21

Soul Benefit

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your soul
Listen……….in the quiet there is an answer.

All the decisions we make are for the benefit of our soul, or they exist to feed our egoic identity. Your soul is your true self; you were born to be. All the things you do and your decisions in this area will be positive, feel good, and resonate with you. Then there are the choices we make because of the ego. These are choices made in fear and generally pull us further away from who we are.

The goal is to make more decisions that benefit our souls and remind us of all the things that make us happy, productive, and whole.  The problem is that our ego has pushed us into situations to distract us from our true identity and move us in directions further from our purpose toward filling our programming. The goal is to start to recognize which of your choices are doing what. Are they moving you closer to your soul or true self, or are they pushing you further away? The best test is to ask yourself every day, “Am I becoming the person I was meant to be?” Let the proper answer guide you.

Your Soul and Why You May Not Know It

Since your soul is your true self, when you strip away all of the things you identify with, which aren’t you, job, money, possessions, what others think of you, or more accurately, what you feel about yourself, you are left with your soul. It is an accurate representation of your connection with a creator and all other people in the world. There is no fear, anger, or judgment located here. A person living from the decisions their soul makes is going to be the best version of themselves.

The restlessness you feel about life comes from not living up to that version. Knowing your best is there inside you, but not learning how to let it out or share your skills with the world.  Most people have some of these feelings and are unaware they have another choice.

We pursue things others have told us we should want and never consider what we might want ourselves. We are too worried about looking silly or disappointing a parent, peer, partner, or imaginary audience. Look inside yourself and see what appeals to you and give it a try. The key to understanding the soul comes from creativity because you can lose yourself in a drawing, a painting, a carving, or just restoring a piece of furniture. The act consumes your attention and quiets your mind, and that allows your soul to speak to you.  Positive feelings will move you in the right direction.

Know The Ego

The ego has a distinctive negative voice, as well.  It has a constant need to try to control everything and everybody out of the misguided thought that if you control everything, then nothing painful will ever happen.  This need resists change and growth and makes all involved unhappy.  There is also a need for approval from others, which stops one from stepping out and trying something bold and brand new.

If you wait for the approval of others to let your true self shine through, you will end up living your whole life falsely.  And finally, the voice of the ego loves to express itself in the judgment of others and yourself. To judge is to be unaccepting of others, their contribution, and their differences because their differences make you feel wrong.  Rather than accepting disagreements that the soul would welcome because we are all different, those differences make us glorious.

Choose The Soul

It is a magic of people that we all have within us a divine presence, and it exists in your soul. It is the thing that connects us all with all living things if you allow yourself to feel it.  Each decision is either for the soul and becoming the best version of yourself or egoic thought, which stifles healthy growth, attempts to control things, and pushes people down paths they will not be happy traveling.  Egoic change occurs subconsciously, and if you don’t examine your thoughts at all, they probably come from that area.

But conscious thought is a guide to your soul and your true, best self. Look at your thoughts honestly and see what they are telling you. Notice what they are telling the world about you.  If we all were motivated to become the best version of ourselves, imagine what the world would look like operating from that place. We are born as a soul, and the ego we develop over time. Work your way backward and find your true self.

Thinking consciously about the things which resonate with you and bring joy to your life will allow those things to become a part of your reality. Of course, there are steep hurdles to jump in this pursuit.  We have established programming which creates our beliefs and creates our intentions in what things we have in our lives.

What would your life look like if you made only choices which made you happy?

Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.  – Aristotle

Happiness resides not in possessions and not in gold; happiness dwells in the soul. – Democritus

 Begin to see yourself as a soul with a body rather than a body with a soul. –Wayne Dyer

 Each person has an idea, a hope, a dream which represents the soul. We must give to it the warmth of love, the light of understanding, and the essence of encouragement. – Colby Dorr Dam

Life

Identity

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Who Are You??

When you woke up today, you probably looked in the mirror at some point. Who did you see looking back at you? Most of us see a person we have created to fit into the roles we face in our lives each day. The one who has to perform their job, take care of their family, do what is expected, and be the person your ego has told you to be. But that is not who you are, and most of us are operating under a case of mistaken identity, and until we start to look for who we are underneath the flaking edifice covering us, we will continue to feel just……..not quite right.  The good news is you are there, the real you, right there underneath the stories we have chosen to believe and give life to in our imaginations.  Remember who you are, and there is nothing that can stop you.

Our Stories

People are great creators of stories, and we use them to define our lives.  Things happen to everyone; some are very positive and will readily accept them because they make us look and feel good.  We tell these stories to the world about the accomplishments, the skills we have, the relationships that define us.  We describe these tales to ourselves.  This process is a part of the false self we create in life to fit in, to show we are exceptional, helpful, talented, and to deliver our value to ourselves and the world. We are the authors of these stories, and we create our biography.  What

What story do you tell about yourself, which contradicts your true self?

happens when the stories we tell are entirely fabricated in our minds.

Your real identity is not in the stories you tell, and you choose to believe about yourself. Each of us is more than that behind the decks. It is my contention; all people have greatness within them and have forgotten their true identity. Replacing it with life stories, others will accept, to give a positive view of themselves. But the correct version is so much better and valuable.  Finding your identity should be the first step in your development, and learn to embrace it.

Glimpse It, Embrace It

I know many people who possess real power is in who they are, not in what they do. However, they give all of their attention to what others think of them and their role.  Spending time seeking the approval of others and searching for social media acceptance or just popularity alone is not going to reveal any of the natural substance within. It is chasing a false creation, made to please others rather than to express yourself.  Self-expression through creativity is the voice of the true self within.  You have no doubt had glimpses of the person you are.  Look for it, and you know you have found it by the overwhelming positive feeling it brings to you inside.

Embrace this feeling and look for more of it.  Finding a way to communicate with this part of yourself is the secret.  It is not difficult to do. You have to quiet your mind and then look past the never-ending stream of thought our brains produce and see what is behind them. That is where your true identity is living, waiting for you to put aside the mistaken identity you cling to and embrace your true self.  Many people have been raised to ignore our true selves.  Fit in, find the job your family will accept as “successful.”  Embrace the relationship others will agree, skip the one that is right for you.  Your true self knows what is right for you and what is not. Look behind the mistaken identity you have accepted about yourself.

How to Find You

All of this is nice, but without a plan to find your true identity, it will just be an excellent idea. First, you have to be willing to look for the person you are. I know many great people are not ready to watch because they are afraid of what they will find.  Fear is the actual opponent for all of us in all aspects of our lives.  You may be comfortable where you are with your story, even if, deep down, you know there should be something more.  It is hard to move out of security to find something else that is

Fear stops this from happening; don’t let it stop you. The world needs your authentic self.

The fear.  But why are we here if not to bring all we are capable of creating to the world. Fearlessly look for that person.

Second, we have to be willing to create action plans and follow them toward who they are. Take a class, read a book, join a group, write your thoughts, find your true identity, and embrace it wholeheartedly. If this seems simplistic, give it a try, and then we will talk.  Our characters have been constructed throughout our lives, and making changes to the beliefs we have accepted as accurate is the most challenging thing a person will do.

Look at every single thing you believe is real and question it. We all have beliefs that limit us from being our best or accepting the best life has to offer us.  We learned them from society, family, and institutions that raised us. Proving these long-held beliefs false is unsettling, but through that uncomfortable mess, our true self will rise.  You have to be willing to risk who you think you are to find out your real identity.

Be willing to be uncomfortable, scared, and nervous about what you are doing and trying to create, and the thing you will build will be your true self. What could be better than that?

“A wild goose never laid a tame egg.” – Gaelic Saying

“Every man is the architect of his own fortune.”  –Appius (c.470 BC)

“If there’s one message I want people to take away is never compromise being your authentic self. Even if that means making others uncomfortable.” -Halima Aden

“The real rub is finding that authentic self, and it’s not something that’s going to come to you overnight.”-  Paul Guilfoyle

 

21

The Self

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Positive Thought Project

Self: A person’s essential being distinguishes them from others, especially considered the object of introspection or reflexive action.

When it comes to big questions in life, “who am I?” generally tops the list. We all have a sense of self from the time we first become aware. Our essential being is who we are inside, not the person we choose to show to others.  But what is honest about this?  Much of what we have come to identify with as our “self” is an illusion.  We carry around this sense of who we are, but it is based on many factors that are not us at all.  Our job, relationships, what we own, what others think of us, and even our thoughts about ourselves are not accurate representations of us. So how do you find out what defines your essential being?  That is a quest that will raise your consciousness, and it will start by paying attention to what you think of your “self,” the words you use speaking to your “self,” and the actions you take to show who you are.  What is your true SELF?

Mindfulness

One of the cures for the illusion of self we carry around is to begin to practice mindfulness. This is a practice of being aware of the present moment and accepting all that it brings you.  Your sense of self is revealed to you in the everyday experience of interacting with your world.  How do you see the sunrise? How do you see interactions with other people? How do you react to things? What do you believe about yourself and your abilities?  Each moment reveals the characteristics which make up our “self.” Watching them and accepting them is mindfulness.

The value of this is that you remove all of the expectations of the rest of the world.  They don’t matter who you are; they matter to who the world perceives you to be.  It is a false self that is contained in our ego.  Looking past these expectations is the first step of growth and seeking to remember who you are.  Forgiveness of those who hurt you and yourself for actions outside of your true nature is a must. Mindfulness is easy to practice but challenging as well because it can be painful to see your thoughts.  But try to stay in the moment, dwell on the past or worry about the future.  Be present and see who is there looking back at you. That is your true self.

Over 7 Billion People

It always makes me question existence when I consider that over 7 billion people in the world and a minimal number have spent any time contemplating their presence in any natural way. What you have in life and the “stuff” you can accumulate is not as important as the person you are.  The self is the one thing that belongs solely to you for the duration of your existence. Those things spring directly from your thoughts about the world and how you fit into it. Your actions and words define them.

Is your self greedy, shallow, mean, selfish, or any other negative word? Well, those things are in every person, all 7 billion. It is your choice whether they become an active force in your life or if your thoughts move toward kindness, forgiveness, peace, acceptance, or love. These are the things that define the “self” to the world.  Because you can say you are a positive person, but your conscious choices make it so or not so.

No Comparison

There is no need to compare your journey and progress to others. You are solely responsible for you as another is responsible for them. Don’t waste your valuable time comparing how you think, what you have, and how you spend your time against someone else.  The self you are has plenty of strength and talent. You just have to access it.  That will never happen if you waste your time looking over the neighbor’s fence to see where they are at in their journey.

Do the best you can.  Every day while you sift through your thoughts and deal with the situations, you are confronted with the moment to moment.  Never forget that in you is a divine creation capable, reliable, and ready to achieve anything you set your mind to doing.  Weight loss, working out, building a business, travel, relationships, or anything else you want in your life is there to touch if you have confidence in your “self.”  Be confident and love your “self.”

Be your best SELF today. It all starts with a greater awareness of your thoughts, the corresponding emotions that arise.  The words you speak to others and your actions will define you for all time.

“You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection”– Buddha

“A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval.”– Mark Twain

“Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.” – Lucille Ball

 

21

Dare To

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Dare to Be YOU

My goal is to establish a positive focus every morning by focusing on a positive word or phrase. There are enough negative influences in the world, and I believe we can improve our emotions, comments, and actions and make the world a better place through a conscious direction of thought.

Dare to Do

Courage is a commodity we only know we have when tested, and seeking these types of tests is a tough challenge. It is hard to put yourself out there for a new job, a new relationship, or to move to a new town. Whenever you face a unique situation, there is an opportunity to dare to achieve, accomplish, or grow. Threatening to keep going is to defy the obstacles in front of us and learn about ourselves and our lives. Life is a game of growth or atrophy. Either you dare to find out what you are made of, or you are satisfied withering away into the obscurity of what was. So today, I urge you to take a bold step and dare to do something that will allow you to become better than you were yesterday and fulfilled as a person.

Dare Against the Fear

Fear is a constant companion we all carry with us in all decisions we make. Often it is displayed in “what ifs” of life. What if I fail? What if it gets worse? What if it hurts? What if everyone thinks I am crazy? What if questions like this give the fear a place to live in your mind. Dare to take action today and try. As you make an effort to do something new, there is going to be a learning curve. There is a period when you learn the process and fine-tune the skills you need to accomplish your goals.

The biggest fear we carry is the fear that we will fail. We will never be that thing we dream of in our minds. This fear has stopped many people from ever daring to get started, but when you dare to begin, everything new and excellent has the opportunity to exist. When you dare to apply for that job or talk to that person, then the possibilities of everything are on the table. Without the daring to act, none of them do, and fear wins, keeping you safely in your place, not being who you are called to be.

Dare to Be Different

Our society is structured to reward those who follow a particular path. You do what is expected, and people will applaud and tell you how wonderful you are doing. Unfortunately, all people are different, and the things that allow them to grow and thrive as individuals vary. So we can’t all follow a straightforward path to find the value we seek or enable the treasure inside us to come out. We have to follow our path and dare to be different than others might expect us to be. It is in this daring that we will find our unique voice and power in the world.

Daring to be unique will always open you up to criticism from all fronts. But to be yourself in a world continually trying to force you to be something you are not is the daring to be true to yourself. Would you rather be criticized for daring to be who you are, or would you instead be praised for living a lie? A choice we all make every day.

Create from Your Soul

Daring to create is one of the best ways to see what is inside of you. Allowing your music to come out in whatever form it exists inside of you for the world to see is one of the biggest gambles we can take. Our creativity will show precisely how we think, feel, and believe about things, allowing the world to see that. We are then open to attack, and it takes a brave person to dare to create without worry about criticism or failure.

To create something simply because you want to, not because it will manipulate someone to think this or that, but because it is the message in your soul that you want to share with the rest of the world. Daring to create your art in whatever form is excellent. Daring to share it with others is monumentally brave. Be brave today and dare to share.

Be Daring Today

Today I call for you to dare create, be yourself, and share it with the world. Don’t hide behind the veil of what-ifs and allow your best creative self to shine forward into the world. Your actions will allow you to enjoy life more because you will be authentic to yourself and make the world a better place. Daring to shine your light into the world always makes things better. Dare to be your best self today and see what happens from that.

“The only dare you ever want to take is the dare to be all that you can be.”- Catherine Pulsifer.

“Dare to be your best self, see how high you fly. Never worry how far you might fall.”

“Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much because they live in the grey twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.” —Theodore Roosevelt

 

Poem

Tomorrow

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A poem I wanted to share about tomorrow.

Tomorrow is a beautiful road

that will take you right where

you want to go…..

If you spend today walking away

from worry and moving toward

serenity; leaving behind conflict

and traveling toward solutions;

and parting with emptiness and

never giving up on your search

for fulfillment. If you can do

what works for you, your present

will be happier and your path will

be smoother.  And best of all?

You’ll be taking a step

into a beautiful future.

Douglas Pagels

21

The Courage

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We all have to walk down the dark corridors of our lives, and there are moments we need to find all the courage we have inside to keep moving forward even though fear is gripping our hearts. Courage is the ingredient that allows a person to take their next step, though they are afraid of what might happen. Freedom from fear shifts a person’s energy from the negative to the positive. Courage allows you to dismiss the opposing forces of doubt and fear and replace them with hope and expectation of something positive happening in your life.

You can choose to bring your courage into your conscious thought every day by recognizing the daily fears you face and still do what you have to anyway. Here are three significant concerns we all need to overcome at some point; 1. The anxiety of the future 2. fear of rejection 3. Fear of failure. With a shift in focus and awareness, we can deal with what scares us, and it starts with noticing your thoughts of fear and answering the question: Do I have the courage to face my nightmare?

Courage for the Future

Fear about the future is what many worries are based on. Somehow people believe that if they play out every nasty, negative, and painful scenario of what might happen in their mind, they will never be hurt or disappointed. Worry is negative energy that brings negative things into your thought process, the words you use with others, and, of course, the actions you take. Fear never brings anything good to anyone, and it robs you of the good things you have in your life right now. Isn’t this what anxieties of all kinds are based on? The future may have challenges in it, and those things will help you grow. Eventually, our death will come, and the ending of everything will ultimately happen. Worry won’t stop that. It just makes your experience of today far less enjoyable.

Put your worries away and focus on the positive things in your life right now. Enjoy the good things you have at this moment. Prepare for the future, as any responsible person would. But realize that whatever is coming your way is coming. There will be loss, sadness, and pain. There will also be joy, laughter, and great experiences. Have courage that you will be able to weather the negative, and the positive will be present in much larger quantities. Have courage about the future and the positive things it will bring to your life. There are no guarantees, so embrace the joy when it comes to you.

Courage about Rejection

People may reject you or something you do for many reasons, and the truth is, most have little or nothing to do with you. It is their past experiences, choices, and consciousness making those choices. Don’t take any of this personally. It is them, not you. Put your plan in action and do it in a way that makes you happy. Even though you may have lost someone or something you treasure, look for the good in the situation. It may not be easy to recognize, but it will be there.

Changing your perspective takes courage to do because there will always be naysayers and doubters. And often, the biggest doubter you will face will be in your head. Ignore their noise. People will come into your life who will discourage you. Make you doubt who you are and affect you negatively. If they put as much effort into pursuing their dreams as critical of others, they could accomplish anything. They are the definition of negative mediocrity. Give their opinions about all the attention they deserve. Non Have courage, try, create, do, go, find, build, and believe!

Fear of Failure

Now we come to what I think is the most common fear, and that is a failure. What is a failure but a label? We are trained in education to view breakdown as the worst result. Things are not always going to go perfectly. But it isn’t. If you are genuinely creating and reaching for something new, there is a real chance you aren’t going to get it right the first time. But each attempt at something provides information, experience, and skill. Those can work to a challenge, and the next time you will get a different result. The courage to ignore a negative view of failure and see how this situation provides an opportunity to grow, learn, and ultimately gain success. That is how it has worked throughout the history of man.

It takes real courage to face this challenge. Our society views anything but perfect results as a failure. There is little margin for error. Why is this? Could it be that if we encouraged thinking and fundamental knowledge, people would be less controllable? Individuals might develop ideas that would change things. Be brave and let your courage drive your process of learning. Not the expectations and judgments of narrow-minded small people. Give them all the regard they earn. They have no idea where you are going and what you can do. Unless you accept their narrative about you, it’s your choice to be more conscious of your courage.

Have Courage and Do It

Let your consciousness continually become aware that life is a little game. There is a beginning, a middle, and an end. We are all moving toward the inevitable, don’t waste your time in fear. Find your courage to make changes in your life that leads you toward living like your best self.

People fear change naturally, even if it is clearly for the better. Be brave and have the faith that it will work out in the end. Nobody can be sure where that end is, but having the courage and taking action will lead to a result. Find your courage today, and it all begins with a higher awareness of your thoughts, words, and activities. You can then learn, evaluate, grow, improve, and make better actions. You are eventually becoming and achieving what you want.

Courage- the ability to do something that frightens one.

We all have courage inside us that will allow us to achieve all of the great things we want to accomplish if we learn to use it.

“True courage is not the absence of fear—but the willingness to proceed despite it.”–Unknown.

“It takes courage to grow up and become who you are.”― E.E. Cummings Quotes On Courage.

“The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud.”― Coco Chanel Quotes On Courage

“Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.”― Winston S. Churchill.

 

21

Burn or Cross

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Cross it or burn it? We make these decisions often in life.
Cross it or burn it? We make these decisions often in life.

Living life provides an excellent classroom for learning. It would be easier if we had a manual at the beginning giving clear and unquestionable instructions on how to proceed in life.

Each situation would be so easy to deal with as we navigated our way along our path of life if we could only tell which bridges were safe to cross and which ones we should burn and never cross back over again.

I do not kid myself and think that if I had this sort of information, it would have made any difference to my behaviors. As a young man, I thought I knew it all, and I would cross each bridge on my terms and have no fear of the consequence. I didn’t want advice or guidance, I tried to cross the bridge and get to the other side, and if it was painful, well, that was life.

There is no way to know for sure what the other side will bring, but cross it and hope for the best.
There is no way to know for sure what the other side will bring, but cross it and hope for the best.

Over the years, a strange thing started to happen. All bridges looked scary to me, and I refused to cross any of them. This phobia led to a life malaise that was stuck in the same place. Even though I looked into the mist surrounding the bridge and wondered, “What is over there?” I lacked the courage to step across it and find out for sure.

As I got older, I felt compelled toward the bridges in front of me, I would tentatively take a step onto them and then retreat to the safety of the known, but deep in the back of my mind, I would think, “Is this it? Is this all there is in life and all I can look forward to?”

As the years passed, it became clear that life was happening out there across those bridges, and I had better get moving in one direction or another, or it would be too late. Burn one bridge or cross another. That was the option but do it now, or soon all of them will be burned by time.

With little planning but immense hope, I finally took the first tentative steps onto a bridge that looked sturdy enough to carry me across the abyss of danger below. Before I crossed, I torched the other bridges around, and there was no turning back. The bridge I was crossing would define my life and how I lived it.

As I moved along the bridge, walking step by step forward, I grasped the rail for some reassurance, but the only feeling was one of excitement wrapped in fear. All the years in limbo had fooled me into a false sense of self-confidence, which now was clearly on display.

Some will tell you that it is an excellent policy never to burn bridges because you will never know when you need them. I argue that recognizing the bridges to burn and the ones to maintain is one of the significant lessons in developing wisdom.

21

Suffering

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There are two sides to every coin, and in my life, I have found joy on one side and suffering on the other. The pain appears as the worst of things to experience in life and should be avoided at all costs.

Although I agree it is something that is not pleasant, it provides a necessary function for people. I wish things were always easy, and there was nothing but joy in my experience, but life offers difficult obstacles for each of us to overcome. How we think about our experience will bring us suffering or lessons. Pain is a choice of how we feel about each situation we are in life. It is a natural and inevitable part of life. We will have catastrophic loss and sadness in our lives. How we deal with it will define much of who we are and how successfully we live our lives. Your suffering is a choice and one I have made all too often.

Crutches of Life

Crutches are everywhere in life. These are things in our experience that limit us in one way or another. Some fall prey to wild pleasures and excesses in life, which distract you from your purpose and determine what can be accomplished. Others find jobs that are just enough above water to be acceptable but will never allow you to grow into the person you could be. All crutches of the world we adopt to “help” get us through life will cause suffering and move us further from ourselves. Life can seem like a prison if we let it. Keeping us confined to a particular place and set of circumstances. This limit is only the case if you choose to allow it. Or you can choose to be free in your actions and your mind.

Limiting my options is a game I played from early on. Allowing others to put their labels on me and the corresponding limits from the earliest moments in life. “You just aren’t athletic.” “That’s nice, but you will never make a living from it.” “You just aren’t very book smart.” Or one of a million other limiting statements I accepted as crutches and eventually even stopped questioning. Any belief that I have allowed to limit me in any way needed to be reevaluated and changed, even in a small way, because these are the chains that life has put on you, and you won’t eliminate the suffering they cause until you change them.

This reaction is a choice, and it isn’t as difficult as most would have you believe. Change is a constant and inevitable part of life, and you can fight against it or learn to choose to move with it. Ending this limiting suffering is a race between your mental capacities and your biological limitations. Some will win, and some will not. Which side will you be on?

Becoming Your True Self

All people are born with a purpose in life. All of those intentions are positive, and there is some message to bring or a goal to accomplish before our time is done. Unfortunately, we are almost immediately piled with expectations and experiences that push us further from that mission. The programming we receive is mainly in the name of love but delivered in the voice of fear. Parents generally want the best for their children, but often their idea of precisely what the “Best” means can make your choices seem “worst,” even if you are following your heart. Chasing your dreams is your life; nobody else’s.

The suffering that this can cause is lifelong and painful. With each step, a person takes in the direction of someone else’s expectations the further they get from their true self, and soon that person you were born is hidden behind a lot of trees and weeds. It can be challenging to find your way back. The further you have moved from your true essence, the higher the suffering is going to be. It seems like the journey back to who you are is never too far to reach or too late to start looking. The limits we accept are the ones that will affect us. So begin today looking for what message you were born to send and what gift you have to give.

Loss and Suffering

To live life and love others opens you up for the loss, which leads to suffering. If you have lost someone close to you, you know this kind of pain is a painful experience nobody wants to have. But life is a tenuous experience with no guarantees. We never know when the ride will be over should. It is easy to get lost in the routines of the days and take things for granted. Each day is a gift. Open it! Be motivated to do what you want to do, be with those that make you happy, and enjoy every moment.

Not only are the days a gift, but you should take the time to look at the beauty of your day. All the people in our lives are precious too. It is human nature to take things for granted, only realizing how consequential or special someone was when they had left us. Then we mourn the loss. Which is natural, but there is an opportunity every day to celebrate all those in your life, contributing to the experience of living life. It is a short ride, this life, and it makes no sense to spend the bulk of it in misery when you don’t have to. Spend it in appreciation of the magic that is you and your unique presence.

Emotional Rescue

We will all have emotions that bring us down. Anger and fear are natural reactions to life when you start to look at things from the perspective of, “What am I getting out of this?” Then you have to learn to deal with it and either let it consume you or change your thoughts, emotions, and actions to something more positive. I know it sounds natural, and when you feel anger or fear, it isn’t too easy to change. But YOU can modify it by looking at the thoughts causing your suffering and changing them to something else.

Find something or someone who brings out the positive in you. It seems like much of our suffering comes from our feelings of inadequacy, and to change means doing something more worthwhile. Learn what your emotions are telling you and how to change them from negative to positive for you, and you will find a tool to help you end some daily pain nobody needs to deal with in life.

Suffering is a message in life that we are attached to something temporary in a permanent way. Nothing in life is stable, and that is what makes it unique. So the choice is up to you in the end as it always is, spend your time suffering or spend your time in joy. It is all up to you.

“Suffering becomes beautiful when anyone bears great calamities with cheerfulness, not through insensibility but the greatness of mind.” Aristotle

“The reward of suffering is experience.” –Harry S Truman

“Suffering by nature or chance never seems so painful as suffering inflicted on us by the arbitrary will of another.”- Arthur Schopenhauer

“Suffering is but another name for the teaching of experience, which is the parent of instruction and the schoolmaster of life.” Horace

“Suffering is the substance of life and the root of personality, for it is only suffering that makes us persons.” – Miguel de Unamuno

 

 

21

Determined

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Determination-firmness of purpose; resoluteness.

People set out on many journeys in life. Our determination dictates how far the trip is going to take us. All start with calm confidence. All are going to face challenges that will help decide the direction a journey is going to take. Sometimes things get tough, and you can’t continue. The bottom line is that when it comes to your goals and dreams, the determination you carry in your heart is the number one factor in reaching a successful conclusion or not. Resolution is a quality in each of us, and it needs to be used to be effective. It all starts with looking at our thoughts, words, and actions when it comes to completing our goals and seeing the determination we have inside.

Becoming Determined

It takes courage to live a different life that is defined by your personality. Other people will want to push you in different directions that benefit them. You are determined to achieve or become something that will keep you focused on your road ahead and what you need to do to reach your goals. The spring of determination comes from courage. Being brave enough to say no to the things that deter our progress, and yes to the experiences that propel us forward.

Determination is the wake-up call to our humanity. There are experiences we want to have. Usually, these are things we want to accomplish, and we will never accomplish anything until we start in some way, small or big. We are determined to reach a goal or create a dream that pushes us down the road toward the result we seek. Our human soul celebrates and thrives when it has a purpose, a drive, to follow. We can decide which mountains we want to conquer and experience. Without determination, we will never reach the top.

Beliefs Build Determination

When you are trying to accomplish anything to keep your determination moving you in the right direction, you have to feel that you can achieve whatever you are setting out to do. You may think you want to be the best singer in the world, but if deep down you don’t believe that you can, it isn’t going to happen. If you have a belief inside of you that you can become a great singer, then you will have a much stronger determination to accomplish this goal. Whatever you dream of doing, check your beliefs first and see if it resonates with you. Believe you can or change that belief into one that supports your effort.

Beliefs give us the resolve to take action toward making something a reality. They will allow you to establish a neural pattern toward your goals. It will keep you taking steps to let your determination lead to success. You will stay resolute in continuing to practice, work out, learn, or grow in whatever way you need to, to do what you want to do. “If you think you can do a thing or think you can‘t do a thing, you‘re right.” A quote by Henry Ford says it better than I ever could. Believing in yourself and your abilities allows determination in action.

Just Keep Going

When you feel like you have to stop, don’t. When it gets hard, keep going. That is easy to say and hard to do, but that is what determination allows you to do. Find the strength inside of you to keep ongoing. It is through faith in yourself and the promised reward of what your goal is. The determination can be cultivated in anyone, beginning with a focus on the thoughts you entertain, which lead to your beliefs, the words you speak to others, and the actions you will take to get where you want to go. The great thing is that you can become whatever you want if you keep your determination to become whatever you wish.

“Never go backward. Attempt, and do it with all your might. Determination is power” – Charles Simmons

“Do not underestimate the determination of a quiet man” – Iain Duncan Smith

“The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand. “

 

 

 

21

Inner Calm

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In any 24 hours, if you venture out into the world, there will be challenges you will face. The battleground for most of these things is going to be in our heads. I often face challenges to maintain a positive attitude or not to be overwhelmed by a poor perspective of things. Anger is an emotion designed as a warning for us. To make sure we know when something isn’t right, or more precisely, that you are afraid. Afraid that your needs aren’t going to be met by a loss of one form or another. Most often, anger is a waste of time. Moving beyond unhealthy emotions of anger, judgment, greed, or cruelty smoothly, quickly, and healthily can make your life a much more pleasant experience. One of the best things we can do is to create a positive space in our mind; it is a skill that anyone can master if they want to.

Be a Reader, Not a Reactor to Thoughts

Thoughts are occurring in our minds at a rapid pace all day long. You have a choice of which ones you listen to and which ones you let pass you by. It is good practice to start to pay attention to the thoughts you allow to affect you positively and negatively. As humans, we are capable of keeping only one thing in our focus at a time. If you choose to focus on a negative, that will trigger negative emotional responses physically in your body. Once you start to drop down a negative chute of thought, it will focus on itself.

Read the negative thought and notice it, and then let it go and choose a more positive view to focus on. Once accomplished, your body will react, and you will move down a more positive chute. Thoughts build on each other, and a focus develops. Read your thoughts and know where they are taking you. The alternative is to let your dreams run wild and spend your time merely reacting at the mercy of whatever your mind creates. That is how many people live their lives. It leads to wild swings or emotions and unpredictable behavior. Focus on your thoughts and dismiss those that aren’t an accurate representation of who you are and who you want to be. Let them slide by you like flies in the darkness.

Real Focus Develops

One of the best methods to develop a focus on positive thoughts is meditation. Most people picture incense, candles, and chanting when they think of meditating, but that is just a stereotype. Many people practice meditation without knowing it. Whenever you calm your mind and notice your thoughts, you are contemplating. It can be through intense concentration on a task or a conscious effort to notice your breathing. There is a calmness that will take over your mind and body if you stop the mind from running wild and focus on something other than your thought. Thoughts then come to you but are very noticeable as something outside of you.

The peaceful calm that will move over you when you seek calmness will allow you to look deep inside yourself and get to know your true self. Some say that is where your real power exists. Once the thoughts are quiet, a real focus can develop on what you want in your life and what you don’t. Clear goals can materialize, and actual plans for achieving them come into your reality. Focus on the calmness of mediation and see what you can accomplish.

Calmness is a power

There is an ability to bring your inner strength to bear against any challenge you will face the ability to calm your mind at will allows those without this asset to can’t. Inside us all, there is a strength hidden most of the time but can be channeled and used to enable you to thrive and survive when it seems doubtful. Much of our suffering occurs because we desire things to come to us a certain way. Without it, we are in trouble.

But there is the self-confidence that we develop, left to our own devices as children we have it, but time, experience, and the will of others push it down deep. Challenges come in life as a chance to bring them out. Sometimes we fail, are overwhelmed, and never get there. But ………sometimes we do not fail, and we remember the fact that we are strong enough t0 handle what life is throwing our way. Whatever that is, addiction, poverty, or loss. Inside of us is the strength to take it. Finding that strength is helped by developing a calmness about you.

Focus on methods to see the tone and tenor of your thoughts. Look for the ones that make your life a better experience and leave the negative behind. Learning to focus your mind and see what it is doing can allow you to find success and overcome any challenge you face.

“Calm mind brings inner strength and self-confidence, so that’s very important for good health.” -Dalai Lama

“Getting stress out of your life takes more than prayer alone. You must take action to make changes and stop doing whatever is causing the stress. You can learn to calm down in the way you handle things.”-Joyce Meyer

“You don’t have to control your thoughts. You have to stop letting them control you.”-Dan Millman

 

Personal Growth, Self Improvement, Positive Thinking