Reality

What if everything we think we know about life is wrong? What if everything we've been taught isn't really what our life or world is all about? I always look to expand my mind & I allow information to come to me from many different sources. I allow this information to come to me freely & if it peaks my interest I continue the exploration of it until I have more facts. Why do I note this? Because I know that everyone has their own process & I believe in letting people process information any way that works for them.

A little over a month ago Deepak Chopra hosted a conference in CA called "Sages & Scientists Symposium". In this conference he brought together some of the worlds leading scientists as well as some well known spiritual leaders. I'm including the first video in the series from this conference at the bottom of this blog.

In this conference the scientists discussed the fact that there is no reality except for what we create. Our mind does not "create" anything within the confines of our brain. The brain is like every other organ in our body it process chemical & causes actions but doesn't know what anything is outside of our body. What? Yes, there's a term that's used very often when discussing this it is "non-local" meaning it doesn't happen within us. Everything we know as reality is created by us & by our connection with everything else.

We are truly connected to a universal energy & it through this connection that we are able to share the experience of living our life. This is the reason that we can say that our thoughts truly do create our reality. The exploration of this connection isn't easy but there have been studies done showing the effects of positive thoughts on the molecules of water & on prayers & healing thoughts effects on people who are sick.

It's an amazing process to know that we can create anything we want in our life but also a little scary. So why don't we have the life we truly want? The answer to this question is easy because we're not connected to this universal energy. We become so wrapped up in the world we've created that we lose our connection to everything else. It is in this connection that all things are possible.

I've written at length about different ways to connect to your soul (true self). To me it's through this connection to our soul that we discover our connection to everything. Take time to quiet the world you've created. Pay attention to the things that come into your life. Quiet the EGO & discover your connection to everything. You can create anything you want in your life. Believe in the process & find the joy you seek in life.

Till Tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day: "Reality is only what we perceive it to be. Create the reality you want to experience in your life & discover the joy in the life you create!"

The Truth behind the Lies

Why do we lie to ourselves? Do we actually think we can fool our true selves? So many of us are afraid of the truth especially when it's the truth about ourselves. We walk through our lives telling ourselves lies over & over again. The truth is we know the answers. In fact we know the answers to everything if we allow them to come to us.

Do the lies ever really work for you? For me there's times in the short term that telling myself a lie works. It's especially true when I'm doing something physical....I can make it to the top of the next hill. I can lift that box. But these lies aren't the lies I'm talking about. I'm talking about the lies we tell ourselves everyday. The lies we choose to believe because it's easier then facing the truth.

The real truth is that we deny ourselves the chance for growth every time we lie to ourselves. Many times the lie we tell ourselves is directed by the EGO. The EGO will tell us over & over again that xyz is what we need to be happy & when we're not happy after getting xyz it tells us it's because we need abc. The EGO tries over & over again to keep us away from our true self, why? Because it's afraid it won't be satisfied right now if we follow our true self.

The truth is that even the EGO will be satisfied if we listen & follow our true self. The EGO is afraid of everything that's not instant gratification but it will find joy when we are truly satisfied. It will still want more from time to time because that's how the EGO works, but it will find a state bliss that it's never known when it allows the true self to take over.

Stop lying to yourself, be honest & discover your true self. Find what will bring you true bliss, let go of the EGO & face the truth! I realize that sometimes this can be hard. We have to admit to ourselves that we're not perfect, that we don't always have the answer & that we're not always right. But it is through this truth that we will learn & grow. For realizing that we all make mistakes & we're all imperfect is the truth that will set us free.

Till Tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day:"Stop lying to yourself & discover the truth that will set you free!"

Tearing down the walls

Do you put up walls? Do you compartmentalize your life? Do you decide what you'll allow others to see? I think from time to time we all hide behind the walls that we build in our lives. Why do we build them? Mostly for what we perceive is protection. We believe that by hiding things about ourselves we are protecting ourselves from the world. We've become so conditioned in our life that we're afraid to feel anything but especially pain. We scared to death about being hurt.

Fear is a deadly emotion it robs us from living the joyful life we want so desperately to live. We justify everything in our life by hiding behind fear & the truth is all the fear we create isn't real. Rarely do we ever experience the things we imagine but yet we justify our behavior because of what we imagine.

In our life we put up so many walls to hide behind because of the fear we have of being hurt. Now don't misunderstand, in the world today it's important to keep some information about yourself from the world especially on-line because their are people out their who will take advantaged of the information. But in our day to day life we don't need to hide from who we are. We are so concerned about what others think of us. That we're scared to be who we are.

This isn't the way to live your life. In order to discover more love & joy in your life you need to open yourself up. Sure sometimes you can get hurt but overall you'll discover more joy by being who you are. You'll learn that most of the fear you had is not justified & that people, overall, are loving & compassionate. In addition remember that the universe reflects back to us what we are. So if we come from a place of fear, we will be confronted by the fear more & more till we let it go. God/universe will always try to help us grow. It will continue to send us the messages we need to hear to move beyond who are & to become the loving being we all can be.

So what happens if you don't know who you are? The first step is always self discovery. You need to take time to get to know yourself. In the mean time be open & loving to everyone you meet. As you discover what's important in your life & who you are, be true to yourself.

Tear down the walls in your life. Open your heart, open your life & be true to yourself. The world is here to welcome you. Stop hiding & you will discover more joy.

Till Monday,

Bill

Quote of the day: Tear down the walls in your life. Open your heart to love & God/universe will send you more love! Be who you are, we're waiting to love you!"

Watching the Clouds go by

Do you remember watching the clouds go by? Whatever happened to doing that? Just laying in the grass & watching the clouds go by. Imagining what shapes the clouds made. If we were lucky we could share that time with someone else. What an amazing memory, the beauty of clouds.

I don't think this practice has gone by the wayside because we've grown up, do you? I don't remember my children ever doing it. I think it's like so many other things in our life. It's been lost because we just don't take the time any longer. We're so tied up in our modern life that we don't take the time for simple little pleasures.

We have beauty all around us. We just need to take the time to discover it. Don't schedule every minute of everyday. Don't sit by the computer for every free moment you have. Take the time to drift away like the clouds. Expand your imagination & let go of your worries. Take time to just be!

I know it's easier said then done. We all live busy lives but the stress in our lives is self created & most of it is because of the pressure we put on ourselves. Take time to be creative even if you don't feel like you are. Color outside the lines!! Let go of expectations & just enjoy watching the clouds go by!

Your life can change dramatically if you just allow it to happen. Start taking time for yourself today & allow your life to blossom into all of it's glory. Life is not about what you own, how much money you have or being someone important. Life is about the next moment, it's the only one we have. Start letting go & enjoy watching the clouds go by!!

Till tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day:"Take time to be creative, take time to just be. Start by just laying down & watching the clouds go by! Your soul will thank you!!"

When winning just doesn't happen

The stage was set for a beautiful ending. The ball was sent on it's way, it hits the backboard & then the rim. Then it falls harmlessly to the floor & the fairytale ending we all hoped for doesn't happen. As many of you know the Butler Bulldogs fell a little short last night. I'm incredibly proud of them & the effort they put forward. Butler was a shinning example for the city of Indianapolis, the state of Indiana & College basketball in general. Duke had won their previous 5 games in the tournament by an average of of 16.6 points, they beat Butler by 2. I congratulate Duke they played a great game & they were able to make the shots when they had to.

So what does this have to do with finding more joy? Yesterday, we discussed how sometimes in life you're the underdog & that your attitude can make the difference. But, what happens in life when you just don't win. When you just don't get the victory? To me these are the moments that define us. It's not when we win, it's not when everything is going our way. It's when we think we should win, when we expect to win & we don't. It can be life changing; but the true result of not winning is completely up to you.

The heartache of losing can be overwhelming & if we allow it, it can bring you crashing down to a very negative place. So how do we move beyond the pain of losing? The first step is time. Take some time & allow yourself to feel & understand what happened. Time is an amazing healer when things don't go our way. Allowing ourselves to move away from the moment of heartache can slowly blur the moment enough that it doesn't hurt as bad.

The next step is the most important. Evaluate what happened, learn from the loss. It is through learning that we can move beyond the pain of a loss. There are always lessons in every moment of our life but when things are going well we tend to ignore the lesson & just ride the wave. When we lose it's very important to be honest with ourselves & to understand what happened. There maybe times when we didn't do anything wrong. We truly did our best & we just lost, it happens. Other times, if we're honest, we can discover why things happened the way they did.

The truth is no matter how badly you want something to happen in your life. There will always be losses. If we learn and grow from these losses we become better people. Sometimes losing can actually open our eyes to a new possibility. The lessons we learn can change our life. The truth is you may have been ignoring it while things we're going well. Maybe we didn't even truly want what we thought we wanted or maybe the success we thought we had in hand was only for our EGO.

The willingness to learn & grow when things don't go our way can be the most important thing we can do in our life. The ability to move beyond the negative and discover joy even in the darkest moments, will open the universe to all possibilities. It is through the process of learning that we will discover the messages of God/universe & find true joy in our life!

Till tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day:"When winning doesn't happen. Learn from the loss & open your heart to the messages of God/universe. By listening with an open heart we will discover more joy then we can imagine."

The Spirit of an Underdog

Yes, the unbelievable is on the verge of happening. Our hometown team & the University my wife Heidi graduated from, the Butler Bulldogs, will play tonight for the national championship. We've watched them excel for years but they've never made it this far in the schools history. In case you don't know Butler it's a small (4,000 students) liberal arts college on the north side of Indianapolis. It's been known for years, in the state of Indiana for its academic excellence. So what does this have to do with my blog "Journey to Joy"? I think we've all experienced feeling like the underdog in life, so let's explore that.

There are times in life that no matter how hard we work we don't feel like we are the best at something. The feeling of not being good enough is common thread that many of us have in our life. I wrote a blog on it a while ago "Being not good enough" check it out if you'd like.

Let's move beyond the feeling of not being good enough & look at the spirit of being the underdog. What's the difference? The difference is how you feel about yourself not what others think of you. When you feel not good enough that's an attitude that you've accepted from the programing of your past. When you're the underdog you believe in yourself but no one else may. In business I think this happens all the time. You aren't thought of highly by a boss but you consistently perform better then the others in the department. There's no way to explain why it happens beyond the fact that we all try to quantify & judge everyone in our life.

I believe that being an underdog can actually be a good thing in life because you consistently come through even though your not expected to!! So why does an underdog succeed? In life, as in sports, the underdog succeeds because of the belief in themselves or their team. They tune out what the world has to say about them & they work together to overcome the obstacles in front of them. This is a great way to live our life. There's way to much noise in the world & unfortunately this noise is often negative (There's no way you can do this or that). Letting go of the noise & believing in yourself is a great way to separate yourself from the others in the world.

Sometimes believing in yourself is difficult because you're not sure you can perform the task at hand. I believe we all excel at much more then we believe we can excel at. Too many of us believe what everyone else has to say about us. Whatever it is that you have to deal with in your life that you believe is beyond you. Take time to let go of the uncertainty, move beyond your EGO and reconnect with your soul (True self). In your soul you will know the truth, allow that feeling to grow. Even if you're uncertain about your true abilities move forward & God/universe will help you along the way. Things don't always go the way we plan but every step forward is a step of learning & growing. Take on whatever challenges you face in your daily life. Learn from everything you do & you can achieve more then you ever believe you can!!

Will Butler win tonight? Who knows, but everyone loves an underdog & anything in life is possible. Accept being the underdog in your life from time to time. Let go of fear & show the world what you can do!!!

Till tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day: "Being the underdog in life has it's advantages. Believe in yourself, let go of the noise from the world & anything is possible!"

Revolution

I woke this morning with The Beatles song "Revolution" in my head. I haven't written often on my process of writing but many times that's how I get my ideas, I wake up with something I can't get out of my head. I know I'm showing my age by mentioning this song but actually as I've gotten older I've come to appreciate The Beatles work more & more. Here's the beginning of the song:

You say you want a revolution
Well, you know
We all want to change the world
You tell me that it's evolution
Well, you know
We all want to change the world
But when you talk about destruction
Don't you know that you can count me out
Don't you know it's gonna be all right
all right, all right

I think we all need a revolution in our life from time to time. It takes dramatic steps sometimes to change our life out of our normal pattern. I'm not talking about taking up arms or trying to change the government. I talking about changing our own life & the world as you'd like to see it.

I have written often about change needing to begin with each one us. If we all start by looking at ourselves & take small steps to change our lives the results would be incredible!! I know change isn't easy & some of us resist it simply because it's change, that's why we need a revolution.

When you listen to the lyrics of the song (Youtube video below)Lennon is talking about the same thing that Ghandi has talked about a peaceful revolution. Peace can be obtained in our lifetime if each of us is willing to find the love we have inside & let go of anger & violence. We have all become wound so tightly in the world today. Each of us ready to explode at a moments notice when things don't go the way we expect them to go. Let go of the expectations of others in your life. Allow people to make mistakes, we all do!! Discover the love you have inside & create the world you want to live in.

Thoughts are amazing things and a true shift in world consciousness can happen if we all work on changing our thoughts about ourselves & others. I know it's not easy we all have bad days & we all get angry every now & then. When you feel the anger coming on take a breathe and let it go, become an instrument of peace!!

Let's start the revolution today in each one of us!!

Now The Beatles:

Have a great holiday weekend, enjoy your friends & family at this special time of the year.

Till Monday,

Bill

Quote of the day:"Sometimes it takes a revolution to change our thoughts. Make the change towards love today & see the world shift with you."