to talk about the struggles I had with being quiet when I was younger. To me one of the main reasons people are afraid or don't like to be quiet is because they don't like themselves very much, I know that was true for me.
It's important to understand that to give love you need to have love to give & that truly begins with loving yourself & being comfortable with who you are. For me it took many years to get there, I grew up in a family of 5, I have 4 sisters & I'm in the middle of them. A lot of pressure was put on me by my Dad because I was the only boy & he wanted me to succeed. The problem was he wanted it so much that I could never do enough to please him. I was almost a straight A student, finished in the top 10 in graduating class in HS, was a pretty good athlete, involved in student government, chess team, choir & all the school plays. But it was never enough for him & therefore I never truly knew who I was or what I really wanted in life. I stumbled through life until I was in my mid 30's that's when my change began.
I was fortunate to meet Heidi who was very supportive of the me changing some of the things I didn't like about myself. As I mentioned before the change started for me with reading "The Return of Merlin" by Deepak Chopra. He is still one of my favorite authors & I own 8-10 of his books. I've also enjoyed Julie Cameron, James Redfield, Neal Donald Walsch, Gary Zukav & Marianne Williamson to name way too many....LOL
Anyway, my change took time & I didn't really get past my fear of quiet until my Dad's death & the help from my life coach Susie Wise-Peterson. What I learned is that you have to forgive yourself for the things that have happen in your life. As I've mentioned before the past is the past & you can't change it no matter how hard you try. But, if you acknowledge it, forgive yourself or the other person or both & let the pain go you can move past it. I've discovered that everything in your head no matter how bad, can be change by the steps I just outlined. It's in that change of thought that you can be reborn to a more joyful/positive life.
Once I resolved the issues with my Dad, I actually loved being by myself & I enjoy taking time to be quiet. I know the only way for me to continue to grow is to love myself so I can share that love with the world. The change in me was/is dramatic & I know it can happen for you as well. Continue with me on this "Journey to Joy".
Till tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the Day "Love yourself first, it's the only way to be able to share your love with the world."
It's important to understand that to give love you need to have love to give & that truly begins with loving yourself & being comfortable with who you are. For me it took many years to get there, I grew up in a family of 5, I have 4 sisters & I'm in the middle of them. A lot of pressure was put on me by my Dad because I was the only boy & he wanted me to succeed. The problem was he wanted it so much that I could never do enough to please him. I was almost a straight A student, finished in the top 10 in graduating class in HS, was a pretty good athlete, involved in student government, chess team, choir & all the school plays. But it was never enough for him & therefore I never truly knew who I was or what I really wanted in life. I stumbled through life until I was in my mid 30's that's when my change began.
I was fortunate to meet Heidi who was very supportive of the me changing some of the things I didn't like about myself. As I mentioned before the change started for me with reading "The Return of Merlin" by Deepak Chopra. He is still one of my favorite authors & I own 8-10 of his books. I've also enjoyed Julie Cameron, James Redfield, Neal Donald Walsch, Gary Zukav & Marianne Williamson to name way too many....LOL
Anyway, my change took time & I didn't really get past my fear of quiet until my Dad's death & the help from my life coach Susie Wise-Peterson. What I learned is that you have to forgive yourself for the things that have happen in your life. As I've mentioned before the past is the past & you can't change it no matter how hard you try. But, if you acknowledge it, forgive yourself or the other person or both & let the pain go you can move past it. I've discovered that everything in your head no matter how bad, can be change by the steps I just outlined. It's in that change of thought that you can be reborn to a more joyful/positive life.
Once I resolved the issues with my Dad, I actually loved being by myself & I enjoy taking time to be quiet. I know the only way for me to continue to grow is to love myself so I can share that love with the world. The change in me was/is dramatic & I know it can happen for you as well. Continue with me on this "Journey to Joy".
Till tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the Day "Love yourself first, it's the only way to be able to share your love with the world."
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Silence
Most of the topics we talked about over the past month have been very active ways at starting the change in your life to a more joyful/positive life. I've always considered myself a person of action so that's the easiest way for me to start. But, there's another very important tool to remember & that is silence! Just being quiet, clearing your mind & listening to your soul is a great way to center yourself & remove all the noise around you.
I never been into meditation, I know it works wonders for some people but I haven't found a practice that works for me. I instead just be quiet, one of my favorite places to be quiet is in the Smokey's. Heidi & I try to go down there as often as we can & I love to sit out on a trail or just on the deck where we're staying & just take in the beauty around me. When I'm not there I envision being there when I take time for my quiet moments, because for me the beauty & quiet just fills me up.
The reason why silence is important is because it slows us down & helps us to refocus our energy. Life is lived in the pauses, it's the pauses that give life more definition. Like the the pauses between notes of music. Without the pauses all we are is action & movement. Life is made up of opposites without the bad we wouldn't know the good. I feel this is especially true with silence.
We all live such busy lives & it's hard to take time for yourself but as with morning gratefuls & your vision board please take time to just be silent. The peace you find in the quiet will lead forward to a more joyful/positive life.
Till tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day "Live in the moment because the pauses between breaths are what lead you to your next adventure. Every moment has meaning."
I never been into meditation, I know it works wonders for some people but I haven't found a practice that works for me. I instead just be quiet, one of my favorite places to be quiet is in the Smokey's. Heidi & I try to go down there as often as we can & I love to sit out on a trail or just on the deck where we're staying & just take in the beauty around me. When I'm not there I envision being there when I take time for my quiet moments, because for me the beauty & quiet just fills me up.
The reason why silence is important is because it slows us down & helps us to refocus our energy. Life is lived in the pauses, it's the pauses that give life more definition. Like the the pauses between notes of music. Without the pauses all we are is action & movement. Life is made up of opposites without the bad we wouldn't know the good. I feel this is especially true with silence.
We all live such busy lives & it's hard to take time for yourself but as with morning gratefuls & your vision board please take time to just be silent. The peace you find in the quiet will lead forward to a more joyful/positive life.
Till tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day "Live in the moment because the pauses between breaths are what lead you to your next adventure. Every moment has meaning."
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Unlearn
To follow up on yesterday & the idea of looking at the world through a child's eyes. I wanted to talk a bit about the stuff we are taught as we grow older. There's a song from the musical "South Pacific" called "You've got to be carefully taught". Here are the lyrics:
You've got to be taught
To hate and fear,
You've got to be taught
From year to year,
It's got to be drummed
In your dear little ear
You've got to be carefully taught.
You've got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made,
And people whose skin is a diff'rent shade,
You've got to be carefully taught.
You've got to be taught before it's too late,
Before you are six or seven or eight,
To hate all the people your relatives hate,
You've got to be carefully taught!
This song has always rung true to me because as I said yesterday a child looks at the world as a wonder. Everything about it is joyful, the discovery of new things is awesome.
So the challenge as we get older & as we try to return to that the childlike vision of the world is to "unlearn" all the things we have been taught. We have to work hard to let go of the negative vision we've been told of the world, as most of it isn't true. We are all connected and if we all make an effort to let go of the lies we've taught throughout our lives & return to the purity of a child we will be in a better world.
The final part of trying to return to being a child is to find time to play. Give yourself time as often as you can to rediscover the joy of playing. Whether it's a sport you like, a game you've always loved or doing something creative, make time to play & you'll fill your soul with joy. Resist the urge to say you can't make time for play. Remember small steps create new habits so if you make the time to play you'll continue to do it.
Let go of what you've been taught, belive that every moment is joyful.
Till tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day "Open your mind & unlearn the lies you've been taught in your life. Find joy in every moment, be a child."
Here's Mandy Patinkin singing "You've got to be carefully taught"Quote of the day "Find the beauty in everything in your life & your life will be more beautiful"
You've got to be taught
To hate and fear,
You've got to be taught
From year to year,
It's got to be drummed
In your dear little ear
You've got to be carefully taught.
You've got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made,
And people whose skin is a diff'rent shade,
You've got to be carefully taught.
You've got to be taught before it's too late,
Before you are six or seven or eight,
To hate all the people your relatives hate,
You've got to be carefully taught!
This song has always rung true to me because as I said yesterday a child looks at the world as a wonder. Everything about it is joyful, the discovery of new things is awesome.
So the challenge as we get older & as we try to return to that the childlike vision of the world is to "unlearn" all the things we have been taught. We have to work hard to let go of the negative vision we've been told of the world, as most of it isn't true. We are all connected and if we all make an effort to let go of the lies we've taught throughout our lives & return to the purity of a child we will be in a better world.
The final part of trying to return to being a child is to find time to play. Give yourself time as often as you can to rediscover the joy of playing. Whether it's a sport you like, a game you've always loved or doing something creative, make time to play & you'll fill your soul with joy. Resist the urge to say you can't make time for play. Remember small steps create new habits so if you make the time to play you'll continue to do it.
Let go of what you've been taught, belive that every moment is joyful.
Till tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day "Open your mind & unlearn the lies you've been taught in your life. Find joy in every moment, be a child."
Here's Mandy Patinkin singing "You've got to be carefully taught"Quote of the day "Find the beauty in everything in your life & your life will be more beautiful"
Monday, July 20, 2009
Beauty
So I know what you're thinking, What does beauty have to do with living a more joyful/positive life? Well to me, beauty has to do with becoming more aware of everything in your life. We all remember the old saying "Stop & smell the roses", well as part of our opening up & being grateful in our lives, is finding the beauty in everything around us.
It can be as simple as appreciating that rose in your garden or on your walk from you car to the office. Or it can be as complex as finding the beauty in each & every person you meet. Find the beauty in everything & the whole world will feel more beautiful. As with everything else we've discussed this shift will have a ripple effect in your life. Before you know it everything in your life will become more beautiful.
I know this sounds simple & in a lot of ways it can be simple but the truth is looking at things from a different perspective is an amazing way to grow. I like to think about it as seeing the world through the eyes of a child. Everything in a child's eyes is full of wonder & that joy is the true appreciation for the joy in their life.
Getting back to the wonder of the world through a child's eyes & shedding the cynical look we develop as an adult will truly change your life & bring more joy to you.
I've been on a music kick & the song that reveals this truth the most to me is "It's a wonderful world" by Louis Armstrong, enjoy it at the bottom.
Lastly, my original goal for this blog was for it to become more interactive then it has been. If there's something that's important to you that you'd like me to write about, please feel free to leave a comment here or @ me on twitter @timberwolf123.
Have a great Monday,
Bill
Quote of the day "Find the beauty in everything in your life & your life will be more beautiful"
It can be as simple as appreciating that rose in your garden or on your walk from you car to the office. Or it can be as complex as finding the beauty in each & every person you meet. Find the beauty in everything & the whole world will feel more beautiful. As with everything else we've discussed this shift will have a ripple effect in your life. Before you know it everything in your life will become more beautiful.
I know this sounds simple & in a lot of ways it can be simple but the truth is looking at things from a different perspective is an amazing way to grow. I like to think about it as seeing the world through the eyes of a child. Everything in a child's eyes is full of wonder & that joy is the true appreciation for the joy in their life.
Getting back to the wonder of the world through a child's eyes & shedding the cynical look we develop as an adult will truly change your life & bring more joy to you.
I've been on a music kick & the song that reveals this truth the most to me is "It's a wonderful world" by Louis Armstrong, enjoy it at the bottom.
Lastly, my original goal for this blog was for it to become more interactive then it has been. If there's something that's important to you that you'd like me to write about, please feel free to leave a comment here or @ me on twitter @timberwolf123.
Have a great Monday,
Bill
Quote of the day "Find the beauty in everything in your life & your life will be more beautiful"
Friday, July 17, 2009
Time
Many of you have asked me how I decide what I'm going to write everyday. The truth is that I try to stay open & let things come to me. Sometimes, like this morning, I wake up with the idea in my head.
So the title of today's blog is "Time" & I think it's an important thing to talk about. Once you start to practice the things we've talked about, you need to understand that although these practice will definitely improve your life. That with life has it's own flow. You will still have good times & bad times just as there are different seasons. These practices will make the fallow times easier but the fallow times will still be there. Why is this? Because to appreciate the best, we have to understand the bad. The song that always said this the best to me (& the one I woke with in my head this morning) is The Byrds "Turn, Turn, Turn" Here are the lyrics:
To everything (turn, turn, turn)
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
And a time for every purpose, under heaven
A time to be born, a time to die
A time to plant, a time to reap
A time to kill, a time to heal
A time to laugh, a time to weep
To everything (turn, turn, turn)
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
And a time for every purpose, under heaven
A time to build up,a time to break down
A time to dance, a time to mourn
A time to cast away stones, a time to gather stones together
To everything (turn, turn, turn)
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
And a time for every purpose, under heaven
A time of love, a time of hate
A time of war, a time of peace
A time you may embrace, a time to refrain from embracing
To everything (turn, turn, turn)
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
And a time for every purpose, under heaven
A time to gain, a time to lose
A time to rend, a time to sew
A time to love, a time to hate
A time for peace, I swear its not too late
There is no magical cure to make life always be the best. But the more you work on the practices we've discussed the lows will be less & the highs will be higher. It's an amazing thing to be connected to God/universe & the feeling you get being in the flow is incredible. Continue your work and I'll be here to help.
Have a great weekend, see you Monday,
Bill
Quote of the day "Life is full of mystery, enjoy the good & the bad for it's the bad times that make us appreciate the good"
THE BYRDS "TURN, TURN, TURN"
So the title of today's blog is "Time" & I think it's an important thing to talk about. Once you start to practice the things we've talked about, you need to understand that although these practice will definitely improve your life. That with life has it's own flow. You will still have good times & bad times just as there are different seasons. These practices will make the fallow times easier but the fallow times will still be there. Why is this? Because to appreciate the best, we have to understand the bad. The song that always said this the best to me (& the one I woke with in my head this morning) is The Byrds "Turn, Turn, Turn" Here are the lyrics:
To everything (turn, turn, turn)
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
And a time for every purpose, under heaven
A time to be born, a time to die
A time to plant, a time to reap
A time to kill, a time to heal
A time to laugh, a time to weep
To everything (turn, turn, turn)
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
And a time for every purpose, under heaven
A time to build up,a time to break down
A time to dance, a time to mourn
A time to cast away stones, a time to gather stones together
To everything (turn, turn, turn)
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
And a time for every purpose, under heaven
A time of love, a time of hate
A time of war, a time of peace
A time you may embrace, a time to refrain from embracing
To everything (turn, turn, turn)
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
And a time for every purpose, under heaven
A time to gain, a time to lose
A time to rend, a time to sew
A time to love, a time to hate
A time for peace, I swear its not too late
There is no magical cure to make life always be the best. But the more you work on the practices we've discussed the lows will be less & the highs will be higher. It's an amazing thing to be connected to God/universe & the feeling you get being in the flow is incredible. Continue your work and I'll be here to help.
Have a great weekend, see you Monday,
Bill
Quote of the day "Life is full of mystery, enjoy the good & the bad for it's the bad times that make us appreciate the good"
THE BYRDS "TURN, TURN, TURN"
Thursday, July 16, 2009
EGO
Ok, it's time to start to deal with the large white elephant in the room with us....LOL. EGO is a tough subject and that's one of the reasons I've waited to talk about it. Everything we do as human beings is influenced by our EGO's. It's one of the toughest things to realize & even harder to get past. I know for me personally it's been a hard evolution. As many of you may know, I spent nearly 10 years as a professional actor & much more time then that in the theatre, so EGO has always been apart of my life.
Fortunately for me through the personal growth I've done over the past twelve years I've learned to recognize when it's my EGO that's talking. I usually can get past the immediate need for gratification that the EGO needs to move onto a better place.
So what is EGO, we probably all think we know but one of the definitions I like the best is from Wayne Dyer, Edge Out God that's really what we're doing when EGO is involved. We are all divine beings created by a divine being & as such we are all connected but as we grow as individuals we start to worry about what "I" want & we move away from our divine nature to satisfy this hunger that is our EGO. The unfortunate thing is that no matter how hard we try we can never get enough or have enough to satisfy the EGO.
The EGO has an insatiable desire, it wants more of everything...more recognition....more money....more things.....more friends.....ok I'll stop now you get the idea. We can never satisfy the EGO....so why try? Why not instead move past the EGO!
This is not an easy task. The first step is to realize that the EGO always talks first & the loudest. It wants & needs your attention & it will continue to try & get your attention back. So, for me, I try to acknowledge the EGO & let it know that I hear what it's saying...sometimes that will quiet the EGO enough to get past it. The next thing I try to do is move onto how anything makes me feel, not in my head, but deep in my soul. Usually, the feeling of the EGO is an empty feeling. In your head it my sound good but in your heart & soul it will feel empty. Feel that true feeling deep inside before you act.
Always try to connect with your true feelings, this one task that with practice will lead you to a more joyful/positive life. The EGO will always lie to you, your true feelings will not.
Till tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the Day "The EGO has an insatiable desire for everything. Connect to your true feelings, let go of the EGO & be more joyful."
Fortunately for me through the personal growth I've done over the past twelve years I've learned to recognize when it's my EGO that's talking. I usually can get past the immediate need for gratification that the EGO needs to move onto a better place.
So what is EGO, we probably all think we know but one of the definitions I like the best is from Wayne Dyer, Edge Out God that's really what we're doing when EGO is involved. We are all divine beings created by a divine being & as such we are all connected but as we grow as individuals we start to worry about what "I" want & we move away from our divine nature to satisfy this hunger that is our EGO. The unfortunate thing is that no matter how hard we try we can never get enough or have enough to satisfy the EGO.
The EGO has an insatiable desire, it wants more of everything...more recognition....more money....more things.....more friends.....ok I'll stop now you get the idea. We can never satisfy the EGO....so why try? Why not instead move past the EGO!
This is not an easy task. The first step is to realize that the EGO always talks first & the loudest. It wants & needs your attention & it will continue to try & get your attention back. So, for me, I try to acknowledge the EGO & let it know that I hear what it's saying...sometimes that will quiet the EGO enough to get past it. The next thing I try to do is move onto how anything makes me feel, not in my head, but deep in my soul. Usually, the feeling of the EGO is an empty feeling. In your head it my sound good but in your heart & soul it will feel empty. Feel that true feeling deep inside before you act.
Always try to connect with your true feelings, this one task that with practice will lead you to a more joyful/positive life. The EGO will always lie to you, your true feelings will not.
Till tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the Day "The EGO has an insatiable desire for everything. Connect to your true feelings, let go of the EGO & be more joyful."
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Smile
Yes, just smile! You'll be surprised at the results. I'm not much for tributes but last week I watched the Michael Jackson tribute because so many people on Twitter were talking about it. I expected to watch a small part of it & then turn it off but I actually got pulled into it because it was so well done. I ended up watching the whole thing. That even surprised me.
First, I should say that I'm not a big "celebrity" watcher type of person. I appreciate all celebrities for their talent and realize that they are just people like you & me, that have their own problems & issues to deal with. I try hard in my life to treat everyone the same I try hard accept the good in everyone and forgive the flaws/problems. So what's the point? Well one of my favorite parts of the tribute was Jermaine Jackson's performance of "Smile" (if I've done it right it will be at the end of this blog).
The Lyrics of this song were written by John Turner and Geoffrey Parsons with the music by Charlie Chaplin. Here are the original lyrics:
Smile
tho'
your heart is aching,
Smile
Even though it's breaking,
When there are clouds in the sky- You'll get by,
If you
Smile through your fear and sorrow,
Smile and maybe tomorrow
You'll see the sun come shining through- For you.
Light up your face with gladness,
Hide ev'ry trace of sadness,
Altho' a tear may be ever so near,
That's the time you must keep on trying,
Smile- What's the use of crying,
You'll find that life is still worthwhile,
If you just smile.
I've always liked this song & I thank Michael for bringing it back into my life. The impact of a smile on someone elses life can be amazing. But the point of this song is the impact on your own life. When you smile and really try and make the smile genuine it can actually change your day. I believe this is because a true, because a smile, like a real laugh, comes from deep inside you. It's a connection from your soul to the world. That's why a smile can light up a room. It's a nice easy way to try & feel better when you're down....try it.....Just Smile!!!
Here's Jermaine:
Till tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day "A smile is a window to the soul. Smile today & brighten the world with your soul
First, I should say that I'm not a big "celebrity" watcher type of person. I appreciate all celebrities for their talent and realize that they are just people like you & me, that have their own problems & issues to deal with. I try hard in my life to treat everyone the same I try hard accept the good in everyone and forgive the flaws/problems. So what's the point? Well one of my favorite parts of the tribute was Jermaine Jackson's performance of "Smile" (if I've done it right it will be at the end of this blog).
The Lyrics of this song were written by John Turner and Geoffrey Parsons with the music by Charlie Chaplin. Here are the original lyrics:
Smile
tho'
your heart is aching,
Smile
Even though it's breaking,
When there are clouds in the sky- You'll get by,
If you
Smile through your fear and sorrow,
Smile and maybe tomorrow
You'll see the sun come shining through- For you.
Light up your face with gladness,
Hide ev'ry trace of sadness,
Altho' a tear may be ever so near,
That's the time you must keep on trying,
Smile- What's the use of crying,
You'll find that life is still worthwhile,
If you just smile.
I've always liked this song & I thank Michael for bringing it back into my life. The impact of a smile on someone elses life can be amazing. But the point of this song is the impact on your own life. When you smile and really try and make the smile genuine it can actually change your day. I believe this is because a true, because a smile, like a real laugh, comes from deep inside you. It's a connection from your soul to the world. That's why a smile can light up a room. It's a nice easy way to try & feel better when you're down....try it.....Just Smile!!!
Here's Jermaine:
Till tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day "A smile is a window to the soul. Smile today & brighten the world with your soul
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Change
I've always embraced change, in fact I've been called a "change agent" at a couple of jobs that I've had because I'm always looking for a new way to do things. To me change keeps things fresh & alive. Most people though are afraid of change & in fact will fight it to stay in their comfort zone. Are you afraid of change?
Since I started this blog with the intention of helping people to have a more joyful/positive life, I thought it was time to talk about change. Most people prefer to keep their life in a comfortable routine. They do the same thing day in and day out & rarely embrace change of any kind. Change will happen in you life with or without you so why not embrace the change.
The bottom line is that to enjoy a more joyful/positive life you need to make the decision that things will be different in your life. You need to let go of all the old ways of doing things. Step outside of your comfort zone and accept a new way of living your life. Changing your way of thinking is up to you. As with the "Internal Dialogue" we discussed yesterday, look at the way you think about everything.
Let go of the old arguments, stop making excuses, the only one who can change your life is you! Be a change agent in your own life and enjoy the benefits. The universe/God will respond to you if you take the first step. I welcome you on this path of change.
Till tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day "With a single change in thought, your life can be more joyful. Embrace change, today!"
Since I started this blog with the intention of helping people to have a more joyful/positive life, I thought it was time to talk about change. Most people prefer to keep their life in a comfortable routine. They do the same thing day in and day out & rarely embrace change of any kind. Change will happen in you life with or without you so why not embrace the change.
The bottom line is that to enjoy a more joyful/positive life you need to make the decision that things will be different in your life. You need to let go of all the old ways of doing things. Step outside of your comfort zone and accept a new way of living your life. Changing your way of thinking is up to you. As with the "Internal Dialogue" we discussed yesterday, look at the way you think about everything.
Let go of the old arguments, stop making excuses, the only one who can change your life is you! Be a change agent in your own life and enjoy the benefits. The universe/God will respond to you if you take the first step. I welcome you on this path of change.
Till tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day "With a single change in thought, your life can be more joyful. Embrace change, today!"
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