Tag Archives: become better

22

Looking Inside

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There exist many different ideas of who we are inside. Identity seems to change as people move from one social situation to another. But the person we should be looking for inside us is our higher or best self. To achieve our best is the version of you that resonates inside yourself with joy and love. There is no fear in this inner upbeat version of you. This best version has the potential to exist in all of us and can be accessed following some simple steps. A quick change of focus and consciousness will point you in the right direction.

Know Where You Are

The first thing we have to do is acknowledge where we are right now on our journey. Honestly and completely. Are you working a job that fulfills you? Is there room for growth? Are you doing what brings you joy? Are there things in your life you have to change? Or need to change for your health’s sake? Acknowledge it all and bring it into the front of your thoughts and awareness. Too often, let things slide and ignore the habits and situations we put ourselves in daily, which do not resonate with us. See what you want to change, and then be still and envision what the perfect job will look like for you. Knowing where you are will make your destination a lot easier to find.

Be Kind to You

How we treat ourselves and speak to ourselves will determine how easy it is to connect to our best selves. It is easy to say that loving yourself is the first step. You are sending compassion and love to yourself rather than focusing on blame or shame in any situation. Things done in the past are in the past, and you can’t change them. Rather than beat yourself up for it, tell yourself that you did the best you could. Know that you will react more positively when faced with the same circumstance. Love yourself at this moment and let your best self rise to the surface.

Notice Your Thoughts

Not only the thoughts about yourself but your thoughts about everything. See your thought patterns and honestly evaluate the negativity and positivity of each thread of thought that exists. Your thoughts will control your emotions and, ultimately, your behavior, so it is vital to be conscious of the pattern of thinking. Beliefs that have been ingrained in you since you were young influence specific patterns of thought and can be harmful without conscious recognition. See your ideas for what they are when it comes to your perspectives and beliefs, and that will provide an opportunity to transform them into something that will represent the best parts of you.

How to Speak to Yourself

When you talk to yourself in your mind, speak as if you were talking to a best friend or a valued, loved one. The way you talk to and feel about yourself sets the tone for how you view yourself in the world. There were times when I was not so lovely to my reflection in the mirror—cutting down my physical appearance—avoiding the right parts, and focusing on the things about my body that I didn’t like. Now I hope to be a little more compassionate to myself. We should all speak to ourselves with compassion. Your best self will rise from this and become apparent.

Do things that connect with you and make you feel good about your life and who you are. It could be exercise, art, or writing. When you are your best, accept who you are, what you are doing, and where you are going. Your best self will rise and enter your life.

There is only one corner of the universe you can be sure of improving, and that’s your self.– Aldous Huxley

Work on yourself more than you do on your job.– Jim Rohn

The goal is not to be better than the other man but your previous self.  – The Dalai Lama

 

22

Improve Every Day

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improvementsOpportunities for improvement in intellect, action, or spirituality are things that exist for us every day. I am grateful today that I can seek and find growth in some aspects of my life experience. And it goes without saying, but YOU can too! We have to be conscious of what we want to change and then make choices that allow us to move in the right direction.

We have to be conscious of what we want to change and then make choices that allow us to move in the right direction.

Only Two Directions In Life

Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening, depending on where you are. I say this to point out that it doesn’t matter where you are in the world. A universal fact is that you are going today is one of two ways. You are getting better, or you are getting worse. There is no staying static in one place. This fact is a great thing because if you start to recognize this fact, you will look for ways to make sure you are getting better each day. If you do nothing to improve and assume the status quo is acceptable, you will be slipping in the other direction.

Choose an element of your life, from how you relate to your family, how you perform your improvement 2job or how you relate to the Universe.   If you don’t strive for improvement, regression will most likely be the reward. This idea is valid for physical and mental tasks, and it is true of everything in life. But you have total control over which way you go. If you want to be a better person, then make choices that focus on becoming a better person, and it will happen through your action. There is no other alternative.

It Doesn’t Matter How Far Down You Are

Another great thing about improvement is that it doesn’t matter how far down you currently are. You can change and get better right now. Having the courage to start is the spark ingredient you need to begin the journey to improvement. If you feel you weigh too much, then choose today to improve that aspect of your life. It may be eating healthier and exercising, and you will be growing. If you decide to do nothing different, where will your weight go?

If you don’t think you are intelligent enough, choose to become more informed. Start to read, research, and become more aware and knowledgeable in areas you feel lacking. If you decide to do nothing and keep on watching Netflix and not reading, your intellect will arrive precisely where you have decided it should be.

The same is true for your happiness in life, spirituality, or relationships. If you are not happy, have no connection to God, or are not fulfilled in your relationships, then it is time to start making different choices, and that will lead you to more honoring results than what you want to experience.

You Can’t Do It All At Once or Can you?

It is my nature to tell you that you can’t attack all aspects of your life at once, but that is a cop-out. You can work on improvement in every part of your life and move toward more of story endswhat you desire. Some areas may be improving more quickly than others, but each can improve simultaneously.

Every time you are faced with one of these challenges, you choose how you think about it. Your choice may be a small one only you know, but isn’t it all about what type of person you can become? Make that choice to improve every chance you get.

There will be moments that you fail, there will be times when it is hard, but those times often will only serve as opportunities to reaffirm our desire to be a better person in whatever manner we desire.

Each of us has a talent inside that will allow us to be better.

“Everything is practice.”- Pele

“Practice the philosophy of continuous improvement. Get a little bit better every single day.”- Brian Tracy

“It is from the numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal or acts to improve the lot of others or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”- Robert Kennedy

“Don’t wish it were easier, wish you were better.” – Jim Rohn

 

I am grateful for the ability to improve every day.

 

 

21

Goodbye

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Goodbye-used to express good wishes when parting.

Life is a non-stop stream of hellos and goodbyes. The greetings are pretty easy to manage, like a breeze blowing into your life, bringing hope and understanding to all. The goodbyes can be devastating because you recognize the promise of a situation, making the experience more enjoyable than you no longer have. Saying goodbye provides lasting, sharp, and painful moments.

We all move through life changes; to change is life, and to live, we must accept it. Saying goodbye can be a change you never want to make because the presence of a person has been so positive. You can’t imagine your life without them.  It should be the hope of all people to leave an emptiness in their absence, which is challenging to fill.   Even though you may be moving on toward better things, you are still going behind people who mean a lot to you behind.  It is essential to be conscious of the good wishes you want to leave behind for those who have touched your life.  It all starts with an awareness of the thoughts you think of others, the words you speak to them, and your actions to show them today.

See You Soon

There are different types of goodbyes. There are the ones that are permanent and those that are just temporary for a time. The problem is that we often don’t know which is which. When it comes to the people I care about, I always say see you soon or see you later because that is my hope. Sometimes in life, you don’t get a chance to say goodbye, and it is too late, and you wish that just for one second, you could expect someone well on their journey. If only to let them know what an impact they had on your life and that you care about them. Unfortunately, you will never know if this goodbye is for the moment or forever. Treat them all like it is forever because if it is, everyone will know where they stand and the impact they have had on you. There is no regret in honesty.

Leaving where you work can be a challenging thing because, lots of times, our identity is wrapped up in what we do. You can lose your sense of self when you leave a job.  That is OK. Eventually, it provides a good learning experience that you are not your job.  The people you work with have made your situation bearable, and if you are a caring person, you will miss the influence they had on your life.  The halls of your life are lined with the echoes of their laughter and memories of their smiles.  Say see you soon and remember those good things, they will always travel with you and when you need them you remember.

Is it Forever?

That is a long time, but life is fleeting, and we will not be experiencing it forever.  All things have a beginning, a middle, and an ending. Life is this way too.  The end doesn’t have to be sad. It just has to be recognized.  When I was a young man, I avoided the whole situation of saying goodbye. If I never mentioned it and never talked about it, it wouldn’t exist. But of course,  that behavior didn’t stop anything.  Enjoy the people who make your life better while you are with them.  What would you say if it was the last time you saw them?

Be honest with people and tell them what you feel.  It is the best medicine for you and others. People leave our lives, and we are sad, and sometimes we cry. We don’t call for them, moving on to something else. We cry for ourselves because our lives are a little less vibrant without their colors being painted on your canvas anymore.  There is an emptiness. But that is a good thing because it means that you had a wonderful person in your life, like looking at an empty room once full of joy but now dormant and empty. The current condition does not cancel the old thoughts.

In your Heart and Mind

Even after people have died and left this show forever, when you think of them, for an instant, they are still here and with you. Their influence stays, and as long as you are alive. They are influenced by you as well. Even if they don’t admit it. The same is true as you leave the lives of others because you moved or moved on.  The influence of the people you care about is there whenever you think of it. So think of it and remember the right things.

Other people make our lives what they are. Happy, sad, angry, lonely, complete, or any other way you can describe life. Appreciate the ones that make your life better and tell them often. The same can be said with the circumstances you experience. Enjoy the great things, and the things you don’t like will fade into the background of your memory. There are always going to be valuable diamonds you carry with you from all experiences in life. Sometimes they are tiny, but they still exist. Cherish these positives and let the negative go, only taking lessons with you.

As you look at your life, seeing the times you have had to say goodbye. Evaluate what you have learned, what and who you miss, and make sure that you take advantage of every chance not to say goodbye but to thank you.  Thank the people who have shaped your life better in any small or big way.  It all begins with a focus on your thoughts about the absence of others, the words we use to speak to and about them, and the actions we take because of these goodbyes.  Thank you to all the people who have made my life a great and exciting experience. See you soon!

“It’s time to say goodbye, but I think goodbyes are sad, and I’d much rather say hello. Hello to a new adventure.” Ernie Harwell

“Life is made up of meetings and partings; that is the way of it.” ~ Charles Dickens

“You have been my friend. That in itself is a tremendous thing.” -E.B. White (Charlotte’s Web)

“Don’t be dismayed at goodbyes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. And meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends.” -Richard Bach

“How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.” -A.A. Milne (Winnie-the-Pooh)

 

21

Sorry

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Sorry- feeling distressed, especially through sympathy with someone else’s misfortune.

sorry
In the game we played as kids, some never learn the value of the word sorry.

Life is a continual path of choices. Each person will make many choices every day, from when to get up in the morning to what they eat that day.  As we move along that path, there will be opportunities to do good things or bad things. To choose to be kind and considerate of others or to make decisions with our own self-interest at heart. All people are going to make decisions they are not proud of at some point. It is part of being human.  Recognizing the wrong you perceive is difficult, but we all have the power to make it right. Say, “I’m sorry.”  This is the first step in making things right for you.  It all starts with a conscious awareness of the things you have done and do which actually cause harm to others.  Your thoughts will reveal your emotions about the things you have done, the words you have or have not used because of them, and the actions you have or have not taken.  I’m sorry is an important place to start when building understanding.

Sorry About My Pride

Pride is a feeling we all have, and it can be a positive thing, but sometimes we let it get in the way.  There are people out there with such fragile egos Im sorrythat admitting they made even the tiniest of mistakes is a threat to their whole identity.  Don’t be one of these people.  It is your ego, or your false self, speaking these words.  Never be too proud to say you are sorry.

Good people make bad choices all the time. That is a part of the process of life called learning.  Be conscious of your choices and the way they affect other people.  Seeing that your decision hurts someone else isn’t an indictment of you and your character. It is a recognition of humanity in someone else.  I’m sorry is a way to state express your understanding of the pain in another person.  You see them, understand them, and will try to help them.  It is a simple matter of putting someone else’s well-being ahead of your own.  It costs nothing, so don’t be too proud to use this phrase.

How Can I Make It Right

Along with the honest sentiment of being sorry for your choice or action, the question should be; How can I make it right?  For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction, and we learn this from physics. It is true in other Sorryparts of life too.  Hopefully, when you have hurt someone or made a poor choice, there is a way to make it right. Even the worst of behaviors can be atoned for in some way.  It starts by taking responsibility for yourself and your behavior and working toward doing what is right.

Most often, the thing to do is to stop doing the thing that is hurting someone else. That is the moment of choice because either you will put someone else ahead of yourself or are not.  I’m sorry it loses its power if clearly, you are not sorry enough to change your behavior. If you are the source of someone’s misfortune, then show your contrition by stopping that behavior. Stop making the same mistake over and over again. Use them to discover how to live a better life.

Sorry Doesn’t Fix Everything.

Simply saying that you are sorry doesn’t fix everything, and even bargaining a manner to make things right might not do the trick. Having feelings about remorse in the way you treated someone is the first step in your humanity.  And who says it is your job to fix everything.  We can do the only thing to try to become a little bit better a person than we were yesterday. To leave a little more joy in the world and less anger and pain.  To understand where you were wrong, the mistakes you made, intentional or unintentional, and sorry for them.  You can’t control the reactions of others, and who is to say what their emotional state is?  You are responsible for your actions and the footprint that leaves in the world.  This mark begins by being more conscious of your thoughts, emotions, words, and actions today and taking responsibility for feeling and saying you are sorry when you are wrong.

“If we have made an error, done a wrong, been unjust to another or ourselves, or, like the Pharisee, passed by some opportunity for good, we should have the courage to face our mistake squarely, to call it boldly by its right name, to acknowledge it frankly and to put in no flimsy alibis of an excuse to protect an anemic self-esteem.” – William George Jordan.

“An apology is a good way to have the last word.”-Unknown

“Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future.”-Paul Boese