Love

Yes, Love....I've written about it from time to time because it's one of my favorite subjects. But I feel like it's time to write about it again. How do you love? Are you searching for love in your life? Have you found pain because of love?

Love is the answer to everything in our life. I truly believe that, love is the answer. I know it sounds wonderful but what do I mean & how do I find love? For me, love begins from inside of each of us. We all have a deep love trapped inside of us. It's the purest love we will ever find in our lives but discovering it can be difficult. The way to begin is to first love yourself. This can be very difficult or at least it was for me. I've always loved the people in my life but loving myself took me many years to figure out. I've written before about the relationship I had with my Dad to summarize here; I always felt that I could never be good enough for him. This lead me to being extremely hard on myself. I was overly critical of any mistakes I made in life & didn't feel like I could love myself because I wasn't good enough for my love.

I have discovered as I've gotten older that true love begins with loving yourself. We are all imperfect beings & in order to bring more love into our lives love needs to begin with us. Learn to forgive yourself for your past mistakes. Let go of the past because the past holds us back from finding true joy in our life. Remember that no matter what's happened to you in the past. It's in the past & can't be changed. So forgive yourself or the others that have been involved with your past & begin anew today. Once you begin to love yourself you can allow that love to radiate out of yourself into the world.

The next key is to always come from a place of love first with everyone in our life. What do I mean by this? Fill your heart with love & begin each conversation from love. Give people the benefit of the doubt & feel that love throughout all of your relationships. I've always believed that everyone that comes into our life, even for a short period of time, is there for a reason. If we come from a place of love first we allow that reason to be revealed.

The biggest mistake we all make is to search for love. Love will fill your life if you allow yourself to feel love. There's no need to search because what we give out we receive back. So begin with love inside of yourself & you will find more love in your life then you can ever imagine.

So what about the pain of love. I don't want to minimize the pain that can come from loving everyone who enters your life. But the joy we receive from filling our life with love will always outweigh the pain that a few individuals can cause. Remember that each person is on their own journey & we can't control where there journey will lead them. Celebrate the time that people are in our lives & learn from each relationship we have. By doing this our life will be better & love will always find us.

Believe in love, it makes all the difference in the world & if each of us loved just a little bit more the world would be a better place. Join me in bringing more love to the world & changing the world into a better place.

Till Monday, have a great weekend.

Bill

Quote of the day: "Love is the most fulfilling emotion we can have in our life. Open your heart to love & you will lead a more joyful life."


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Confused

Are you confused in your life? Are you unsure of which path to choose? I think there are times in all of our lives when we all feel a bit confused. How do you get through these times? For me, I have learned a way to deal with the uncertainty of life. The path I take begins with patience. Patience is the most difficult thing to have when you're confused or uncertain & although there are times in life when a decision has to be made on the spot. Most of the time we can take the time that is needed to discover the correct path to take.

Why do I start with patience? I like to start with patience because most of the time the quickest & easiest answer to what's in front of us is an answer from the EGO. I've written often about the EGO & how difficult it is to remove it from the decisions we make in our lives. The most important thing to remember when we have life decisions to make is that the EGO wants the the easiest way & the way that will bring instant gratification. Patience can be a difficult way to begin but I've learned that usually it's the best way to start.

Along with patience I begin the process of narrowing my focus to really pay attention to the things in my life. As I've mentioned before God/universe will always send us the signs we need to know which path to take in our life. Sometimes these signs are very subtle & it's only through narrowing our focus & paying attention to the little things that show up in our lives that we're able to see a clearer path through these subtle signs.

The next thing I do when I'm confused in my life is to take a few minutes every morning with my vision board. One of the first blogs I wrote was on the creation of a vision board, take a look back if you're unsure of what it is. By taking time to envision the things we want in our life the path for our next step will become clearer.

Finally, I take time to reflect on the choices I have in front of me. Many times in my life if I clear my mind & reflect on the choices in front of me I can discover the correct path to take in my life. This reflection can lead me to a feeling which starts small but then becomes overwhelming. I believe this small voice is our connection to our soul & will rarely lead us astray. It takes time & practice to remove the noise of your life from your head & truly reflect on the choices in front of you. But I believe if you practice this deep reflection & truly listen to the small voice deep inside you the answers will be revealed.

Through these steps I have been able to guide my life along a more fulfilling path. I invite you to learn these practices & bring more joy into your life.

Till tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day: "When confusion enters your life it can be difficult to discover the path to take. Listen deeply to the small voice inside & discover the way to a more joyful life."


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Quiet Mind

I've always had a problem since I was a very young boy with quieting my mind. This "over active" mind has been an amazing help at times but also a great hindrance. My mind has always been very open & largely creative. I think in associated patterns where one thought can lead to another to another, sometimes taking me in a whole new direction from where I've started. In a creative environment I tend to be even more creative because by listening to others ideas my mind can create new thoughts incorporating the ideas of others. As I've grown I've learned to quiet my mind some but I've never been completely effective in quieting it completely.

I have tired various forms of meditation but they've never truly worked for me. I have learned to slow my mind down & I've gotten very good at focusing on the things that appear in my life. In fact most mornings when I sit down to write this blog I am very quiet & just allow ideas into my mind. Thus far this "free association" has worked well & something normally just pops into my head. I then take time to think through the subject & then begin to write. So why am I writing about this today? I believe far to many people never take the time to slow down at all.

It is in the quiet that we become the greatest observer of our lives. Slow down quiet your mind & pay attention to the things around you. Pay special attention to the things that keep reappearing in your life. For me things can come from many sources. I can hear a song on the radio, then meet someone at a store that says one of the phrases. Then I'll pick up a newspaper & the same phrase will be a headline or something like that. When I'm truly connected to my soul/source things continue to pop up in my life. The only way I know to see the things that enter your life is to slow down & quiet your mind. The time you take to be quiet & narrow your focus will be well worth it.

The other benefit of slowing down your life & taking the time you need to reflect & open up your mind is the connection to your soul/source. The only way I know to remove the EGO from your decision making is to take the time to quiet your mind & move beyond the noise in your head. The deep connection that can be felt when you move from your head to your soul is an amazing process.

Take time to quiet your mind, reflect on the things around you & find the connection to your soul. By doing this you will lead a more joyful life.

Till tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day: "Take time to quiet your mind in this busy world. The time you take to slow down & reflect will bring you more joy in your daily life."


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The Journey of a 1,000 miles

"The journey of a 1,000 miles begins with one step" this is one of my favorite quotes from the Tao Te Ching written by Lao Tzu over 2,500 years ago. To me this quote speaks to my soul because I've always been a person who embraces change. In response to the New Year I think it's an important time to reflect on change. Most of us have a deep fear of things changing in our life. We hold on to what we know even if it's not working well for us. The reason for this is because we all want comfort & some "normal" to our lives. I truly understand this desire & at times in my life the "normal" pattern of life is all I could find comfort in. But the only way to live life & find more joy in each & every moment is to embrace change.

This doesn't mean that we need to change for change sake. Changing just to change is like a dog chasing his tail, we'll never get to where we need to be. Instead what it means is to embrace the idea of change & to realize that to live in the joy of every moment, means to keep yourself open to the change that comes into your life.

The Lao Tzu quote, especially in times of transition, reminds me that change doesn't have to be dramatic. To embrace change sometimes just means taking the next step. Even when things seem overwhelming, if we can shorten our focus to just taking the next step we can begin the process of change. It is in the process, the forward movement, that things begin to happen for us in our life. To continue to move forward even when the path ahead isn't clear is one of the hardest things for all of us in life. Remember it only takes the next step, each step one after the other can lead us down the path of change & onto a more joyful life.

Begin each day with an open mind. Embrace the understanding that life will change with or without you, by taking the next step you begin the change you want to see in your life. Remember that each day is a new part of the journey, live each day to the fullest & bring more joy into your life.

Till tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day: "A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. A tree grows from one seedling. A tower starts with one brick." Lao Tzu


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New Year's Eve

Today everyone is probably writing about New Year's Eve & New Year's resolutions, I'm not really into this game. Don't get me wrong, I love holidays & New Year's Eve can be a lot of fun with the right friends, etc. But to me, it's really no different then any other day. I try to find the joy in every moment of everyday so although there are some days that are better then others because of events, etc. I truly enjoy each day.

So do you make New Year's resolutions? If you do make them do you actually keep them? My experience with the people I've known in my life are that most people make resolutions but not to many of them actually keep the resolutions they make. I've never made resolutions. There are a couple of reasons for this; first, I've always been a man of my word, so if I made a resolution I would feel bound to make it happen. Second, as I've gotten older I began to understand that resolutions aren't the answer. Instead of resolutions I set intentions. To me there's a big difference between the two. Resolutions are a pledge or a promise to do something. Intentions are an action. I set intentions everyday for the fulfillment of my dreams. The true key to intentions is to set the intention & let go of the results. It is the letting go of results that allows God/universe to work & manifest my intention in it's own way. Through actively setting intentions we will find a more joyful life. Learn to set your intentions everyday, not just on New Year's Ev,e & discover the practice of detachment from the results.

I've written over the past few days about letting go of the past & the idea of starting a new or turning the page on your life is a wonderful part of New Year's Eve. My wish for everyone of you is to start each day with the same fresh outlook you experience on New year's eve. Remember the feeling of joy this event brings to you & recreate it in each day of this new year.

I'll be off till Monday, I hope you enjoy the holiday.

Hugs,

Bill

Quote of the day: "My hope for the New Year is that all of your dreams are manifested in the perfect way."


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Back to the beginning

What are your first memories as a child? Not the ones that people tell you about or the ones you've seen in pictures or movies but the the first thing you can remember. I spoke yesterday about letting go of the past & I wrote a blog about that several months ago but sometimes in order to let go you have to take the time to think back.

Many doctors will say that the earliest memories we have as children are between the ages of 3-5 years. So I ask again, do you remember what your first memory is? I'd love to hear some of them in the comments section. For me my first memories are from a vacation my family took to Florida. The first of two very distinct memories from that trip (I was nearly 4) was sitting on a ledge with my dad. He was fishing & a manatee surfaced & scared me to death. I had never seen anything like that. The second memory from the same trip was my dad taking me & my sisters out on a raft in the ocean to see a ship anchored off shore. So for me, my first memories are both good & bad.

The trouble most of us have with the past is that we've created emotional attachments to events that we've been through. These emotional attachments are so strong that whenever we experience something that reminds us of the original event we feel the same emotions. This emotional attachment can be great for wonderful events in our life but it can create fear & negative emotions from bad events. These fears can hold us back from being who we are truly meant to be. The key to living a more joyful life is to take the time to understand these connections. Write down all the memories you have & the emotions that are attached to them. Once you can identify these attachments you can begin the process of healing.

Sounds easy, huh? The process itself is easy but to move through the past you need to experience the emotions that are attached to these memories. Once you can feel the emotional attachment & you allow yourself to experience the feelings you can begin the process of letting these negative attachments go.

The mind is an amazing thing & by letting go of these negative emotions & understanding the memories they were attached to. You can then re-attach these memories to less negative thoughts. This re-patterning of negative emotions can free you to live a more joyful life.

Take the time to understand why you feel what you feel in your life. Understand that through forgiveness of ourself & others, we can release the past & begin to live in the present moment. By taking the time to understand why we react the way we do we can begin the process of healing & live a more joyful life.

Till tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day:"Take the time to understand your past. Through this understanding we can move forward to a more joyful life."


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Destiny

Destiny, I wrote a nice blog about destiny back in July but with the end of the year coming I thought it was a nice time to revisit the topic. What are your thoughts about destiny? Do you think everything we do is predetermined? Or do you think everything we do is self determined? Destiny is an interesting paradox for me, I think we are all born with a true life's purpose. The wonderful challenge for each of us is to discover what our true life purpose is. Sometimes this journey can take a lifetime. Sometimes, if you're lucky, you can discover your purpose early on & fulfill this true purpose.

I believe strongly that God/universe tries to help us along the way. This helping hand tries to push us gently towards our life's purpose. Reminding us of what we were meant to do. The problem is that we don't always listen & sometimes we actually rebel against the thought of having a greater purpose.

Then, of course, we have to deal with our EGO. It is the EGO itself that keeps us from finding our true purpose. Dr. Wayne Dyer has a great definition for the EGO it is Edge Out God & that's what the EGO does. It wants the easy answer & the quick fix. It lusts for instant gratification & never wants to put in the work. This disconnection from our true purpose is the reason for all of the suffering we go through in our life. Yet, we continually give in to the EGO. Why? Because it feels good.

The biggest battle all of us wage in our life isn't from anything outside of our self. It is our internal battle to allow our connection to our true self & our true life's purpose. How many times in your life have you come to an important crossroad & had to make a big decision? To me these moments are God/universe trying to help us get back on track. These self defining moments happen throughout our life until we find our way back to our true life's purpose. The unfortunate thing is for some of us we never find our way back. We spend our life searching for that connection to our true self & never feel completely fulfilled.

The good news is that we can all find this connection. It begins with loving & forgiving yourself for anything that's happened in the past. Once you let go of the past, come from a place of love & live in the current moment (not in the past or the future) this connection becomes much easier to find.

When we are connected wonderful things begin to happen all around you to continue to push you towards your true purpose. There is no better time to start this journey then this time of the year. Let go of 2009 or any of the past that holds you back. Commit yourself to take the time to look deep inside. Listen to that small voice that you've been ignoring. Forgive yourself & all those in your life that have done you wrong. Love & when it hurts, love some more. You are a precious gift & you can find your true destiny. Believe in your true self, pay attention to the signs that God/universe sends you. Let go of your EGO & listen to your soul.

It's all possible, take the steps today to make it happen. I know you can! I believe in you!!

Till tomorrow,

Bill

Quote of the day: "Our true destiny is within each of us. Open your heart, listen to your soul & you'll discover your true destiny."


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