Tag Archives: connections

22

The Ocean Connection

Leave a comment

Ocean- a vast expanse of sea, in particular, each of the main areas into which the sea is divided geographically.

The Ocean is home.

The Ocean must be a strange concept to those who have never visited its shores and seen its vast waters. A sea is a place that draws people toward it and provides solace, advice, and comfort than most other sites. Why is the Ocean such a magnet for peaceful feelings? I think that if you have a history near one, it is in your essence, and you are continually connected to it.

There is something magical there connecting in us that knows our inside thoughts. Powerful thoughts are realized looking into the waves, and somehow they don’t seem so distant or unattainable. Whatever your attraction, the Ocean is a big part of many lives, and being conscious of its pull and power can allow a person’s consciousness to rise. It all starts with paying attention to your thoughts, words, and actions when you visit this expanse of nature. 

Ocean, The Counselor

When the worst happens, and there are no answers another person can give you, the Ocean has a way of providing reliable counsel to those who come to its side. Ocean therapy calms you down with the soft, continuous pounding of the waves, the sea breeze in your face. The faint call of gulls in the distance carries your worries away with them as they dive for a meal. Then float confidently on the water. Challenges are a part of life, but looking at something more significant than any problem we will ever face builds special confidence in people. We may just have a hidden power underneath our surface, and tapping into that power will allow you to grow.

There is a comfort that comes from visiting the Ocean in the smell of the salt in the air,  and the experience seems to take all the negativity in life away with its ever-rising and falling tides. You feel as if you can toss all of your problems in the churning water, and they will disappear beneath the waves and be lost in the mass of ocean depth. If you seek the peace of mind, look for it in the Ocean.

Ocean the Connector

The Ocean connects all things in the world. When you look out on the vast, seemingly never-ending sea in front of you, it encompasses everything. But you know that out there somewhere, all of life is happening. Boats are sailing, fish are swimming, and on the other side, someone is more than likely looking back at you. Wondering how it is all connected, just like you.

You can connect with someone who has left your life and moved on, only living in your memory. I have been able to find those who have passed away, but still, their voices and a connection can be found by looking into the sea. The link is there as you contemplate its depths, all of those voices of the oceans of people you have known speak to you. All you have to do is listen. That is one of the many magical qualities of the mighty waters. What or whom you seek,  there you will often find. Our thoughts seem to be carried throughout the range of the Ocean to other places. There is reassurance in that.

Ocean the  Energy Source

With such an extensive collection of moving water, there will be energy produced that draws people. It is a natural flow that you can feel by being near, on, or in the water. There is nothing negative about this natural energy, and that is why it feels good to visit. You may not understand it, but you know the Ocean is a place of rejuvenation, and it can transfer its power into your soul.

Even if you don’t believe this, it doesn’t matter. The irrefutable fact is that the Ocean changes you. It gets in your soul, and if you contemplate the meaning in life, the sea is one of nature’s most exceptional assistants. If it is hot and sunny, the Ocean cools you down and makes you calm. If it is cold, the sea is still there rolling along, offering its advice for all people to take advantage of in their lives. There are few places so positively charged. It stuns me how often people live near this authoritative source of wonder and pay no attention at all.

So raising your consciousness today, look at the natural wonders around you. If you live near the Ocean, visit that old friend. Be one of the people in the world who notices the power and change that can come from this vast expanse of sea. And it all starts with your thoughts about the magnificence of the Ocean. The emotions attached to your ideas. The words you speak of and around it. And the actions you take in your life because of it. The shore is the waiting room for peace and wonder, and you don’t even have to make an appointment.

“We are tied to the Ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch – we are going back from whence we came.”
John F. Kennedy

“The ocean stirs the heart, inspires the imagination, and brings eternal joy to the soul.”
Robert Wyland

“The cure for anything is saltwater: sweat, tears, or the sea.”
Isak Dinesen

 

21

Technology

Leave a comment

Raising My Consciousness One Word at a Time

Technology– machinery and equipment developed from the application of scientific knowledge.

Electronic devices surround our lives.  Virtually all people carry their own devices to allow communication with the world.  Technology has given us amazing things.  A greater ability to communicate, transfer information, travel, and create at a capacity only dreamed of 30 years ago. Now there are problems which have risen as well. Our devices seem to run our lives, as we are all “connected” on social media sites, are we really connected?  Or is it all an illusion?  The challenge in life is to use the technology and not have it use us.  That begins with a focus on our thoughts on using our phones and corresponding social media sites.  Recognize the emotions that result from that and your words and actions, which all come from your technology.  How much of your time is yours? How much belongs to your device?

Attachments to Devices

It is a relatively recent phenomenon that people have developed a significant attachment to their personal communication devices.  They didn’t exist 20 years ago. Now we are all attached to the technology our phone provides to some degree.  It is a one-stop interaction stop, but that attachment brings problems with it—a significant lack of real interaction with other people and the world around you.  The phone provides a link to the world through social media, Facebook, Snap Chat, Instagram, Twitter, or whatever your choice of communication is.  That is addictive.

The addiction can become real, someone likes your picture or shares your story, and your brain reacts chemically to that in a positive way. That leads to seeking more, which leads to more time looking into the false light of your phone, scrolling endlessly through posts to like and judge and like and judge.  The attachment to this activity is solid and real.  The problem is that you are looking at a fantasy of what life is, not life.  Looking at a picture of a beach is not visiting that beach yourself.  Visit the beach!

Building Real Healthy Attachments

How to improve this issue should be easy.  First, you have to become conscious of what you are doing and why you are doing it.  How many times do you scroll through your Facebook feed for no reason?  Start to build attachments to people and things outside of the electronic world.  For example, have real conversations with people.  Real interaction with people is better than any form of social media. I think that people have forgotten this.

Set a bit of time aside each week to be totally electronically free.  No access to the world in any way other than through your five senses in the natural world.  This will wake you up to the things you are missing each day.  What great things do you see every day that you never notice? Start to notice them.  Go for a walk with your eyes directed all around you and with no concern for the things happening in the electronic world.  Allow your consciousness to become aware of real people, sights, activities, and places right in front of you.  Break the electronic attachment, at least for a while.

Awareness of Problem

So now you are aware of the attachment you have to the electronic world of likes, shares, and follows. It is important to become aware of how this can enhance your life.  Social media can be a good thing, but it seems like the negatives are piled high against it.  The process seems to force people to develop unhealthy thoughts that worry about what others think of you and what you are doing.  Then you have to ask yourself, “Do I do this because I want to or because other people will like it?”  The honest answer is probably a little bit of both.  Learning to function for our own approval and nobody else’s is one of the most powerful experiences in life.  Tough to do with social media.

Another of the things people need is to express themselves creatively. This can come in almost any creative form from writing, painting, drawing, woodworking, or any other form of expression.  Creativity is your soul speaking to the world.  Time spent in the vortex of social media is time spent away from creating or learning, or developing yourself as a person. You don’t have to drop off social media, but become conscious of your attachment to it and let that attachment go.  Develop who you are, not what people see about you online.

Letting Go of Attachments

When you let go of all attachments, not just electronic but also those to unhealthy ideas, you open up space for you to develop as a thinking human being.  Then you can let situations be what they are without expectations of your attachment to them.  Each day then contains a little more potential to become whatever it can become.  It all starts with a conscious choice to see the attachment you might have with your phone. Looking at it 900 times a day, seeking validation and support. Those things are already in you. All you have to do is choose to see and pursue them.  It all begins with an awareness of your thoughts, emotions, words, and actions today because of that heightened awareness of technology and its hold on you.

“The word ‘friend’ has become so utterly void of meaning in a world governed by social media. How can anyone truly claim to have eleven hundred friends? In my book, that would involve making time to meet at least three of them every day of the year.”? Alex Morritt

“Social media sites creates [an] illusion of connectivity .”   – Malay Shah

 

 

 

 

 

21

Manipulation

Leave a comment

Each person that I have ever met has, in one way or We are all connectedanother, basking in the glow of their individuality—the certain perks and character traits that made them uniquely them. I have also clung to these traits to separate myself from the crowd and show my unique value. Yet, I look at society today and see that I am participating in a world that is manipulating all of us into a prison of isolation.  This is a restriction that keeps us from learning about ourselves and our own thoughts. Because we worry so much about fitting into the roles we are pressured to create from the programming and manipulation of our lives.  It makes me wonder what I am missing in all of the people I meet. I think we are all connected. All we have to do is look for it and be willing to see it. Our similarities are far greater than our differences.

The Grand Manipulation

The education system has been ingeniously designed

Brainwash education system
This is how I was educated. Follow the rules, accept authority, consume

to build our sense of isolation over the years. We are told what to think, how to look, how to display affection, what is important, and even how to feel. When we don’t follow in lock-step with the expectations, we are failed, left behind, or ridiculed.  We all learn to find acceptance in our society, and we follow the rules. We believe what we are told, without question. It is the building of isolation and separateness.

I think the truth is when we are born, we do not worry about following rules, and we live for the enjoyment of simply being alive. As long as our basic needs are provided for, we develop on a path of kindness. It is the programming of society that changes this. People are bombarded with expectations, advertising, and “education” to stand in line, sit up straight, and don’t make waves.  Children should be seen and not heard. Tough to ask meaningful questions, or give thoughtful feedback if you are silent.

Adult Cells

So once we have been conditioned to accept

all alone together
All alone together. The story of adulthood in 2019.

individuality as we grow, the cell door is slammed shut in adulthood, and we seemingly willingly throw away the key. Working a large portion of the week, exchanging our time for money, we spend our free time staring at electronic devices (television, computers, tablets, smartphones, etc.) Each of these devices draws our consciousness into a world of make-believe and keeps us from actually interacting with others.

The sad part is that we feel we have free will, but each moment we interact with technology, we are drawn away from who we are and more into a land of make-believe. Our minds are further brainwashed into looking for material possessions that will make us “happy.”

So we sit alone together watching the world happen on a television screen through a game or a story. It isn’t real, and we are decidedly alone. That isn’t how it should be.

We Are All Connected, Choose to See It

All living things are connected if we choose to see them.

personal connections
Try a little personal connection and see what happens.

We are all a collective drop of water in the ocean of humanity.  Each person contains within them the spark of wonder. Many people start to remember this as they get older. They don’t feel like things are quite “right.” That what they have been taught is filled with faulty feelings and lies. People collect all of the material possessions they will ever need, yet they still are unhappy.  “Is this it?” often occurs to you, and you realize your experience can’t be all that there is.  So you begin to search for the connections.

A great way to escape is to consciously look to widen your sphere of personal influence by having positive human interaction. Look for opportunities to connect with other people in meaningful ways. Enjoying things mutually in life, a common purpose or an experience of life that we can share, enjoy and remember together.

Look for a chance to connect through the day with those you come in contact with randomly, or even more importantly, with those you care about.  How many meals do you eat as you are watching television, in isolation? Look for chances to expand your reality to include others so that your life will become richer.  Leave the prison of modern life and accept the freedom that we all yearn for, even if we have forgotten it exists.

Hold hands, have a conversation about love or life, send a note of encouragement, compliment someone sincerely, be kind to a stranger, help someone in simple ways, share something, play a game, go for a walk with someone, start a project, discuss how to make the world a better place, provide hope.  Or any of a million other things that we know are good and will bring connections between people. 

 “A human being is a part of a whole, called by us a universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts, and feelings as something separated from the rest … a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”  ~ Albert Einstein

Related articles across the web

10

I Was So Scared that Day

Leave a comment

I was so scared that day……..

The date was October 24, 2014 and my hands were trembling as I opened the double glass doors which would lead me inside of the gym that would become a vital part of my life.  At the time I didn’t know that. I knew I needed to do something to get in shape, I had let myself go for too long.  Most of my life I had kept in pretty good shape, but life led me to move away from that and I just turned 48 and didn’t feel good about life, I needed to get back in shape. I made the decision to commit for 60 days straight and see what happened.  I opened the door, walked in and my life started to change in a good way.  I did my 60 days, then 100, then 200 and continue to this day. I don’t workout every day, but most days I do. I have been able to build muscle, and lose fat and feel better now than I did at any point in my life.  It was the challenge of starting something new I needed to get over and once I did that and changed my personal paradigm fitness has been a part of my life and it made me look at the rest of my life to see where I could make some changes. I had to learn to accept new things in life and add them to the things I had known.

Seeking Different Things

New experiences come to us all the time, that is the spice that life gives us.  New people, places, situations, and thoughts can come to us at any moment and will always be available to us in order to allow us to move along the path of life. All lives are going to have new things in them, just as the child moves from first to second grade and eventually graduates from our educational system, so are the new things life put there to push you to learn what you need to know in order to become the best version of yourself.  Of course, we have to be willing to accept them and work with them in order for these things to provide us with all the positives we deserve. There is an art in adding the new things in the world to the things already known. Developing this skill will make you an A student at life, so let’s look at new things and see where we stack up today.

Some Positive Steps

The past is a tricky location to visit because the only way to get there is in your mind. Our minds tend to have a fuzzy recall when it comes to remembering things. We tend to focus on the positive and forget the negative. When new things come into your life we should view the past from a supportive perspective.  Don’t let the past limit you and dismiss new experiences out of hand.  Focus on the visible evidence in front of you right now to build reinforcement for the new pattern of life that you have a chance to grow from right now.  Self-reflection in a positive manner where you use true examples available to reinforce the new learning experience.  This is where you connect the new to the known in your mind.

It is important to do this connecting without bias, because often the ego we construct in our mind, pushes all things that have a remote chance of providing pain out of the way. Try to let each experience stand on its own and provide its own lesson. Evaluate the value of a new connection, activity, or thought on the merits it actually provides you and not the ones you perceive them to contain. By doing this you make all of the experiences real, factual things and avoid exercises in wishful thinking and fantasy.

Change is Real

You will really start to accept the new and tie it to the known in your life by creating an anchor to your feelings with real examples. A foundation of knowledge already exists in each of us and some things have been proven true. Attaching the new experiences to the known by making them the next logical or sensible step in the progression of your experience.

Use your power of refection to create these connections. I am sure there are some people who can create these connections organically with little effort. I am not one of them. It requires my time to look for and recognize the connections I have with the new and the known.  All time spent in contemplative thought is an opportunity to become a better, more productive person in all facets of life.  How does what I already know, apply to the new situation? What new skills do I need to create and develop?

Taking time to identify the knowledge and experience you already have and deploying it in a new way is how we grow.  This is a skill that can be applied to any new thing and the connections between the new and the known become stronger. It is also a skill to correctly identify the people who might help you with understanding the new or to support you through the changes.

In a work situation, a mentor is an invaluable resource to help guide you.  How better to learn the answers then from someone who has already taken the test. Your journey will be unique and you have to develop the skills to survive, but there is nothing wrong with learning from someone who has been there and done that before. Properly identifying the good assets from the bad is a skill and will impede or speed up your development of connecting the new to the known is the result. But the most important coach you will ever know is the one that is inside of you. Look to your instinct to help guide you through all of these things.

The Best is There for You

When you look at the new things you are creating in your life, it will begin in your imagination. Some will tell you to write it down over and over again like a magic spell, but I don’t think it’s necessary. All you need to do is to create a vision of what you want and to follow it.  You don’t need to waste time trying to convince yourself that you deserve the new, better experience, you just need to take action steps toward the new and by accepting into the already established patterns of life. You will replace old patterns and programming in your mind that don’t provide any value for you anymore, with new thoughts, actions, and people in your life.  It is natural and understanding to experience fear at the beginning of any new thing. Action will overcome fear every time, whether you are starting a new workout routine, a new job or a new relationship.  Move forward. Take your new experiences and integrate them with the things already known.

“You know how creative people are, we have to try everything until we find our niche.” ― E.A. Bucchianeri

“When you make the decision to start something new, first figure out the jobs you want to do. Then position yourself to play where no one else is playing.” ― Whitney Johnson

“I realized something on the ride. I realized if I wait until I’m not scared to try new things, then I’ll never get to try them at all.” ― Marie Sexton

Spiritual

My Shift in Progress

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 shiftis 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 changeBetterthings, 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.

More on Wayne Dyer

Related articles across the web