Tag Archives: appreciation for life

Inner Security

One might look for a mighty castle to provide safety.

Life seems to be a maze of things we develop fear about experiencing. We are continuously looking for security in our day-to-day experience. Sometimes we look for relationships to provide a safe place to be ourselves. In other moments we see money as a security blanket against the world’s troubles. We create a constant state of stress and worry about what might happen and never know the joy and power of the moments we are in right now. To live in this way will push people to block good things from entering life and keep you on the treadmill of unhappiness. To stop the cycle, a person needs to start to look inside for items that are always there, always accessible, and always positive. These things are inside each of us, and turning your focus to them will provide as much security as you can expect in this life.

No matter what we do or how well we plan, the truth is. We have very little control over our external security, and we have total control over our inner security. To lack the ability to find safety inside is the definition of insecurity. No matter what happens outside, be secure about your reactions and feelings. Here are some areas your awareness can go to find security daily.

Find The Moment

Too often, too many people choose to live their conscious moments worrying about the future or regretting the past. Ignoring the most precious moment they have, the present moment. Being mindful of where you are right now and becoming aware of the situations, people, and things in your current reality are the only thing you have. The past is recollected the way we think of it, and the future is nothing but a fantasy. It hasn’t happened yet and may never occur the way you think.

Getting into the moment is as simple as being aware of what you are doing and living from that perspective. Sometimes we are so routine-oriented we make the majority of our choices through subconscious programming. Making conscious choices and noticing the moment is a power we have at our fingertips in each moment. There is significant security in this because the moment will always be the only thing there is, so making the most of it and finding joy in it makes a lot of sense. This appreciation comes from the inside, and you have it available to you all the time. It can be hard to see if your focus is “out there.”

Be Open

Another way to be secure is to be open-hearted toward the world. Too often choose to separate ourselves from others because they are different from us. But we all are the same, and by practicing an open heart, we can foster security of connection with all people because we are all connected. We all have the same blood in our veins and breath the same air. We have thoughts, take actions, and love one another. So many see fear when they look at individuals who are different from themselves, and it causes people to withdraw.

When you open your heart to others and life, you realize you are all in the same production, doing your best to play the role you have been assigned. Don’t waste time judging someone else; invest your time getting to know someone from a different station in life. Send love to everyone, especially those who are negative. They need it the most. Open your heart, and security will be yours.

Accept Yourself

Most people see the flaws in themselves quite easily. We compare ourselves to the images we see in the mainstream media or even on social media and pick out the ways we don’t quite measure up. Rather than seeing our uniqueness as a strength or an unusual defining characteristic, we dislike ourselves and hate that part of us. We have to accept what we are. It doesn’t mean we can’t improve and change. If you don’t get yourself now, you won’t receive yourself in a month or a year or five years when you have made all these changes.

Bring your awareness to the things about you, which are lovely and unique and make you a one-of-a-kind experience for the world because each of us has the luxury of being this. There has never been another person who looks like you, talks like you, or has your skillset throughout time. It has never happened before, and it will never happen again. Too often, people fight against who they are and what they look like because nobody is perfect. It is in our imperfections that many of our strengths lie. There is absolute security in the person you are. Embrace that person and accept them, strengths, flaws, and all.

Awareness and Appreciation

You are an infinite, creative, unique, and inventive living on this planet. Start to use your awareness to see all of the things already in your life, which are lovely, and then take a short moment to appreciate them for just being themselves in the scope of the world. Your awareness is the connection to your attention and focuses on what you are experiencing. Knowledge stops you from taking things for granted and allows opportunities for growth from passing by you.

Appreciation is a door you can open, which will bring more into your life. Are you a person who always sees the bad? Or can you find the good in any situation? All people have a choice about where they fall on this continuum. The majority of the thoughts you entertain and believe to be true will dominate your energy and the life you experience. Focusing on more positive things will allow more of those things to enter your life—a choice.

Unconditional Love

This emotion is the rarest of things because society has conditioned us to expect something in return for what we create or give to others. Putting your focus on the love you have for others is a great place to seek security, but the best is how you choose to love yourself. Nobody is perfect, but all of us are entirely constructed to be exactly who we are. It is too easy to stop and put awareness of your flaws rather than your talent and greatness. It is not arrogance or avarice to be proud of what you do well or what you love about yourself. To want more of these  things is a natural progression,

To offer unconditional love to the world or someone else is tough to do. The ego always tells you to judge someone for their harmful actions and punish them by not loving them anymore. It happens every day worldwide; love is lost and replaced with vengeance, anger, and even hate. Letting these emotions and thoughts dominate your mind and reality will harm you, not the person you are angry at and hate at that moment. You can love someone and keep them at a safe distance. Choose to love, no matter what, and see how it changes your life and gives you power.

Learn to focus and awareness of these things and develop the inner security that comes with them. There is little we can do to avoid the pitfalls and challenges that come to us externally, but we can build a security net inside ourselves, which is totally in our control.

Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.– Buddha

 

Both Sides Now

the flip side of lifeWouldn’t it be nice if all we had to deal with in our lives was a success in all we do and happiness in all experiences? I think everyone would feel the same way, no sadness, loss, or grief, just happy things that are easy to deal with, yet we all know that life isn’t going to come as quickly as that. We all must go through some difficult times, and I think that is OK because you will never appreciate the good in life unless there is the opposite aspect to compare it to in life. There is always a flip side. How do you know that life is giving you what you need now? You are experiencing it. Please take a moment and focus your conscious thought on this very thought of how opposites teach you lessons and see what words and actions arise from it. It will probably be a better version of yourself, and you will value the joyous times and good experiences all the more when they happen.

Sunshine and Rain

No matter what your preferred weather is, there is difficulty enjoying it thoroughly without having experienced the opposite of your desired temperature. For me, it is the weather of the fall in the northeast.

sunshine without rainWe are blessed with pleasant temperatures and cooler weather at night, which is perfect for sleeping. Each day it seems that there is a different and wondrous color scheme on display. Fall has a feeling in your heart that you can’t explain, feel. Yet the appreciation I have for this season is deepened by the hot, uncomfortable summer weather and the oncoming extreme cold and snow of winter. Those intense experiences help you tune into the perfection of September/October that you are experiencing in the perfect dance of autumn.

If the weather were as you like, all of the time, you would eventually find that you lose the special appreciation you have for it. It would be more difficult at any rate to find that appreciation for the beautiful autumn days, and they would be “days.”

I think this is true about all things in life. We need to have what we don’t want to know what we do want and, more importantly, appreciate it when it is in our lives and seek it out daily if you can.

Being Alone Leads To Growth

Most people long for comfort and company, yet many have this in their lives and manage to throw it away because of a bit of moment or slight that they perceive. If you

have ever been without someone who “gets you” and is forced to live your life truly on lonely makes you appreciate relationshipsyour own, then it is difficult to appreciate it when you have that connection partner in your life.

You would be much less likely to throw that relationship away if you knew what real loneliness felt like inside. The warmth of happiness and connection should stop people from cheating and taking their partners for granted.   The opposite side of this coin would help many a relationship find its way through rough waters.

Empathy for another and understanding the feelings, dreams, and ideas that make someone else tick is, to me, one of the most critical features of any relationship. It allows you to understand and be understood, give accordingly, and receive. When empathy is gone, and people start worrying about their own needs without concern for the needs of the other, trouble is not far away.

Sometimes you need to be alone to allow yourself to grow into the person you are meant to become. Much like a seed needs to be in the ground alone, you may need the same situation to allow yourself to grow in understanding and ideas. Life is a tricky game, and none of us have all the answers at the outset. That is why it is so damn impressive. You do not have to be lonely to appreciate the company of others, but it certainly does make it a lot easier to remember and keeps your empathy at the surface.

Loss Makes You Appreciate What You Have

If you have never lost everything, you do not appreciate everything you have quite as much. Everything is a subjective word that can apply to anyone and their situation. You may lose your family, friends, possessions, or guiding principles and strand you in life with no clear guidance or a place to call home.

Whatever it is that you lose, a friend, a family member, a relationship, it is through this loss, you will learn to appreciate what you do have. When you evaluate the things you have lost in your life, remember to include equal time thinking about the good that you have in your life and the appreciation you have for it — practice gratitude to some degree every day.

Sometimes the wounds of the loss are too big, and we can never move past them. Sometimes the pain of loss or the idea of the damage has engulfed us and our identity to the point that we can’t see around it. My experience tells me that once I have let something go, there is an appreciation for the people and things that are in my life that I would never have known.

You don’t have to lose everything to find this appreciation, and you have to look at what you have in your life and be grateful for it.

Seeing the Dark Side

To be human is to possess the ability to be very, very good, but each person also comes equipped with a dark side. Much like Darth Vader in Star Wars, we all have to choose which side of life our thoughts, choices, and actions will take us. There is power in being positive, helpful, honest, kind, and a decent human being society would fall without this attitude is prevalent. But there is a dark side in all of us.

One of the things that make good people so beautiful is that we make a choice each day to be that way. Sometimes, it can be a natural choice to follow the voices of fear and separate, ridicule, lie, gossip, or be selfish. Each of our actions balances out in our vibrational energy and just what you are putting into the world mentally, and with your efforts, you will get back to you. If you are not happy with where you are, look at your mental game and see how it is playing out. Take affirmative action, and positive will happen. Follow the light side of the force.

Look at the Flip Side of Everything

So my final urging is to look at the flip side of everything that you experience each and

Superman is not as great without a villain to compare him to.
Superman is not as great without a Lex Luther to battle against.

every day. Noticing that there is something positive for you to appreciate in every situation. Enjoy moments of downtime as well as deserved respites from the whir of activity that often rules your life.

Appreciate the moments of being by yourself as opportunities to grow. Nobody knows who you will end up with, but remember that making yourself the best person you can, will bring the person into your life who will make you better. With the heart-wrenching bitterness that death and loss of a loved one get to your life, there is an appreciation for those you live with still that can envelop your heart and touch your soul if you look for them.

That is why we should always look for and appreciate the flip side of the coin because we would never understand the value of moments in our lives without it. Light without darkness, happiness without sadness, love without fear, the experiences that we live define us by our ability to appreciate our journeys. 

“Belief systems thrive in circumstances of the collision. Their opposites energize them.”– James P. Carse

“All colors are the friends of their neighbors and the lovers of their opposites.” – Marc Chagall