Winter

As we come upon the winter solstice I think it's a great time to reflect on what the winter means. I've never been a great lover of the winter even though I've lived most of my life in the midwest where the winter can be very hard.

I sit here today in Indiana where we're expecting a snow strom later today. Who knows if it will actually come but right now there's high winds & rain ahead of the expected snow this afternoon. As with everything in my life I try to look beyond what's ahead of me, so today I thought it would be great to talk about the wintertimes in your life.

We all have times in our life where things seem the darkest or the coldest. These times can be very tough for us to get through because we tend to forget about the "spring & summer" times of our lives while we're going through these "dark times.

The thing to remember is that our lives are tied to nature & in nature the winter is a time for renewal. Yes, I said renewal! Everything in nature during the winter is taking a pause to begin again. Every plant & most animals are expending as little energy as possible to be ready to begin their rebirth during the spring. They reflect on what worked best in the past so they can come back even stronger in the spring.

We all have winter times in our lives. Sometimes they come with the actual season & sometimes the come at other times in our lives. Take time during this "dark" time and renew yourself. Remember that winter; as all things in nature will end & the spring will come again. Don't be discourage that the wintertime has come, celebrate the time you have for self reflection & growth. Take the time to grow & be ready for the next spring of your life.

Till tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day: "The wintertimes of your life are times for renewal. Celebrate these dark times & preapre for your next spring!"

My next video blog is now available on Youtube.  I hope you'll take a look I've called it "Love-letting go of excuses"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRBKHjTc6FQ&feature=autoshare_twitter


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Animals

Do you have animals in your life?  A dog,cat,bird,hampster or any other animal?  Animals add so much to our lives & our connection with them goes much further back then any of us can imagine. Man has been connected to animals from the very beginning of time & this connection fills an important part of our heart.  For many of us having an animal in our life is our only connection to nature.  This natural connection is something that you can find great comfort in.

Heidi & I have two Australian Cattle dogs; Sydney who's almost 9 & Adelaide who is between 8 1/2 & 9.  We adopted both of them from local shelters, which I highly recommend.  There are so many animals looking for a good home.

They add so much to our lives; in animals we find compassion & unconditional love.  We are also able to laugh at their odd behaviors. They bring so much joy to our lives.  I believe that there's nothing better then the love from an animal & all they truly want is love in return.

To me this connection with nature is an important part of our true nature.  I believe many of us have lost our connection to nature.  we can find great peace in the quiet of nature & the beauty we find in the outdoors can fill our souls & help us to grow in our lives.

The American Indians believed that if we lost this connection with nature there was truly no reason to live.  They also believed that every animal that enters your life has a message or a reason to be there.  A wonderful book that explains the meaning behind the animals that enter your life is "Animal-Speak" by Ted Andrews.

Reconnect with the animals in your life.  Find the quiet of nature & the pure love of the animals around you.  Through these connections you can find a more joyful life.

Till tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day: "There is nothing in the world like the unconditional love of the animals in your life."

My next video blog is now available on Youtube.  I hope you'll take a look I've called it "Love-letting go of excuses".  http://bit.ly/52wJTw


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Being Flexible

How flexible are you in your life?  Do you adapt well to changes in your plans?  In the past we've talked about change & how many of us fight change tooth & nail.  We do this because the comfort of our "normal" life to a large extend is intoxicating & although it may not be exactly what we want, we know it.  There is a great fear in dealing with change in many peoples lives.  This fear can limit our growth & lock us into a life that really doesn't have much joy.

So how does flexibility help us?  I believe strongly in goals, I personal set goals for many things in my life to help me clarify my intentions & to have something to head towards.  The difference for me is that I remain flexible with my goals because to me, life is about living & enjoying the moment your in.  Enjoying this moment can mean that your goals & intentions change or better yet you feel like they should change.  I think many of us become so rigid that even when something doesn't feel right anymore we continue to pursue it anyway.  We do this often because of our EGO, remember the EGO always wants to be the best.  It always wants the quickest solution & is only satisfied for a moment until it wants more.  So many of us hang onto our goals even if it doesn't feel right anymore simply for the satisfaction of saying "See I did this".

For me what's always worked best is to set these goals firmly after much reflection in all aspects of my life & then to adapt & change them as I go through my life.  There is a caution here, it's easy to become so flexible that you lose sight of what you truly want.  You may have a goal in your life that is fulfilling & something that is your life's mission & the flexibility can actually take you away from that life's purpose.  This happens because things occur in your life & as these things occur we are offered choices for the next step. These steps can leads us further & further away from our life's purpose & sometimes before we know it 20 years have gone by. We look at our life & realize we've never been able to do what we know is our life's mission.

So being flexible is important because it's through adapting that we can find great growth but be careful to always take time to reassess where you are & where you want to be.  If you take this time to connect with your soul & to continue to understand your true life's purpose being flexible will actually lead you closer to where you want to be.  Being rigid will only limit your grow & will take you further away from anything that's important in your life.  Remember that throughout our journey of this life God/universe always gives us signs that we are on the right path & helps us to move towards our life's purpose.  It's up to us to stay connected to our soul & to God/universe, as long as we take the time to stay connected & remain flexible with what God/universe sends us we will find joy in every moment of our lives!

Till tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day: "Remain flexible in your life & God/universe will conspire with you to create joy in every moment."

My next video blog is now available on Youtube.  I hope you'll take a look I've called it "Love-letting go of excuses". http://bit.ly/52wJTw


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Dealing with Fear

One of the most difficult & complex things we can deal with in our lives is fear.  I wrote previously about dealing with the fear of the unknown.  With that fear it's a battle with yourself of being more open & accepting.  Most of what we imagine is going to happen in our life will never happen, so if we continue to stay open & accepting we will move through most of our imagined fear to a better life.

What about all of our other fears?  What is truly holding you back in your life?  This is more complex. To understand the basis of fear can be difficult & to move past the fears we have can be very hard.  I am not a doctor & I don't pretend to have all the answer on this issue.  I personally have very few fears in my life I've always been able to rationalize my way through anything that would hold me back from achieving a better life. Although for a longtime I was afraid of not being good enough (if your dealing with this look back at the blog I wrote on it).

So what is fear?  Fear is an irrational reaction to an event or a thing in our life.  I say irrational because most fear that is holding us back is something we've created & is based on the fear of the unknown.  What I mean by this is that we create the emotional reaction to something that we perceive as being fearful without really knowing why we should be afraid of it.  Now I'm not talking about life & death situations, in those there is a fear that is very rational & has a true basis in fact.  What I'm talking about is the fears we've created in our lives.  Most of these fears are connected to an emotional event at sometime in our lives.  I have written before about moving through these old emotion connections.  To me fear is the same thing.

We know now that the brain can be rewired no matter how deep the connections are to an event or an emotional response.  So, if this is true, what we need to do is take the time to understand the basis of the fear.  Why are you afraid of dogs?  Maybe when you were 2 years old a dog bit you or barked very loudly in your face.  Then this "fear" was reinforced by your parents saying over & over again..."oh she's afraid of dogs don't bring that dog over here" or they would pull you away every time you got close to dogs.  This is how a fear is created...through this repetition & the way to get past it is to re-pattern the reaction you have.

This is true regardless of the fear, if you can understand the basis of the fear & then re-associate the fear with good things you will rewire your brain & remove the fear from your life.

The bottom line is to live a more joyful/positive life you need to let go of the fears in your life.  You need to open your heart to joy & release the things that are holding you back, including your fears.

Till Monday, I hope you have a great weekend.

Bill

Quote of the day: "Release the fears you have in your life.  Open your heart to the joy you find in each moment."

My next video blog is now available on Youtube.  I hope you'll take a look I've called it "Love-letting go of excuses". http://bit.ly/52wJTw


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Being Tested

I've been asked a lot in recent months about how you stay positive & connected in times of great stress or when you're actually dealing with a crisis in your life.  It's never easy to go through difficult times in your life but there are two important things to always remember.  First, difficult times happen to everyone.  They are part of the natural flow of the universe.  In order for us to know joy we have to know some sorrow in our lives.  The important thing to remember is to always try & learn from your experience.  Sometimes the greatest growth comes through difficult times & in the end you may be a better person because of what you've had to deal with.  I know this first hand as I have been through a great deal of difficult times in my life but I have learned & grown from each situation & it's because of the things I've been through that I'm where I am now. 

The second thing to remember is that no storm last forever.  When you're going through the difficult situation in your life it truly feels like it will never end & things will never get better.  The truth is that it will, at some point things will improve & you'll be able to move on with your life.  It may not be the same life you had before the crisis but life will get better.

So how do I deal with these difficult times?  I wrote a blog about 5 months ago called "dealing with crisis" & I also wrote a blog several months ago about "dealing with fallow times".  Give them a read if you're dealing with a difficult times. 

The most important thing to remember is that the practices you put in place today are going to help you deal with these difficult times.  If you can stay positive & release the stress in your life, even in these difficult times, you will ease the effect of the difficult times on your life.  Remember to stay open to the signs the universe sends you even when times get rough.  

We all tend to close ourselves down when we're going through a difficult time.  It's a natural reaction because we don't feel we have the strength to deal with everything that's happening in our lives.  I suggest, you try to do just the opposite, stay open, take time to reconnect with the love inside of you, reconnect with your soul & rediscover your life's purpose.  Ask for help from God/universe or other people in your life that you trust.  Find the joy in the small things even if this joy only last for a short period of time.  Finally, realize that you are strong & you will make it through.

It's never easy to deal with difficult times in your life.  I hope this blog is able to help you in some way.

Till tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day: "By continuing your daily pratices to bring more joy into your life.  You will be more able to deal with the difficult times in your life."

My next video blog is now available on Youtube.  I hope you'll take a look I've called it "Love-letting go of excuses". http://bit.ly/52wJTw


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Music

Music the most universal connection to our true self.  Yes, it's true music is the easiest way for anyone to connect to their true self.  Yesterday we discussed Inspiration & how important it is to find your true inspiration.  Music is a great way to discover what inspires you.  Beyond that music is a way to get in touch with who you are.

Over the past several months we've talked about many issues that hold us back from discovering more joy in your life.  Many of you have asked me how to move beyond the issues you've had to deal with in your life & I've written many blogs on the various issues & how to let them go to find a more joyful life. Overall, to move beyond any of the issues that are holding you back in your life, you need to understand the underlying emotions that are still connected to  current  things happening  in your life.  What do I mean by this?  If every time someone raises there voice to you, you cower in the corner (or at least in your mind you do).  The way to move beyond this reaction is to understand the emotional connection you have to someone raising their voice.  Once you understand where this feeling comes from you can release the emotional attachment & reconnect that event (someone raising their voice) to different reaction.  The mind is a wonderful thing & it can relearn anything.  If you take the time to reconnect these emotions to a more positive reaction & you work on doing this over & over again.  You will replace the negative reaction with a more positive one.

So what does music have to do with this process.  Music is one of the few things that truly transcends time & space.  When you hear a song that has meaning to you, you are instantly transported to the time & place you first heard it.  In fact many times, without any effort, you can feel exactly the emotions you had at that time.  So, if you allow yourself to feel all the emotional connections in your life you are then able to let go of the emotions that hold you back in your life.

The self discovery that music can help you with can be an amazing journey.  Allow yourself to feel the way the music makes you feel.  Understand what the emotional connection is & through this process rediscover who you truly are.  By letting go of the emotions that are holding you back & rewiring them to a more positive/joyful connection in your daily life, you can have a more joyful life.

Till tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day: "Music can transcend time & space & lead you to true self discovery.  Allow music in your life & discover who you truly are."

My next video blog is now available on Youtube.  The subject of this blog is "Forgiveness".  Take a look:  http://bit.ly/32ZLSU


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Inspiration

I wrote a blog a couple of months ago about motivation & I believe that many people get confused between motivation & inspiration.  To me motivation is an action, you get motivated to do something.  Many people, including me, need motivation to get through the day or motivation to start their day.  Motivation is an important part of everyone's life.

So what is inspiration?  Inspiration to me is the connection to your soul that leads you on to greater things.  Finding inspiration on a daily basis can be a challenge to anyone but in order to move ahead in your life, inspiration is what's needed. 

I've spoken many times in the past about how we all just walk through our lives on a daily basis.  I would go so far to say that many of us are sleep walking through our lives.  What I mean by this is that we are comfortable with where we are at & we're afraid to examine our life to move forward.  This comfort may seem wonderful but it will actually disconnect you from your soul & your true purpose in life.  The best way to continue to grow & stay connected is to push yourself into things beyond your comfort zone.

So how do we find our true inspiration?  I believe this is a difficult question because we all use different tools to motivate us & to find our inspiration.  Many people, including myself, can find inspiration in music, movies or books.  The themes that each of these vehicles present us can be a great way to connect to your heart & even to your soul. But, to truly find a deep meaningful inspiration we need to take these themes and internalize them.  We need to discover their true connection to our soul.  

So how do we do this?  For me, it's by taking the time to examine the way these tools truly make me feel.  I allow myself to experience the emotions attached to the themes I've experienced through listening, watching or reading.  Once I allow myself to feel these emotions I examine where the emotion is coming from & what attachment I have to that emotion.  Many times this involves looking at your past & trying to understand why you feel the way you do.  Once you understand why you feel the way you do, you can begin to understand what theme is truly connected to your soul.  This theme may have a basis in your past but it will lift you up beyond anything else.  This true inspiration can change throughout your life but generally stays within the same area of your life.

Allow yourself to examine your true inspirations & find the deepest connection to your soul.  These inspirations will lift you up to a more joyful life.

Till tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day: "Take time to deeply examine your life & find your true inspiration.  This inspiration will lift your life to a place of true joy!"

My next video blog is now available on Youtube.  The subject of this blog is "Forgiveness".  Take a look:  http://bit.ly/32ZLSU


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