All posts by Jonathan Hilton

22

The Essential Lessons

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What We Should Teach

There are many life lessons we will learn

Presented with the opportunity to teach anything I wanted, and assuming that anyone wanted to learn, there is no doubt that I would try to teach a few of the things I have learned from life that I think are important.

 There were many important things that I never considered early on in life, which have proven invaluable and nearly vital knowledge today.

 These lessons may not be mind-blowing, but I think they are essential for you to be all you want to be in life. Whether you believe they have a place in your life or not is up to you.

1. There is Greatness in You

No matter the circumstance of life, each of us has the potential for greatness inside. How that greatness shows itself is different for everyone, but it is nonetheless. The secret is to find your area of expertise and allow it to grow.

greatnessIgnore the limiting thoughts of others. DonDon’tt your own negative self-talk discourage you. Follow the feeling in your heart that tells you quietly and confidently what you should be doing. Know that you are great, and allow it to show. Some of us have hidden our talent for so long that we have forgotten what direction to look or what to look for.

The first step to finding out what your skill set might contain is to start to look for it. Once you do, I have found that things tend to fall together quite naturally to develop and present you with a path to follow.

Before any of that can happen, you have to accept that you have greatness in you with the potential to do whatever you dream of.

2. Love or Fear will rule you.

There are two forces inside each of us, and everything we do comes from them: love or fear. You can choose which one you pay attention to in any situation.

 Love is not just romantic love. That is a tiny part of the entirety of the emotion, and it includes all branches of this positive emotion. Kindness, acceptance, joy, peace, love, humility, empathy, and truth are all things that come from this positive force.

Fear or Love Frame the Phrase Adyashanti Fear is the opposite and leaves its calling cards behind, evil, anger, jealousy, greed, resentment, lies, inferiority, and ego. Following these feelings and thoughts will bring more situations to make the same choice. What you think is who you are.

With every situation you encounter throughout life, you will be faced with this simple choice of how you approach it, and your choices will determine what kind of life you experience.

It is important to remember this choice because sometimes you may be in a situation where someone elselse’soice will affect you.

How positive the impact you have in life will, in a nutshell, be boiled down to which of these two opposing forces you align yourself with.

 

3. Gratitude is the Attitude

I do not know if gratitude can be taught or not, but it is vitally important to have a good life. Often, we spend life looking at what we dondon’tve and wondering why.

This thought pattern will only bring more awareness to what you dondon’tve. Since you spend all of your thought on the lack in your life, that is precisely what you will continue to experience.

InspiringsFramedPrintGratitudeBestowsReverenceThe alternative is to focus on what you do have, and even if it isnisn’tch, being genuinely grateful for what you do have will open the door’ for more to come into your life. Since your thoughts are about gratitude and being thankful, the world will find a way to see that you experience more of these things.

Being grateful is recognizing what you have and experiencing some joy about it. Being grateful will allow you to enjoy that thing and experience a feeling of joy surrounding it.

 If you are experiencing joy, even on a small scale, it is hard not to be happy. If you are happy, well, isnisn’tat the purpose of this little game called life? I think it should be, and I am grateful to be able to tell you this.

4. Live in the Present Moment

Speaking of being happy, you must learn how to live in the moment. That means you are aware of and appreciate what is happening in your life. It would seem simple to do, yet very few people do it.

 Distractions take out minds to all sorts of places rather than where we are. You cancan’tjoy today if your mind is lost in yesterday or tomorrow. If you arearen’tesent, then your happiness will evade you.

33214115972027956_gojpenAi_f Look at people walking down the street today; most are focused on anything other than where they are. On the morning commute, almost every eye is looking at their phone or Apple Watch searching for something that is not with them.

The present moment and all that it has to offer is ignored for a fantasy of thought that takes you anywhere, but at the moment, you are actually in.

This is important because if you live your life half aware of what is going on right in front of you, it will be challenging to experience long-lasting happiness. Simply because if your joy is in the past or uncertain future, it is not with you right now.

conclusion

I would include many other lessons in my lesson plans for life, but that will have to wait for another day. I am grateful to all of you who have read to this point! You just made my day! Remember that the end game of life is to be happy. So if you are making decisions or having thoughts and experiences that arearen’trking to that end, you need to change them. You have the power to do this anytime you want, and you have to like it.

 Reflections on the way things used to be…….. lead to knowledge

22

Your Valuable Learning Experiences

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Familiar Territory

Everyone makes mistakes
It’s OK To Make Mistakes

An inevitable part of being human is that we all make mistakes in life. Nobody is perfect, no matter how hard we try to be.

That has always made us wonder: Why are we all so hard on ourselves when we make a mistake? When you analyze things, you see that failure can be a real problem. Nobody would choose an error and the trauma that comes along with it over the easy sailing of success, but that leads back to the point, no matter who you are, no matter how smart, funny, famous or talented, you are going to make mistakes and experience failure at some point in your life.

But I wanted to say that our lives are not the mistakes and failures that define us; how we react to those mistakes and failures determines who we are.

“In school, we learn that mistakes are bad, and we are punished for making them. Yet, we learn by making mistakes when we look at how humans are designed to learn. We learn to walk by falling; if we never fell, we would never walk.”
― Robert T. Kiyosaki, Rich Dad, Poor Dad

How a Mistake can Crush You

mistakes can crush you
Good Quote

When bad things happen in life, you have a choice in how to deal with them. You always have a choice. You can let the wrong something define you or let the unfortunate incident teach you how to be a better person.

Being human, I have made many life mistakes and bad decisions and experienced failure. There have been times when I was discouraged and felt sorry that life wasn’t fair, and it was easy to place all of the blame on others’ actions.

But if I wanted to grow and evolve into the kind of person I wanted to be, I had to look hard in the mirror and understand that if I let the bad things that have happened in my life crush me, then I am allowing my life and my destiny to be determined by someone else.

When you let your whole being be so controlled by not only the mistakes you make but, even more importantly, what you perceive others to think about your setbacks, you will slowly be crushed by your mistakes.

How a Failure can inspire You

Don't let Mistakes Define You
You Are Awesome

All great things have been accomplished for one of two reasons, inspiration or desperation. What may, on the surface, seem like a failure may be viewed as a victory in the broad scope of one’s life.

You may have discovered a talent you would never have found because you were forced to look for it. You may have traveled somewhere you would never have gone because your failure caused you to move. You may have met your soulmate only after a nasty breakup that allowed you to look inside yourself and discover what you need in a relationship. It is easy to quit in life, and it is easy to go into the fetal position and say, “Enough.”

But when you push yourself to continue pursuing a complete and happy life,  you will find that many of the low barriers we face in life are merely hurdles to hop over on our way to the finish line, not impenetrable walls that stop us from achieving greatness. Sometimes, our mistakes, failures, or setbacks can provide the momentum to push us toward making dreams a reality.

Don’t let the Fear of Failure Determine Your Future.

learning from mistakes
A Long Book!

Whatever the case, we can’t let the fear of failure determine how we live our life because we can fail at any time, and it can happen.

Learning how to deal with the loss and disappointment of having things not work out the way we plan may be the most valuable lesson we can learn in life. Life guarantees only one thing you will have experiences; that’s about it.

You are not assured that your life will be non-stop happiness without any sadness or disappointment. Those just come as a part of the package, but true greatness can be achieved by anyone who sees the risk of failure and disappointment but continues to see what happens.

Do not let the fear of what might happen to stop you from doing anything in life. You may fail, you may look foolish, some people may laugh, and you may be misunderstood, but all of that doesn’t matter if you have to courage to look your fear in the eye and try!

You will NEVER accomplish anything worthwhile unless you create a dream and have the courage to try to make it come true. If you make mistakes or fail along the way, understand that it is not a condemnation of your goals and dreams but a needed step to achieving them. Nobody said that doing anything worthwhile would be easy or quick to complete.

In fact, as in most things, the journey to achieving our goals needs to be appreciated as much as reaching the plan itself. You will always cherish the victory when you know it was hard-fought and won, which will have much more value.

Quotes On Mistakes

“Some of the best lessons we ever learn, we learn from our mistakes and failures. The error of the past is the success and wisdom of the future.” – Tyron Edwards.

“A failure is an event, never a person.” ~William D. Brown,

“I have learned more from my mistakes than from my successes.” – Sir Humphry Davy

“The only time you don’t fail is the last time you try anything – and it works.” ~William Strong

“Even a mistake may turn out to be the one thing necessary to a worthwhile achievement.” – Henry Ford

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” ~Thomas Edison

“If you have made mistakes…there is always another chance for you. You may have a fresh start at any moment you choose, for this thing we call ‘failure’ is not the falling, but the staying down.” – Mary Pickford

“When we begin to take our failures non-seriously, it means we are ceasing to be afraid of them. It is of immense importance to learn to laugh at ourselves.” – Katherine Mansfield

“There is no failure except in no longer trying.” ~Elbert Hubbard

“Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” ~Samuel Beckett

“We learn wisdom from failure much more than success. We often discover what we WILL do by finding out what we will NOT do.” – Samuel Smiles

“If you’re doing your best, you won’t have time to worry about failure.”

“Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.” – Albert Einstein.

“You know, by the time you’ve reached my age, you’ve made plenty of mistakes if you’ve lived your life properly.” – Ronald Reagan.

“Failure doesn’t mean you are a failure… it just means you haven’t succeeded yet.” ~Robert Schuller

“One fails forward toward success.”  ~Charles F. Kettering

“Nobody makes a greater mistake than he who does nothing because he could do so little.” – Edmund Burke

“One must be a god to be able to tell successes from failures without making mistakes.”  ~Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

“A man may fall many times, but he won’t be a failure until he says that someone pushed him.” ~Elmer G. Letterman

“Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat.” ~F. Scott Fitzgerald

“There are defeats more triumphant than victories.” ~Michel de Montaigne

“Notice the difference between what happens when a man says to himself, “I have failed three times,” and what happens when he says, “I am a failure.” “~S.I. Hayakawa

“A failure is a man who has blundered but cannot cash in the experience.” ~Elbert Hubbard

22

Become Who You Are Meant To Be

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When we are young, we have many dreams about our lives in the future. The places we will travel, the people we will meet in our lives, and what types of careers we will participate in. These dreams fuel us when we are very young, but as we age, many of these beautiful thoughts of our imaginations leave us and they are replaced with the concrete ideas of others.

It is easy to dismiss all of these creations of our youthful imaginations as fantasy and foolishness, but that may be a mistake. Life is a one-stop-shop of experiences. What you choose to do with your time will define you and determine how much you enjoy this human experience. Life will help you remember the information needed to become who you were meant to be.

The People We Meet

Not every person you meet in life is there to help you find your purpose, but most of them are. People enter your life for a reason, and most often, it is to teach you one lesson or another. Our job is to pay attention to those lessons. Those sent to love us are the best because they teach us the value of ourselves and how we can impact life. They enter your life and teach you how joyous life can be.

There are also the people who are sent to teach us the negative of life. Not everyone is going to love or even like you. That is OK. Usually, it has a lot more to do with them than it does with you. Your job is not to take it personally and to learn the lessons they teach. Often the address is what not to do in a particular situation. All people have a class, take a moment and, listen to it, see what you can learn. Their message may seem annoying or close-minded, but all interactions have a lesson. The lesson may be that you don’t want to be like them. But that is still a valuable lesson.

Events Are Teachers

Experiences come to us every day. Sometimes they are not what we want, but they are always what we need. We all set goals and dream of what we want our lives to be like. Sometimes we need to develop skills, knowledge, and wisdom to allow those things to happen. Life knows what you need to get where you want to go. Sometimes the experiences you need are not the most enjoyable, but they are the most valuable. Deal with all of your experiences from the standpoint of reality.

Accept them for what they are, positive, negative, or neutral, and learn what you can from them. It is one of the oldest sayings in the world, and things happen for a reason. They happen, and it is up to you to decide the cause. A value to you may differ from someone else, and your experience is unique. Evaluate each moment for the value you can get from it.

Places of Influence

A physical location is just a place. But some areas bring a new experience to your life, in the weather or the people and culture. With each unique site you visit, we all grow and develop greater wisdom about life. Each new place brings a new chapter to your story and a greater understanding of the world. Each new location influences your ideas and your emotions.

There are also places in our past that contain the magic of our lives. People who have long since departed this world still live in our memories, and the magic is for an instant, you are transported back to a time when those people of influence were still with you, and for just a moment, you feel that you can speak to them. It is essential to realize that these are just places, and the memory they bring has value.

Look at all the people, events, and places you have seen, and look for the lessons they sought to teach you. Take moments to evaluate all you have been exposed to and treasure the value. Use it all as you move forward toward accomplishing your goals and making your dreams a reality.

“Life doesn’t give you the people you want; it gives you the people you need: To love you, to hate you, to make you, to break you, and to make you the person you were meant to be.”  Walt Whitman

 

22

Conscious of Our Conversations

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Your conversation topics are a choice
Your conversation topics are a choice.

Every day you have a chance to raise your vibration by eliminating some negative tones in your conversations that can cause a person to vibrate at a lower level. These things should surprise you because they have continually made you unhappy and unmotivated for years. Each topic we decide to engage in will create our mood, energy, and personal vibration. The great thing is that we can be conscious of our conversations’ tone and choose to pursue the opposite. You control this and dictate how you and those you speak with feel during and after your conversations.

Avoid the Gossip

Gossip is the language of small minds
Gossip is the language of small minds.

Gossip is a topic that needs to be avoided. Talking about people who aren’t present and their actions, thoughts, or situations will lower your vibration. The cure is avoiding talking about others unless they are current and involved in the conversation. When you catch yourself talking about other people, then change the subject and talk about something else more positive. Gossip can be intoxicating because it bonds with those you gossip with. Unfortunately, that bond is not healthy and will lead to feeling bad about yourself and those you are talking with. Talk about people and situations present in your conversation, and you will be a lot happier in your life.

Don’t judge others

judgementAlong with gossip goes judgment. When you look at someone else and place a negative connection between their circumstances and their character’s quality, you have judged. Most often, assessments are used to make the speaker feel superior to others and better about their own lives. The idea is that “, “e messed up, but at least I am not that messed up. “This attitude will lower your vibration and lead your conversations down the unpleasant path. Worry about yourself and your situation. There is no need to judge anyone else because they live their lives, and you are living yours. Accept others and their situations, and your happiness level will rise.

Speak Positively

talk positivelyBeing negative and speaking negatively about other things is going to lead to a lowering of your vibration. What you focus on grows in life, and if you focus on the negative things in your experience, then more of those will show up in your life. Focusing on positive topics and being more positive in your speech is just as easy. It will make you much more interesting to speak to, and it will also expand the positive things in your life. Avoid negative conversations in your life; your vibration will rise, and your level of happiness will increase.

Complaining Does No Good

Complaining about things always will make your conversation feel negative and heavy. No Dont complainproblem was ever solved by complaining about it. Look at your challenges and understand that all circumstances have a positive side. One situation evaluated as unfavorable may lead you to take steps that are, in the end, ultimately positive. Spending time complaining about your situation keeps your focus on that moment rather than moving forward and finding a solution to the problem at hand. That solution may be one small decision away from what you could make now if you put your complaining aside. Stop complaining in your conversation, and you will be a lot happier in your life. Complaining doesn’t do any good, brings no solutions, and nobody cares anyway.

No Excuses

excusesMaking excuses can only limit you and what can be accomplished. Rather than accepting our share of the responsibility for any situation, we make excuses that absolve us of responsibility. When you make excuses that others buy, you are stating that you are helpless to find a solution to your problems. This feeling of helplessness is debilitating and leads to playing the victim in more and more situations. Being a victim will always make you unhappy and less than you can be. Instead of making excuses, look for places where you could have made a different choice and better manage your situation. When you face similar circumstances in the future, you can make choices that will lead to a more positive outcome. This can only happen if you stop making excuses and take responsibility for situations in your life. When you do this, you will be happier.

Stretching the Truth

exaggerationExaggeration is another practice to avoid in your conversation to be a more positive influence on the lives of those around you. Stretching the truth to make an act seem more impressive than it was or to make a person feel better about themselves is pointless and muddies the waters of truth. Rather than discussing the things happening, an effort is spent making up circumstances that are not realistic. That behavior will make the fact seem less appealing and lower your self-esteem because you feel that the truth is not exciting or interesting. Your actual actions and experiences need to be built up to be any good, and your self-esteem reflects that. Tell it like it is and avoid exaggeration in your conversation, and you will be happier.

Lying Limits Your Truth

34771-you-don-t-have-to-lie-to-me-quotesFinally, lying is one of the topics of conversation that needs to be avoided to be happier in your everyday life. The truth will set you free, which is the case regarding the discussion. Each lie that you tell will affect you and your life. That is just the way that it works. It doesn’t matter if anybody else knows, you know. It may seem like a lie is benefiting you in the short term, but eventually, you will pay for lying. Focus on telling the truth; you will never have to worry about your lies coming to light. More effort is spent perpetuating lies than was ever spent enjoying the fact. Happiness will come when you avoid telling lies. It is easy to say nothing rather than lie about situations and people. Tell the truth, and you will be happier. A lie is a lot of work to create and maintain, so it is essential to realize that the truth is easier to speak in all ways. It is healthier for you and your relationships and will set you free.

When you have conversations in the future, I challenge you to think of these things, draw them into your consciousness, pursue the positive and flee from the negative. Knowing is half that battle, and now you know what to be conscious of.

22

Time To Let Your Inner Light Shine

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One of my observations about people in this life is that we all, without exception, have a light inside us. It is the divine spark of life in which we can express the best aspects of who we are, and through this light, we can find accomplishment and make a mark on the world in a profound way. In some, this light has been nurtured and protected, efficiently burning bright for all to see.

In others, life has given us situations where we have chosen to allow other obstacles to dim our light. Each decision we make, each thought we decide to pay attention to, and all of the time we choose to be unproductive in providing a slow, ever-darkening veil over our light, and for some people, that light is so far buried inside of our negative choices, we forget what it looked like in the first place.

But that light is still there, deep inside of you, and the veil of darkness covering it for years can be stripped away piece by piece, and that light can rise again when you remember who you are and what you are here to do in this world. Who knows why life provides us with all of the challenges we face? I think the value of something is much more when it is well earned, but the risk involved in living is that you will lose yourself and your light in the selfish chase of mindless pursuits. Your light is inside you, waiting for the chance to come out. The only thing that can stop it is you.

Forgotten

So what is the light inside of you? It is a specific thing for each person. We have a power that will give the world something it needs to function at its best. Ironically, it will allow you to be the best functioning individual you can be. It may be to run a business well, employing many and providing good jobs to people as you contribute to the world’s greater good through the positive decisions you make each day. You may be meant to entertain and bring positive energy into the lives of others through that venue. Maybe it is an art that will allow you to express your inner light to the world and send a message you need to speak, and someone else needs to hear.

Whatever your calling and they are as varied as the number of people in the world, you must keep pursuing them as that allows your light to grow. We start to forget ourselves when we listen to the stories, thoughts, and desires others have for us. The job we pursue is considered a promising career, even though it doesn’t resonate with us when we take advantage of a situation because it will give us short-term gain even though it is morally wrong and taken from someone else. The choices we make define who we are and stick with us. Your light will be dimmed each time you are dishonest, mean, selfish, unethical, jealous, envious, or focused on the negative. Sometimes fear makes us look at the world through such a negative frame we forget our goodness altogether, and our lights fade to the point we don’t even remember having one. Once failed, you need a catalyst to remind you, or you will never be who you are.

Remembering

Once we start believing our lives should be lived the way others see fit, we buy into that story and live it daily, never comprehending that our inner unhappiness stems from the fact we have forgotten our own story. Some people never remember and live their entire lives by the rules, expectations, and desires of others. Doing it all and doing it well and then realizing they are not happy or fulfilled in that life. At these moments, the Universe puts people in our lives to become catalysts to remember who we are. People living by their light and being true to themselves provide a very vivid comparison to the empty lives we are experiencing.

Once you look at your life by contributing to the world, you start to remember what you were meant to be. When you were young, before life piled on you, and before you had negative experiences of loss, challenge, or simply not being good enough, your light was bright and easy to see. Remember the innate goodness, kindness, and joy you lived every day. You can start wherever you are to begin to remember. One choice of service. One decision to focus on the positive. One moment of doing what is good for someone else rather than what you perceive as good for yourself. These things will bring your light back to life and allow you to get your power back to life.

Let No Person Dim Your Light

I have met many people in my life. Each of them has a light of its own, and I see it and appreciate it in everyone. Unfortunately, some have forgotten their light so much that seeing yours shine is a painful reminder of what they are missing. Misery loves company, and that is the case here. People have diminished, criticized, judged, and belittled me in my life recently for their reasons. Some don’t even know me, and I know it mirrors the emptiness of their life and the dimness of their light. If you let them, others will dim your ability to shine.

Don’t let them; each person is responsible for developing their talents and letting the light inside them show to the world. That goes for you and me. We can only do our best to be the most excellent version of ourselves. What others think, even those we love, doesn’t matter. You can choose how honest you are, how fair, how understanding, how kind, how giving, or how forgiving you are as a person. These choices in your life will be the definition of you as a person. It can be effortless to fall into the trap of fear. Yet, no matter how far you have lost, it is never too late to make new choices and move your life in a new, more positive direction. Move your life more to the light. Don’t let anyone else make choices for you that will dim your light in any way.

“Someday perhaps the inner light will shine forth from us, and then we’ll need no other light.”-Johann Wolfgang von Goeth.

“There is no death where the inner light shines, irradiating the fields of the within — the beyond — the unattainable attainment. You know where to find me.”- Elsa Barker

“Listen to the inner light;
It will guide you.
Listen to the inner Peace;
It will feed you.
Listen to the inner Love;
It will transform you,
It will divinize you,
It will immortalize you.”  -Sri Chinmoy

“There is no amount of darkness that can extinguish the inner light. The important thing is not to spend our lives trying to control the environment around us, and the task is to control the environment within us.” – Joan D. Chittister.

 

22

How to Use Your Space

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You Create Space Where Things are Created

quote-Jonathan-Sacks-make-space-in-your-life-for-the-213035Change is an inevitable and vital part of life. Change is happening to everyone each day. Some of the differences are imperceptible as to be invisible, but they are their none the less. It is human nature to hold tightly to the past and the things we are comfortable with, like a child with a blanket. These ideas and possessions present a form of comfort, even if they no longer serve us in any meaningful way.

We each have a certain amount of space in our lives for the people and possessions that matter most to us.   Space in our lives is an important entity. There is only so much in our consciousness, and for new things to come into our lives, we must let go of some older things. To be healthy, all people must grow, and space helps us evolve into a better version of ourselves.

Cleaning Out The Closet

616245989833236_a-c5911e68_0MWQUg_pmCreating space in your life is the same as creating space in a closet. Your life has collected experiences, thoughts, and ideas about everything from the designated hitter’s value in baseball to where honesty fits into your life. As we develop as people, the number of items we collect can become bulky and hard to handle. Our “closets” are getting full, and it is time to weed out our thoughts and find the ones that will provide the most value in your life.

As you look at the new thoughts and information coming into your existence through a change, you can remove older ideas and ideas that are simply taking up space. Some clothes once were relevant in your closets at home, which are not of value anymore. Finally, giving them away to charity and getting them out of your life creates space for new things that will have relevance in your world today.

The same can be said about thoughts, ideas, and beliefs we carry throughout our lives. How many are ready to be recycled? What new ideas and experiences can take their place?

Growth is the Result

The benefit of letting go of the old and creating space for the new is the unstoppable force of growth that will come with it. I have found that growth is a constant journey in my life, and at times, when we slow down and resist growing, life will urge us on. Sometimes that guidance will come in the form of a challenge, creating space, 222which, as unsavory as it seems, moves us toward becoming a better self. We will change anyway, get older, wiser, or become less intelligent and accepting of things. It is up to us what types of change we institute in our lives. Creating space allows new things and people to come into our lives more easily.

Letting Go of Mistakes and Misfortune

This also means that the more we hold onto the past’s mistakes and misfortunes, the less space we have available for forgiveness, learning, and all kinds of positive new things. If you are still holding onto the pain and disappointment of a past relationship, the less room there is for someone new who can bring some healing, joy, and happiness into your life. You will cling to old emotions and disappointments while new possibilities move past you because there is no space for them to enter your life. Make the space.

If you feel crowded and slow in your life and desire new things, a great place to start is to let go of the past and allow the latest to come into the spaces you created. You will never know what will come. Your life will be changed one way or another, and each day provides a blank canvas for you to create your life on. You decide if the painting will be of the possibilities in front of you or the misfortune and mistakes behind you.

Look at your life today and see what space can be created. To move forward, you have to put the past behind you. Letting go of the things that no longer serve us allows room for new experiences, people, and something that makes our lives more enjoyable. Relationships, jobs, artistic expression, etc. Accept it, embrace it, and move forward.

 

22

How Bright Will You Shine?

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When you shine from within, the world can see……

Shine-1. Give out a bright light. 2. be very talented or perform very well.

ShineWhen you look at your conscious experience every day, one of our choices is to shine. I have no more significant wish for those I care about than to see them flash their bright light on the world. Each of us has a flash of encouragement, talent, and joy, looking for a chance to bring a unique experience to all.

Are you going to shine today? To see your shine is the best for society and you as well. Do you even know that you shine? I have known many who were unaware of the inner glow they had. Be conscious today of the thoughts, words, and actions that you can take to shine. My goal is to help people shine from within because the world is a better place for it.

Kindness and Caring

Look at your day and seek out moments where your acts of kindness and caring for other people allow you to give out your bright light to another. Itshine is impossible to know how far your light will shine once you start to show it. One act of kindness can ripple through the world as one person, affected positively by your actions,  is consciously kind to another. And on and on it goes until the effects of your light have stretched far beyond your view.

The alternative is to choose not to extend kindness and to care. This act doesn’t have to be outright meanness but rather a choice to keep your light to yourself. Fear is why we won’t be understood correctly or be chastised and criticized for our caring and good action. Don’t let the fear of what might happen to dim the light that shines on you.

Rise and Shine

Each morning of my childhood, I heard this statement from my father. It was a routine, and I never thought about what good advice it shinewas until much later in life. Each morning, a new period is given to us to create almost any kind of day we want. We can choose to be our best selves and shine that light on the world. Or we can be a black cloud of doubt, fear, and apathy on those we contact.

Either way, you choose what type of day you will be a part of. Each new day’s possibilities are like ripe fruit on a tree, ready to be picked and enjoyed. If the choice is to ignore them and feel bad about yourself and others, the fruit will slowly wither and die in the sunset of that day’s opportunity. To be born again in a new chance on the next morning. You will rise and shine again. Choose how you Rise and Shine in your life today.

Your Best Self

The goal of life should be to be the best version of ourselves possible. This person combines your spiritual, mental, and physical selves. When all three of these aspects of your life are functioning together and in balance, your light will shine at its brightest. You will not be worried about what others think or what you might gain because you will be the best version of yourself possible on that day.

Letting your talents develop and reach their potential contributes to the light of the world. Creativity in all its forms allows us to shine. It begins with a thought, or a desire, moves into your words with yourself and others, and finally comes into reality through your actions. You will shine like a bright star in a dark sky. The light of your best self burns the most colorful because it isn’t dimmed by the disappointments life brings or others’ expectations. It comes from us, and it doesn’t matter who sees or notices it. It is brilliant and beautiful. Shine your light.

Today, I am challenging you to find a way to both shine yourself and notice someone else’s shining light. It is all around you, and you catch and appreciate how people shine. Make it part of your conscious thoughts, words, and actions.

I rise to taste the dawn and find that love alone will shine today. ~Ken Wilber

 

22

The Power of Our Words

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words powerI think the right words can make all the difference in everything, from the power of your conversations to the value of your work with others. Terms contain power, and with that power, there is an opportunity to allow you to change the way others see the world or even change the value of your ideas. Words can build people up or tear them down just as quickly. You are the only person who can choose what is going to happen. Choose your words wisely. 

Word Power

Every word contains within it a certain amount of power. The power to draw out your imagination or cause a strong emotional response from anyone who hears it. Each thought we have is personal and can only be expressed once paired with the right combination of language. You 41kF3Emr+sL._SX300_demonstrate this each day in your interactions throughout your life at work, home, or out and about as you move from place to place. Changing specific words in your vocabulary can change how others interact with you and, more importantly, feel about themselves because of that interaction.

Words have the power to encourage someone who is down. They can motivate anyone who hears them. Words can make the lonely feel loved and the lost understand what it is to be found. Comments can provide calmness for anger, uplift those who need it, praise the worthy, and teach powerful lessons to those who need to hear them. Yet there is, of course, a negative side to words. They can be used to destroy people, level self-esteem, wreck someone’s character, and desensitize people to another’s humanity. Comments can also destroy the positive light that is located within each person. Words contain the power to build and waste, and their wielder decides which direction their words are headed.

Take Care With Your Words

It is up to you which words you use and the damage or healing they bring to the world. If you choose carefully your wordsto disparage and destroy someone, that is what you will get with your words. Much like magic spells mentioned in fairy tales of youth, our words work on all involved fates. You have the power to tear someone down to their foundation and make it almost impossible for them to build themselves back up again. If you gossip, speak in anger, tell lies, are mean, or cast aspersions on others, your words will leave quite a path of destruction in their wake. The funny thing about this is that those who use their words to destroy others are, in the end, killed themselves.

If you choose to use your words for healing and to build people up, you will, in turn, be built up and encouraged in your journey. Terms of kindness, understanding, acceptance, encouragement, or love will lift others and allow them to see the best of themselves through your eyes. Think of the most motivational quote you have ever read or heard. It is nothing but the well-thought-out use of words, spreading their magic into your mind. The right words bloom and grow into other positive thoughts, feelings, and ideas that can improve your life, the lives of those you care about, and the world.

Do not be frivolous with your words. Use them wisely. Think before you speak. Look to encourage and support in all things, and you will have done a minor part in making the world better.

Look at the use of your words today and pair them with your actions, and you will see the absolute power you have in your comments.

 

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The Present Moment is All We Have

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This moment is the only one you are guaranteed to experience. That is a fact. Why do we spend so much time avoiding the only time we are guaranteed? The number of reasons is as wide and as varied as people in the world. Some are caught by the nostalgia of yesterday. Others are living for the next moment, tomorrow, next week, or next year ignoring what is happening. It is essential to understand the present moment and enjoy living in it to enjoy your life.

Notice Your Breath

The easiest way I have found to get myself into the moment is to learn to watch my breath. Breathing is one of our body’s only functions, both voluntarily and involuntarily. Left to its own, a person will breathe without a thought because oxygen is required for life. But the same function, when under observation, can bring a person into the moment and allow them to become conscious of it. It is as simple as thinking, “I am breathing in”  as you inhale, and “I am breathing out” as you exhale.

The depth of your breath has many functions to bring more oxygen to your body, brain, and heart and to allow your physical system to run more efficiently. It will also get you into the now, this moment, which is the only one we have.   You can do this silently by yourself and see the results at any time and in any place.

The Value of This Moment

You only have one life to live, a relatively short experience, and you should outlive it to be consciously aware of most of it. In the present moment, all decisions are made, and your life will be defined. If your mind is focused on the past and regrets old actions or on how good things will be tomorrow when this or that happens, you will miss the things you have to experience right now.

If you can be focused on and try to experience what is right in your life, happiness is there waiting for you. Even if the moment is hard, painful, or contains something you don’t want, it still provides the only experience you can have. To wish away or ignore the challenges is to wave away the living you are gifted in this life. Focus on your breath, and see what is happening right before you.

Be Creative

All people can be creative, and creativity will naturally bring you into the present moment. If you are practicing true creativity, there is no other place you can be. Painting, drawing, carving wood, planning a garden, working on a new invention, or making your workplace more efficient. All creativity will bring you into the present moment and allow you to experience the only time you have available to you.

Even if you are not good at something, you can still experience the present moment by pursuing it. People are often put off practicing creativity as youths because they are often told that their pursuits are excellent, but they can’t make a living. But making a living isn’t the point, and living your life is. Do not take criticism about your ability in creative pursuits personally. Create whenever the mood strikes you.

People Connect You to The Present

Every person you come in contact with in life provides an opportunity to be in the moment. Each conversation, short or long, shallow or in-depth, is an opportunity to be here in this moment. Please focus on the interaction and seek its value, and there is always value. If nothing else, then understand other people or yourself better. Paying attention to the words we speak and, even more importantly, the things we hear from others will provide guidance.

Nature Brings The Moment Alive

Getting yourself out into a natural setting will allow you to come into the present moment. You can’t help if you remove yourself from the electronic noise, get into the woods, or sit by.

Find the moment connecting with nature.

The ocean, there is a connection to the now created, and you will be living in the present moment, which is the only time you can have right now.

So much of our lives are filled with noise. My generation was raised to have the television on all the time and today’s youth live life attached to a phone, mindlessly scrolling through their lives on social media. There is no chance to be in the moment if your mind is on the past, the future, or in an unconscious state of muddled thought.

Take time to practice connecting with the present moment each day. The activities I recommend here are 1. Notice your breathing. 2. Value the moment. 3. Be Creative. 4. Connect with People. 5. Spend time in nature. 

This is the only moment you have, and all things happen at this moment.

22

Life Always Changes

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Change Your LifeEach day we are given a snapshot of our life, a moment to inhale and then let go. These moments seem like they are painted in pictures or carved in granite, observed and enjoyed later at our leisure.

This is fortunate because some people we love leave, and these memories are all that are left us. Nothing in life is permanent. These moments of quick reflection work to remind us of the past, but understand that growth will come only when you accept them as being over and move forward, which will change your life. We all carry a museum full of images and memories in our minds throughout life, but they are not relevant and accurate today because we are changing, and our minds must also change.

There is nothing in your life that is not changing every second. It is either an illusion or misunderstanding if you believe anything different. You change physically, as does your situation each day. This should not make anyone feel uneasy or experience fear, and it should be a reassuring pat on the back that you are on your way to reaching your goals and sharing accomplishments, relationships, and love not yet realized.

Small Stream of Change

Your situation in life, good or bad, will not last. We know this because nobody’s situation has ever stayed the same in the history of man. Change has always

Change Your Life
Each small stream creates its change, just as the small river of change does to your life. Subtly and almost imperceptibly, your life changes in every moment.

Come. Like a small stream of water working its way into solid granite, change works in your life daily. Slowly, almost imperceptibly, change works its way through your life. You are never at the same place in your life, ever. Different challenges, goals, people, experiences, or something else in your life are changing.

It seems like some things stay the same in the short view, but in time when you look up, you will see that everything is different. Just as the terrain around the stream never seems to change, there is a deep canyon after years. This canyon is the experience of your life. Each day you think, speak, share, and act, and these things are leaving your trail for the world to follow. Following that trial, the perceptive tracker can learn much about your journey. Maybe more than you think.

Life is Fluid

If you could view life changes as movement, they would continually play out before you, never standing still. I have often tried to capture a moment of happiness or a great experience, but that is the wrong approach. Life is energy, Change Your Lifeand as the energy of your life moves forward, you have the opportunity to influence its destination. Focusing on what we truly believe will create the tenor of events down the road.

In the book The Biology of Belief, Bruce Lipton stated that our beliefs permeate throughout our being from the cellular level, and changing a belief will change our experience. Life is fluid, and there is more than one option ahead of us based on our decisions about what we know is faithful to us and allows us to change our life.

Life isn’t a solid, unchanging mass that is the same for each of us; we can change our lives. It is an ever-changing collection of experiences that we are free to experience in fear, anger, hate, love, or any other emotion we choose to relate to. The resulting masterpiece will be your life, and you are the only artist that can paint that continually shifting story that is your life. Be wary of your life because it never stays the same; it constantly changes, and so do you.

Remember me to the highway signs, the colored lights, and the highway lines; remember me to my friends so kind, tell them I am fine…………..