Quiet Mind

I've always had a problem since I was a very young boy with quieting my mind. This "over active" mind has been an amazing help at times but also a great hindrance. My mind has always been very open & largely creative. I think in associated patterns where one thought can lead to another to another, sometimes taking me in a whole new direction from where I've started. In a creative environment I tend to be even more creative because by listening to others ideas my mind can create new thoughts incorporating the ideas of others. As I've grown I've learned to quiet my mind some but I've never been completely effective in quieting it completely.

I have tired various forms of meditation but they've never truly worked for me. I have learned to slow my mind down & I've gotten very good at focusing on the things that appear in my life. In fact most mornings when I sit down to write this blog I am very quiet & just allow ideas into my mind. Thus far this "free association" has worked well & something normally just pops into my head. I then take time to think through the subject & then begin to write. So why am I writing about this today? I believe far to many people never take the time to slow down at all.

It is in the quiet that we become the greatest observer of our lives. Slow down quiet your mind & pay attention to the things around you. Pay special attention to the things that keep reappearing in your life. For me things can come from many sources. I can hear a song on the radio, then meet someone at a store that says one of the phrases. Then I'll pick up a newspaper & the same phrase will be a headline or something like that. When I'm truly connected to my soul/source things continue to pop up in my life. The only way I know to see the things that enter your life is to slow down & quiet your mind. The time you take to be quiet & narrow your focus will be well worth it.

The other benefit of slowing down your life & taking the time you need to reflect & open up your mind is the connection to your soul/source. The only way I know to remove the EGO from your decision making is to take the time to quiet your mind & move beyond the noise in your head. The deep connection that can be felt when you move from your head to your soul is an amazing process.

Take time to quiet your mind, reflect on the things around you & find the connection to your soul. By doing this you will lead a more joyful life.

Till tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day: "Take time to quiet your mind in this busy world. The time you take to slow down & reflect will bring you more joy in your daily life."


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The Journey of a 1,000 miles

"The journey of a 1,000 miles begins with one step" this is one of my favorite quotes from the Tao Te Ching written by Lao Tzu over 2,500 years ago. To me this quote speaks to my soul because I've always been a person who embraces change. In response to the New Year I think it's an important time to reflect on change. Most of us have a deep fear of things changing in our life. We hold on to what we know even if it's not working well for us. The reason for this is because we all want comfort & some "normal" to our lives. I truly understand this desire & at times in my life the "normal" pattern of life is all I could find comfort in. But the only way to live life & find more joy in each & every moment is to embrace change.

This doesn't mean that we need to change for change sake. Changing just to change is like a dog chasing his tail, we'll never get to where we need to be. Instead what it means is to embrace the idea of change & to realize that to live in the joy of every moment, means to keep yourself open to the change that comes into your life.

The Lao Tzu quote, especially in times of transition, reminds me that change doesn't have to be dramatic. To embrace change sometimes just means taking the next step. Even when things seem overwhelming, if we can shorten our focus to just taking the next step we can begin the process of change. It is in the process, the forward movement, that things begin to happen for us in our life. To continue to move forward even when the path ahead isn't clear is one of the hardest things for all of us in life. Remember it only takes the next step, each step one after the other can lead us down the path of change & onto a more joyful life.

Begin each day with an open mind. Embrace the understanding that life will change with or without you, by taking the next step you begin the change you want to see in your life. Remember that each day is a new part of the journey, live each day to the fullest & bring more joy into your life.

Till tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day: "A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. A tree grows from one seedling. A tower starts with one brick." Lao Tzu


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New Year's Eve

Today everyone is probably writing about New Year's Eve & New Year's resolutions, I'm not really into this game. Don't get me wrong, I love holidays & New Year's Eve can be a lot of fun with the right friends, etc. But to me, it's really no different then any other day. I try to find the joy in every moment of everyday so although there are some days that are better then others because of events, etc. I truly enjoy each day.

So do you make New Year's resolutions? If you do make them do you actually keep them? My experience with the people I've known in my life are that most people make resolutions but not to many of them actually keep the resolutions they make. I've never made resolutions. There are a couple of reasons for this; first, I've always been a man of my word, so if I made a resolution I would feel bound to make it happen. Second, as I've gotten older I began to understand that resolutions aren't the answer. Instead of resolutions I set intentions. To me there's a big difference between the two. Resolutions are a pledge or a promise to do something. Intentions are an action. I set intentions everyday for the fulfillment of my dreams. The true key to intentions is to set the intention & let go of the results. It is the letting go of results that allows God/universe to work & manifest my intention in it's own way. Through actively setting intentions we will find a more joyful life. Learn to set your intentions everyday, not just on New Year's Ev,e & discover the practice of detachment from the results.

I've written over the past few days about letting go of the past & the idea of starting a new or turning the page on your life is a wonderful part of New Year's Eve. My wish for everyone of you is to start each day with the same fresh outlook you experience on New year's eve. Remember the feeling of joy this event brings to you & recreate it in each day of this new year.

I'll be off till Monday, I hope you enjoy the holiday.

Hugs,

Bill

Quote of the day: "My hope for the New Year is that all of your dreams are manifested in the perfect way."


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Back to the beginning

What are your first memories as a child? Not the ones that people tell you about or the ones you've seen in pictures or movies but the the first thing you can remember. I spoke yesterday about letting go of the past & I wrote a blog about that several months ago but sometimes in order to let go you have to take the time to think back.

Many doctors will say that the earliest memories we have as children are between the ages of 3-5 years. So I ask again, do you remember what your first memory is? I'd love to hear some of them in the comments section. For me my first memories are from a vacation my family took to Florida. The first of two very distinct memories from that trip (I was nearly 4) was sitting on a ledge with my dad. He was fishing & a manatee surfaced & scared me to death. I had never seen anything like that. The second memory from the same trip was my dad taking me & my sisters out on a raft in the ocean to see a ship anchored off shore. So for me, my first memories are both good & bad.

The trouble most of us have with the past is that we've created emotional attachments to events that we've been through. These emotional attachments are so strong that whenever we experience something that reminds us of the original event we feel the same emotions. This emotional attachment can be great for wonderful events in our life but it can create fear & negative emotions from bad events. These fears can hold us back from being who we are truly meant to be. The key to living a more joyful life is to take the time to understand these connections. Write down all the memories you have & the emotions that are attached to them. Once you can identify these attachments you can begin the process of healing.

Sounds easy, huh? The process itself is easy but to move through the past you need to experience the emotions that are attached to these memories. Once you can feel the emotional attachment & you allow yourself to experience the feelings you can begin the process of letting these negative attachments go.

The mind is an amazing thing & by letting go of these negative emotions & understanding the memories they were attached to. You can then re-attach these memories to less negative thoughts. This re-patterning of negative emotions can free you to live a more joyful life.

Take the time to understand why you feel what you feel in your life. Understand that through forgiveness of ourself & others, we can release the past & begin to live in the present moment. By taking the time to understand why we react the way we do we can begin the process of healing & live a more joyful life.

Till tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day:"Take the time to understand your past. Through this understanding we can move forward to a more joyful life."


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Destiny

Destiny, I wrote a nice blog about destiny back in July but with the end of the year coming I thought it was a nice time to revisit the topic. What are your thoughts about destiny? Do you think everything we do is predetermined? Or do you think everything we do is self determined? Destiny is an interesting paradox for me, I think we are all born with a true life's purpose. The wonderful challenge for each of us is to discover what our true life purpose is. Sometimes this journey can take a lifetime. Sometimes, if you're lucky, you can discover your purpose early on & fulfill this true purpose.

I believe strongly that God/universe tries to help us along the way. This helping hand tries to push us gently towards our life's purpose. Reminding us of what we were meant to do. The problem is that we don't always listen & sometimes we actually rebel against the thought of having a greater purpose.

Then, of course, we have to deal with our EGO. It is the EGO itself that keeps us from finding our true purpose. Dr. Wayne Dyer has a great definition for the EGO it is Edge Out God & that's what the EGO does. It wants the easy answer & the quick fix. It lusts for instant gratification & never wants to put in the work. This disconnection from our true purpose is the reason for all of the suffering we go through in our life. Yet, we continually give in to the EGO. Why? Because it feels good.

The biggest battle all of us wage in our life isn't from anything outside of our self. It is our internal battle to allow our connection to our true self & our true life's purpose. How many times in your life have you come to an important crossroad & had to make a big decision? To me these moments are God/universe trying to help us get back on track. These self defining moments happen throughout our life until we find our way back to our true life's purpose. The unfortunate thing is for some of us we never find our way back. We spend our life searching for that connection to our true self & never feel completely fulfilled.

The good news is that we can all find this connection. It begins with loving & forgiving yourself for anything that's happened in the past. Once you let go of the past, come from a place of love & live in the current moment (not in the past or the future) this connection becomes much easier to find.

When we are connected wonderful things begin to happen all around you to continue to push you towards your true purpose. There is no better time to start this journey then this time of the year. Let go of 2009 or any of the past that holds you back. Commit yourself to take the time to look deep inside. Listen to that small voice that you've been ignoring. Forgive yourself & all those in your life that have done you wrong. Love & when it hurts, love some more. You are a precious gift & you can find your true destiny. Believe in your true self, pay attention to the signs that God/universe sends you. Let go of your EGO & listen to your soul.

It's all possible, take the steps today to make it happen. I know you can! I believe in you!!

Till tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day: "Our true destiny is within each of us. Open your heart, listen to your soul & you'll discover your true destiny."


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Traditions

We talked last week about all the holidays that surround the months of Christmas. It's interesting to me how all these different practices can actually tie us all together. But, what about traditions? Do you have traditions you follow? Are they things you do all year or just at Christmas time? I think traditions are a wonderful way to stay connected to the past. We do things in our family the way they've always been done to continue along the traditions that were set by the generations before us.

The difficult thing is that traditions can also hold us back. As with anything that deals with the past we can get so caught up in the "tradition" that we lose our focus for living in the moment. This was a very emotional Christmas for Heidi & I. For the first time in my life I was unable to buy Christmas presents for anyone in my life. This is, as many of you know, because of not working for almost 7 months now. It was difficult for me because I love to give gifts. In fact I love to give period. Giving to me is such a warm feeling & at Christmas the joy I find in others while I watch them open their gifts has been something that's always warmed my heart.

Many people in my life tried to make light of the situation...."Christmas isn't about giving it's about love". I heard this several times from different people in my life & of course I love the wonderful feeling this time of the year brings but there's still an emptiness inside when you can't actively participate. This emptiness lead me to reflect on the traditions we hold so dear. To me anything that we do over & over again can become a tradition in our life. These things become comfortable & as I've written before, comfort is nice but also very dangerous. We all tend to life our life to much in comfort. We walk through much of our life in a fog because everything is the same. We need to allow comfort in our life but always stay open & in the present moment even if we've done this thing a 100 times. It's living in this current moment that will always carry to new heights.

It hurts when we feel left out, especially when it's something we hold very dear to our heart. But, many times the pain we feel is that of the EGO we're hurt because we can't get the accolades we love to get for getting the right gift or doing the right thing. We feel empty because we want to be apart of the group, we want to feel connected. At times like this I try to reflect on why I feel the way I do. I try to understand where this feeling of lack is coming from & I allow myself to feel what I feel. All feelings have merit the key to me is to understand where why we feel the way we feel. Once we understand the why we can move beyond the feeling to a better place. This doesn't always happen overnight sometimes it takes time but with patience & love we can move forward to a better place. Many of the feelings we have that affect us deeply are old wounds that have never been dealt with in the past. The way to lead a more joyful life is to move beyond the past & to let go of the old wounds. By understanding these wounds & then moving forward we can live in the now. This moment is all we really have. Live each moment to the fullest & find the joy in every moment even when things aren't the easiest.

Till tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day: "Traditions are a wonderful connection to our past. By honoring this connection but still living in the now we will lead a more joyful life."


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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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