Friends

Have you ever thought about the friends in your life?  Do you think your friends bring you more joy?  I think as we continue on our journey to more joy one of the important things to do is to take a look at who is in your life.  I have found that if you surround yourself with positive people it becomes much easier to continue on your own path of joy.

Now I'm not suggesting that you just drop anyone from your life that is not positive.  That choice is really up to you.  We all have people in our lives for various reasons & sometimes those connections go back a long way.  I am suggesting that you take a look at who is in your life & what kind of energy they have.  Several months ago I wrote a blog on Energy & I discussed how everything in our life has energy.  Have you ever felt you were in a great mood & someone comes by to chat with you & when they leave you feel drained & depressed?  It happens to all of us, there are people who feed off of other peoples energy.  They need positive people in their lives to keep them going. 

Energy flows out of all of us & as I discussed in the Energy blog, there have been amazing experiments with water showing the affect we can have on water crystals just by thinking about them.  Without going through all of this again let's just say that we all have energy that flows out of us.  This energy affects everything around us, including other people.  If we want to be a person of change & lead a more positive/joyful life we need to be aware of how the people in our life affect our energy.

As we grow in our joy it becomes easier to stay joyful even when we have people in our lives that drain our energy.  I the beginning though it's important to at least recognize the people & friends in our lives that affect our own energy.  Surround yourself with people who lift you up & make you feel positive & your life will continue to blossom into a more joyful life.

Till tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day: "Recognize the energy of everyone in your life.  Surround yourself with people who life you up & you'll lead a more joyful life."


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Vision

Do you have a vision for your life?  Do you truly know what you want?  Many of us think we have an idea of what we want in life, but is what we want truly what we need?  Are we listening to our soul or to our EGO?  These are very difficult questions & as I noted in the blog about EGO several months ago, it's a tough thing to get past.  We think if we get that job or if we find true love that we'll have a joyful life.  This isn't always the case, if our motivation is from our EGO we'll truly never be satisfied.  That's one of the problem with the EGO it wants more & more & can never be satisfied.  It might be happy for a short period of time because it's gotten what it wants but it will never be truly satisfied.

One of the first blogs I wrote about was creating a vision board & taking time to look at it each day & feel the way each picture or word makes you feel.  I have found that if you do this you will begin to manifest many of the things you want in your life.  As I noted in the Vision Board blog, I like to use a bulletin board because it's easy to add new things or change things out as your vision for your life changes.

The thing I didn't discuss in the blog on a Vision Board was taking the time to create a vision for your life.  For me this takes time, I tend to write down the things that I think I want in my life & think about them off & on for sometimes weeks.  I let them get into my head so I may wake up thinking about them.  The next step I take is to try & understand how this thought makes me feel, does it feel right to my gut or soul?

My experience is that if you take the time to feel your way through the things you think you want in your life, you will slowly take the EGO out of the equation.  The things that don't feel right or correct to your gut/soul usually are EGO based & not truly what you want.  In addition what will happen to me is that when I think about something & it feels right to my gut/soul my head/EGO will try to talk me out of it.  The EGO will put up stumbling blocks or obstacles to try & take away what is a true gut feeling.

Why does the EGO do this?  I can't answer for everyone but for me it's because the EGO wants something right now to try & satisfy it.  It doesn't want to wait & work towards a goal.  It wants it right now & it will always want the quick & easy way.  Don't trust the EGO!

Create a vision for your life.  Reflect  on what you truly want in your life & create a vision board with things that will help you bring these things into your life.

Until Monday, have a great weekend.

Bill

Quote of the day: "Take the time to create a vision for your life.  Reflect on it daily & watch this vision manifest itself & you will ahve more joy in your life!"

Courage

Yes, Courage is an interesting word & subject.  Many of us don't believe we have courage of any kind, we live our lives in fear instead.  Courage is a virtue & I believe we all have it within us.  But for many of us we don't believe we have Courage in our life because we ignore our own strength.  It takes Courage to do the right thing everyday.  It takes Courage to stand up for what we believe in.  It takes Courage to change.

I trust deeply in the courage we all have because I know that no matter we go through if we believe in ourselves we will have the Courage to get through anything.  Sometimes true Courage only shows its self when we need it the most.  Yesterday we talked about reflection & taking time to look at the things that are going on in your life.  While you're taking this time to reflect realize the Courage you've had in your life.  Understand that you've made it through & therefore you can make it through anything that happens.

We reflect far to often on our failures in our life.  Our society only looks to success & enjoys pointing out everyone's flaws.  I don't subscribe to this thought.  I believe that any failure helps us to grow as long as we learn from it.  I've been through a lot of things in my life & part of my growth towards a more joyful life is directly due to the mistakes/failures I've made in my life.  I realized that through it all I've survived & sometimes I've even flourished. 

It was Courage that got me through & took a lot of Courage to change my life.  Believe in the Courage you have!  Trust that it's there whenever you need it & know that if you take the first step to change your life the world will open up to you like never before.

Till tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day:  "Courage comes from deep within us.  Believe in the Courage you have & change your life starting today!"

Reflection

I've mentioned before how we all need to try to quiet the noise around us & take time for ourselves.  I think this time is very important to be able to reflect on everything that's going on in your life, if you're fortunate to have a friend or a loved one to discuss your thoughts I believe you tend to discover many more things.  Why is this?  For me it has to do with the way my mind works.  I tend to like to discuss things with others to hear their point of view.  This openness tends to lead me to more creative solutions & to things I've never thought of.  I'm not saying this is the answer for everyone, I know that everyone works in a different way.  I can only say that this works wonders for me.

Why am I bringing this up?  Well, as many of you know I went for a drive the last couple of days to see the fall colors in Michigan & just to get away.  Since I've been laid-off I haven't been able to do much outside of the house, we are in a real money conservation mode.  But, we found a cheap place to stay & decided that getting away was important.  This trip gave me a lot of time to discuss things with Heidi & reflect on where to go from here.  That's why I have found this process so important.

Regardless of how you reflect on the things that are going on in your life.  Try to take time often to do it.  The idea behind this is to look at your life as an "outside observer" to reflect on what's going on & discover clues in every part of your life.  This is not always an easy thing to do & finding the time can be very difficult.  Trust me though it pays off in big dividends.  If you are by yourself, I would suggest writing down the major things that are going on in your life.  Then the feelings that surround those things, many times you'll find a theme or a consistent thread throughout these major events & feelings.  Once you're able to recognize the theme you'll be able to clarify where to go from here.  Self-reflection is never an easy thing to do but if you take the time it will pay off in big dividends.  Remember that God/universe only wants to give you what you want, by clarifying the messages that God/universe is sending you, you are able to see what you're truly sending out.  These "true messages" may not be what you think you're sending out but a deep seated believe you've always had.  By paying attention & reflecting on the things that are going on in your life you can start to change the messages you're sending out & change your life to bring you more joy!

Till tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day: "Take time to reflect on the things happening in your life. This time of thoughtful reflection will lead you to a more joyful life."

Be the Change

One of my favorite quotes is from Mahatma Gandhi "You must be the change you want to see in the world."  All change comes from within us & I've tried to embrace this idea over the past several years.  I've tried hard to be open & accepting to all people & all religions.  With this blog I've worked hard to do the same.  I've always been very interested in learning about all the major religions in the world & in fact I took comparative religions in both High School & College.  I bring this for two reason one; I believe the more knowledge we have about the other people we meet in our lives gives us the opportunity to be more open.  The second reason is; For me one the best examples of change is the prayer of Saint Francis.  For those of you who don't know this prayer here are the words:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy;

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

There are many interpretations of this prayer but to me it's about the Gandhi quote I lead off with.  We make choices in everything we do & if we choose to do the right thing in everything we do the world will be a better place for all of us.  Regardless of your religious belief's absorb these words & be the change in the world that you want to see.  

I believe that by opening up & living from a place of love we as individuals & together as a group can shift the consciousness of the world in our lifetime.  Imagine a world where we live in peace & harmony & all of us work to always do the right thing.  For me there could be no better place then this.

Start today & be the change you want to see in the world!

I hope you all have a great weekend.  I'm taking a drive to see fall colors on Monday & Tuesday so I'm not sure if I'll be able to write this blog (I will try).  Enjoy yourselves & I'll see you soon.

Bill

Quote of the day:  You must be the change you want to see in the world." Mahatma Gandhi 

Finding your Joy

Do you know what gives you joy in your life?  Do you know what your life's purpose is?  I think we all struggle with these questions & some of us take their entire life before they figure out what their true purpose is.  I don't have any easy answers to these questions & if you have been reading this bog for a while you know I don't subscribe to the "quick fix" theory.  I truly believe the more effort you put into changing your life the better your life will be because the habits you develop over time & the practices you follow to keep yourself open & in the moment take work to perfect.

So what gives you joy?  Joy is state beyond happiness, to me joy is happiness on steroids.  There is a true bliss about being in a joyful place & I have found in my life these moments start from the inside.  So many of us are in search of things in our lives.  We believe that everything we are looking for comes from outside our own being.  We think when we find the perfect love or the perfect job we'll be happy & find joy in our everyday.  But I believe that everything comes from within & grows out into the world.  So, to find joy in your life you have to start with joy within yourself.  The next step, for me, is to live in the moment & pay attention to the smallest things in your life.  When you find joy in each moment it becomes easier to sustain this joy throughout all of your life.

This process is not easy, we tend to get distracted & caught up into the noise that's around us.  We don't like self reflection because we don't love ourselves very much.  But, like everything else if you work at it & begin with the desire to change your life, your life will change beyond your wildest imagination.

So what is your life's purpose?  Only you can answer that.  If you work to find the joy in your life your true purpose will be revealed to you.  I believe there needs to be a separation between our "job" & our life's purpose. Not many of us are able to have a job that completely fills us up.  We should all strive to find that "perfect" job but as long as you have balance between your work life & home life you can still find fulfillment through family, hobbies or volunteer work.  I believe that service to others is the quickest way to find your life purpose.  I believe this giving of ones self will bring more joy into your life then you can imagine.  Find a way to give yourself to others & discover what your life's purpose is.

Till Tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day: "The joy in life is living each moment to the fullest.  Find the joy in heart & let it shine on the world"

Simplicity

For many years in my life I never truly understood this word.  Oh sure I knew the definition but I mean what it was suppose to mean in my life.  How about you?  Do you complicate your life?  Do you make things more difficult then they need to be?

The truest way to continue to move forward in your life is to let go of needing things, be of service to others & simplify your life.  Yes, it took me years to get this.  I always thought that because I could figure out a way to make something happen, that it was meant to happen.  Sometimes I would go through complex steps to get to what I thought was the final goal.  I discovered that although I became very good at figuring out out to make something happen, that rarely when I got what I wanted did I feel good.  I suppose there could be many reason for this but overall I've discovered that if something is suppose to happen it will happen.  Truly the simplest way is the best way.

This idea is hard to bring home for most people because we live in a complex world where there are many different demands on our time.  The truth is that this idea is very old, if you were to read the Tao many verses talk about finding the simplest way.  Now, this doesn't mean sitting on your bottom & doing nothing (even though at times that can work).  Everything in the universe first takes action to begin.  So taking the easiest/simplest path still requires action but the difference is everything will work together with you rather then you just trying to make things happen.

We are in a world that judges everything by instant success.  If something doesn't work NOW, it's not a good idea. (just look at all the fads we go through or people that become famous for a few months)  This isn't the way of the universe, the universe takes time to act in the simplest way for all.  By simplifying our own lives we can begin to see an easier path to everything we want.  God/universe only knows to give, it doesn't know lack.  So if we keep our thoughts clear and our intentions pure we will find the simplest way to success & more joy in our lives.

Till tomorrow,


Bill

Quote of the day: "Begin to simplify your life & you will discover the natural flow of the universe."