Tag Archives: good and bad

The Power of Your Choice

August 25, 2022 Jonathan Hilton Leave a comment

What do we all have in common that makes us human?

No matter where you live or what you do to survive, life always boils down to our choices. From who you choose as friends to how responsible you are, it is all decided consciously. We all can choose what we experience.

Many people have a hard time accepting responsibility for these choices in their lives, but if you look at yourself honestly and in an unbiased fashion, you will see the power your preferences have had on your life’s success or failure.

Yet often, we fail to look closer and see the common threads that run through us all. Our choices in what we see, who we love, where we go, and what we do are all made by us alone. Think along with me and recognize the power of your choices as you do.

One Connection Through us All

I think that we are all connected. You are reading this, and my miles away from you, a person you have never met, are connected. I believe in the energy we produce each day through the tenor and intention of the thoughts we create.

Some see God as a being that exists somewhere, guiding us from afar or judging us either good or bad in our actions. Based on some outward notions of right and wrong.

Yet, it seems that God is much closer and more involved than that. He is inside each of us, and when you can quiet your mind, you can hear that power in all things. God doesn’t judge. God guides. How well we listen will provide joy or disappointment in our experience.

I am not looking for a fight to convince you of anything or change what you believe because that is your Connection and, of course, your choice. I know that I have never felt more connected and sure than I do now. We all have this Connection inside of us and need to look for it and listen to it to know what we should do. We are all connected, and that makes us human. It is your choice to determine how that Connection affects your life. I feel that anything that provides separation of people is not from God, and anything that connects people is.

The Choice of Kindness

When I look at all people, I think we all have the choice of kindness every day in all situations we encounter.

Someone yells at you unfairly, and you have a choice, hug them or punch them in the face. Someone gives you a gift, and you have the same choice. The choice of your action is always with you, not someone else.

I have never encountered a situation where kindness was not the right thing to do or didn’t make a bad situation better.

It eases the pain, boosts morale, and makes people feel generally good and hopeful about the future. All of these happy ships of thought are sent through acts of kindness. We all choose to be kind or cruel; you decide what the people in your life will be experiencing. The ability to choose to share hearts makes us all human.

Greatness Lies In Us

All people are born with a great talent of some kind. Unfortunately, life seems to present us with a relentless avalanche of experiences that cause us to forget what this talent is. To the point that we forget we possessed it in the first place.

There is a passion inside of you and me that is our own. Each of us has this; once you investigate it, you will find your path. The one that makes you truly happy and allows you to connect to life in the best way possible.

Dreams are the vehicles that these passions follow. You dream of what you would love to do with your life, and your passion and talent make this happen. Sometimes we create our roadblocks by overthinking things and believing the negativity that others provide.

What if this happens? Or if only that should happen? Or any other million possible limiting questions that can impede you from simply reaching for your dream. It may seem daunting and too much of a chance, but the only way you will ever know is to create the journey toward your goals. The journey is a powerful thing because that is where life lessons exist.

How much will I cherish the lessons I learn on the way? Mistakes are great teachers and often bring tasks you need to know to reach the dream eventually. We are all searching for our true selves and the ability in us that will make us great. Your choice is to seek this talent or let it lie dormant forever. You can’t blame anybody else.

The Dark Side

One of the scary parts of having the freedom to choose is that from time to time, we are going to

We all have a darkness, without it we couldn't recognize the light. — We all have darkness; without it, we couldn’t recognize the light.

Choose wrong. There is a dark side in everyone, and all people are capable of great goodness and great evil, and it is one of the mysteries that make life delicious to taste. It is a choice.

Everyone has been on the dark side at some point, and it may have seemed like it was for a good cause, but when you choose anger, fear, intolerance, or hate, you choose the dark side of humankind.

I am not wise enough to know why, and I only observe and know that from what I have seen, both darkness and light do exist inside every person I have ever met, including myself.

Accepting this fact is not difficult because nobody is perfect. I recall all the times I chose for selfish, fear-driven reasons, and I know I could have done better. It is not a criticism of people, only an observation of fact.

All people have a dark side. Putting it aside and maintaining the light is a show of strength, which is the most difficult choice.

We are all the same

All people have so much in common that I often find it inconceivable that hate exists merely for arbitrary reasons, race, religion, culture, region, or even sexual orientation.

If people focused on what we have in common rather than their differences, the world would be friendlier and more productive. I know that people attacking differences in others is a defense mechanism to make them feel safe, but I can always hope that it will change and our commonalities will be more important than how we are different.

What were the most powerful choices in your life?

Confident

October 22, 2021 Jonathan Hilton Leave a comment

Being Confident In Life Is a Choice

Although I have trouble sometimes with certain concepts, one thing has become abundantly clear. Being Confident in life is a choice.

Confidence stems from the conscious decision to accept yourself for what you are and to not let your weaknesses rule over your strengths. Can it be that simple? The answer is a loud and emphatic YES!

Let’s face it, we are all human beings, and all of us are constructed with a list of strengths and weaknesses to take advantage of or overcome. Everybody is in the same boat; there is nobody exempt.

But not everybody looks at the boat the same way. There is a definite attitude that those who become successful carry and those who fail to wear a badge. It all comes down to the choice each individual makes about how to look at things. One person sees an insurmountable obstacle, and another sees a great opportunity. The perspective is different, but the sightseeing is the same.

How to Make Sure You Fail

If I want to ensure that I fail and lack confidence, I will focus on my mistakes, weaknesses, and shortcomings. Rather than looking at them for what they are, these issues become my focus, learning experiences that allow you to gain valuable information about yourself, your life, and the world around you.

If you waste your time berating yourself for past mistakes, you will miss the future that is right in front of you. There are more than enough people out there that will gladly point out your shortcomings if you listen to them.

If you focus on the fact that yes, that was a mistake, and it wasn’t a pleasant experience, what exciting opportunities does this present for me? Then you are on your way to success because it is all just a choice anyway.

Look at it. Yes. So. It happened. That’s life. Get over it.

confidence is a choice — Confidence Is A Choice

Things happen to us all. These experiences are woven into the fabric that is who we are.

Some of these experiences have been great; some have been o.k. And some have been downright awful. That is the deal with life, it isn’t always going to be perfect, and you are never really in control of any of it.

You are one hundred percent in control of how you react to everything, how you let it affect your life, and how you feel about yourself. Your level of confidence springs from this thought pattern and affects your self-esteem.

When an experience occurs, you will do well to look at the event and understand it. You lost a job, or a relationship ended. Why did it end? What growth opportunities did this present to you?

What could you do about it? Accept it because it happened. You can long for the past or feel sick over the loss, but in the end, you are going to end up in the same place, either you are going to choose to accept it and move on with your life, or not accept it and decide never to be happy or prosperous again.

If you were at an amusement park and got on a ride, you are stuck on that ride until it is over. You have the choice to enjoy it or not. To choose not to enjoy the journey seems like a waste of time, but many people take this option every day.

The ride will eventually end; you can’t go back to the beginning and experience the same thing exactly. You can try, but every time the trip will seem a little bit different.

Every experience in life is like that. The ride is life, and you are on it, whether you enjoy it or not. There will be twists and turns, ups and downs, good and bad, that we will all experience. And at some point, that experience is going to end.

Dealing with these things in a generally positive way is the first step toward feeling good about yourself and becoming more confident. Don’t let bad experiences define who you are, get over them and see what they have taught you about yourself, others, and the world around you.

You Control What You Think

You can control all of your thoughts about everything that you experience. If you don’t control what you think, then somebody else will.

Be confident in yourself and know that you have abilities and talents that make you unique and one of a kind. The world would not be quite what it is if you weren’t in it.

Let’s say that you are in a crowded restaurant; you stand up to go to the restroom, and right in front of everyone, you knock your plate on the floor. It smashed into a million pieces and made a mess.

How you think at that moment defines how you feel about yourself. A person who is comfortable with themselves might react with thoughts like this, “Wow, that was clumsy! I just made a mess. I am sure everyone here has made a mess before. I have probably given them a great story to tell. I will help clean this mess up. I don’t know any of these people anyway. ”

Another way to react would be, “God, that was such a stupid, idiotic thing to do, and I am worthless and stupid and ignorant and no good and why am I like this and God I hate being me and when will I ever learn……..etc.” You can see the difference. If you choose the self-loathing path, is it any wonder that you are not happy?

The only person in the world who can control what you really think about in any situation is you. If you choose to delve into unhealthy, self-defeating attitudes, that is the surest way to be miserable I can think of at this moment.

The good news is that choosing healthy self-promoting thoughts is just as easy, anyone can do it, and it is the pathway to feeling great every day. The most significant thing is that you have total control of your thoughts, you can’t blame anybody else, you can’t say that you “got a raw deal,” you are the maker of your dreams, and you will have to live with them no matter which type of thought you choose.

“Noble and great. Courageous and determined. Faithful and fearless. That is who you are and who you have always been. And understanding it can change your life because this knowledge carries a confidence that cannot be duplicated any other way.”- Sheri L. Dew

“Each time we face our fear, we gain strength, courage, and confidence in the doing.”- Theodore Roosevelt

Because one believes in oneself, one doesn’t try to convince others. Because one is content with oneself, one doesn’t need others’ approval. Because one accepts oneself, the whole world accepts him or her.― Lao Tzu

Life is ten percent what you experience and ninety percent how you respond to it. ― Dorothy M. Neddermeyer

Contrast

April 21, 2021 Jonathan Hilton Leave a comment

You can hide the true emotion behind the Black and White. Happy or sad or both?

It would be nice if life were a series of clear, clean, and easy choices. That all decisions fell in the clear understanding of this side or that. Where my choices were simplified to the very essence of black and white with no other variance or color to consider, as much as I see the value of these two choices, I know there are many different hues and shades out there and all sorts of gray that exist along the lines of even the seemingly most simple choices. Still, it is a positive thing to see, understand and appreciate the contrast these two colors bring to life make each better. Black and white have both symbolic and real influences on thought and art. Allowing something to be highlighted, enjoyed, understood, and allow our ideas to be shared with the world. When you look at the simplicity of the black and white world, it is a very complex thing.

Not Colors At All

When you use black and white, they officially are not colors, which eliminates any of the emotion that comes with color. This lack of emotion is comforting to others, and it explains the beauty of the image of black and white. Black absorbs all other colors. I look inside myself and see the black can cover everything, never allowing anything else to have a realistic opportunity to affect my life positively. The

This flock is flying, but what type of bird it is can’t clearly be known; it is no bird and all birds simultaneously.

Bright thoughts and actions I could take will be swallowed up by the dark and leave no expression other than that.

The white is an absence of color. It makes your life bland, never allowing any other colors to appear because they would define you and express yourself clearly so all could see who you are and what you stand for. This is an uncomfortable place because you lose your sense of self when all of your thoughts, emotions, and activities are clear for the world to see. It is an uncomfortable feeling to have yourself thrown open wide to the world, and there is no place to hide, no retreat from the field of white. We all need a piece of ourselves to stay ours and ours alone.

The Dance of Contrast

Only through the cooperation of the black and white inside of us can we comfortably display our inner selves to the world. There is safety that exists inside this contrast. Lines are clear and allow subtle lines to stand out and scream their expressions loudly. There is a comfort in this too many because there is a clear

Finding our own balance in this dance is difficult sometimes.

statement about what something means if you look closely, but there is still an absence of color and something with the power to absorb all color right in front of you. These forces working together provide a pallet that can still have thoughts and emotions clearly on display and keep them hidden in plain sight.

This dance of contrast provides some with the freedom to live their lives but never have to admit the colors inside, and there is still plausible deniability. Those who can create this dance are amazing as you look at the images and see the lines between black and white. On the surface, it seems a simple contrast that allows the best of each part of the image to show through clearly. But that is only on a quick look. Take a little longer to look, and you see that those lines between the two are not as clear as you would believe. The contact of white and black creates a grey, and it is in the grey we are all defined.

Definitions of Ourselves

The battle of black and white takes place within each of us. Nobody is completely “good” or “bad,” for lack of better words. We are all capable of great good and positive things with an equal ability to crate pain and to create havoc in our lives and the lives of others. It is the basic struggle of humanity to allow the best parts of

us to shine and bring brightness to the world, but the good would have no real meaning without the darkness. Because the struggle between the two provides the value of whatever results.

To those who never contemplate the black inside, placing it in clear contrast to the white, there is no real understanding of who you are and what will make you happy, and the reasons for this happiness. If you have never seen your dark side, you will never know what you have had to overcome. Also, there is a lack of empathy for others who lost their battle with the darkness. I have learned that no matter how dark, there is still a light existing with a desire to rise back to the surface. Sometimes all people need is an opportunity to do the right thing to redeem themselves. It is always in the gray areas where our character is truly defined and revealed to the world.

Seeking Color

I am consciously trying to put the darkness of my thoughts and feelings forward because they are a part of me, just as yours are a part of you. But in looking at them and embracing them, I can put them behind me and take strength from them and propel my inner goodness to the front. The contrast between black and white allows this to happen. Through this process, all the other colors of life are allowed to rise to the surface of my existence. The reds, blues, greens, and yellows of life are then able to show their face to me, and through them comes the hope of all things. Love, kindness, joy, fulfillment, understanding, caring all come through these colors and are valued because of the contrast from their opposite. It is all a choice for each individual to make each day. Do we move toward the white, the black, or the grey in between? That is your battle in all of your days in the world of your thoughts and your art.

“I’ve been forty years discovering that the queen of all colors is black.” – Henri Mattise.
“I think it’s because it was an emotional story, and emotions come through much stronger in black and white. Color is distracting in a way, it pleases the eye, but it doesn’t necessarily reach the heart.” – Kim Hunter.
“When you photograph people in color, you photograph their clothes. But when you photograph people in Black and white, you photograph their souls!”― Ted Grant.
“Black and white are the colors of photography. To me, they symbolize the alternatives of hope and despair to which humanity is forever subjected” – Robert Frank.
“What I love about Black & White photographs is that they’re more like reading the book than seeing the movie” – Jennifer Price.

Contr

Jonathan Hilton Mind Connections