Seasons

With this weekend being the unofficial start to summer I thought it was time to look again at the seasons. As many of you know I've always had a very close connection to nature & to me the seasons of nature mirror the seasons we all go through in our life. With the start of summer we look to the fulfillment of all our efforts. The summer is a time to enjoy the hard work we've put into our own personal growth. We've made it through the darkness of the winter where we reflect on the past seasons & wait for the spring where we can begin to grow again.

Each season has a purpose within our life & within nature. Whether the timing of the seasons in our life coincide with the actual seasons in nature isn't important. Each of us goes through the cycles of nature: Winter (fallow times, time to strength our roots & self-reflection) Spring (rebirth, growth, storms) Summer (time to enjoy, time to relax & reap the rewards of our hard work in the winter & the growth we experienced in the spring) Fall (time to harvest everything we've planted & prepare for the winter). These cycles are something to remember & observe in your life. No matter how good or bad things are in your life you will move into the next cycle sometime. If you prepare for these cycles, as nature does, you will be ready to experience everything you should in the cycle you're in & you will understand that we all have fallow times & times to enjoy.

As we all get out into nature & enjoy the outside, whether it be our own backyard or a National Park, take time to reconnect with nature. Enjoy the summer, enjoy your life & remember the joy of this season so you'll be prepared when winter comes around again. You are ready to bloom, let go & be everything you can be.

Till tomorrow,


Bill

Quote of the day: "The seasons of our life mirror the seasons in nature, enjoy the summer & discover the joy in this special time of year."

Regrets

"Regrets, I've had a few; But then again, too few to mention. I did what I had to do And saw it through without exemption."

A great old song from Frank Sinatra, I know I'm showing my age, LOL but the message is something to remember. There's really two parts to this message. The first is to let go of regrets. I've talked before about moving beyond the past. I've even given some techniques that I've used. Regrets will eat you up inside, know that what has happened has happened & there's no guarantee that things would have turned out perfectly if you had done something different. We love to imagine where we'd be if only I would have done this!! Or if I hadn't given up on that!! The truth is that you are exactly where you're suppose to be. The only time that matters is this present moment because it's all we really have.

The past is what formed us but by holding on to the past we limit our future. This is especially true with past emotions. We hold onto the emotions that formed us even when we believe we've moved beyond the event. We create triggers & sometimes we don't even understand that the reason why we react, in a certain way, is because of the buried emotions we've never let go. These buried emotions can cause extreme reactions like crying, fear or anger. The only way to live in the current moment is to understand these emotions, learn what the triggers are, acknowledge the feeling & then let it go. I know this sounds easy & truthfully sometimes it can be easy but other times it takes work. To allow yourself to feel the original emotion can be difficult. The longer it's been buried the harder it can be but to move beyond but you need to feel the hurt you've buried or you'll always be stuck in the past.

Regrets can be the same way. You are immediately pulled into the past looking at what would have turned out differently if you had done this or that. We wear our regrets as badges of courage sometimes. "If I hadn't taken that job I would have been a pro golfer" or something like that. The truth is we have no idea what would have happened if we had gone on a different path. We create a glorified reality to lift ourselves beyond the life we are living right now. We love to dream what would have happened & it's so easy to imagine the great successes we would have had. Let go of the regrets in your life & enjoy where you're at now!!

The second part of this song to me is to live your life without regrets. If we live in the current moment & stay connected to our true self (soul) we will find more joy then we can imagine. Understand that there's a reason for everything that happens in your life & although we can all run into rough patches in our lives. The way to move beyond these tough times is to stay focused on the beauty in the current moment. We have an amazing strength within us & this strength is born from our connection to everything. You have the ability to create the life you want, believe in yourself & trust in God/universe. Begin today & discover the true joy in your life.

Till Monday, enjoy your weekend.

Bill


Quote of the day:"Let go of the regrets you have in your life. Live in the now & discover more joy then you can imagine."

Harmony

Do you think about living in harmony? What does harmony mean to you? Everything in the world that we know both within us & outside of us is perfectly balanced. "Every action has an equal and opposite reaction" as Issac Newton told us many years ago. Newton was talking about the physical world & his description is the law of motion but I believe this statement is goes much deeper then he ever intended.

I always look to nature. I think above everything else in my life my connection to nature has been the most consistent. I don't claim to be a naturalist, I just love to observe the way nature works. The harmony in nature is very apparent if we allow it to be. Animals control their numbers depending on the resources available or they are culled to an acceptable level by predators. We use to have a great connection with the earth & the creatures that live on it. Unfortunately through the industrial age we have begun to lose that connection. The earth is in disarray but I believe it will self-correct and return to a state of harmony.

In our lives harmony is just as important as it is in nature. When we live outside of the flow of life, we don't feel quite right. We become ill or depressed because the natural cycle of our life has been interrupted. Rediscovering the harmony in your life isn't difficult, it only takes time & an open mind.

Each of us should strive to only take what we give. We should take time to listen to the natural flow of our life. We should discover the joy of living in perfect harmony. I believe we all have a life's purpose & God/universe guides us along the path of life to lead us to this life's purpose. Sometimes we take a wrong turn but I believe that God/universe gently tries to nudge us back on course. Sometimes we get so lost the and path back to our life's purpose can take us our entire lifetime.

We become lost in our life because we've stopped listening & allow the EGO to take over. The EGO isn't interested in harmony, it only wants more & more & more. It's thirst can never be quenched. Allow the harmony to return to your life. If we each learn to live in harmony within ourselves the world will be a better place. Life is to short to be disconnected from your true source. Open your heart & listen to the natural flow of everything within & without yourself. Be in harmony & discover more joy in every moment.

Till tomorrow,


Bill

Quote of the day: "Rediscover the natural rhythm in your life. Discover harmony & find the joy that's missing."

A Chance encounter

A chance encounter that lead to love. Today is my 10th anniversary. If you've read this blog for a while you know I believe in miracles. I think amazing things can happen in your life everyday if you just look for them. How do I know this? Because miracles have happened to me & one of the greatest miracles was meeting Heidi.

Here's the story of our meeting: Heidi & I were both working at a professional theatre in Kentucky in 1996. Heidi was a stage manager & I was an actor. The theatre had community mailboxes for everyone in the company to pick up their mail. I had been working at the theatre for nearly month & went to pick-up my mail & Heidi was there. I said: "Hi, what are you doing this season?" she answered: "I'm stage managing" I replied "Oh, I don't like manager's". That's how a chance encounter changed my life.

Heidi didn't stage manage any of my shows that summer but we became friends & stayed friends. We would explore the area on our off day "Monday" & just have a lot of fun together. Three years later on the stage of the theatre we met in-front of 250 people & the former governor of Kentucky, I proposed to Heidi. She was stage managing the evening performance & I was doing the curtain speech. The "ring" was actually given to her by the light operator (a woman), as she was up in the booth getting ready for the show. We were married on this day in 2000 at Disneyworld, yes Disneyworld. We were married behind the Polynesian resort at a place called Sunset Pointe. The picture that is my profile picture is from that special day.

So why I am I writing about this here? Because we never know who we're going to meet in our life. The challenge in everyday is to be open to the people who come into your life. You never know who's going to walk into your life & make a difference. I would have never thought that this chance encounter would change my life but by being open to anyone who enters my life, I was able to change my life forever.

Let go of the judgment of others in your life. Open your heart & listen to everyone. We can all learn from the people who enter your life & the message they bring may change your life forever. Miracles happen, I've seen them happen in my life. Today the miracle could be yours.

Till tomorrow,

Bill


Quote of the day: "A chance encounter can change your life. Open your heart to everyone who enters your life & amazing things can happen."

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To sleep perchance to dream...

Sleep is very important to each of us. The research has shown that it is one of the most important things you can do for yourself. One of the big problems with people in the States is that they don't believe this fact. They think they can function on 4-6 hours of sleep a night. I've written before about how we are too busy in our lives & sleep is a by-product of that busyness. We believe it doesn't matter, that we'll be just fine with a little bit of sleep.

Why am I writing about this today? I believe sleep is important & I had a night where I just couldn't sleep. I have had these nights, as I'm sure most of you have, before but as I've grown in my spiritual practices they happen very rarely. I may have a night where I wake up several times because of vivid dreams but I rarely don't sleep.

I have learned in my life to deal with most things that are thrown at me. I have always been good under pressure & I have excelled even in life threatening situations but I don't do well without sleep. I really never have. What I have learned as I've grown in my spiritual life is to pay attention when this happens. To allow the thoughts that are filling my busy mind to flow freely. Then I just become quiet. I allow the silence to take over my body. Any thought that comes into my mind once I've become quiet is acknowledged & let go.

We can learn a lot from the thoughts that come to us in times of being quiet. These thoughts tend be our greatest fears & some of our most self limiting thoughts. If we allow ourselves the time to listen we can move beyond these thoughts & create a true shift in the energy of our life. Open your mind & discover silence, it can lead you to a wonderful new place.

God/universe works in wonderful ways & sometimes to get your attention God/universe will reach you at times you don't expect. When you're having trouble sleeping rather then getting upset about the lack of sleep, embrace the silence & discover the keys to a better life.

Until tomorrow,

Bill


Quote of the day:"Take time to get the sleep you need & if sleep eludes you. Take the time to be silent & find the answers you're looking for."

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The meaning of life

Possibly the oldest question in the world; What is the meaning of life? I think we all have a time in our life when we question why we're here. As part of that question we wonder what the meaning of life is. I think there's a big difference in this question between what our life's purpose is & the meaning of life.

A life's purpose is what drives us & hopefully what we end up doing. So maybe it's to be a teacher or to help children or to raise money for your favorite cause. There are hundreds of things you can do with your life & each one is just as important as the others. I've written before about finding your life's purpose. I truly believe that we are all born with a life's purpose. There is one thing that we are meant to do. Sometimes it takes us our whole life to discover what this purpose is & sometimes unfortunately, we never discover our true life's purpose. Life has a way of getting in the way of things sometimes, mostly because of our EGO. We move away from our true purpose for the instant gratification of the EGO & become more & more disconnected from our true self (soul) & our true life's purpose. Also, sometimes we can't make money at our true life's purpose, it only gives us great satisfaction. In these cases I always say you should volunteer or take time to do what fulfills you, so it's always a part of your life.

The meaning of life, to me, is the same for everyone & that meaning is to love. Through love our life is defined. Love is the greatest gift we have to give the world. I'm not necessarily talking about romantic love, that's a part of love. I'm talking about growing in love to the point that we give it freely to everyone in our life. Love is the answer to everything, there are no other questions! When we become pure love we are our most like God/universe. Unconditional love is the purest feeling we can know in this human form. It will bring us the greatest joy we can find in our life.

Each of us has the ability to love unconditionally it is only the EGO that keeps us away from this beautiful feeling. We are connected to everyone & everything. This connection is born in love. Learn to love with an open heart. Let go of the need to "get something" in return & make the world a better place.

Till Monday, have a great weekend,

Bill

Quote of the day: "The meaning of life is simple, it's to love unconditionally. Open your heart to love & you will be filled with great joy!"

The Start..........

The start of everything begins from nothing. Sometimes that's an important thing to remember. To me the idea behind this line is that we never know what we are going to create. The important thing is to begin!! What you begin isn't as important as beginning something. God/universe is amazing in the way it guides us through our lives. The difference between people who live in joy & those who don't is often just paying attention to the signs that come into our lives.

I've written in the past about "The beauty of each day" & how I start each day anew. This practice has allowed me to stay in a state of joy because regardless of what happened yesterday, I realize that yesterday is the past and can't be changed. The only way to stay in the present moment is to release the past & move onto a new day. The start of your day can be the most important part of it. How you begin can set the tone for the rest of the day.

To continue to grow in joy we need to learn to slow the world down. We all get caught up in the busyness of each day & because of this often we don't pay attention to the signs we are receiving from God/universe. What are these signs? The can be very diverse & often very simple. In James Redfield's book "The Celestine Prophecy" he says that the signs that are important in our life will "glow". In my life the signs that appear on daily basis that I need to pay attention to make them self's visible. What do I mean by this? I find that my attention is drawn to these signs, here's an example: I'm driving down the road listening to the radio. My attention is drawn to the side of the road. There I notice a sign that tells me something I needed to know. It doesn't have to be a sign it can be anything that your attention is drawn to. Often for me this "sign" is repeated in different ways throughout the day. The important thing is to pay attention.

We don't always know the destination of our daily journey. We only know that we are on a path. The path you take is truly up to you. Remember that the start of everything comes from nothing, so we don't have to know the destination to start the journey we only need to begin. By paying attention to the signs that God/universe sends us & starting each day anew we will find more joy in our life. Let go of yesterday & start the journey to your new life today!!

Till tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day: "The start of each day is a great opportunity to begin anew. Letting go of the past & moving into a life filled with joy."