Celebrate- acknowledge (a significant or happy day or event) with a social gathering or enjoyable activity.
Being conscious of how we celebrate can be a fun activity and bring a deeper connection to those you care about and, even more, an essential link to yourself. There are moments in life that command a celebration, and each of these can serve as a marking point of life. It is the shared honoring of things that build relationships, show caring, and creates memories. Be conscious today and every day of your thoughts, words, and actions of what you should celebrate today.
Little Moments
As life goes on, we get into routines. They have a purpose and allow for people to get things done quickly and as efficiently as possible. But they can stop you from noticing some great opportunities happening around you. Look for the small things that you can celebrate with someone else in life. A relationship should be full of these moments. Surviving a tough week and achieving a goal at work, starting something new, creating something you wanted to do, and following through on something. Whatever you see in your relationships that could cause you to celebrate should.
Think of how a celebration for any small thing can bring two people together, or even a larger group of people. To celebrate in this way communicates that you see the unique contribution a person gets to your life. They matter, and knowing them makes life a celebration. Make the time to celebrate the small stuff.
The Big Stuff Too
Everyone has moments in their lives, which are rites of passage or watershed accomplishments. These moments are definitely worth the celebration: graduations, the birth of children, marriage, achievement of any long-term goal. Sometimes, even a birthday. You need to celebrate all of the things that are essential to you and your circle of influence. This celebratory action is necessary because those we care about are moving to another level of life in each accomplishment and moment. In their victory, they carry you with them. You can share your pride, your caring expressed, and all the people involved in the celebration will benefit.
Each celebration will be remembered for what it is. A time of unity and rejoicing should be welcome in life. These are the moments that build families and all relationships. If you are too busy to celebrate the accomplishments of those you care about, then it is time to change your priorities.
Look today for the moments and things big and small that you can celebrate with someone else. The celebration can be small or large; it depends on the moment and what you are comfortable experiencing. But look to honor those that matter in your life. It will build your relationships and memories that last a lifetime. Life is a momentary proposition; never miss a chance to show that you care about someone. If you don’t feel like celebrating with the people you are with, you need new people. Celebrate this experience called life; it only happens once.
“The most beautiful things are not associated with money; they are memories and moments. If you don’t celebrate those, they can pass you by.” ~ Alek Wek
“Every day is a good day. There is something to learn, care and celebrate.” Amit Ray
“Celebration happens when the mind unites with the spirit. “Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
“Celebration is my attitude, unconditional to what life brings.” Rajneesh
It was pointed out to me today there is a slight misconception about my perspective of life. I write about my philosophy, which is one of self-improvement. Some seem to miss life is full of challenges that cause suffering in my experience virtually every day. In the past, I had fewer tools in my toolbox to deal with them, but I have dedicated myself over the past ten years to become better at handling these learning moments and being able to have a more productive and enjoyable life. To be clear, I am not happy all the time. In fact, over the past year, I would suggest there was a lot more “unhappy” in my emotional vault. But the hope is that I am not stuck with the suffering. I can overcome it, learn a lesson, and become a better person because of it. You can make conscious choices, which will allow you to find meaning in life and even enjoy the process if you open your mind to them. These are the processes I am writing about, not a “pie in the sky” ode to unconditional happiness. Here is what I have learned.
I am Responsible
Every person in the world makes a thousand decisions during each day we live. We decide everything from which clothes to wear to treating a rude person we stand in line next to at the bank. My life is no different. I make many decisions and try to make them with honesty and integrity at each moment. I don’t always make the best choices. Sometimes I eat things I shouldn’t. Sometimes I say the wrong something at the wrong time. There are even days I run a red light if nobody is around. But the one thing I always am is responsible for my choices in every way.
If I am not reaching my body weight goals because I choose to eat things not healthy for me, it is because of my poor decision. I can’t blame the food or the time of day I felt weak. Or the fact that I was feeling down because something negative occurred. No, I alone am responsible for the choices and have to accept the consequences. It is my responsibility, even if my favorites don’t bring the most desirable results. Sadness, regret, worry, anger, and other negative emotions are a part of life. But I think many don’t read here that it is your most important choice of how you choose to deal with them. You can allow them to make you bitter and angry, or you can want to learn, develop, and become a better person. I hope that the better person is the result of my suffering.
We are Not Supposed to Be Anything
The idea we are supposed to be happy all the time is unrealistic for anyone. Some may think we are supposed to feel joy and wonder about our situations, but that isn’t realistic. I have written many times that happiness is a choice, and I believe it is, but that doesn’t mean you walk around with blinders to the weak treatment others send your way or the poor feelings about yourself and the job you lost, or the disappointment you feel. I know there is no “right” way to feel at any moment.
We are not supposed to be happy, joyous, intelligent, winning, sad, disappointed, or angry. All people will, at some point, have to deal with all of these emotions, and they will do to you what you allow them to do. The thing is that how you choose to deal with them is your personal choice, and I have had to do this continually throughout my life. Do I get bitter because someone was dishonest with me? Do I carry a hatred inside for someone who has harmed me? It would be easy to do sometimes, but it wouldn’t represent the kind of person I strive to be. That is why I write about things like the power of forgiveness, how fear affects us, guilt, and dealing with our emotions. Not to discount the negative things we all deal with but to provide a path for hope for something better. It is a choice we all make for ourselves every day. There is nothing you have to be to be healthy. Just be yourself.
Darkness Walks with Light
I have thought of the events the past year has brought over and over again. It amazes me to see the balance of dark and light in my life. If you look at the people who have entered my life, left my life, and just influenced me, there is a positive balance between light, which was enjoyable, and darkness, which, of course, was not. Moments of joy, wonder, understanding, caring, and love found a check from equal moments of pain, disappointment, fear, anger, and disillusionment. It makes you wonder if the light is worth it that maybe we should live in a shady area in between where there are no great things but no horrible things either.
Unfortunately, life doesn’t work without contrast. Darkness provides a method of accomplishment; light never could. My experience with night has driven me to seek harder for the light and accomplish what before would have been impossible. The sun makes you get comfortable, like a beautiful warm blanket. It envelopes you and makes you never change. Change is inevitable and constant, so those things don’t go together. I had to learn to lift the blanket, forget the warmth, and dive into the cold of the darkness. This challenge is not something I write about often because the real lesson isn’t to embrace the difficult but to keep moving forward and maintain a sense of hope for the future. Find dignity in life despite things not being comfortable. The desire is there is more light in your future, and positive choices at this moment might help bring that about.
Being My Best
In the final analysis, I look at the idea that writing about being at peace and understanding that there is happiness in life available all the time is not a weakness or, worse unrealistic. A person can choose to look at their circumstances and see the problems. They can also look at the general state of chaos in the world and feel a sense of despair. But what will all that negativity in the costume of reality bring you? I am not powerful enough a person to solve all of the world’s problems, or even to make anyone else’s life better if they choose not to want that but………. I can make some other choices.
There are small things I can do every day to make my little part of the world better. Make simple choices to treat people with respect, kindness, and caring in day-to-day interactions. To try not to put any difficulty on people that have value to you. I strive to become the best person and succeed in life, equal to my talent and ability. To raise and fall in life and on the journey to my destiny to experience happiness. Joy is a choice I am making, proudly and thoroughly, and I hope that the great people I know have the strength to feel pleasure.
“Suffering is part of our training program for becoming wise.” ~Ram Dass
“Suffering by nature or chance never seems so painful as suffering inflicted on us by the arbitrary will of another.” Arthur Schopenhauer
“Suffering is but another name for the teaching of experience, which is the parent of instruction and the schoolmaster of life. “Horace
“Suffering is the substance of life and the root of personality, for it is only suffering that makes us persons.” Miguel de Unamuno
“Suffering is a corrective to point out a lesson which by other means we have failed to grasp, and never can it be eradicated until that lesson is learnt.” Edward Bach
“It is by suffering that human beings become angels.” Victor Hugo
“Suffering is the positive element in this world. Indeed it is the only link between this world and the positive.” Franz Kafka
“It’s at the borders of pain and suffering that the men are separated from the boys.” Emil Zatopek
“When suffering comes, we yearn for some sign from God, forgetting we have just had one. “Mignon McLaughlin
Balance- a condition in which different elements are equal or in the correct proportions.
One of the biggest challenges you will face in life is to find your balance. For all things sweet, some things are bitter. Neither is good or bad except for when we define them as such; they are simply things. All experiences are the same, and to find a consistent enjoyment of the experience, balance is a necessary element. It is seeking a balance between body, mind, and spirit in your life on a broad scale. All three of these elements are a part of a well-rounded human being. It is a constant struggle to keep your life in a balance that will allow you to build significant relationships, build a satisfying career, and develop as a human being living on the Earth. It all begins with a consciousness of our thoughts, words, and actions to have balance in your life. (Daily Video)
Elements of a Balanced Life
Symmetry in life is not going to be something that you find. It is something that you create each day in the priorities that you place on your time. We all have expectations of other people in our families, our work, and even our friends. Each day is a new opportunity to weigh the value of our time and see where we are lacking and what is going to allow our lives to be an experience of enjoyable balance. The balance will always be different, depending on the day or where you are in life. Sometimes the most challenging balance to find is the one that allows us to find time to ourselves.
Try to make a plan to balance all of the factors in your life to provide time for yourself. Time is the most delicate balance. There needs to be time to develop your talents and interests to be the best version of yourself. This action is not selfish but a part of achieving the balance of body, mind, and spirit. Spend some time every day doing what you desire to do. That will allow you to have more substance to offer the people that matter in your life. You create this with your choices every day.
Be Well Balanced
Just like riding a bike, the movement allows for balance to be achieved and maintained. When you stop moving toward balancing your life, you fall. What was once natural now is impossible. The way to keep moving is to be conscious of the balance in your life continually. Is there enough of everything you need? Are you shortchanging yourself in who you are with and what you do? Set daily goals for where you will spend your time, and then make these things happen. It is in the steps we take to achieve anything that the actual enjoyment of life lies. That is true in finding balance or becoming a millionaire. It is the journey that provides value to the experience of reaching the destination.
It is easy to try to stay in a place of enjoyment and recreate that happiness continually, but life doesn’t work like that. There is another day with new challenges and new demands. Life will throw unseen things at you, changes, challenges, and a need for further action will come your way. So when you get a moment that you love, enjoy it fully, then place it aside and enjoy the next experience just as thoroughly. Keep the bicycle of your life moving forward by moving the pedals with your intentions and interests. Life will do its best to put you off balance because we grow in these moments.
Living a Balanced Life
There are things in life we can control and things we can’t. Balance is often achieved most easily when we realize which items fall into each of these categories. The things we can control need our focus and thought for concentrated direction. Because what they turn out to be for us is on us alone. We don’t own things should get very little of our conscious attention because we can’t make any changes there. They are what they are. We, of course, have to deal with them, but wasting effort worrying about them will not allow for balance.
Make your choices count and evaluate every thought today, putting them in the categories of things I can control and things I can’t control. Then move toward them appropriately. The weather is not something any of us can control. We can control how we deal with it. You can change your plans or dress appropriately for what is coming. You will find a balance in focusing on the part of a challenge that you can control.
Seek balance in all that you do today and put your conscious thoughts, words, and actions. Seek to maintain the harmony and rhythm that life naturally gives you through a conscious choice of balance. Please do this in the thoughts you choose, the corresponding emotions, the words we use, and the actions we take. The balance will be the reward.
Balance in Life Quotes
“No person, no place, and nothing have any power over us, for ‘we’ are the only thinkers in our mind. When we create peace and harmony and balance in our minds, we will find it in our lives.”~ Louise L. Hay
It has been one of my basic philosophies of life for me to try to find improvement.
The search within provides answers
every day mentally, physically, and spiritually. In this pursuit, I am only looking for a small increment of growth. We can measure physical gains in workouts, strength, body weight, or any other objective measure. Mentally, we grow as we increase our base of knowledge and experience. Reading new books, being exposed to new ideas are going to allow us to find growth in this area. It is in the spiritual realm things are much more challenging to measure. Our spirits are perhaps the most significant part of who we are and what we feel about the world. We are never encouraged to find the meaning behind our journey. We are born with a mind to develop with thought and intellect, a body to carry us through all our adventures, and a soul to bring appreciation and emotional development to things. This emotion is our essence, which is unique to each of us. Seek the things which resonate with your inner self, and you will find all the things you need in life. Take some time every day to get to know your soul without interfering with the mind and its thought. It is a matter of focus and openness to do it.
Knowing Your Soul
Why do we create things? There are plenty of thoughts, art, and creativity in the world already, but still, all people in some way carry a need to be creative, and it is this force that is one of the expressions of the soul. Our soul came to the world to have this experience and to express itself in a way unique to you or me or anyone else. The process of creation not only provides our voice to the world but also.
Take time to create, and you will meet your soul
helps us get to know who we are inside. Each thought we express in words or images we create on canvas will inevitably be a lesson for us about what makes us happy and what we are here to contribute to the world. And this process is ongoing throughout the experience of life.
Most of us are inundated with information, entertainment, food, conversation, or other distraction, which takes away from knowing your soul. So many other messages come to us, which tell us how we should feel. We rarely take the time to understand what our soul needs or wants. But We will hear our soul. It is the subtle but persistent voice or feeling inside of us that is never wrong. You have to quiet the mind and still the body to hear it and understand how to communicate with this knowledge. Seek to create, and that creativity will guide you toward knowing yourself. Many creative endeavors fall short because the focus is on what others will think of the product rather than what it means to your soul. The positive things you create are the expression of your soul.
Connections
One human endeavor we all share is a search for links. We are hard-wired to connect with other people and share experiences. If you notice, most of the positive things in life are things shared with other people. What is the sense of doing beautiful things, going to exciting places, or gaining all the things you dream about if you don’t share it with someone else? The meaning, in the end, is that someone else sees us as we are and understands the beauty existing in us. I think each of us is looking for the experience of visiting our unique selves recognized and to do the same for someone else. That is a connection.
We also connect to places in our experience. Nature provides many of these locations where you can go and experience more than what is there on the surface. For example, you can be sitting on a bench on the shore of a lake, but then you start to be aware of the good things around you, water moving, sun shining, and reflecting on the surface of the water. The breeze was gently blowing and bringing the coolness of relaxation. Suddenly you are fully connected to the experience, and you are not at a lake, but you are a part of that thing. It is in these moments your soul is talking to you. Are you wise enough to listen? Are you intrigued enough to try to know your soul and seek its voice and guidance? The wisdom you acquire and the ultimate success you experience in life depends on this. Pure joy resides in your soul.
The True Joy
Life is full of things to take away our awareness. We all have, at one point, had a dream about something we wanted to accomplished, places we wanted to go, or things we wanted to create. People who follow through with these things are those we ultimately see as significant. Most do not follow through, allowing confusion and distraction to take their focus away from the goal. Setting an intention that resonates with you and then taking action will bring movement toward making that thing a reality. No road is smooth and straightforward because we learn nothing that way, and the value of what we create is often paid for in perseverance.
That is the ultimate success and joy in life. To set your mind on something and to pursue it with determination and focus, which can only come from the depths of your soul, which is who you are. Putting aside the mass media messages of what we should look like, where we should live, and how we should feel and embrace our person. In each of us, that person is perfect. The view of that gets skewed and distorted in life. Some turn to drugs, some turn to logic, some roll away and never seek their soul. Pure joy is allowing your soul to grow and express your true self. Seek to know your soul, and you will find this joy. You have to get your mind working well and the world out of the way to do it.
Getting Your Mind Out of the Way
I think that we have been conditioned backward in our experience. All of our development and education focus has been based on what we believe and become more intelligent in our beliefs. With each thought you choose to entertain, we have a corresponding emotional response based on our personal experience and conditioning. We can try to control our thoughts, and that will lead to our emotional experience. However, I think the opposite is true and more productive. Focus on the feelings you want to have, and they will come with automatic thoughts attached to them based on your conditioning and experience.
The power of this is that you can focus on the positive emotions you want to experience in your life, and they will bring with them the bucket of thought, which is related to that positive emotion. Choose the feeling you would like to have and see how the reviews you think are almost involuntarily positive. The sense of belonging, being loved, comfort, happiness, and joy are all in your experience, waiting to be felt and positively charge your life.
One of the benefits of learning to meditate is to get your mind to be quiet, and in that quiet moment, you can feel your soul and the direction it needs you to take. Don’t tryDon’tverthink this, because thought will only get in your way. It is the process of learning to read and trust our instincts, which will be your best and most accurate guide.
Know The Soul
Look to know your soul. I know people of high intellectual capacity who are afraid to look for the soul because they don’t see the value. They tend to be slaves to their emotions and wonder why their feelings are what they are. Take time today, and get to know your soul. I think sometimes I learn more sitting by the ocean in silence for a few moments than I ever learned in years of study in organized educational experiences. When you create, don’t what others will think, how accepted it will be, or if anyone else will understand. Authentic expression is from within and is to speak your truth. That is your soul. That is you.
Create today in some small way, recognize it is to express yourself and share that person with the world. Knowing your soul seems to be the only way to bring the things in your life that will genuinely make you happy. Music is the language of the soul, and the songs we connect with speak to a part of our soul. Please get to know yourself and what resonates with you, and the world will be a better place for it.
“The free soul is rare, but you know it when you see it – basically because you feel good, very good when you are near or with them.” -Charle Bukowski
“The living soul of man, once conscious of its power, cannot be quelled.” Horace Mann
“A beautiful woman delights the eye; a wise woman, the understanding; a pure one, the soul.” Minna Atrim
“If only our eyes saw souls instead of bodies, how different our ideals of beauty would be. Beauty attracts heart, but character attracts soul.”
Sometimes we forget how much control we have in our journey.
When I was growing up, I knew who I was and what I wanted to stand for. There were certain core principles in life I knew were “good,” and I wanted to practice, and there were things that were “bad,” and I wanted to stay away from those. Life changed that boy and clouded his judgment, making the lines of what was “good” and “bad” become cloudy in his mind. The programming I received through experience, peers, society, institutions, and family members made me think my original thoughts were wrong. I naturally valued honesty, kindness, fairness, truth, love, showing courage, and being the best person I could be.
Those things were not always looked at positively and fit in; I pushed much of my best self to the background to lie dormant for years. Until one day, I realized how unhappy I was with how life was going. Through a lot of soul searching, reading, and questioning, I began to realize that my choices were the problem. I had chosen to move from my authentic self to a person who wanted to “fit in.” That compromise cost me much, but it wasn’t too late. I could make conscious decisions about my priorities, which would allow me to return to the person I was as a child. That was a conscious choice and led to raising my consciousness about all aspects of life that will lead to growth. Here are some factors anyone can align themselves with to become their best self.
Finding Truth
Being truthful is difficult and often painful. The conscious choice to accept your truth will be one of the most freeing things you ever experience. What others will think of you stop many of us from expressing our realities to the world. Express your truth anyway. For me, it is about realizing there is a conscious choice in how we treat others and ourselves, and we make it every day. I like people, but I am uncomfortable in crowds. Unless I make a conscious effort, I am very judgmental of others. I am prone to be harmed by extending help to others. I have made bad relationship choices in my life.
Seeing reality for what it is and not through a lens of what things mean is truth. It will allow you to escape the expectations of others and embrace who you are and who you want to be. Most of us are living a lie created by our programming. To embrace who we are as honest and truthful. Embrace it with both arms.
Create Love in Your Life
Love is one of the healthiest things in the world. It is an emotion, but more importantly, love is a verb that dictates the positivism you bring into your life and the world around you. More than just a romantic feeling with one other, love is built in the way you interact with the world and feel about yourself in each moment. To become comfortable with who you are, where you are in life and where you want to go is the more significant aspect of love.
We live in a world that pushes us to be superficial in our thoughts and actions. Put those things aside and pursue what makes you feel positive about yourself, and others will allow the love inside you to shine out to others. Some will accept it; some are so negative they will run from it. Let them that is their choice; you can only choose to love for yourself. Deeper connections with other people can only happen when both parties are looking for them. Love is a verb, a compilation of your actions in life. Love who you are and be the best person you can be.
You Create Your Life
I think we dismiss the power we each have to create almost anything in our lives. All people can see something they want in their minds, from love to wealth to fame or whatever you might like to create for yourself. Yet, we let the same spirit that can help us make these dreams, push negative thoughts onto us, and stop us from creating anything of value. Test it out. Look at a time when you have an inspiring idea. You have about five minutes of positive excitement before you start the flood of thought, telling you why you can’t do what you dream.
It’s too hard. Too expensive. Unrealistic. Nobody would buy it. You don’t have the talent. Nothing you do ever turns outright. All of these things and worse will rise in your mind, and if not dismissed consciously, they will stop you from pursuing what you want. You have the power to choose the thoughts you want to focus on consciously. You can build the motivation and discipline needed to accomplish anything. It starts with aligning yourself with this power by acting on it every day. Do what you must to chase your dream. Your dream will soon be chasing you.
Pursue Conscious Growth
It is a simple plan to find the principles that resonate with you and be true to them in your life. If they are absolute truth, love, power, unity, robustness, courage, and intelligence, then your life will take off in the direction you choose. If you decide to ignore these things and consciously or unconsciously select selfish, negative thoughts that do not represent your best self, life will be far less enjoyable.
I know because I have allowed the unconscious selfishness of my thought to run my life for too long. When I focus on the truth of my life and what I need to create to find the essential things of value and produce practical actions and show love to myself and the world, my life is a pretty great place to be.
“No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.” Albert Einstein
“Consciousness is the stone that creates the waves in a sea of nothing.” Richard Gerber
“Through consciousness, our minds have the power to change our planet and ourselves. It is time we heed the wisdom of the ancient indigenous people and channel our consciousness and spirit to tend the garden and not destroy it.” Bruce Lipton
“Consciousness is only possible through change; change is only possible through movement.” Aldous Huxley
“There is no birth of consciousness without pain.” Carl Jung
One of the best things a person can do to make your life more functional and smooth is to find a system of organization that works for you. It will be different than anyone else because you are a unique individual, and what you need to have organized is different than others. Finding a system that accentuates your positives and helps you manage the difficulties can make you more efficient and your life more enjoyable. It begins with conscious thought about your life, what you need to organize better, and managing projects. It starts with awareness of your dreams, emotions, words, and actions today.
Organizing Your Physical Space
We live in a world that encourages us to collect things. Most of us are pretty good at managing but not so great at organizing the stuff we have gathered into our lives. When there is no organization in your physical being, then it is hard to have an organization in other areas that are important to your conscious awareness. The material is related to the mental and spiritual parts of your life. So clarifying one place is going to benefit you in other areas as well.
Energy goes with an organization; it is a feeling of being streamlined and efficient. Once space clears, there is room for more to come into your life. Organizing your physical space is a great way to start typing your whole life. Some would say that things are just too messy and have always been that way. I say that the way to tackle any big job is a little bit at a time. Do a little bit every day, and soon you will have a handle on your organization. It is a mentality that we develop the standards we will accept. Organize your physical space, and you will begin to thrive.
Organize your Schedule
We are all given the same number of hours in the day, but some people take better advantage of theirs. Proper use of time is done by focusing on scheduling your activities into a time frame and being disciplined in following it. Once you devote the time you have allotted to the things that will be productive and follow that, those things will start to flourish. Making a proper schedule involves balancing work, thought, fun, and adequate rest.
Each day doesn’t have to be scripted out by the minute, but it does have to be scripted in general if you want to get any consistency out of it. People are natural routine seekers. Get a routine that works, and you will be more likely to follow a schedule and get more of what you want to accomplish done. The discipline of action is more natural if you have a plan to follow every day. Organize your time, and you will get the most out of every day.
Organize your Mind
Now we come down to the actual creation of higher consciousness. It is organizing your thoughts. We all have a brain that is continually producing a non-stop reel of study into our heads. Most of what we think is repetitive and not helpful. Left on its own, our minds would move randomly from one thing to the next. Fortunately, we can watch our thoughts. We are not the mind; a brain is a tool that we control, and with organization and observation, we can think better and achieve more.
By focusing on our thoughts and evaluating the usefulness of each, we can organize our minds into more productive tools. We can hold only one thought in our consciousness at a time, so choosing beliefs that are beneficial to you and your existence will allow more success. If you need to improve your thoughts, then expose your mind to new sources of knowledge. Read books about subjects that interest you, and your thoughts will become more powerful. If you spend your time learning about things that will make you more money or more successful, your thoughts will move in that direction.
Organize for Success
Take some time today and honestly assess where your life can currently use some organization. Then make a plan to organize it. What would it take to become more organized? What actions could you take right now to improve? What great things will happen when you do organize physically, your schedule, or your mind?
The answers to these questions should be intriguing to you and lead your thoughts toward actions that will make you happier and more successful. Once you have an organization in your life, you are not tripping over things all the time, both physically and metaphorically. The key is to start to be conscious of the organizational needs in your life. Then start thinking thoughts of organization, noticing the corresponding emotions, the words you speak, and the actions that become more organized. It all begins by becoming more aware of how you organize your life.
“Three Rules of Work: Out of clutter find simplicity; From discord find harmony; In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity” ~ Albert Einstein.
“The best way to get something done is to begin.” ~Author Unknown
“Time is a created thing. To say ‘I don’t have time is to say ‘I don’t want to.’ “~ Lao Tzu
When you break your life down and put all of your activities into a category, all things we do can be placed in the body, mind, or spirit group. Each of these areas makes up the three sides of your person and your life. It is the great challenge of living to learn to develop a balance between these three areas. Taking care of and strengthening your body in physical fitness through some healthy diet and exercise, continually improving your mind through education, and developing your soul through creative activities and the way you treat the world and its people, including yourself. When you look at your life at any point, the times you are close to achieving a balanced life in all three areas are the good times. Of course, life is continually throwing things at you to force you out of balance, so you have to learn more, develop your body differently, or change your perspective on your soul. It is like standing on a skateboard while life is throwing rocks at you. Development is not an easy path but one we are all on, even if we are not consciously aware of it.
Continual Search for Fitness
Fitness is a goal for everyone. Even though we live in a society that seems determined to undermine any of our health-related goals, all people have an inner desire to be in shape. Most wish it would happen magically by taking a pill, but we all know that is not the way it works. Although we all have the desire to be in shape, we see it as stern and distant. When you are overweight, it is straightforward to give up. But don’t! A life of better physical fitness is simple to accomplish, but of course, it is not easy. Put a consistent exercise program in your life and learn to eat a healthier and more proportionally appropriate diet.
Exercise doesn’t have to involve a gym, an expensive online program, or even cost you any money at all. It can be as simple as walking for about 30 minutes a day, five times a week. You can lift weights, do yoga, run, bike, row, paddle, swim, hike, or any other thing getting your body off the couch and moving around. A consistent commitment to physical activity will be the first step in living at a healthy weight. Of course, there are benefits to your entire body. Diet is much the same. To me, portion control is critical. Don’t eat for any other reason than when you are hungry. Eat less food that is processed and more that is natural. It can be as simple as eating more fruits and vegetables. It isn’t complicated; your body will do what you program it to do and be as large or as small as you train it to be. Anyone can do it. A healthy body is a base for a healthy life because this is where your mind and soul reside.
Your Greatest Weapon
The ability to think is the most excellent tool to create any life we choose. Like a computer, the mind creates a program to guide your life. It is estimated we think somewhere around 70,000 thoughts a day. That is amazing until you realize that only between 3-5% of those thoughts are original, and the rest are all repeats, the same thing we think every day. If you look at your life, are there things you do every day without real thought? A routine you follow or a habit you have that you follow almost unconsciously? We all do because routines are great tools to allow us to accomplish many of our daily tasks. I know my workouts would not be possible without routines. Original thought is the key to mental growth, and we are responsible for this.
Changing your thoughts and developing your mind happens by introducing new information into your experience and reading new books, watching educational videos, and having conversations with people allow you to build your brain. It is estimated the bulk of our mental programming took place before we were seven years old as we tried to figure out how the world works and how we fit in it. Too often, limiting beliefs about money, love, and health were developed then and continue to rule our lives now even though they are not valid. We should evaluate the ideas we follow and how they affect our self-esteem and belief in ourselves. All opinions can change with a bit of effort, and the power of this is you can accomplish the things you always dreamed of doing.
Living from Inside Out
Too often, I have looked for happiness and fulfillment from things on the outside. A relationship, a success in my professional life, how someone treated me, or how life’s circumstances were playing out. The problem with this is that when you look to things and people outside of yourself for happiness, you are at the mercy of those things. You have given all of your power away to something you have no control over. The good news is that it is a minor adjustment to start looking inward for the things that will give your life meaning and bring you a life of joy and enjoyment.
Inside each of us is a creator. Bringing something into the realm of the physical world, which once only existed in your mind, is a magical thing. Some write, paint, draw, and create artwork out of scrap metal; whatever it is you feel called to make, do that. Not for recognition or money, but to express the inner light and love you carry inside. Creativity will bring you home to who you are and allow you to understand your soul’s calling, understand yourself, and hopefully find some form of self-love. We are not encouraged to seek our soul song because it often contradicts the script we learn we should be following. Get an education, get a job, have a family, work for 30 years, retire, and then wait to die. Life is more than this, and we are each more than this. Accept who you are and know your inside greatness, and the outside expectations will matter much less.
How is Your Triangle?
Now it is up to you to look at your life and see where your triangle of body, mind, and spirit is today. It is alright if you are not where you ideally want to be because we are all on a journey. Each of us is moving toward something. I have heard it said we are either in a crisis, coming out of trouble, or moving toward crisis all the time. Through all of these journeys lie the opportunities to develop ourselves and learn about the things we love to do and the ideas which make us happy. No two people are the same, and it is in these differences we find the things only we can bring to the world. Yet, we are all connected in our journey as we all seek the same things in life. To enjoy the experience of living aims to balance your body, mind, and spirit. It is a constant journey to find the balance which will bring us fulfillment. No two people are going to have the same ratio of body, mind, and spirit. But we all gain equal value in the pursuit of it. Enjoy the ride.
“The key to keeping your balance is knowing when you’ve lost it.” Anonymous
“You can maintain a work-life balance even while pursuing careers.” Chanda Kochhar
“Never get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.” Dolly Parton
“It is better to rise from life as from a banquet – neither thirsty nor drunken.” Aristotle
How often do you look after your spirit? Most of us focus on our mental capacity and physical prowess, but the third leg of the powerful human triangle of life is the spirit, which people mostly ignore. The soul is the intangible part of your existence, determining a lot about who you are and how you deal with other people and, more importantly, yourself and your world.
This is the part of you that believes or denies a higher power in the universe and determines how you approach each day. Is there a grand plan? Are we just individual organisms, randomly existing and experiencing life? All of this and more is determined by your spirit and sits in that very personal possession called a soul. It is my challenge today to be aware of the choices you make in life and how they affect your soul and, of course, your spirit. Use your thoughts, words, and actions to become more aware of nourishing your confidence and enhancing your energy. Or, conversely, how you can do things to harm it.
Religion vs. Spirituality
Some folks choose to rely on the organization of faith to develop their spirit. This practice requires you to listen to the ideas of others and accept them as your own. Following another’s an interpretation of the world. It also describes what God is and how you should worship. There are all types of religions, and each has its dogma, rules, and history. But in the end, no matter what religion resonates with you, it is still someone else’s interpretation of God you are following, and thus you are not in control of how you view your spirituality. In my view, if an organization preaches separateness, it does not have the best interest of your spirit in mind. They want to control you for some reason. Usually for money.
Spirituality is how you choose to relate to a higher power based on your personal experience and thoughts. It is my view that I don’t need a religion to control my thoughts or my spiritual growth. A relationship with the universe (God) is a personal choice. I choose to be responsible for my own decisions and look for guidance from a higher power. When you look at the world, either you see a whole lot of wonder or a whole lot of mess. The health of your spirit results from this view. One of the things that I am sure of is that we are all connected through a higher power. It is in each of us, and our experiences, intelligence, and openness determine how aware we are of this phenomenon. The health of our spirit is determined by our connection to others and the world around us that we are conscious of the day today.
Enhancing Spirit
There is within us all a version of our being, which is our best self. The part of us does the right thing, helps others, and leaves the world a better place after our time here has passed. Our best self reveals itself when we put the well-being of others in front of our interests—giving of our time and effort more than our money to someone or something. This type of spirit makes the world a better place. Making choices that benefit everyone and everything is seeking your best self. This path is not as easy as it sounds.
Since this is so difficult to do, we get help to find our best selves. Our spirit is either enhanced or limited by the people we choose to associate with in our adventures. Each of us is continually given guides in our lives. They provide thoughts and attitudes, and our choice to listen, follow, or disregard what they say and do will help determine our spiritual health. If they are positive and enhance your existence, you will grow and feel good. If they are on the negative side and limit you, you will have negative emotional feedback. Look for the positive influences of other people to feed your spirit.
The third influence on your healthy spirit is how you choose to view a divine presence. Is there a God? Do they influence your life? How do you see this divine presence in life? Understanding how a divine presence works in your life if at all, will help your spirit. Each of us is naturally going to look at this differently, and that is ok. There is more than one way to see things.
Don’t Limit Your Spirit.
The factors that will limit the development of your spirit are limiting beliefs and the people who try to build them. Each of us has a lifetime of interactions with others. The messages they give us that we accept determine what we believe about the world and ourselves. It is vital to choose beliefs that honor you because these will lead to thoughts that honor you, which will lead to words that keep you and, of course, actions that observe you.
All of us have let beliefs push us in directions that are less than honorable. We have to accept responsibility for this. To develop our spirit and have a healthy emotional journey, we need to evaluate our beliefs and how they honor us continually. If you have limited confidence in your abilities and life, then your experience will be limited. I would never tell you what to believe, but I would urge you to seek the spirit that honors you and all of those you meet. Only you can decide for yourself what that is and how to honor yourself and your life. Remember, Our spirit connects our physical and mental selves; a healthy heart will bring a healthy and happy life.
Creativity lets your spirit run free. Create whenever you can from the soul.
“It is in the balancing of your spirituality with your humanity that you will find immeasurable happiness, success, good health, and love.” ― Steve Maraboli.
Diseases of the soul are more dangerous and more numerous than those of the body.― Cicero
“A further sign of health is that we don’t become undone by fear and trembling, but we take it as a message that it’s time to stop struggling and look directly at what’s threatening us.” ― Pema Chödrön.
“If we are creating ourselves all the time, then it is never too late to begin creating the bodies we want instead of the ones we mistakenly assume we are stuck with.” ― Deepak Chopra.
“So be good with what you’re given For it’s all you have to give We are only passing shadows In the mighty wind.”
Each of us has things that purpose is driving us to do. It may be a new job, end a relationship, start a relationship, lose weight, finish a project, or change the world. One of the most challenging things to do to accomplish anything is actually to start the project. Once you start, there is no telling what may happen, but at least at the end of it, you will know. To start is a simple process we develop that makes sense. You may be able to use it for yourself. It sounds so simple to accomplish anything create steps to guide you on the way. Write down what you think the process should look like, step by step. Even if you are not sure, write it down.
The Start: Making the List
Starting to make a list can be the most challenging part of the process for several reasons. First, we all have fear inside us. A voice that tells us things will never work; we are stupid; it will never work out. This voice is your ego, trying to protect you from suffering. Of course, to start anything, these thoughts need to be put to the side, and the fear has to be released. Let each of your situations speak for themselves, allow the lessons they have for you to sink in, and the process begins simply by making a plan of the steps you logically think you will have to take to find success.
Start with the most straightforward part of the process. If you are looking for a new job, then step one is to create a list of possibilities for what you want to do. Not just one or two but ten different things that you might want to do for money. That is step one, putting them down on paper. If losing weight is your goal, create a list of things you can do that involve eating healthier and exercising more. List the steps that you believe you will have to take and then start at the beginning and accept them.
Evaluating the list and readjusting
Of course, you will not know everything right off the bat, and that is OK. That is a part of the learning process and of having a growth mindset. You are not going to know everything, and part of the fun is learning along the way. You can readjust, make changes, find out what works for you, and bring the results you want. Continual evaluation and adjustment will be necessary, and doing this should not be seen as a detriment.
The other type of mindset is a fixed mindset, and that is one where a person needs to know everything or at least pretends to. The person with a fixed mindset would instead continue on the wrong path rather than admit that they didn’t know what they were doing. A fixed mindset believes either you have the talent to do something or don’t, and effort should not be part of the equation. The aim is always a part of the equation. Fear of failure and others’ thoughts stems from possessing a fixed mindset and staying away from the growth mindset.
Start the Process
To begin with, we should always start with the most straightforward steps. Decide what you need and organize it most efficiently. Take action, evaluate, take another action, and then another. Get quiet and write down the logical steps you think you will have to take to do something. Then start taking action. The alternative is someplace I have been. In limbo, afraid to start and afraid to stay where you are. In that situation, you are just going to be scared. An action is a cure for fear always. Start the process and allow what is going to happen to exist.
Enjoy each step along the way and the adventure and learning that they bring you. Grow with them, and don’t be limited by a fixed outlook on yourself or the expectations you have about life. Your ultimate destination is not the value; it is the journey that provides the right stuff for you. The most challenging thing in the whole process is knowing what you want. Once you know that, you can begin to add that to your life through lists. And there is only one way to go, one step at a time, following your list.
“The list is the origin of culture. It’s part of the history of art and literature. What does culture want? To make infinity comprehensible. It also wants to create order.”— Umberto Eco, renowned Italian author.
Struggle- make aggressive or violent efforts to get free of restraint or constriction.
Life will never be comfortable all the time. If it were, people would never develop the skills they need to give their talents to the world. The struggle exists in all facets of our lives, both personally and professionally. It is human nature to want to avoid these obstacles because it would be more comfortable without them. But easy is not always right, and it is important to be thankful for the struggles we face because all of them bring an opportunity to become a better version of ourselves. There is a choice for us to let the battle we face dictate the action of our lives or to let our lives dictate how we defeat the struggle. It begins with being conscious of your efforts and the opportunity they are providing to you. Our growth starts with the thoughts, words, and actions to overcome these barriers, grow, and develop.
Struggles of Our Minds
Some of the biggest struggles we face in life are the ones we create in our minds. These are thoughts that we choose to believe, which limit our confidence in creating or achieving something. When you look at something that you would like to accomplish or experience, your mind will immediately produce a list of why you can’t do it. Most of these causes exist due to our negative programming from life. Family members, teachers, peers, and society, in general, have been telling us what they would like us to do since we were born. When we listen to these messages, they create a severe obstacle, how to be ourselves and fit into what others believe we should be.
Don’t let your mind limit you and stop you from trying. You may fail at something, but that will not be the end of the world. It is easy to think that an obstacle is too much to handle. It may not be easy and a stretch, but that can be a positive thing. New talents and skills will arise in you as you work to overcome the difficulties you face. These skills are the opportunity, like a blade sharpened against a stone. You become a sharper and more efficient weapon in life. Where going through life unchallenged and comfortable will lead to atrophy and waste. Don’t let your mind tell you that you can’t or you surely won’t.
The Struggle is Real
One of the first things to do is to learn to trust yourself and understand that no matter how big the problem you face, you will find a way to overcome it. These challenges can be complex because we are all so afraid of failing or what others will think of us when we are not perfect. We need to put all of those limiting thoughts aside and start solving the problem at hand. Whatever you are facing, it has entered your life, providing a great opportunity. Please focus on the issue, make a list of proper action steps that you can take, and then start taking them.
There will always be naysayers who don’t believe in you, but when given your free reign, you will find out that you are well on your way to a better version of yourself. These are just obstacles to your personal growth and ultimate success. Many try for a bit but give up and never know what they might have accomplished or what vital lessons they might have learned if they had only persevered through the difficulties.
Beat the Struggle
Having a plan makes accomplishing anything more realistic, and this general plan is an excellent place to start for you. First, you have to set a goal about what you want to accomplish by overcoming the struggle of life. Second, set up a clear and concise step by a step action plan for you to follow. Third, make sure you take consistent action every day. The move is the key to understanding how theories work and using them to overcome our challenges. Without taking action, nothing can happen. Once a person decides to take action, there is no limit to creating and accomplishing it.
It is time for you to stop being ashamed of the struggles and challenges you face or have faced in your life. The battle to overcome outside influences is real and challenging. However, defeating the fight inside our private world of thought provides the valuable life experience people need to become successful. Embrace all of the struggles and see it for what it is, relevant learning experiences applied realistically to your life.
Take a moment every day to be conscious of the struggles you face through your thoughts, words, and actions. What we see in our problems, either limits or opportunities, will determine our mindset and potential for success.
“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.”- Frederick Douglass
“Education comes from within; you get it by struggle and effort and thought.”- Napoleon Hill
Being conscious of how we celebrate can be a fun activity and bring a deeper connection to those you care about and, even more, an essential link to yourself. There are moments in life that command a celebration, and each of these can serve as a marking point of life. It is the shared honoring of things that build relationships, show caring, and creates memories. Be conscious today and every day of your thoughts, words, and actions of what you should celebrate today.
stop you from noticing some great opportunities happening around you. Look for the small things that you can celebrate with someone else in life. A relationship should be full of these moments. Surviving a tough week and achieving a goal at work, starting something new, creating something you wanted to do, and following through on something. Whatever you see in your relationships that could cause you to celebrate should.
watershed accomplishments. These moments are definitely worth the celebration: graduations, the birth of children, marriage, achievement of any long-term goal. Sometimes, even a birthday. You need to celebrate all of the things that are essential to you and your circle of influence. This celebratory action is necessary because those we care about are moving to another level of life in each accomplishment and moment. In their victory, they carry you with them. You can share your pride, your caring expressed, and all the people involved in the celebration will benefit.
you are too busy to celebrate the accomplishments of those you care about, then it is time to change your priorities.
