Wow, here's a big topic that we've touched on here & there over the past month but I think we should plunge into all the way! Your perception affects everything in your life. It's the most important subject to to truly become aware of.
Let's start with the Dictionary.com definition: " the act or faculty of apprehending by means of the senses or of the mind; cognition; understanding." Everything we know in life is filtered through our own perception. Our perception is developed throughout our life by the experiences we've had & the knowledge we've learned. The only way to change your life to a more joyful life is to change your perception of everything. Yes, I know that sounds like a big task, but actually it's just an effort, on your part, to look at things differently.
No matter how objective you think you are in life. Everything is affected by your perception & to complicate things a little more, everything you read, hear or see is someones else's perception which you then interpret through your own perception. So everything in life is filtered to some extent at least twice (1st by who's saying it & 2nd by your own).
What happens over our life is that we tend to get entrenched in the way we perceive things & this leads us to seeing things in the same pattern we've always known. The problem with this is that if we want to change our life we need to break these old patterns & look at things differently to begin to find more joy.
So how do we start to do this? There's no defined way it's whatever seems to work for you. What I've done over the past several years is to challenge myself to look at everything differently. I allow the 1st thought into my head & recognize it. I then challenge myself to look at it from at least one other point of view. The next step for me when it comes to other people is to not judge. I let go of all my preconceived ideas of what a person is I don't judge them by what they are wearing, what their appearance is what race or religion (if I know) or what sexual preference. I instead try to understand why they are saying what they are saying. In other words I try to understand their point of view, their perception of what they are telling me.
I believe strongly that every person that comes into your life is there for a reason. This reason is usually to teach something you need to know. Either something about yourself (as talked about in "reflections") or something you need to know to move forward in your life. If you try to open yourself up to this idea you begin to see the world in a different way.
For me the final step is to also look at everything else in your life (that's not people) in the same open (new) way. We can discover messages from everything that enters our life....everything is there for a reason! That's the way the universe works. (To learn more about the meaning of animals that show up in your life a great book is "Animal Speaks" by Ted Andrews).
Change your perception & your new life will begin to unfold in front of you.
Until tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day: "Perception is your filter of the universe. Change your perception & the world will change around of you!"
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Fear of the unknown
A few weeks ago we discussed fear & the need to move past the fear in our life to have a more joyful life. In the past couple of weeks I've been confronted by people in my life with a very specific fear & in fact the fear that holds most people back, that's the fear of the unknown.
What is the fear of the unknown? To me it's just a big lie. It's our mind playing tricks on us. Here's what happens; we have something that's going to happen in a few days that we're concerned about like a doctors appointment. We've had some tests previously & something has shown up that requires more testing so we have to return to the doctor. In our minds, inbetween the appointments we start to envision more & more bad things that could be wrong with us. The fear within us regarding this appointment grows & grows even though we have no information that supports what we're thinking.
What happens is we get consumed by this fear, no matter what we do, every free thought we have creates a different or deeper problem that's going to occur. This can happen with anything in our life that occurs "later" and that we have some concern about. This "fear of the unknown" takes away from living in the current moment as we are instead obsessed with the future event. Besides not living in the current moment we move our thoughts to a more & more negative place. This fear for some people can be very crippling & the truth is the imagined fear rarely if ever happens.
So what do we do to get past this overwhelming fear? What I've always done is first & foremost live in the current moment. This alone will save us from most of the fear. If we are only focused on the now & enjoying the current moment we don't have time to create a fear of something that's going in the future.
The second way I deal with this "fear" is to clear my mind when the thought comes into it & then replace the thought with a positive thought of something that's happening right now. So it works something like this using the example above: The thought is I could be really sick otherwise the doctor wouldn't be running all these tests. I clear my mind and concentrate on my breathing and let go of all thoughts including the "negative thought". I then replace the thought with something in the current moment....."Look how beautiful my wife is looking in that outfit!" If you're able to do this with any negative thought you will begin to move past these thoughts & live a more joyful life.
Until tomorrow,
Bill
The quote of the day: "The fear of the unknown is in fact an illusion, let go of the fear & live in the now!"
What is the fear of the unknown? To me it's just a big lie. It's our mind playing tricks on us. Here's what happens; we have something that's going to happen in a few days that we're concerned about like a doctors appointment. We've had some tests previously & something has shown up that requires more testing so we have to return to the doctor. In our minds, inbetween the appointments we start to envision more & more bad things that could be wrong with us. The fear within us regarding this appointment grows & grows even though we have no information that supports what we're thinking.
What happens is we get consumed by this fear, no matter what we do, every free thought we have creates a different or deeper problem that's going to occur. This can happen with anything in our life that occurs "later" and that we have some concern about. This "fear of the unknown" takes away from living in the current moment as we are instead obsessed with the future event. Besides not living in the current moment we move our thoughts to a more & more negative place. This fear for some people can be very crippling & the truth is the imagined fear rarely if ever happens.
So what do we do to get past this overwhelming fear? What I've always done is first & foremost live in the current moment. This alone will save us from most of the fear. If we are only focused on the now & enjoying the current moment we don't have time to create a fear of something that's going in the future.
The second way I deal with this "fear" is to clear my mind when the thought comes into it & then replace the thought with a positive thought of something that's happening right now. So it works something like this using the example above: The thought is I could be really sick otherwise the doctor wouldn't be running all these tests. I clear my mind and concentrate on my breathing and let go of all thoughts including the "negative thought". I then replace the thought with something in the current moment....."Look how beautiful my wife is looking in that outfit!" If you're able to do this with any negative thought you will begin to move past these thoughts & live a more joyful life.
Until tomorrow,
Bill
The quote of the day: "The fear of the unknown is in fact an illusion, let go of the fear & live in the now!"
Monday, August 3, 2009
Compliments
I was reminded this weekend about a couple of guys from Purdue University that spend every Wednesday giving out compliments. (I'll attach a Youtube video at the end). The idea behind this started very simply. They wanted to do something to brighten people's day. So what they decided to do is to go the a heavy traffic place at Purdue every Wednesday & give out free compliments. Now they have been recognized throughout the country for this very simple idea.
So why I am I writing about these guys here? I see it as two fold: 1st) It shows how each one of us can have a large impact on everyone that enters our live by doing a small thing. 2nd) I think it's a great idea. I think people have forgotten to compliment people in their lives anymore. We get so caught up in our own lives & so caught up with our expectations of others that compliments aren't something that easily comes to our minds.
For these guys it doesn't matter who you are when you walk by they find something to give you a compliment on. The impact they've had on the campus of Purdue can't be measured. But from the responses they've received the impact has been unbelievable. People who were having a bad day had their day improve just by this simple act.
So, today let's all remember to pay the people in our lives a compliment. Let's start a small change in the world that can make a big difference!
I appreciate everyone who reads this blog. You have chosen to try & take simple steps to help change your life. Spread the joy of compliments to everyone in your life today!
Until tomorrow,
Bill
PS I love to hear from all of you either here or on twitter. If there's a subject that's important to you feel free to let me know & I'll try & write about. If you have specific questions I'll also try & address them.
Quote of the Day: "A compliment can change a persons day. Give everyone in your life the joy of a compliment today! Change the world!"
So why I am I writing about these guys here? I see it as two fold: 1st) It shows how each one of us can have a large impact on everyone that enters our live by doing a small thing. 2nd) I think it's a great idea. I think people have forgotten to compliment people in their lives anymore. We get so caught up in our own lives & so caught up with our expectations of others that compliments aren't something that easily comes to our minds.
For these guys it doesn't matter who you are when you walk by they find something to give you a compliment on. The impact they've had on the campus of Purdue can't be measured. But from the responses they've received the impact has been unbelievable. People who were having a bad day had their day improve just by this simple act.
So, today let's all remember to pay the people in our lives a compliment. Let's start a small change in the world that can make a big difference!
I appreciate everyone who reads this blog. You have chosen to try & take simple steps to help change your life. Spread the joy of compliments to everyone in your life today!
Until tomorrow,
Bill
PS I love to hear from all of you either here or on twitter. If there's a subject that's important to you feel free to let me know & I'll try & write about. If you have specific questions I'll also try & address them.
Quote of the Day: "A compliment can change a persons day. Give everyone in your life the joy of a compliment today! Change the world!"
Friday, July 31, 2009
Energy
A few weeks ago we talked about Synchronicity and being in the flow of the universe/God so that things flow naturally the way they should. Another side of becoming aware & open to the universal flow is to try & understand energy. There have been many scientific studies over the years that show that everything has energy. If you're able to wrap your mind around this idea it's the first step to understanding energy. These studies have shown that not only living things but everything has some energy & on a very basic level we are all made up of many of the same molecules, just arraigned differently.
The next step after the realization that everything has energy is to understand that we can feel & affect this energy throughout the universe. The easiest way to illustrate this, for me, is to talk about people in your life. Do you know a person in your life who is very negative. They're always talking about obstacles in their life or they are just always in bad mood. When you begin to talk to these people you will feel like you're losing your energy & your joyfulness/positivity. In actuality you are, I call these people energy vampires. They just drain all the good energy out of you because they are so negative that they need more & more energy just to get through the day.
On the other side of the coin we all know people that light up the room just by walking in. You feel better just have them around. Their positive energy just flows out of them & changes the mood in the room. This is the person that we should all strive to become. You don't have to be a great social person to become this person. It's not about being loud or overly friendly. These people sometimes don't say anything you can just feel their energy.
So how do we become this positive energy for the universe? For me it starts with the recognition that there is energy in everything. The next step is to understand who the people or which things in your life drain you. Then you need to try & limit the amount of time & energy you spend with these people. The final step is to live in the moment & be joyful about everything that comes into your life. To always look to lift yourself & others up. This sounds like a tall order & sometimes it can be. We all have bad days or circumstances happen that we have no control over, but for me the truth is that you can continue to work on all the things we've talked about so far to bring more joy into your life. It all starts when you are continually in a state of gratitude. When you're in this state the positive energy will continue to grow in you automatically. The hardest part is to limit these energy vampires in your life until you are able to feel their energy, understand their energy & let it go of their energy so it will never affect you again.
Discover the different energies that enter your life & become a positive force of energy. Affect a positive change in the universe.
Till Monday,
Bill
Quote of the day "Feel the flow of energy throughout the universe & influence it in a positive way everyday."
The next step after the realization that everything has energy is to understand that we can feel & affect this energy throughout the universe. The easiest way to illustrate this, for me, is to talk about people in your life. Do you know a person in your life who is very negative. They're always talking about obstacles in their life or they are just always in bad mood. When you begin to talk to these people you will feel like you're losing your energy & your joyfulness/positivity. In actuality you are, I call these people energy vampires. They just drain all the good energy out of you because they are so negative that they need more & more energy just to get through the day.
On the other side of the coin we all know people that light up the room just by walking in. You feel better just have them around. Their positive energy just flows out of them & changes the mood in the room. This is the person that we should all strive to become. You don't have to be a great social person to become this person. It's not about being loud or overly friendly. These people sometimes don't say anything you can just feel their energy.
So how do we become this positive energy for the universe? For me it starts with the recognition that there is energy in everything. The next step is to understand who the people or which things in your life drain you. Then you need to try & limit the amount of time & energy you spend with these people. The final step is to live in the moment & be joyful about everything that comes into your life. To always look to lift yourself & others up. This sounds like a tall order & sometimes it can be. We all have bad days or circumstances happen that we have no control over, but for me the truth is that you can continue to work on all the things we've talked about so far to bring more joy into your life. It all starts when you are continually in a state of gratitude. When you're in this state the positive energy will continue to grow in you automatically. The hardest part is to limit these energy vampires in your life until you are able to feel their energy, understand their energy & let it go of their energy so it will never affect you again.
Discover the different energies that enter your life & become a positive force of energy. Affect a positive change in the universe.
Till Monday,
Bill
Quote of the day "Feel the flow of energy throughout the universe & influence it in a positive way everyday."
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Wisdom/Maturity & Growth
Although these words don't have exactly the same meaning, to me they're all interrelated. I was having an interesting discussion with Heidi yesterday regarding this subject so I thought I would write a bit about it here.
My questions begin with Why?, Why does it take us so long to learn & grow. Why are we so resistant to true wisdom & knowledge when we are young? I think these are hard questions especially for anyone that has children. I have 3 daughters who range in age from 29 to almost 16 but I don't think these questions are unique to my children. I know when I was growing up I thought I knew it all, so I believe this is truly a universal question. I also know that the growth I've gone through over the past 12 years has been amazing. I've been able to learn & grow because of the things I've read, the people in my life & the amazing life coaching of Susie Wise-Peterson. Through this time I've been able to learn some very difficult lessons. Some of these lessons I've already shared with you, I'm hopeful that we can continue to share and grow together.
My question though is why it takes us so long to be open to growth/wisdom & maturity. I believe a big part of the reason is our EGO. I think it takes us years to try and tame the beast that is our EGO & so only after we do can we begin to open up to other possibilities. I've always liked the stories about King Arthur & in fact I wrote a large term paper in college on Le Morte d'arthur the original story of King Arthur written by Sir Thomas Malory. In this legend one of the things I've always found intriguing is the fact Merlin the wizard ages backwards. What a wonderful thought that when we're in our prime we have all the knowledge we've learned throughout our life.
Many people live their life in the past because of this paradox, they fill themselves with what if? what if I could go back in time & change things? What if I knew then what I know now? The real trap is getting yourself caught in this game. The important thing to always remember is to live your life in the current moment & no matter how hard you try, you can't go back & change anything. Accept the past for what it was & move forward to the next moment.
Unlocking the key to opening the mind at an earlier age would be an amazing thing. I think the other part of the equation is experience. I think it takes life expereince to open ourselves up & that's why we are resistant to wisdom, maturity & growth because we need to learn our own lessons in life. If you know anything about the Tao it says that everything will come to you when it's the right time & the right situation. I hope for all of you that the time is right to grow into the pure potential that each one of us has.
Finally, I have one other intersting note at least for me; many of the things I read & learned swam around in my head for years until they truly started to make sense & shift my way of life. Hopefully reading this blog will at least open your mind to the knowledge that will help you to change. The change is truly up to you & it will come when it's the right time & the right situation.
Until tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day: "Listen to the wisdom of the elders in your life, they know things you may need to know, to grow into a more joyful life."
My questions begin with Why?, Why does it take us so long to learn & grow. Why are we so resistant to true wisdom & knowledge when we are young? I think these are hard questions especially for anyone that has children. I have 3 daughters who range in age from 29 to almost 16 but I don't think these questions are unique to my children. I know when I was growing up I thought I knew it all, so I believe this is truly a universal question. I also know that the growth I've gone through over the past 12 years has been amazing. I've been able to learn & grow because of the things I've read, the people in my life & the amazing life coaching of Susie Wise-Peterson. Through this time I've been able to learn some very difficult lessons. Some of these lessons I've already shared with you, I'm hopeful that we can continue to share and grow together.
My question though is why it takes us so long to be open to growth/wisdom & maturity. I believe a big part of the reason is our EGO. I think it takes us years to try and tame the beast that is our EGO & so only after we do can we begin to open up to other possibilities. I've always liked the stories about King Arthur & in fact I wrote a large term paper in college on Le Morte d'arthur the original story of King Arthur written by Sir Thomas Malory. In this legend one of the things I've always found intriguing is the fact Merlin the wizard ages backwards. What a wonderful thought that when we're in our prime we have all the knowledge we've learned throughout our life.
Many people live their life in the past because of this paradox, they fill themselves with what if? what if I could go back in time & change things? What if I knew then what I know now? The real trap is getting yourself caught in this game. The important thing to always remember is to live your life in the current moment & no matter how hard you try, you can't go back & change anything. Accept the past for what it was & move forward to the next moment.
Unlocking the key to opening the mind at an earlier age would be an amazing thing. I think the other part of the equation is experience. I think it takes life expereince to open ourselves up & that's why we are resistant to wisdom, maturity & growth because we need to learn our own lessons in life. If you know anything about the Tao it says that everything will come to you when it's the right time & the right situation. I hope for all of you that the time is right to grow into the pure potential that each one of us has.
Finally, I have one other intersting note at least for me; many of the things I read & learned swam around in my head for years until they truly started to make sense & shift my way of life. Hopefully reading this blog will at least open your mind to the knowledge that will help you to change. The change is truly up to you & it will come when it's the right time & the right situation.
Until tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day: "Listen to the wisdom of the elders in your life, they know things you may need to know, to grow into a more joyful life."
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Expectations
Do you have expectations? Do you set expectations in everything you do? It's very easy in life to expect a certain outcome & we all tend to do it in almost everything we do. Expectations on their own are not necessarily bad, but in the universal sense they set as up for disappointment & by setting an outcome the universe works towards that expectation.
So, how do you feel when you've set an expectation & you have the outcome you expected? For most of us it's nice but not truly joyful because we already decided what will we get out of a situation. For example, if you plan a vacation to place you've never gone to before & set your expectation that you'll have a good time, even if you have a good time is it truly as good as if you'd let go of the expectation & just enjoyed the trip?
My feeling is that expectations only lessen the joy you can feel & if you don't reach the expectation you've set you're truly disappointed. So, why set them? Why not instead just enjoy every moment & fully enjoy every experience that you have. To me expectations are like are like a grade in school if expect an "A" & get a "B" you're disappointed and if you expect an "A" & get an "A" you're not really happy because you've reach what you already expected.
Take time to examine what you expect in your life from all situations you deal with & especially think about what you expect from the people in your life. Live life in the now & enjoy every moment, celebrate the joy of discovery & let go of expectations.
Till tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day "Let go of expectations & live life in the moment!"
So, how do you feel when you've set an expectation & you have the outcome you expected? For most of us it's nice but not truly joyful because we already decided what will we get out of a situation. For example, if you plan a vacation to place you've never gone to before & set your expectation that you'll have a good time, even if you have a good time is it truly as good as if you'd let go of the expectation & just enjoyed the trip?
My feeling is that expectations only lessen the joy you can feel & if you don't reach the expectation you've set you're truly disappointed. So, why set them? Why not instead just enjoy every moment & fully enjoy every experience that you have. To me expectations are like are like a grade in school if expect an "A" & get a "B" you're disappointed and if you expect an "A" & get an "A" you're not really happy because you've reach what you already expected.
Take time to examine what you expect in your life from all situations you deal with & especially think about what you expect from the people in your life. Live life in the now & enjoy every moment, celebrate the joy of discovery & let go of expectations.
Till tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day "Let go of expectations & live life in the moment!"
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Compassion
The greatest love we can have for another is true Compassion. In today's busy world we are desensitized by other people's stories. There's so much bad news on the TV, Internet, phone & newspapers that we've grown into people that don't feel, period. We're afraid to feel because we're afraid that once we give ourselves to another or to a situation we won't be able to manage our own feelings.
Dictionary.com's definition of compassion is as follows: "a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering.". Compassion truly is the opening of your heart to another...putting their needs before yours which is as close to unconditional love that we may be able to reach.
Trust me I know it's hard to open your heart, I've been told all my life that I care to deeply about people & I feel their pain when they go through difficult things in their lives. Have I been hurt by people because of this? Of course I have but I've never changed the way that I am. I love people deeply & I always look for the positive in any person I comes into my life, if I can't find the positive I try to look at what I need to learn from this person. I also try & remember that we are all divine beings trying to do our best. People making mistakes is part of us being human, if we can try & understand where they're coming from, we will grow as a person & the world will be a better place because of our understanding & compassion.
Deepak Chopra wrote this about if compassion is superficial : "When your individual self identifies with the universal self, then it feels compassion for anyone or any living creature. It’s not superficial in the least, because whatever you are feeling compassion for, it is your self that you are feeling. Nothing could be more personal and direct than your own feelings. And it is profound because it is more than sentimentality or emotional involvement, your soul is engaging and recognizing itself in the soul essence of the other. You are seeing yourself and knowing yourself in the life of the being you are feeling that compassion for."
Open your heart to love & compassion, let go of the fear of feeling, instead accept your feelings & grow as a person.
Till tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day "Allow compassion to open heart & discover what true love is."
Dictionary.com's definition of compassion is as follows: "a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering.". Compassion truly is the opening of your heart to another...putting their needs before yours which is as close to unconditional love that we may be able to reach.
Trust me I know it's hard to open your heart, I've been told all my life that I care to deeply about people & I feel their pain when they go through difficult things in their lives. Have I been hurt by people because of this? Of course I have but I've never changed the way that I am. I love people deeply & I always look for the positive in any person I comes into my life, if I can't find the positive I try to look at what I need to learn from this person. I also try & remember that we are all divine beings trying to do our best. People making mistakes is part of us being human, if we can try & understand where they're coming from, we will grow as a person & the world will be a better place because of our understanding & compassion.
Deepak Chopra wrote this about if compassion is superficial : "When your individual self identifies with the universal self, then it feels compassion for anyone or any living creature. It’s not superficial in the least, because whatever you are feeling compassion for, it is your self that you are feeling. Nothing could be more personal and direct than your own feelings. And it is profound because it is more than sentimentality or emotional involvement, your soul is engaging and recognizing itself in the soul essence of the other. You are seeing yourself and knowing yourself in the life of the being you are feeling that compassion for."
Open your heart to love & compassion, let go of the fear of feeling, instead accept your feelings & grow as a person.
Till tomorrow,
Bill
Quote of the day "Allow compassion to open heart & discover what true love is."
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