Tag Archives: Freedom Of Choice

22

Beware of the Shifting Sands in Life

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One of the things we need to get used to in life is it never stays the same.  Humans trick ourselves into believing we can get to a place where everything will be exactly as we dream.  Perfect job, perfect relationship, perfect health, and perfect life.  Unfortunately, anyone with any experience knows life will never be perfect. Even if you are fortunate enough to find some excellent moments, in some areas, they are continually shifting into something else, some other experience.  I know I have built attachments to jobs, relationships I have been in, and activities I took part in.  I was in a constant struggle to create stability in my life.  I figured that if I found a place in the world where I fit, then that part was over. I could relax, and I understood that my job, relationship, or situation and good for me.

The problem is that the Universe does not work in a static state.  Things are constantly in motion, and the way anything is today will be different tomorrow. There is no way to gain absolute stability because the ground under your very feet will shift, and the solid foundation you thought you were standing on is only loose, moving sand and causing you to scramble and change your perspective, place, and ideas. If all of this makes life a scary proposition or a never-ending adventure is up to your choices of thought and understanding of your attachments.

Attachments to Other People

Knowing things are constantly changing can make relationships a dicey experience.  I think it is too easy to get lost in something going well.  Once you attach yourself to how things are, they stop being great spontaneously and become something you take for granted.  Because you are connected to the way, things are.  A friend of mine recently observed, “It seems less likely that an actual, perfect long-term relationship will exist.”  I thought about it for a minute and had this conclusion.  Positive long-term relationships can exist and do exist all the time.  One of the truths about life, though, is that at some point, all relationships, even the best and most powerful, will end. That is life.

The secret is not building an attachment to anyone the way a person or a relationship can be because it is all just shifting sand under your feet. Giving a person the room to grow and be an individual on their journey is essential as you move through your transitions and changes life will inevitably push you through.  Each moment is given to you to be treasured at that time.  A great day is a great day, and even though you wish it would never end, the sun will set, and time will move on into another day.  It may be great too, but it will be different, and you will not be able to enjoy that new experience if you have your thoughts and feelings clinging to the events of the “perfect” day that is gone by.  Living in this moment is the only thing you can do. Make this another “great day.”  Two people living in sync with that attitude can make life excellent and enjoyable. You are enjoying the changes the shifting sands bring and making each enjoyable and memorable.

A Job is Just an Activity

One area people are programmed throughout life is the activity they choose to contribute to society.  Our jobs focus on our early life as we choose an educational path to get the position we want.  Then we pursue that career and attain success or move in another direction. You have been working so long to become that doctor, lawyer, business owner, teacher, engineer, mechanic, or whatever you wanted to become that you become attached to that position.  Your

identity is wrapped up in what you do to make money.  If you don’t think so, one of the first questions someone asks another when you first meet is, “what do you do for a living?”  This allows us to try to understand where someone fits into our world.

The truth is our jobs are just an activity we agree to participate in. The job will end eventually. It will not define who you are as a person; only tell people what you did to make money. Being successful at your job is different for everyone, but being attached to a job is difficult because when the shifting sands take it away, what will you be then?  Identity questions will follow, and if you have spent no time getting to know yourself, you are in for a rude awakening.  I have found many different roles we can fit into and find enjoyment and satisfaction in the performance of money tasks. But I no longer build attachments to these things.  I am the same person in every job; I have just had to play a different role.  Give your best and look to enjoy the parts of the job that you genuinely want, and work will be rewarding.  Always expect it to change, and you will never be disappointed when it does.  Shifting sands are always under your feet.

Life Itself

The compilation of experiences we endure is the sum of our lives.  From the earliest moments when we are children, we start to piece together our observations and moments to understand how things work and how we can best thrive and survive.  Striking balance is the most efficient method for riding the shifting sands and gaining the most enjoyment of your time.  Life has a way of keeping you moving down the path of experience.  We often have no choice in what we will face, but we always control how we deal with things.  I have often not reacted well initially to things.  Seeing the sand shift and swallow up the things I built attachments to.  But in time, with thought and effort, I think I  have regained my balance, learned a lesson, and enjoyed life in a new way.

It’s hard to let things go into that shifting sand, but all of our lives and growth stem from the ability to do just that successfully.  Dance in the sands and understand things will never stay the same, just because you particularly enjoyed a particular part of it.  Enjoy each moment for what it brings you, and then be ready to accept the next moment and find the joy, gratitude, and appreciation for what those moments bring to your experience.  Learn your lessons from the past and leave the moments there.  Look to this moment to find your joy because this is the only moment you have and are guaranteed.

Finally……..

Today is Easter Sunday 2019, take a moment and look at your life and choose the things in your day that you are grateful for, enjoy them and then let them go into the ever-changing abyss of your experience.  There will be new and different experiences on your horizon coming into your life in the next moment or 24 hours from now. Be ready to embrace them.  Find the people looking for that very same thing, spend time with them, embrace moments, and be grateful for your time together.  Avoid attachments to relationships, moments, experiences, jobs, and things.  All will leave, break, and end eventually, which is not good or bad, just a fact.  Learning to enjoy what is here is one of the secrets to life.

  1. When the universe gives you more than you expect: Embrace it and then share it.
  2. Your life becomes a masterpiece when you learn to master peace.
  3. You’re the most significant switch in life, and your energy turns the light on or off.
  4. Choose your happiness over everything.
  5. It is what it is. Accept it and move on.
  6. Be patient. Everything is coming together.
  7. Healing is an art, and it takes time, and it takes practice, and it takes love.
  8. You live, You learn, You move on.
  9. One of the happiest moments in life is finding the courage to let go of what you cannot change.
  10. Sometimes you have to accept that certain things will never return to how they used to be. Life goes on.

 

21

Joy

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What does your joy look like?

Can anyone define their joy as one particular aspect of a day or even a life?

I certainly can’t. Life is much faceted, and joy derives from many different experiences. The canvas that I paint on has many colors, and I take pleasure from many other parts of that image my life has created.

Joy is an emotion that comes from within each of us.  Things bring us experiences, but we have to allow the joy in ourselves to rise to the surface and show itself. Happiness can come when you are with someone else or by yourself. It can be in the morning or the afternoon.  You are fully able to feel it at any moment you choose.  My joy today looks like many things. I have some thoughts about some specific things I experience happiness about in life—a glimpse of what is making experience great pleasure and satisfaction today.

Freedom’s Just Another Name

Something about times of complete and utter freedom makes me extremely happy and fills my heart with joy and happiness.

freedom There are times in each day where you have to perform specific tasks for your job or to meet the expectations of loved ones. These acts bring a reward for their merit.  Yet, most days, there are moments where I have complete and utter freedom to do whatever I desire at that moment.

 My desires aren’t all that wild and unattainable. I like to write (surprise), I enjoy thinking, and I read with passion.  Finding the time and freedom to do these things fills me with joy today.

 I think that having and exercising your free will each day for some time make you feel rejuvenated and brand new. I know those moments when there is no requirement on me other than those I place on myself are precious.

 On most days, there is a small portion where I experience the freedom of choice, which looks like a joy to me today.

Be Creative, and Things will Flow.

tumblr_la3fh5yX2q1qcgiqwo1_500I have always thought of myself as a person that lacked creativity.  Since I was a young lad, I heard that I lacked the artistic imagination to make art.

The sad part was not that people said these things, but that I believed them.  If you feel this, it cripples your ability to find the answers you are looking for on your journey.

For example, some writers suffer from writer’s block. They can’t get the flow going no matter how hard they try.  One of the most effective ways to break down walls of any kind is to do something creative.  I find that as I become completely engaged in an activity on the creative side, generally, the blocks go away, and words and ideas start to flow freely.

Surprisingly drawing is a form of expression for me, which allows me to do this.  Even though I have no talent in this area, engaging in a brief drawing session will let me find some clarity if I struggle with thought. Creativity looks like my joy today.

Music is Joy

I have often written about how much music means to me, and it is a daily love affair that is only limited by the number of songs available for me to hear.  No one genre brings me joy because many songs and artists I wouldn’t think I would like to perform songs that I find that I can relate to, at least to some degree! I find that nothing explains your emotions better than music or speaks to your soul like the lyrics of the right song.!

Music works magically like a time machine and transports you to different times in your life, and you can almost more than remember those people who were in your life at the time, you can only touch them with your heart and feel them with your soul but touch them and feel them you do.

A song can transport you over the years to a specific place and time. In an instant, you are there re-experiencing the moment from long ago. Happiness, sadness, or even joy can wash over you as you remember your past actions through a song.

As I drive down the road listening to some great music from today and yesterday, I know my joy looks like music today.

You Look Like Joy To Me!

If you are reading this, then you are what my joy looks like today.  I was thinking about what makes me joyous, and that is when something I write affects someone else and makes them believe in any way.

It can be a positive or negative reaction, but to be moved enough to comment, either way, makes me very happy.

 As anyone who writes probably has realized, this is all just the thoughts that come into your head.  They never existed before in the manner you used them and wrote them down. It is an expression of yourself in your mind.

 If someone else can read them and take something from them, find inspiration, commiseration,  or agitation, then I think that is a pretty powerful thing. I enjoy reading the ideas of others as they push me to learn more about myself and think about what I want to be and do in this experience of life: the personality and the presentation of the information counts.  Much like music, there is an unlimited number of writers and creators out there providing great information and excellent entertainment.  I learn something interacting with each written piece I come across.  I find new ones every day like a treasure hidden, just waiting for someone to discover them.

Joy is a feeling that comes from within, and all of these help me feel it because I accept them in my life. Each of us is in charge of the level of joy we experience and from what source it comes.

“Let your joy be in your journey—not in some distant goal.” —Tim Cook

“We cannot cure the world of sorrows, but we can choose to live in joy.” —Joseph Campbell

“Find joy in everything you choose to do. Every job, relationship, home… it’s your responsibility to love it, or change it.” —Chuck Palahniuk

“The soul’s joy lies in doing.” —Percy Bysshe Shelley

“If you carry joy in your heart, you can heal any broken moment.”

 

 

21

Mindfulness

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All of us are looking for happiness. When you look at the result, we would like to experience all of our choices, and we hope to find satisfaction. However, it seems like many people let other things get in the way of their happiness.  Anger, jealousy, worry, or just plain fear grab ahold of your mind and stop you from reaching the ultimate goal of being happy in life.  The attachments we build to relationships, events, jobs, or anything else prevent us from enjoying the experiences we have every day.

Let it Go

It starts with the things we are attached to in thought. The attachments we make stem from the beliefs that we learned as children and never questioned. Thoughts about security, happiness, survival, success, we believe all these things in our lives are necessary to be happy.  Most of these things we hold on to are not the path to happiness but obstacles to it.

We are taught a narrative from a young age about what a successful education, career, and family life should look like in your life. People spend years cultivating this perceived image of success. We attach tightly to it, even though it may not make us happy. Letting go is difficult because our jobs have become a part of our identity.  Changing the narrative can be difficult because we worry about being accepted and what others, even those closest to us, think.  Let go of your attachments and see what happens.

Paradise and Hell

Inside each of us is the potential for heaven and the potential for hell. We decide which one shows up in our life. However, much of what happens to us is out of our control. How we react to everything is 100% of our choice.  We have the potential to build favorable circumstances or negative ones. Our selection of focus will determine what manifests in your life and how you affect the world.

If our choice is to wallow in the suffering of past hurts and sorrows, then this is a choice that will lead to a negative experience in your life. You are deciding to allow those negative feelings to grow inside you, and what we nurture inside will show up on the outside.

The good news is that no matter how negative you are currently or have been in the past, change can happen right now at this very moment.  The opposite thoughts are available to you right now. If you are experiencing fear, choose feelings of love. If you are bitter, focus on thoughts of acceptance. By concentrating and focusing on the positive, the seeds grown will choke out the negative in all aspects of life.

Be Mindful

This attitude leads to the practice of mindfulness. It means to plant your focus squarely on today and what is happening in your life right now—not allowing yourself to get lost in the memories of the past or trapped by thoughts of the future.  Practicing mindfulness can provide positive energy throughout the day, and that positive wave is available to you at all times.

Focused breathing is a simple way to bring your mind into the moment and to choke out random thoughts of the past or future. Happiness is at the moment. Not all moments are great to experience, but each moment of life has the potential for the experience of joy. You will miss this if your mind is lost in the past or floating around in the future.

Manage your Focus

A focus of thought is the next step, and it works with mindfulness. Once you can center your thoughts on what is happening today, then weeding out the ones that negatively affect you is easy to do.  Concentrating will not allow thoughts of potential suffering or fear of the future to stop you from living a vital and happy life right now.  Life is a test, and there will be moments that test you. Real growth would be painful without them.

Notice Your Thoughts

Clarity is the result of all of this.  Seeing the world as it truly is and finding happiness in that experience. We are not worrying about what MIGHT come tomorrow or regret or be fretting over the past.  This realization will set you free from the suffering thoughts of anger, jealousy, and fear. The result will be feelings of true happiness. We all can use this insight, but it seems few take advantage of it to increase our level of satisfaction. That choice, as in all things, is yours.

  • “Be ever happy inside. You can’t change things outside of you, but you can change yourself.”
  • “There are no obstacles: There are only opportunities!”
  • “There is no greater power than to smile at failure, no more beautiful an ornament to your being than a genuine smile, and no beauty greater than the smile of peace and wisdom glowing on your face.”
  • “Live quietly in the moment and see the beauty of all before you. The future will take care of itself.”
  • “Forget the past, for it is gone from your domain! Forget the future, for it is beyond your reach! Control the present! Live supremely well now! This is the way of the wise.”
  • “Accept change as life’s only constant. Life is change.”

 

21

Choice Defines You

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Choice- an act of selecting or making a decision when faced with two or more possibilities.  Something we all struggle with because we are always worried we will choose wrong.

What choices will you make today?

There is freedom that exists in every choice we make.  From the seemingly meaningless routines of the day to the most complicated interpersonal decisions, the choice of your thoughts, words, and actions always lies exclusively with you alone. That is an excellent and sometimes frightening proposition. But that is part of the joy of life. So I am trying to remember for myself and urge you to make the choices your heart is encouraging you to make. Even if they turn out to have challenges, you will have the ability to create new opportunities and move in another direction.  Each moment of life is a choice, and you create your character with the decisions you make, so choose well.

Daily Choices

The average person makes approximately 35,000 choices in a day. Many decisions arrive using our subconscious mind, and the automatic programming we have been collecting all your life. choiceThere is no conscious thought behind them. They might include, what you eat, what you wear, when you eat, the route you take to work, the places you stop along the way, the coffee you drink, the activities you participate in, or any number of things. There is a missed chance for consciousness in every choice we make on automatic pilot.

Every moment of the day is an opportunity to choose who you want to be. Honesty or lies? Kindness or meanness? Judgment or acceptance? Peace or anger?  These are just a few things that you choose at each moment of your life, and they determine who you are.  If you are unhappy with a portion of your life, then you have the power to choose another path for yourself. If you hate your job, decide to find another or find a way to make it more enjoyable.  If you are unhappy with your relationships, choose to work on what bothers you or select to end them. Be prepared to accept the freedom and responsibility of the results of your choices.

Choosing Our Reaction

There are moments in life that are out of our control, and we have no choice in them and certainly wouldn’t want to experience them. Natural disasters, the death of a loved one, job loss, the poor behavior of another are examples of things out of our control that no sane person would choose.  But we always have a choice in how we react to these unfortunate things.

Life is never a smooth road, there are bumps and challenges all the time, and they are there to allow for your growth. You choose how you deal with them. Do you become bitter or learn to be more accepting? Do you stay stuck in the past or move forward into the future? Do you give up? Or do you rebuild? Each choice will define you until the next opportunity comes along to change it. In the end, you are going to be responsible for the life you live.   We can make all the excuses we want. The choices we make in thought, words, and actions will tell the true story of our life. What choices are you making today?

Honoring Choices

I hope that more people will look at their choices and ask if they are things that will accept them. Only you can decide what thought, word, or action will bring honor to you or not.  I know that there have been times I made poor choices that did not honor my life for me. They were mistakes, and hopefully, I have learned from them and make more honoring preferences with that experience.

If you can be conscious enough to ask yourself in all small choices, does this honor me? You will get an answer, and that will guide you if you listen. It is essential in the manner you choose to treat other people. If you lie or cause harm to someone willingly, then you can expect those poor choices to become a part of your life for a while. It is just that you won’t be the giver of pain and suffering; you will be on the receiving end.

Be conscious of all of your choices today in thought, words, and actions.

“At some point in our life, everyone must decide if they are a creator or a critic, a lover or a hater, a giver, or a taker.” ~ Unknown

“Make good choices today, so you don’t have regrets tomorrow.” Anonymous

“Every day brings new choices.” Martha Beck

“Life is all about making choices. Always do your best to make the right ones, and always do your best to learn from the wrong ones.” Anonymous

“Life is a matter of choices, and every choice you make makes you.” John C. Maxwell

“Everything in your life is a reflection of a choice you have made. If you want a different result, make a different choice.” Anonymous

“Every morning, you have two choices: Continue to sleep with your dreams or wake up and chase your dreams. The choice is yours.” Anonymous

“There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them.” Denis Waitley

I have written about choice quite a lot in the past.

Crossroad Choices

Even more on this page

Questions

Joy Looks Like This

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What does your joy look like today?

Joy Noun A feeling of great pleasure and happiness. A thing that causes joy. Synonyms delight - gladness - pleasure - mirth - rejoicing
Joy- A feeling of great pleasure and happiness. A thing that causes joy.

by Jon Hilton Day 17

Can anyone really define their joy as one particular aspect of a day or even a life?

I certainly can’t so when I started to answer this question for today I had many thoughts about what gives me joy right at this moment and in the overall canvass of existence.

 My joy today looks like many things of which I am going to try to give you a glimpse of what is making experience great pleasure and happiness today.

Freedom’s Just Another Name

There is something about times of complete and utter freedom that makes me extremely happy and fills my heart with joy!

freedom There are times in each day where you have to perform specific tasks for your job or your loved ones, and that has a reward on its merit.  Yet, most days, there are moments where I have complete and utter freedom to do whatever I desire at that moment.

What I want in life isn’t all that wild and unattainable. I like to write (surprise), I want to think, and I like to read.  Finding the time and freedom to do these things fills me with joy today.

 I think that having and exercising your free will every day for some time can make you feel rejuvenated and brand new. I know that when I have moments when there is no requirement on me other than those I place on myself are precious.

 In most days, there is a small portion where I experience the freedom of choice, and that looks like a joy to me today.

Be Creative, and Things will Flow

tumblr_la3fh5yX2q1qcgiqwo1_500I have always thought of myself as a person that lacked creativity.  Since I was a young lad, I was told that I lacked the artistic creativity that used to make art.

The sad part was not that people said these things, but that I believed them.  If you think this, it cripples your ability to find answers you are looking for in life.

For example, some writers suffer from writer’s block. They can’t get the flow going no matter how hard they try.  One of the most effective ways I have found to break down chunks of any kind is to do something creative.  I find that as I allow myself to become completely engaged in an activity that is on the creative side, generally, the blocks just go away, and words and ideas start to flow freely.

Surprisingly drawing is a form of expression for me, which allows me to do this.  Even though I really have no talent in this area, if I am struggling in thought, engaging in a brief drawing session will allow me to find some clarity. Creativity looks like my joy today.

The Music Man

musicI have often written about how much music means to me, and it is a daily love affair that is only limited by the number of songs that are available for me to hear.  I find that there is nothing that explains your emotions better than music or speaks to your soul like the words of a song.  No one genre brings me joy because many songs and artists I wouldn’t think I would like to perform songs that I find that I can relate to, at least to some degree!!

Music works magically like a time machine and transports you to different times in your life and you can almost more than remember those people who were in your life at the time, you can only touch them with your heart and feel them with your soul but touch them and feel them you do.

Songs by Billy Joel take me to 1985.  George Michael, (the singer not the Bluth.), reminds me of 1988.  Hey there, Delilah takes me immediately to 2007.  It is not a phenomenon that is unique to me.  I avoid these trips of nostalgia because today is pretty impressive, but there is a time for everything.

As I drive down the road listening to some great music from today and yesterday, I know that my joy looks like music today.

You Look Like Joy To Me!

I LOVE YOU! and all of you wonderful thoughts and creations!
I LOVE YOU! and all of you beautiful thoughts and creations!

If you are reading this, then you are what my joy looks like today.  I was thinking about what makes me joyous, and that is when something I write is read by someone else and has an effect on them in any way.

It can be a positive or negative reaction, but to be moved enough to comment, either way makes me very happy.

 As anyone who writes probably has realized, this is all just the thoughts that come into your head.  They never existed before you thought them and wrote them down.

 If someone else can read them and take something from them, find inspiration, commiseration,  or agitation, then I think that is pretty cool.

Like all great relationships, there is a two-way street. I read a lot of blogs, and if I didn’t have work to do, I would read a lot more.  It is all interactive literature for me.  I love reading about all things; it is the best way to learn new things.

 It is the personality and the presentation of the information that counts.  Much like music, there is an unlimited number of bloggers out there providing great information.  I learn something about interacting with each one.  I find new ones every day like a treasure hidden just waiting to be discovered.

Some of you have become great friends, and I feel I know you better than people I see in person every day.  So you reading these words right now, that means you, my joy, looks like you today.

Hey There, Delilah, by the time that we get through, the world will never be the same. 

 

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