Christmas Wishes

Christmas to me is the most wonderful time of the year. No, not because of the reason you think. Sure I love to give gifts & getting them is fun too but for me this time of the year is about love. People, in general, are more loving this time of the year & I love to see more love in the world. As I've written before, to me love is the answer to everything we need.

So in my last blog before the holiday I want to expand your thoughts beyond what you may know. To some Christmas is a difficult time of the year because they aren't Christians. I want to open your mind to the other religions in the world, each of which has a celebration in this general time of the year. I believe we need to let go of our differences & embrace the commonality that we all have in deep belief's & in love.

So let's begin with Christmas the celebration of the birth of Christ except his actual birthday is now believed to be more likely the end of September based on the calenders of the time & the positions of the stars that were noted. The reason we celebrate Christmas in December is mostly because of two ancient traditions around the same period of time. The first is the Pagan/Wiccan tradition of the winter solstice, also called Yule. This tradition was celebrated for centuries before "Christmas" & many of these traditions were brought into the "Christmas" celebration to more easily get Pagan's to convert. These traditions include the "yule log" & the giving of gifts.

The next tradition that "Christmas" was based on is the Jewish celebration of Hanukkah or the festival of lights. Since many Christians were Jewish to begin with & Hanukkah is generally celebrated near what is now Christmas it was easy to link these holidays through the idea of giving gifts. The actual dates of Hanukkah vary because it's based on the Hebrew calender not the Gregorian calender.

The Hindu's have a celebration of Makar Sankrant which is very much like the Pagan winter solstice celebration. This festival celebrates the suns return to the northern hemisphere & is generally celebrated the first pasrt of January. In the Buddist tradition we have Rohatsu which is celebrated on the 8th of December & celebrates the enlightenment of Buddha.

The Muslim's celebrate two holidays which vary in dates from Nov - Jan. The first Eid al-Adha or the Festival of Sacrifice is to celebrate the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son to God & is celebrate by spending time with family & giving thanks for having food & a roof over their heads. The 2nd is Al-Hijra or Muharram is a celebration of Muhammad emigrating from Mecca to Medina.

Finally, the newest celebration around the Christmas holiday is; Kwanzaa,which began in 1966. Kwanzaa means "first fruits" in Swahili. Each family celebrates Kwanzaa in its own way, but celebrations often include songs and dances, African drums, storytelling, poetry reading, and a large traditional meal. On each of the seven nights, the family gathers and a child lights one of the candles on the Kinara (candleholder), then one of the seven principles is discussed.

All of these celebrations are wonderful traditions in each of the major religions. By understanding the traditions we share with everyone & letting go of the differences we can all love & respect each others traditions.

Open your heart to love, let go of judging or labeling of others. Embrace the traditions we have in common & understand that if we all love just a little bit more the world would be a better place. What a great time to start loving more! Enjoy your holiday. I'll be back on Monday.

Much love to all,

Bill

Quote of the day: "Celebrate the season of love by letting go of differences & embracing more love in your life."


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The Arts

I've spoken often about how creativity will open your life to more possibilities. So how do you add more creativity to your life? To me the easiest way to increase the creativity in your life is to become involved in the arts. The unfortunate truth is that one of the first things we cut in this country from our educational programs is the arts. Yet, this is one of the most important areas to expand our minds & show us different ways to think.

I don't believe we should all be artists, what I believe is that we all need art in our life. Open your mind to what you've always wanted to do in the arts. This is the time of the year that many of us make resolutions for the new year. Make a resolution to become more active in the arts & watch your creativity soar.

Sign up for a pottery class at your local community college or join a community theatre in your area. If this isn't the answer pick up that instrument you always wanted to play, take some dance lessons or some drawing or painting classes. If you can't afford to take the classes just pick up some paints & start.

I'm not asking you to change your career or to become an expert. I'm challenging you to start. Start doing something creative, make time for it even if you were the child that was told you can't draw at all, start today. No one has to see what you do but by beginning & adding creativity to your life, your life will change.

I know I'm very passionate about the arts because seen the way it can change peoples lives. My dream is for one day to be able to run an arts organization to help others discover the joy that is so sadly lacking in this country. Ok, I'll get off my soapbox now...sorry. Just know that creativity is one of the biggest steps you can take to expand your mind & grow. It will help you look at things in a different light. I wrote a blog back in September about creativity check it out but today decide to add the arts to your life.

Till tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day: "Make the arts part of your life & watch your creativity soar. Through creativity your life will become more joyful."


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Curiosity

Are you curious? Are there things that you still find interesting? To me, it's important in life to continue to learn. There's an openness to knowing that you don't know or to discover new things. Do you remember being a child? Do you remember the wonderment of everything? It's this mind set that will serve you well in continuing to find more joy in your life.

To look at the world through eyes of a child is the most wonderful thing we can do as "adults". I've been told by my children many times that I still like to play like a child. I can make any of them get just a little silly & of course I can get them to laugh. Beyond that being able to let go & have "fun" is important for all of us. To be able to laugh at ourselves or at the situation were in can change everything by replacing negative feelings with the positive emotion of laughter.

I've spoken many times about the importance of love & I truly believe that love is the answer for everything but laughter is it's sister. So what does this have to do with curiosity? It's the idea of looking at the world as a child. To see everything anew, to rediscover wonderment in all things around you. This openness, this curiosity will lighten your life. It will allow you to discover the messages that God/universe is sending you. Just by being open & curious we can shift our thinking & change our life.

The wonderment of the world around us can lead us back to who we are. This connection to the world, the looking at everything anew can reconnect us to our soul. Try to be a child today, be curious & open to the beautiful world around you.

Till tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day: "Rediscover curiosity, open your mind & be a child. This simple act will lead you to a more joyful life."

Check out my video's on Youtube, they are about "love". The most recent one is posted here on 12/10...enjoy.


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Clarity

Sometimes in life all we're really looking for is a little clarity. Clarity can be a difficult thing to find especially with the fast paced life that most of us lead. For me, Clarity only comes with deep reflection. What I mean by this is taking time to slow down & get in touch with your deepest self, your soul or the person you are truly meant to be. The challenge with clarity is removing the EGO from the equation. Since most of us want the "quick" answer to everything that comes into our life. Our first reaction, in most cases is to react from a place of the EGO. I wrote a great blog on the EGO 4 or 5 months ago, you should check it out if you haven't.

The EGO always wants the quickest & easiest answer it can get. It looks for the path of least resistance & the most EGO satisfying thing it can find. The problem with acting from the EGO is that it can never be satisfied. It always wants more, almost as soon as it gets the last thing...."Wow, that was great but now if I have "xyz" for sure I feel better".

So for true clarity we need to try and get past the EGO. We need to get in touch with who we truly are & what our true life's purpose is. This isn't easy to do, I still struggle with understanding how what I feel my life's purpose is fits into my everyday life. It's ok to struggle with this, but to move past the struggle is to bring some peace to your mind. Try & quiet your thoughts & just feel, feel from deep down inside. For me when I do this an answer will suddenly appear in my head. Most of the times it's not something you thought of before (I do this exercise most days to come up with a topic for the blog). If this answer doesn't bring you true clarity to the situation, what I do is set an intention for clarity.

Through the setting of this intention I open myself up for help from God/universe. How does this help come? There's no standard way, for me it's about paying attention to the things that appear in my life. The more attention you can give to the small things in your life the easier it is to pickup on the help that God/universe sends.

What do I mean by this? When I pay attention to the small things in my life I tend to see a certain pattern that suddenly emerges in everything. Many times for me it's several people from different parts of life saying the same thing or it's the same words or messages over the radio or on signs that become more clear. Through this attention to the detail of small things we can often find the clarity we are looking for.

Take time when you need clarity. Slow down & reflect. Set your intention for clarity & observe what comes into your life. Through these practices you will find the clarity you are looking for & lead a more joyful life!

I hope you all have a great weekend. Remember I love to hear from you & if you have topics you'd like for me to write about leave them in the comments below.

Thanks for following me, till Monday,

Bill

Quote of the day:"Slow down & reflect when you need more clarity in your life. By taking time reflect to reflect clarity will come."



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Karma

Do you believe in Karma? Do you even know what Karma is? According to Dictionary.com the definition to Karma is: "action, seen as bringing upon oneself inevitable results, good or bad, either in this life or in a reincarnation: in Hinduism one of the means of reaching Brahman." The true principle of Karma is that you get back what you give out. In the Hindu or Buddhist religion this Karmic payback may come in a different lifetime. Whether you want to believe in reincarnation or not I believe the principle of Karma is sound & actually noted in several other religions without giving it the name of Karma.

Yesterday we talked a lot about Generosity & I explained that whatever we give will come back to us at least ten fold. There's actually some passages in the bible that say what we give out will come back 30,60 or 100 fold. The idea is the same; what give out, whether it's money, love or a helping hand will always come back to us greater then we give out.

The downside of this is that if we give out "bad" things they will come back magnified as well. In the law of Karma if you do something bad to other people you have a Karmic debt to repay. Sometimes this debt alone will stop you from truly reaching your life's purpose because no matter what intentions you're sending out now, until you repay this Karmic debt you can't reap the rewards.

Everybody has things they've done in their life that they are not happy about (or at least most people). Forgive yourself for the your past mistakes. Give back to others in some way to make amends for them. Give with true love & humility. Through this openness & willingness to give back you will truly find the joy we are all meant to have.

The idea of Karma is an amazing principle trust in the fact that it's how God/universe works. Open your heart and give out what you want to receive back. Live your life in service to others & you'll find a greater joy then you can imagine.

Till tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day: "An understanding of the law of Karma is the way to live your life. What we give out we will get back."

My latest video blog is now on this blog (under December 10th) the name of this video is "Journey to Joy: Love - let go of excuses." Take 2 minutes & check it out.


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Generosity

Are you Generous? Do you give money or time? Do you try to make a difference? I think at this special time of the year we should all examine what we do to make a difference in the world. There are so many ways to help others and as I've written before the way to a more joyful life is by committing yourself to giving to others.

The simple act of giving opens yourself up to receiving back all you've given & more. I know we're living in a difficult time & not everyone has the money to give. If this is the case for you, don't get discouraged. There are plenty of ways to give to others. If you don't have the money think about donating your time. If you don't have the time think about donating things you have around the house or food depending on your Charity of your choice.

There are a lot of great charities to give to. I don't think people even realize how easy it is to find a charity that fits right into your life. If you're worried about children or education you can find a charity. If you're worried about the homeless there's a charity. If you're concerned about animals or the arts there are plenty of places to give to.

We all get caught up in this season & we're worried about getting all our shopping done or getting all of our cards out but we all need to take a moment to realize the need around us. In this time especially the need is greater then ever. Many charities are overwhelmed with the need & they need us all to step up to help out.

There is no greater joy then that of giving. Open your heart & give as deeply as you can. You will have a better life because of it as long as it's truly from your heart. If you give looking for something in return the benefits may not be as great. As with everything we've discussed here, if we act looking for something it's usually EGO based. The way to a more joyful life is to feel the compassion & want to make a difference. Acting from your heart will always bring you great benefits. Find a cause & give from your heart, you'll find more joy then you can imagine.

Till tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day: "Through giving with an open heart you will discover more joy then you can imagine in your life."



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It's always darkest....

It's always darkest before the dawn. Sometimes in life it's very difficult to believe that. We've all been through trials in our life & I'm sure there have been times for each of you when you felt that the darkness in your life was so dark that you'd never see the sun again. I've experienced this darkness before in my life & to me it always feels like being held under the water & needing to breathe. You feel like you'll never get that breath no matter how hard you try. But the God/universe will always help you even when it feels like they won't.

The truth is no matter how much you follow the exercises I've outlined before in this blog, there are times for all of us when we feel overwhelmed. For me I've learned that there can be great growth in these times of darkness & the most important thing is to trust in yourself & in the practices you've set-up. I know it's difficult to continue believing that "this to shall pass" but as with any storm in nature the darkness can't last forever.

So how do we make it through these times. As I mentioned above, you must continue to trust in yourself. This belief should be tempered with some self reflection. We need to take time when things are darkest to make sure we are acting from our soul & not our EGO. This self reflection should codify that we are on the correct path. That this vision for our life is what we truly want & it is in balance with the universe & our soul purpose.

The dark times will pass just as the sun rises each day. Try to remember the good times even when things are the darkest & remember to learn everything you can from the darkness. The knowledge you learn at these darkest times will help you grow & make it possible to avoid the darkness in the future.

Remember to always stay open & come from a place of love especially when things look their darkest. Through your commitment to loving others even when you need love the most you will find the sun again.

Until tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day: "Even when life seems to be it's darkest, love will help you find the way to the light."

My latest video blog is now posted here, take a look at it & let me know your thoughts.


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