My Shift in Progress

June 22, 2018 Jonathan Hilton Leave a comment

Understand that there are great gifts that come with getting older , we shift into a new understanding. — Understand that there are great gifts that come with getting older, we shift into a new understanding.

The recent passing of Dr. Wayne Dyer has led me to contemplate some of the thoughts that he provoked in me that led to my own personal growth. One of Dr. Dyer’s projects was called the Shift. The shift was a movie and a book about finding your true purpose in life and doing the things that truly make you happy. It teaches many wonderful lessons, and the project has a lot of layers. You can watch it more than once and something new will jump out at you each time. The shift is the natural movement in life that we experience as we age and become more experienced. We shift in personal empowerment. Here are some of the lessons I learned from this wonderful project.

We are Connected You and Me

We start to look at the world and see the connections to everyone and everything. As younger people, most buy into a philosophy of competition and separation. We are all connected with each other and everything and that is a phenomenon I would never have considered 15 years ago.

Money Doesn’t Matter

The motivations of life change as you move along in life. It isn’t the material possessions and the money that motivates you anymore. Now it is the ethics of a situation and the people we are associating with. It my shift is also the peace that we find in the quiet moments of life. As younger people, there are no quiet moments of life. That is the way life is. Serenity comes with contemplation and understanding of what makes you truly happy in life.

Miracles Can and Do Happen

One of the greatest shifts is that we move toward accepting the possibility of miracles in our lives. To believe in this possibility will provide a wonder to your life that will energize you. Not everything can be planned out and you are not responsible for the actions of the Universe. If you let them and look for them, you can see miracles almost every day. Miracles can be a part of your life.

Quiet Times are Valuable

Meditation should and can be pursued as a daily practice. I personally never considered meditation as a practice when I was younger. I saw it as a waste of valuable time. Now I think that there is no more valuable way to spend your time. Looking to make your mind quiet allows you to speak to your soul. That voice is much quieter than your mind but is rarely wrong. I learned to listen.

We are Connected to Everything

Being an individual in the world can be a scary thing. When you realize that there is part of you in all changeBetter things, you feel much less alone and the fear dissipates. Look at the sky, the trees, the animals or any part of nature and if you look closely you can see yourself. There is a feeling of connection to the world that only humans can experience.

Acceptance is Better than Judgment

Finally, the need to judge everything and everyone lessens and disappears. You realize that all people are fighting their own difficult battles in life and in different circumstances, you could be right where they are. People make a million decisions each and every day and sometimes they do not have positive results. There is no value in a judgment of others, it is only through acceptance that your personal power can grow. Judgment is not hurting those you judge but the one who is doing the judging.

In the end, I am sure that I am not saying anything that others haven’t already learned from Wayne Dyer, but for me, his voice allowed life to make a lot more sense to me. The movie The Shift is available for free online for the next week. I urge you to take the time and watch it.

Build Your Own Ark

June 22, 2018 Jonathan Hilton Leave a comment

build your own arc — Build your own ark, no matter what anybody says about you or your task. If it is inside your heart, do it.

The story of Noah has always seemed a bit peculiar to me. A gentleman decides to build a giant boat on dry land and to put a bunch of animals on board. It made no sense and people generally ridiculed him for being different and having beliefs.

Of course we know how the story ends for Noah, and those who ridiculed him. The value of this story to me is that it teaches a valuable lesson about how we should undertake our own missions in life. Each of us has within us an authentic mission to achieve in our lives. We are going to be required to build our own arks at some point, doing something that makes no sense to others but makes sense inside of you.

Do What Makes You Happy

Doing something that makes no sense may be the only way to create a real identity for ourselves in a world that is working hard to force each of us to accept the narrow conformity of what is acceptable behavior.

People are always going to be critical, don't listen be like Gollum. — People are always going to be critical, don’t let the harsh words and thoughts of others stop you from chasing your dream or reaching for your potential.

It is becoming increasingly clear that no matter what you do it is going to be accompanied by the harsh and critical judgements of others. Since people are going to be judgemental of all you do anyway, you might as well do what makes you happy.

Sometimes I think that I may just be the most dysfunctional person in the history of mankind.

There have been times when my behavior has been a perplexing string of poor decisions, which do not serve me or represent what I want my life to be like. Brave, vital, insightful, and thoughtful are just a few words I want associated with myself. In the past I found my choices were the opposite of that. The main reason was fear. Fear of the unknown, of being hurt and most significantly what others might think of my choices, behavior and life.

What others think of you is none of your business!

I have struggled with this weakness all my life, from being moderately worried as a child what others thought of me, to having significant social anxiety issues as an adult. Then the choice was clear, I had to choose each day, to honor myself and act in a fashion that was more in line with the ideals I wanted to represent. Have courage to be my own self, write what I think, express what I feel regardless of what others might think.

Nobody, including you, knows what you are capable of, until you give it a shot. Step into the unchartered waters and do what your heart tells you is right. Build your own arc, create your own masterpiece, and don’t listen to the critics. If you perform anything for those who will ridicule you, you will create very little that is exceptional.

Take the Steps to Create

Look inside yourself today and see what is there that you want to accomplish and look at the steps you have taken today to make your dream a reality. One of the best analogies for this is Noah’s Ark. I think that one of the most valuable lessons this story brings is that we should all follow our hearts regardless of what other people say. Nothing great was ever accomplished by strictly following the rules and only doing what is expected. There will be no motivation to reach beyond your current self and situation.

My challenge to myself is to continue to be my best self, writing my own truths and not worrying about what others think. They have their own issues to deal with, I have to take care of my own stuff. And it begins with building my own ark and doing it to the best of my ability. All I can do is live my life in a way that makes sense to me. I think that is all any of us can do.

So as you look at someone else who is looking to create their own dream or masterpiece of creativity, it is not your place to judge them, or to even offer advice but to look and enjoy the beauty of their creation. Perhaps it will be in the inspiration of their action that you will find your own courage to act. You may just become exceptional and build your own arc!!

The video below is about a group of people who created this one song to convince the Foo Fighters to go to Italy and perform a concert. Love the song, and the energy created by the artists. I am sure there were many people who told the guy he was crazy for doing this but he did it anyway and the results were his own arc.

Personal Development

William George Jordan- Must Read

June 17, 2018 Jonathan Hilton Leave a comment

I have read somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 books on various topics involving ideas and practices

for improving your life in some way, and one of the first was written by William George Jordan. It is an experience that I credit with fueling the desire to learn more and to begin to notice how AI thought and what I was thinking. The Majesty of Calmness, The Power of Truth, Self Control, Its Kinship and Majesty, The Trusteeship of Life or The Kingship of Self-Control, would .all be great for your mental growth and prosperity.

William George Jordan lived during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. His thoughts provide outstanding connections to life today and wonderful food for the mind. I highly recommend him for your kindle today it will help build your confidence and show you how to improve your self-esteem! Below are some of the quotes that I liked from the book so far. I will challenge you that if you read this book you will not be able to stop yourself from being a better person and making positive changes in your life. It’s impossible. There is also a video containing just a few of the thoughts of WJG. Enjoy. I think it will be good for your soul. You will start to think on a different level.

Some quotes From William George Jordan

” Life is not really what comes to us, but what we get from it.”

“Man is placed into this world not as a finality but as a possibility.”

“Man in his weakness is the creature of circumstances: Man in his strength is the creator of circumstances.”

“I am a great human soul with endless possibilities.”

“The greatest of all control is self-control.”

“Will he be king or will he be slave? The answer lies with him.”

“True friendship is rare; its great value is in a crisis, —-like a lifeboat. Many a boasted friend has proved a leaking, worthless “lifeboat” when the storm of adversity might make him useful.”

“How will I let that poverty or wealth affect me? If that trial or deprivation has left me better, truer, nobler, then, —-poverty has been riches, failure has been a success. If wealth has come to me and has made me vain, cynical, closing from me all the tenderness of life, all the channels of higher development, of possible good to my fellow-man, making me the mere custodian of a money-bag, then, wealth has lied to me, it has been failure, not success; it has not been riches, it has been dark, treacherous poverty that stole from me even Myself.”

“All things become for us then what we take from them.”

“Failure is one of God’s educators.”

“The failure of a caterpillar is the success of a butterfly.”

“It is at night, in the darkest hours, those preceding dawn, that plants grow best, that they most increase in size. May this not be one of Nature’s gentle showings to man of the times when he grows best, of the darkness of failure that is evolving into the sunlight of success.”

“Let us fear only the failure of not living the right as we see it, leaving the results to the guardianship of the Infinite.”

“Many of the rivers of our greatest prosperity and growth have had their source and their trickling increase into volume among the dark, gloomy recesses of our failure.”

“I will do each day, in every moment, the best I can by the light I have: I will ever seek more truth, and ever live as best I can in harmony with the truth as I see it. If my pathway then lie in the shadow of trial, sorrow and suffering. I shall have the restful peace and the calm strength of one who has done his best, who can look back upon the past with no pang of regret, and who has heroic courage in facing the results, whatever they be, knowing that he could not make them different. “

“The man who is seeking ever to do his best is the man who is keen, active, wide-awake, and aggressive. He is ever watchful of himself in trifles: His standard is not “What will the world say?—but—“Is it worthy of me!”

“Education, in its highest sense, is conscious training of mind or body to act unconsciously. It is conscious formation of mental habits, not mere acquisition of information.”

“Man is the creator of his own happiness; it is the aroma of life lived in harmony with high ideals. For what a man has, he may be dependent on others: what he is, rests with him alone.”

“Gossip is one of the popular crimes that has caused infinitely more sorrow in life than—murder. It is drunkenness of the tongue; it is assassination of reputations. It runs the cowardly gamut from mere ignorant, impertinent intrusion into the lives of others to malicious slander.”

Life of William George Jordan

Jordan was born in New York City on March 6, 1864. He graduated from the City College of New York and began his literary career as editor of Book Chat in 1884. He joined Current Literature in 1888 and became its managing editor. In 1891 he left Current Literature and moved to Chicago where he started a lecture program on his system of Mental Training. He returned to Current Literature in January of 1894 as its managing editor and then resigned again in August of 1886. In 1897 he was hired as the managing editor for The Ladies Home Journal, after which he edited The Saturday Evening Post (1888-89). From 1899 to 1905 he was the editor and vice-president of Continental Publishing Company. He was the editor of the publication Search-Light between 1905 and 1906.

Life Lessons

49 Thoughts on Turning 49

June 13, 2018 Jonathan Hilton Leave a comment

49 thoughts for 49 years — 49 thoughts on 49 years

It is time to mark another year of existing on this planet and a trip around the sun. (Song at the bottom) I am excited to have made it this far and am encouraged and looking forward to the adventures that the next year is going to bring. Each year in retrospect, I am always kind of stunned by the number of people that have entered my life and affected me in a positive, compelling way. Some who don’t even realize it. Here are my top 49 thoughts on my 49th year.

It is great to be here still!
Conversations with people are some of the most critical moments in life.
I wonder why the world hates the New England Patriots, whom I love so dearly.
People are kind and giving for the most part, and it is beautiful to watch.
You can’t hurry love. It just has to wait.
Old friends are the best ones because there is no bullshitting each other.
People criticize others only about weaknesses or fears that they possess themselves.
Love is my religion
The world, through nature, is all connected. If you look at the sky from anywhere on the planet and breathe deeply, you can find peace within.
Gratitude for all that you have brings peace and happiness to your life.
Gossip is the lowest form of communication.
My experience this year has been sponsored by Panera Bread and Planet Fitness
I learn something new every day
I can like you and not like your opinions
I want to know who put the old guy in the mirror
Working out and taking care of ourselves is vital to happiness.
Kindness counts and is a choice
Attitude is everything. Create or destroy, how you approach life will determine your influence.
The right question can change your life
People will astound you and confound you.
Everybody has a unique value
I am not 21 years old anymore, or 31, or 41. But I feel the same on the inside.
Even when you do things right, pain can be the result.
Consciousness is not something you achieve, and it is a constant evolution of expanding unique possibilities.
People can only criticize those weaknesses they see in themselves; otherwise, they don’t notice them
Enjoy all the people in your life. If they are not enjoyable, get them out of your life
Life is too short to waste time, not being who you are.
Our thoughts lead to words. Our words lead to feelings. Our feelings lead to actions. It all starts with thoughts.
Curiosity is a good thing.
Forgiveness is vital to being happy. You can never be satisfied if you carry a grudge against someone else or yourself.
Worry is wasting today’s energy on something that may never happen. Fear has no power to stop it.
What would life look like if people weren’t afraid?
Pain or pleasure- all decisions in life are made based on this ratio. Does the joy of doing something outweigh the pain of not doing it?
Whatever you focus on in life increases.
There is a difference between being interested in something and being committed to it.
The obstacles in life generally teach you how to hurdle well.
The subconscious mind runs the show of life. Make sure it is running a good one.
All people have energy, and the frequency of that energy reflects the beliefs of that person.
Actions will destroy fear, always. Take significant, bold, forceful action.
Magic does happen when you believe in the results.
Our past is prolog to the story of our lives we write right now.
Nothing in life should be taken personally.
We all have a personal legend, and we write that every day.

– Be honest, transparent, and impeccable with your words, misunderstandings, and false expectations disappear.

You can’t assume anything about someone else, their actions, or thoughts. Ask questions, and be sure.

Thinking about something and doing it are two very different things! Take Action!

If you don’t like the situation you are in, then change it, accept it, or leave it.

Being yourself ultimately should be the focus of life, if you never let anyone see who you are, how can you attract people you need, and who need you?

There it is for this year, 49 thoughts on turning 49. I remember when I thought 25 was ancient, now I don’t think I am all that old. Life is a short journey whose ending is already known. It is the actions we take and the experiences we affect positively along the way that matter.

I look forward to the next trip around the sun.

Life

My Notes on The Four Agreements

June 4, 2018 Jonathan Hilton Leave a comment

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.”

Jonathan Hilton Mind Connections

Monthly Archives: June 2018