Tag Archives: always do your best

Change The World

Always-at all times, on all occasions.

I am the kind of person that looks for exceptions.  There are a few things that seem to be always correct. I look for themes permeating through all situations and interactions.  When looking for these themes in life, I raise my consciousness and look for things that matter.  I am finding parts of myself that have value and need to focus daily to bring more positivity. What you remember about yourself and your abilities will directly lead to the success you experience in life.  Each of us has the power within us to change the world, and it is up to you to decide if that change is a positive or a negative one.  Every day, we always have choices between one path and another, one of pure positive and one of fear.  You always make a choice.  Today the focus is on some of the forces in your life which are still at your disposal.  It begins with a look at your thoughts, the emotions that connect to them, the words that you speak to express your feelings, and the actions you choose to take in the end. Invariably these things are connected.

Always Ignore the Naysayers

No matter what you are trying to accomplish in life, there will still be people who will express their disbelief in you and what you are doing.  What is their motivation? Usually, it is fear.  If you can accomplish the goals you set and took steps towards, then the only thing stopping them is Alwaysthe strength to choose.  It isn’t easy to maintain excitement about your goals because someone always seems to be deterring you. Telling you the goal is impossible. They may think it outlandish, out of your league, silly, or a waste of time.  Always ignore this.

When it comes to accomplishment, the most important thing is to try. Once you make an effort, one of two things will happen.  You will succeed, or you will fail. There is a power in knowing.  If you reach then high, you have accomplished what you set out to do. If you fail, then great. You have gained valuable information about what you need to do to make whatever you are doing work the next time.  Then you get a chance to try again with more knowledge and understanding of the process.  Always this is the case. Ever none of this good stuff happens if you listen to those who dismiss things out of hand. Still, ignore the naysayers.  They are roadblocks on the path to success in anything you do.

Always Treat People Well

All people could still do, which will make the lives of everyone you deal with, will be better.  I learned a long time ago that if you treat people well, it always comes back to you.  Be honest, be kind, understand, and stay away from being self-centered about your dealings with others.  It is an easy recipe but sometimes hard to remember. I have days when I have to remind myself of this—going to the gym. Seeing there seem to be people who are just getting in my way.

At these moments, I have to take a deep breath and remember it isn’t all about me, and change my thoughts from frustration to understanding.  We are all just trying to get through our lives.  Treating people as they want to be treated is pretty straightforward. Please pay attention to what those you care about like and then provide that experience to them.  There is no time that it isn’t the best choice to treat people well, and it will all come back to you.  I have often said it doesn’t cost anything to be kind.

Always Face Your Fear

We are all afraid of something: heights, crowds, snakes, or public speaking. Something is going to make us feel frightened.  Fear has a deeper hold on most of us as well. Fear is the opposite of love.  Now our underlying concerns exist because of something that happened to us in our experience. It could have been something that happened to you or, more often, something we heard to avoid because it might harm us.  So we live our lives being afraid of something that unnecessarily causes stress in our lives.

Always facing your fear is a good policy.  Once you do, you realize that if fear can stop you from being yourself around what you are afraid of, it can control you in other ways. Face your fear.  If you are scared of snakes, hold one. If you are fearful of public speaking, do it. Whatever it is, face it, and the realization that fear is just a thought that we give power to is all that is left.  Take that power away, and you can replace the idea with something much more productive and help you accomplish your goals.

Always Sum it Up

There are many things I could put on the list of always, love, be kind, give, be grateful, which are just a few that jump out at me.  I am thankful for the people in my life.  I appreciate them all.  I urge you to think of things you always do and look for areas to improve your experience. The lives of those around you will get better as well.

It begins with raising your awareness and becoming aware of your thoughts, the corresponding emotions, the words that result from those thoughts, and the actions that spring from them.  It is always a choice to allow a view to having power, either positive or negative. Choose well.

“I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.”  Jimmy Dean

“Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your sunshine.”   Anthony J. D’Angelo

“Always do your best. What you plant now, you will harvest later.”- Og Mandino.

 

 

 

My Notes on The Four Agreements

The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz is a book I read years ago, and I just came across my reading notes. I thought they were worth sharing. Each of us has to agree with the truth of a thought before it can affect us. Once we do accept, that thought will affect our lives positively or negatively until you choose to change it.  The book talks about fear and how fear dictates what we do, and what parts of ourselves we show to others.  The four agreements are the ones we should seek to create in our minds. Interesting thoughts.

Agreement #1 Be Impeccable with Your Word

Your words contain magic in them and the power to make your life like heaven or like hell. The magic that you wield through your words is either light or dark- a blessing or cursing yourself and others. Too many of our bad agreements about life were planted by the callousness of the words of others. And even sometimes our own.  We are all connected as one.

Agreement #2 Don’t Take Anything Personally-

All the people are living in our dream. You are but a bit part in another person’s vision. Most of what people say and do is because of their lives, NOT due to you, your value, or behavior. The best action is to stay away from the insult or adverse response. It has nothing to do with you and everything to do with them.

Agreement #3  Don’t Make Assumptions-

 

All assumptions are fantasies made in your mind about the behavior of others. See yourself reflected in the faces of others. Deal with the facts using the pure nature of your words and that of others. Truth is desired; fiction can be left behind.

 

Agreement #4

– Always Do Your Best

A simple thought can change your life negatively or positively. In each activity, each day, in every moment, simply trying to do your best is all anyone can do. If you continually strive to accomplish your highest achievement: you will embody your best to all.

Other Key Thoughts from Notes:

 

-Be who you are NO matter what someone says about you, or whatever they do, don’t take their words personally, and it doesn’t hurt anymore.  You will no longer be afraid to love, to share, or to open your heart.  NO ONE ELSE IS LIKE YOU!!

-Most people are emotionally wound

ed and sick with fear. All people carry wounds in their minds, which are open and hurting. They make us afraid to be who we are.

-Shyness is a fear of expressing yourself, and you may believe you don’t know how to sing or how to dance, but this is just repression of the healthy human instinct to express love.

-We are born into this society, grow up in it, and we are condemned to be like everyone else in it. Playing nonsense all the time.

-Fear leads to injustice- we become full of emotional poison, which eventually we have to release in some manner. Telling someone how bad they are or about all of their perceived flaws. These actions allow the poison to move from one person to another.

-Love is not about concepts: Love is about action.  To practice love is the only way to master it.

-Bad, complicated, unhealthy relationships are based on fear, drama, and the war for control.  The battle for control = no respect and selfishness, not love. “I have to control you because I don’t respect you. I have to be responsible for you because whatever happens to you is going to hurt, and I want to avoid pain.

-Team players play together but not against each other, and you are playing because you want to have fun.

-Track of love- you are giving more than you are taking. You love yourself enough not to allow selfish people take advantage of you.

  • Everyone dreams of their dream. You can control your half but nothing else. Or partner in a relationship is responsible for their half.
  • Know what love is and what is fear: you become aware of how you communicate your dream. The choices you make in each moment determines the quality of your communication. Just by catching the awareness of the track of fear, you can change it. Merely changing your attention can change your world.
  • Love and happiness come out of you. There is no dependence on anyone else for feeling this way.

This book allowed me to look at my dream and how I was not myself in some ways. Following the four agreements can give you freedom. Just the fact that most people are not treating you a certain way because of you, but because of them has been great for my personal growth. It is being a better communicator to other people, not assuming and asking questions and being impeccable with my word and honest with all, and doing my best. The level of my best can change from day today, but I try to give it all, whatever that tends to be on that day.  I recommend this book to anyone who is seeking personal growth and understanding.

Quotes from the Four Agreements

“To be alive is the biggest fear humans have. Death is not the biggest fear we have; our biggest fear is taking the risk to be alive — the risk to be alive and express what we are. Just being ourselves is the biggest fear of humans.”

“We don’t see the truth because we are blind. What blinds us are all those false beliefs we have in our mind. We have the need to be right and to make others wrong. We trust what we believe, and our beliefs set us up for suffering. It as if we live in the middle of a fog that doesn’t let us see any further than our own nose. We live in a fog that is not even real. This fog is a dream, your personal dream of life — what you believe, all the concepts you have about who your are, all the agreements you have made with others, with yourself, and even with God.”

“Nothing other people do is because of you. It is because of themselves. All people live in their own dream, in their on mind; they are in a completely different world from the one we live in.”1

“The problem with making assumptions is that we believe they are the truth.”

“All the sadness and drama you have lived in your life was rooted in making assumptions and taking things personally.”