The Olympic Spirit

Do you enjoy watching the Olympics? Do you get into all the competition? I've always enjoyed the Olympics. I can remember watching them from the time I was very small. I was always very involved in sports when I was growing up & to me the Olympics were the ultimate sporting event. I dreamed more about being in the Olympics then playing professional sports. After enjoying the Olympics for the last 16 days & seeing the U.S. win more medals then any country has ever won in the winter Olympics. I started to think about what I truly like about the Olympics.

Yes, I enjoy the competition & I enjoy watching the joy in the athletes faces when they win or even when they do better than they thought they would do. The wonderful heart warming stories of how they were able to overcome adversity in their life to make it to the top of their sport. Yes, I enjoy all of this but the more I thought about the Olympics the more I thought about the spirit of the Olympics.

It's in that spirit that the world pauses for a few weeks every 2 years & just enjoys the coming together of people from all over the world. It's a sharing of a common event....a true shared experience. All the walls come down between the athletes & between all the people attending the events. It's in this spirit of letting go of our differences that we change the world.

So many of us put up walls to keep others out of our lives. We close our mind & our heart to only let people in who think like we do. We become entrenched in what we think we want or need in our life. The Olympics show us that we can come together & work for a better world for all.

Keep the spirit of cooperation in your heart alive. Reach out to people who are different then you. Open your mind to the love you have in your heart. Let the walls of protection dissolve away & discover that truly we are all the same. Believe in people & discover the love we all have inside.

Till tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day:"Keep the spirit of the Olympics in your heart everyday. Open your heart to everyone who enters your life."

Relationships

Relationships can be an amazing addition to your quest for a more joyful life. The love you discover in another person can lift you to new heights. The drawback is that instead of having love within yourself to give to someone else we expect the other person to give us love to fill us up. Love is truly the answer for everyone but we need to begin with loving ourselves first. Without love of yourself any relationship will run into problems down the road. Discover the love we all have inside of us & you'll have more love in your life then you can imagine.

On your journey to self discovery the support of a partner can help you overcome the demons of the past but there are a few things to be careful of. I unfortunately discovered these the hard way in the past.

1. Change - although you may be going through a great deal of change individually in your journey, you can't change your partner. Change is a personal choice & even when you've discovered things in your journey that really help you. Your partner may not be helped by the same discoveries or just simply may not want to change at all.

2. Control - When we feel like we have so many "balls" up in the air & we're trying to deal with all of them. One of the first things we try to do is to take control over everything in our lives to be able to handle it better. The truth is that we can't control anything in our life except for ourselves & our reaction to whatever happens. This is a hard lesson for some people. Observe life & listen to the messages that God/universe is sending you don't try & "make" things happen.

3. Rescue - When we are injured ourselves we look for someone to be partnered with that we feel we can rescue. It makes us feel better about who we are to be able help someone else overcome their demons. The truth is that as in #1 we can't "will" someone better & we can't hurt deeply enough to remove the pain from someone else. If you want to help others (which is a great thing to do) volunteer for organizations & give freely of yourself to causes.

4. Forgiveness - The greatest gift you have to give in a relationship is forgiveness. Remember the reason why you feel in love with person & understand that we are all human & therefore imperfect. Forgive with all your heart & let go of the mistakes your partner has made.

Remember that we are all on our own journey & together we are always stronger then on our own. Discover the beauty of the people in our life & cherish each relationship you have. As I've said in the past; every person that enters our life is there for a reason, discover that reason & the universe will unfold before you. Love with all your heart & live a more joyful life.

Till Monday...enjoy your weekend,

Bill

Quote of the day: "A relationship can be a beautiful way to discover a more joyful life."

The beginning of joy

Yesterday I left you looking in the mirror. I challenged you to move beyond the past & find your true life's purpose. Today I continue the journey that I took from a life that appeared to have everything but was never truly satisfying....sound familiar?

The journey that I embarked on may have taken longer than others on the same journey but the truth is that the work & journey have been very worthwhile. So back to my story. Many years ago when I had my epiphany that my life was hollow I began to try & figure out how to live a more fulfilling life. My problem growing up & still to some extent was over analyzing everything in my life. I have always been fairly intelligent & my mind always takes over whenever a problem presents itself.

I began to try & figure out how to change to live a more joyful, fulfilling life. A side note to anyone in this situation now, over thinking doesn't work!! I had just started going out with my wife Heidi & she gave me a book that began the change I always wanted. This book was "The Return of Merlin" by Deepak Chopra. I had never read any of his work before & Heidi knew I really liked Arthurian Legend so I believe she hoped that connection would get me to read the book. Well, that book changed my life. The lesson that Deepak imparted in the book was so interwoven with the story that I didn't realize that I was starting to understand what I needed to know to change my life. I would highly recommend this book if you haven't read it.

This book was the beginning of living a more fulfilling life. The journey I embarked on was a very personal journey that took me many years to get to where I am today. I discovered that most of my life was based on my EGO, I still battle with it some today & I found that the mind is a wonderful part of who we are, but it's not who we are. To truly discover yourself you need to move beyond the thoughts in your head & connect with your soul. I learned that the only way to move forward is to let go of the past & that the emotions connected to the past can be changed & rewired by accepting them & releasing them.

Finally I discovered the only way to truly life a more joyful, fulfilling life is to live in the present moment because it's truly all we ever have. I went through heartache & pain to discover these secrets. I continue everyday to try & learn more & become an example of what living a joyful life is all about. I hope you'll stay with me on this journey & I hope I've been able to help you begin to evaluate your life. The change you seek is possible, believe in yourself & know that every step forward is creating the life you want to live.

Till Tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day:"The journey to joy is something we can all discover. Begin today & find the life you've always wanted."

Mirror, Mirror

Who do you see when you look in the mirror? Are you the same person? Or are you a person who talks a good game but never lives what they say? I think we've all known people in our lives that always say the right thing & act just the right way but never really live the life they portray. Their life to a large extent is hollow & they never take the time to realize it. Do you know someone like that? Or could this person be you?

I know when I was younger that I not only knew people like this, I was one of them to large extent. I never truly wanted to look inside because I was afraid of what I might find. I really didn't like who I was because I never felt good enough. I walked through life pretending that everything was fine & that I was a great person. But when I looked in the mirror I knew the truth. I knew I was a hollow shell of a person. I knew that the way I dealt with things that happened in my life was to just bury it. The pain & hurt was hidden from view but would always come back to the surface. I stumbled through life, being very successful, but never feeling fulfilled and when something went wrong I would crash & burn. The spiral would drag me down quicker & the pain would be great. Not because of the event that just happened but because of everything that happened before.

I then decided that this way of life wasn't working for me anymore. I decided that the only way to live a fulfilling life was to look inside & deal with the pain of the past. I've written in the past about the process I went through. It wasn't easy but I learned that the past only has power over us, if we give it that power. If we're willing to let go of the pain, we can truly change our lives.

So who do you see when you look in the mirror? Know that you can be anyone you want to be. Know that nothing can hold you back, if you're willing to take the time for self discovery. We are all beautiful amazing people, stop pretending to be who you think you should be & become who you truly are!

Till tomorrow,

Bill

Fog

Are you living your life in a fog? Do you stumble from one day to another? Do you live only for the next big thing, the vacation or the weekend or whatever gets you excited?

Many of us are just content with coasting through our lives. Never really doing anything to upset the apple cart. We live each day only as a means to the end & we're content with the fact that there's no real problems. We're happy to think that life is about living only special moments & we live for them no matter how infrequently they come around. We are for all practical purposes just comfortable with our life.

Does this sound familiar? I use to be like this. I use to think that as long as things were ok everything was good. But I've learned that that's not the way to live your life. Life is about enjoying each moment of everyday. Not about coasting until then next big thing. Life is about learning & growing, discovering our true purpose & understanding that the only way to live a more joyful life is by letting go of the past, instead of being trapped in it.

Sometimes the work is hard & it's painful to grow & move beyond the old ways. But ignoring the issues only holds you back from the true joy you can experience with an open heart, living each moment to the fullest.

I've learned that if you ignore the issues in your life they will continue to come up over & over again. I believe the reason for this is because until we learn what we have to learn, in our life, we can't rediscover our true connection with our soul & thus God/universe.

It is only with an open heart that we can discover the love we have inside. Stop coasting through life & begin living it in each moment.

Till tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day:"Move through the fog of your life, live in each moment & discover the joy life has to offer."

Power

The truth is power can be good or bad but today I'm not talking about power to control or even the power to lead. Today I want to discuss the power each of us have inside. Do you realize how powerful you truly are? You have the ability to change everything in your life with just your thoughts & the pure connection to your soul.

To me the soul is our connection to everything. It is the truest & most natural connection that we have. The unfortunate thing is we lose this connection as we grow because we discover our EGO. I've written many times about the EGO so let's just say that no matter what we do, the EGO will never been satisfied. It may be satisfied for the moment but never very long at all. It always wants more & always wants the next best thing. It takes us over so much that many of us spend our entire life just trying to make it back to our true connection with God/universe, our soul.

The journey of life is to rediscover that true connection with our soul. Some of us can, at times, reach that connection & when we do miraculous things happen. Everything in our life works in perfect harmony & just flows when we are truly connected to our divine source, the soul.

We have the power to not only change ourselves but to change the world around us when we have this true connection. Everyone today is searching for the quick & easy answer to make their life better. The answer is not something we seek outside ourselves. Don't look for what you think will make your life better. Instead look inside. Believe in you. Find the quiet within, discover the true connection with God/universe that is your soul. Sit quietly reflect on your life. let go of the pain of the past. Find the peace & love you have inside. Allow that love to fill you up & overflow to the rest of the world. Discover the joy of life in perfect harmony. Take the time to discover your true power within.

Till Monday, I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Bill

Quote of the day:"Discover the power you have within yourself. Connect to your soul & rediscover the harmony we all can live in."

The Beauty of each day

I've always been a person who starts each day anew. I've been able to leave yesterday behind & look at each day as a new beginning. Sometimes the quiet of the morning is just amazing to me. It fills me up for the rest of the day. We, as many people in the U.S., have gotten a bunch of snow over the last few weeks. I would guess that we have at least 15-18 inches on the ground. It's been rather inconvenient getting around but as I sit in the morning looking out the front windows it's just so beautiful. The quiet of the neighborhood, the snow blanketing everything & the sun gently rising.

Yes these are moments I've learned to cherish. When I was younger I could never slow down, even when I saw beautiful things in my life I only stopped for a moment. As I've gotten older & gone through a true life changing transformation, I've learned to really enjoy each moment of the day & the mornings have always been my favorite.

Over the past many months (nearly 9) since I've been out of work I've truly enjoyed the time I take in the morning. I still wake every morning by 6 & for many months this summer & fall I would ride my bike between 25-30 miles in the state park near our house. My appreciation for the beauty of the morning has grown incredibly through this practice.

Start each day with a few moments to appreciate the beauty around you. Let go of all the noise from the day before. Be reborn in the glory that is your life. Open your heart to the beauty around you & fill yourself with love. By beginning each day with this simple practice you too can lead a more joyful life.

Till tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of day:"Find the beauty of each day by starting with a few moments to truly appreciate the world around you."