The need for control!

So often in life we feel comfort only when we feel we were are in control of our lives.  This is one of the biggest lies we can ever tell ourselves and yet some of us try to control more and more in our life in effort to find the joy we are seeking or to feel like things will be ok!

The truth about control is this; we have control over ourselves and our reaction to other people.  That’s it, all other control in our life is contrived and actually against our true self.  Control is driven by the Ego, the Ego needs to feel like it has an effect on things in the world because it’s the most important thing in the world.

Without emotional development and learning your true spirit the Ego runs wild and often it’s because of our own insecurities that we try harder and harder to control everything in our life.  This is especially true in business where true leaders delegate and insecure leaders try to control. 

So how do we move beyond control?  The answer is by taking the time to know yourself, by forgiving yourself for past mistakes and by feeling worthy of everything that comes into your life.  I know this sounds simple and in many ways it is, but the time to heal the past can be hard for us in this busy world.  So often we take time for everyone else and have no time or energy left for ourselves.

To truly shift to a more joyful life we need to take care of ourselves first, if we do this we will have much more time and energy for others.  Heal the wounds of the past, know you are an imperfect being that things are going to happen to.  Not because of letting go of control but because trying to hold on to it.

Practice daily affirmations about gratitude and loving yourself, allow others to help you.  Open yourself to letting go of control and watch your life change.

Till next time,

Bill

Quote of the day: “Only by letting go of control can we truly soar!”

Taking a Leap of Faith!

So many of us live in a state of fear; fear of the unknown, fear of failure & fear of change that we refusing, knowingly or unknowingly, to move forward in our life.  This fear paralyzes us and even though our life isn’t what we want it to be, we continue onward without changing anything because we’re afraid.  This is no way to live your life.  Fear should never control your decisions, fear should never be listened to except in life and death situations.  The truth about fear is that it’s based in the Ego, remember that the Ego wants all the attention in our life, so when you’re not paying attention to it, the Ego creates fear to be heard.  The Ego can never be satisfied, it always wants more, to move beyond the Ego takes time and patience.  You must strip away the noise and learn to listen to the small voice deep inside.  This voice is what connects to God/universe and to everything and everyone.  The difference with this voice is that it rarely shouts out.  It waits quietly for you to listen to it.  This voice is always there but to hear it takes time and learning how to discern it from the noise of the Ego.

One of the ways to move beyond fear and Ego is to take a leap of faith.  I recently did this when I decided to take my life back from working in taxes the last 16 years and start my own travel company.  These leaps of faith can be defining moments in our life and no matter how comfortable you are with your decision the fear of the unknown will always poke its head through.  I know in my soul that whether this business is successful or not, I made the right decision to do this.  We all fear failure but failure is part of life and without failing we can never truly soar.  It’s what we do with the failure that matters.  As long as we learn and grow it’s not truly a failure!

So taking a true leap of faith opens your heart and quiets the noise from the Ego.  It connects you to your source and allows your connection to everything.  I have discovered that since I chose to do this that I feel more like who I truly am.  I see things opening up to me that never would have had a chance to be born.  This is not an easy step for anyone but sometimes through these dramatic actions we can find ourselves again.

If you’re thinking about taking a leap of faith; take time, listen beyond the noise and find the comfort in your decision that come from connecting to your true source.  I wish you well, I believe in you & if I can help, please let me know.

Till next time,

Bill

Quote of the day: “When you take a leap of faith, you can reconnect to your true source and change your life forever.”

Do you need a hug?

How often in your life do you reach out to someone else?  Do you give them a hug for no reason?  The quickest way to finding a more joyful life is through helping others.  Sometimes it’s as simple as giving them a hug.  More can expressed in a hug than almost anything else.  I remember a few years back there were a couple of college students that went to big cities with signs that read “Free Hugs”, almost everyone who went by stopped and got one.  The news reports that talked to people afterwards were told that that simple act made their day better.

We get so caught up in our own lives that we forget the impact we can have on others.  We need to open our hearts and minds and give back to the people around us.  I’m not saying we should put up “Free Hug” signs but instead I’m challenging you to do something for someone else every day.  Whether it’s a hug, opening the door, carry the groceries or paying for the next coffee.  These random acts of kindness become greater than us.  We begin to see a ripple effect across our community and eventually throughout the world.

In lives that are way too over scheduled we tend to fear having down time to connect with our true self (soul).  We need time, we need to get out of our own heads and connect with who we truly are (love).  By volunteering, giving hugs or random acts of kindness we move away from ourselves and discover that by giving we receive.  Often we receive more than we ever give but the return isn’t the reason to do it.  The reason to help others gives us joy like no other and moves us beyond our ego that tries to control everything in our lives.

So do you need hug?  I’m here to give you one, anytime or anyplace through the computer or in person.  I’ll give you a hug, I’ll tell you how special you are and hopefully I’ll make your day better or change your life forever.

Till next time,

Bill

Quote of the day: “By giving to others we open our hearts, move away from our mind and discover what true joy really is!” 

Be the Change

One of my favorite quotes is from Mahatma Gandhi “Be the change you want to see in the world”. This resonates with me so much because I truly believe that everything has to start from within you.  If you’re walking through your life waiting for something to happen, it rarely will.  Every thought of what’s possible only comes to fruition by taking action to move towards that possibility.  This is the reason more people aren’t manifesting their dreams; lack of action.  So ‘To be the change’ simply means to take action yourself and not sit back and wait for something to happen.

We all have the power to change the world within us and by individual small steps every day we do change the world but it’s up to you.  You decide to be the change, no one else can do it for you.  It is true that most of us have a tremendous support system around us of family, friends or maybe even co-workers that will help us through some of the normal struggles of life when we need them.  But this support system isn’t there to help us change the world.  It’s there only to support us and give us the strength and confidence we need to be the change.

I realize that change scares a lot of people but the world will change with or without you.  You can determine how the world will change for the better.  You have the power to make every day the best day yet!  You have the power to determine your own path!  You have the power to see the path open before you because you took the first step!!  Believe in yourself, you are magical, you are love and you can make a difference!!  Just always remember that everything starts from within you.  You write your own story and if that story was filled with pain and despair in the past, you and you alone can release the past, release the pain and create the life you’ve always wanted.  Take the first step towards your dreams.  Give God/universe the opportunity to open the door you’ve always been looking for by being the change you want to see in the world! 

Believe in yourself, believe in your dreams and know by taking the next step every day towards your dreams they will be manifested before you know it!!

Till next time,

Bill

Quote of the day: “Be the change you want to see in the world!” Mahatma Gandhi

Stop the World…I want to get off!

In this day we all get far too busy, we end up with full calendars and no time for ourselves or our loved ones.  This has been happening to me a lot lately, I go into a week with very little going on and end up with no time between, the Chambers, my new business and other community events that people want me to attend; my life feels like there’s just no time!

I am very happy that the people in my community are embracing me and my talents and want me to get more involved in their organizations and events.  I actually love that I am becoming more involved because I live in a great community in the mountains of Colorado.  The downside is time, time away from the business (sometimes) and time away from my lovely wife, often. 

So what do I do to make sure that I have time for myself and my family?  I follow a few easy steps:

1.       Remember always to enjoy the moment.  Even when it gets very busy, slow down, take breath and enjoy where you are and what you’re doing.

2.       Schedule time for yourself.  Sometimes when our lives get so busy we forget about taking time for ourselves, we need to do this!  So if this means blocking time on your calendar just for you, do it!! And don’t give that time back, keep it as any other appointment on your calendar.

3.       Listen to your body, often when we get busy we can go beyond our physical needs as well.  We can get so run down that we are not effective in anything we are doing.  Make sure you are listening to your body and only pushing yourself to a place you feel comfortable.  Always ask yourself, how much of a time commitment is this and can I do it effectively.

4.       Listen to the people you trust, often when we are unwilling to follow the advice of #3 above the people closest to us can see the effects on our physical body as well as our mental state.  Be open and listen to those you trust and begin to act on their advice.

5.       Always be grateful; be grateful for what you can do, do not get caught up in what you cannot do.  You can make a difference by your actions and help others in your community by your involvement only if you keep your obligations under control.

Life is a wonderful gift and by sharing yourself with your community you take a big first step to a more joyful life.  It is through service to others that we as a world community can make a difference.  Whether it’s just locally, regionally, statewide, nationally or worldwide.  Get involved and make a difference today!

Till next time,

Bill

Quote of the day: “When the world around you gets to crazy, stop, take a breath and be grateful for the difference you make in the world.”

I believe in Miracles!

Yes it is true, I believe in miracles….do you?  To me, the journey to a more joyful life includes seeing miracles in everyday life.  When most people think about miracles, they think about life changing events.  These can absolutely happen but the key to living a more joyful life is finding the small miracles that make a difference in your everyday.

What are everyday miracles?  They can be anything from someone allowing you to go first in line to finding $10 in a jacket pocket when you needed some cash.  The idea behind miracles is simple; the more you pay attention to the small ones in your life the more miracles will appear.  So much of life is about what we pay attention to; if we see only pain and sadness we begin to see more pain and sadness, if instead we focus on the good in people and are grateful for their help; we see more people being helpful to us.

Think of it this way; have you ever toiled over a decision on buying a car and once you make that decision you start to see everyone driving the same model of car you decided on.  Focus brings thought into the world!

The next two things that are important to continue to see more miracles in your life are: Gratitude, even when you focus on a million dollars, be grateful for the $100 you didn’t expect.  Action, in order to move forward with anything in life we need to take that next step.  The same is true with miracles if we sit back and wait for them, we may never see them.  Instead what we need to do is take steps towards what we want in our lives, then miracles will appear.

We all get too wrapped up in ourselves, we prejudge our self not worthy of miracles, so they don’t happen or if they do we don’t even notice.  Pay attention, know that you are worthy, believe that anything can happen if you take that next step and watch the miracles appear in your life.

Till next time,

Bill

Quote of the day: “Miracles happen in everyone’s lives; open your heart, pay attention and be grateful for every one that appears!”

In Nature find Life!

Do you try to get back to nature?  Or do you avoid the outdoors?  I personally find great solace in nature and I believe that regardless of whether you spend time outdoors or not, nature has many lessons for us to learn. 

Life mirrors nature whether we want to believe or not.  Everything in nature has its time and place, in life it is the same way.  We try so very hard to hold onto our accomplishments and success….our “summer”.  We believe life is only about what we can accomplish, how we can find our next success.  But, I believe that through the winter (down times) we can find the strength to grow again and flourish even better than trying to hold onto something that had its time already.

Growth in life is the only path to enlightenment and if a person feels that there is no more room to grow because they have everything they want, they are not being honest with themselves. Everyone has something that they are missing in their life, sometimes this void can be a great motivator to find your next success. But, if we turn to nature and discover the natural rhymes of our life we will find everything much easier to move forward.  By truly listening to our body and feeling when it is time to move to the next season in our lives we give ourselves a chance to grow even greater than we were before.

Nature shows us that with every winter there is always another spring and with every summer there is a fall to reap the harvest.  The mightiest oak would never grow as tall or strong if all it had was summer to enjoy, it would instead never be prepared for the cold of winter and would fade away when winter came.

Our lives are about possibilities and every day we open a new chapter.  Do not fear the winter time in your life because through our trials we grow, like the oak, to be stronger than we were before.  Listening to nature will always bring you back to who you truly are, as with nature everything and everyone is connected.  Our journey in life is to know this and by knowing it to affect the world in a positive way.  Are you up for the challenge?

Till next time,

Bill

Quote of the Day: “Listen to nature and find your true place; for everything and everyone has its mission, once you discover yours your life will change.”