Tag Archives: Kindness

22

The Essential Lessons

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What We Should Teach

There are many life lessons we will learn

Presented with the opportunity to teach anything I wanted, and assuming that anyone wanted to learn, there is no doubt that I would try to teach a few of the things I have learned from life that I think are important.

 There were many important things that I never considered early on in life, which have proven invaluable and nearly vital knowledge today.

 These lessons may not be mind-blowing, but I think they are essential for you to be all you want to be in life. Whether you believe they have a place in your life or not is up to you.

1. There is Greatness in You

No matter the circumstance of life, each of us has the potential for greatness inside. How that greatness shows itself is different for everyone, but it is nonetheless. The secret is to find your area of expertise and allow it to grow.

greatnessIgnore the limiting thoughts of others. DonDon’tt your own negative self-talk discourage you. Follow the feeling in your heart that tells you quietly and confidently what you should be doing. Know that you are great, and allow it to show. Some of us have hidden our talent for so long that we have forgotten what direction to look or what to look for.

The first step to finding out what your skill set might contain is to start to look for it. Once you do, I have found that things tend to fall together quite naturally to develop and present you with a path to follow.

Before any of that can happen, you have to accept that you have greatness in you with the potential to do whatever you dream of.

2. Love or Fear will rule you.

There are two forces inside each of us, and everything we do comes from them: love or fear. You can choose which one you pay attention to in any situation.

 Love is not just romantic love. That is a tiny part of the entirety of the emotion, and it includes all branches of this positive emotion. Kindness, acceptance, joy, peace, love, humility, empathy, and truth are all things that come from this positive force.

Fear or Love Frame the Phrase Adyashanti Fear is the opposite and leaves its calling cards behind, evil, anger, jealousy, greed, resentment, lies, inferiority, and ego. Following these feelings and thoughts will bring more situations to make the same choice. What you think is who you are.

With every situation you encounter throughout life, you will be faced with this simple choice of how you approach it, and your choices will determine what kind of life you experience.

It is important to remember this choice because sometimes you may be in a situation where someone elselse’soice will affect you.

How positive the impact you have in life will, in a nutshell, be boiled down to which of these two opposing forces you align yourself with.

 

3. Gratitude is the Attitude

I do not know if gratitude can be taught or not, but it is vitally important to have a good life. Often, we spend life looking at what we dondon’tve and wondering why.

This thought pattern will only bring more awareness to what you dondon’tve. Since you spend all of your thought on the lack in your life, that is precisely what you will continue to experience.

InspiringsFramedPrintGratitudeBestowsReverenceThe alternative is to focus on what you do have, and even if it isnisn’tch, being genuinely grateful for what you do have will open the door’ for more to come into your life. Since your thoughts are about gratitude and being thankful, the world will find a way to see that you experience more of these things.

Being grateful is recognizing what you have and experiencing some joy about it. Being grateful will allow you to enjoy that thing and experience a feeling of joy surrounding it.

 If you are experiencing joy, even on a small scale, it is hard not to be happy. If you are happy, well, isnisn’tat the purpose of this little game called life? I think it should be, and I am grateful to be able to tell you this.

4. Live in the Present Moment

Speaking of being happy, you must learn how to live in the moment. That means you are aware of and appreciate what is happening in your life. It would seem simple to do, yet very few people do it.

 Distractions take out minds to all sorts of places rather than where we are. You cancan’tjoy today if your mind is lost in yesterday or tomorrow. If you arearen’tesent, then your happiness will evade you.

33214115972027956_gojpenAi_f Look at people walking down the street today; most are focused on anything other than where they are. On the morning commute, almost every eye is looking at their phone or Apple Watch searching for something that is not with them.

The present moment and all that it has to offer is ignored for a fantasy of thought that takes you anywhere, but at the moment, you are actually in.

This is important because if you live your life half aware of what is going on right in front of you, it will be challenging to experience long-lasting happiness. Simply because if your joy is in the past or uncertain future, it is not with you right now.

conclusion

I would include many other lessons in my lesson plans for life, but that will have to wait for another day. I am grateful to all of you who have read to this point! You just made my day! Remember that the end game of life is to be happy. So if you are making decisions or having thoughts and experiences that arearen’trking to that end, you need to change them. You have the power to do this anytime you want, and you have to like it.

 Reflections on the way things used to be…….. lead to knowledge

22

Happiness is an Inside Job

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finding happinessI don’t know about you, but finding happiness in life depends on my perceptions of things and the people around me.   When you focus your actions around the things you can control (inside/out)and avoid letting the stuff outside of your experience, you can’t control the behavior you are living outside in. You will continually find yourself living at the whims of the things that happen to you rather than dictating what you would like to happen to you.

There seem to be two choices in life. Either I live from the outside in or from the inside out. The choice dictates how large the portion of happiness I  experience at any particular time is. But what does it mean to live from the inside out? There are factors we can control in life and others outside of us that we do not. We are blessed with the choice of the outside or inside dominating our consciousness, so we control the amount of happiness we experience. Awesome!

From the Outside In Not Finding Happiness

Too often, We can find ourselves allowing the things and the people who come into our lives to dictate our mood. A great example of this would be when a finding happinessperson cuts you off in traffic, and you let that act affect your mood negatively, your anger rises, and you let your whole day get away from you. When we allow others’ decisions and choices to dictate our moods and actions, we are far from finding happiness in life. It can be the same as the people we care about. If they are in a bad mood for no fault of your own or are mad about something else, it is all out of your control.

That leads to me not taking responsibility for my life. It is too easy to send blame in the direction of whatever or whoever has changed my mood. I blame the traffic, blame the crowd, blame loved ones, or blame my friends. All of these are a cop-out because the only one who can choose to be angry or suffer because of someone else’s act is you. All you can control in this situation is your reaction to someone or something. Make sure it comes from a place of love. Finding happiness starts with accepting responsibility for our actions and lives, which means seeing the outside influences for what they are.

From the Inside Out

This is when you are at your best because the opposite of what is described above is happening. All thoughts and emotions about life events come from inside, and we choose their influence on us. We do not have to be angry unless we decide to be. There is no need to be frustrated unless we choose to be. We don’t have to let the non-stop external stimulus dictate our mood because the choices are made from our positive perspective, accepting full responsibility for all aspects of our lives. When your emotions radiate from inside yourself out, they will be more positive, and they will also radiate outward from you either positively or negatively.

This is the ultimate responsibility because when you choose the reactions that you experience, your true self is allowed to come through. Each of us has this ability, but it gets clouded through the lens of what society has told us is essential, rather than making decisions based on what we feel is right or wrong. There is no unhealthy attachment to things outside of you because you’re living from the thoughts, words, and actions inside of yourself.

You Are The Shot Caller for Finding Happiness

finding happiness
Whatever Walter White says goes!

Living from the inside out allows us to be the best representation of ourselves that we can be. What the media tells you about how you should look no longer matters. Finding happiness does not come from what “they” tell you to do, be or look like; it isn’t relevant anymore. What they ask you to enjoy isn’t a part of your story anymore  (unless you allow it), and you are becoming your best self if you pay attention to the thoughts and emotions that radiate from you.

You are responsible for your moods and emotions because what you think, say, and do comes from inside you and radiates in waves out into the world rather than the other way around. Your inner goodness is a force that needs to be shared with the world. We are all happier when we focus on what we can control and make good choices and leave the things we can’t control, helping ourselves and others find happiness. Please focus on the things you can manage and push them in the direction you want to go. You have no idea what power you possess until you focus on deploying it in a valuable and vital way from the inside out.

“You can’t teach anybody anything, only make them realize the answers are already inside them.”
– Galileo Galilei

“How soon will you realize that the only thing you don’t have is the direct experience that there’s nothing you need that you don’t have?”
– Ken Keyes, JR

“Uncertainty is the only certainty, and knowing how to live with insecurity is the only security.”
— John Allen Paulos

“If the only thing people learned was not to be afraid of their experience, that alone would change the world.”
— Sydney Banks

“I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better.”
— Maya Angelou

22

Growth Mindset Sees the World

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As I have written several times, developing a growth mindset in life seems desirable. Simply because whatever you want to achieve or add to life is there for the taking once you set your mind. You have to be willing to work for it and build improvement.  More than just the accomplishment results, it leads to an enjoyment of life that you can experience doing even the simplest of tasks.

The fixed mindset sees a world of the can or can’t but no development and doesn’t dare to place itself on the line of looking “foolish.”  Rather than accepting that life is a learning process full of different things, like a school that never has graduation.  Just when you think you have it figured out, the curriculum changes.  Creating a growth mindset allows that change and gives you the tools to enjoy the experience.

Learning Is Power

People who go into something they have never done and feel foolish for making mistakes operate from a fixed mindset.  If you develop a growth mindset, you will never feel stupid when learning something new. You will jump into the process with both feet and see what you can do with this new knowledge. It isn’t just the learning. And it’s the process of learning that is fun and exciting and allows you to move your mind, body, and spirit into new experiences.

Learning as an opportunity for growth rather than the answers on some tests will become an enjoyable experience that you seek. Some with a fixed mindset see their learning experience ending when they are done with organized school. That is usually in the early ’20s. Those who stop learning at that point are in for a harsh awakening later in life.  Learning is a lifelong process, providing pose in living and givegivesle an opportunity for continual adventure and growth. It keeps things interesting and makes this ride an enjoyable experience.

The Disease of Perfection

Perfection is a word that many people think of, which destroys people’s enjoyment in almost any experience.  People create an unrealistic expectation of perfection about their jobs, families, or life experience, and they will miss out on the joy life has for them.  It is not the finished products in life that provide joy; it is the steps along the way.  Find joy in these moments, and perfection doesn’t matter.  What is perfection but worrying about how something looks to someone else?  We are never what other people think of us.  We are a collection of our experiences, and ignoring these real things for an idea that never exists seems to be the definition of insanity.

Vince Lombardi, the legendary football coach, once said, “Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence.”  I think that is true, but the goal should always be excellence in attitude, behavior, and how we treat others. On the way to greatness is the chase, which you need to learn to enjoy. It is always there in the small moments of life, which are never perfect but have kindness, joy, empathy, romance, adventure, strength, and any other positive you can imagine.  Avoid the disease of perfection, which will take away the enjoyment of your life and replace it with disappointment.  Disappointed is a hard way to live your life.

See Setbacks as What They Are

Many people see a setback in their life and feel it is a personal judgment against them. They find it difficult to move past hard things. You lose a job or a relationship, and things don’t work out as you hoped. All of this can put you in a negative mindset. But the growth mindset knows that the current score is not the final score, and there is a lot more game left to go.  Bad things hurt, and nobody wants to suffer, but suffering has a place in life. It provides motivation.  Look at your situation as a step in the journey, not the destination.

You can never say what the result of any circumstance will be in the long term. Too often, our shortsighted fears stop us from accepting a painful thing as needed to reach a new height. Some people spend so much time focused on the moment’s pain and the fear of what might come next that they never recover to live their life.  Setbacks are as helpful as successes, and sometimes more, and they show where our weaknesses lie and teach us valuable information. The growth mindset knows that a failure today can be a final success in the future because the lessons learned and the knowledge gained is just what you need to improve and experience success.

Look at your thoughts and your reaction to things today and decide if you are operating from a growth mindset or not. Don’t let setbacks throw you, don’t fall into the trap of perfection, and learning is a great experience, always!!

“Every success story is a tale of constant adaptation, revision, and change.” —Richard Branson

“One can choose to go back toward safety or forward toward growth. Growth must be chosen again and again; fear must be overcome again and again.” —Abraham Maslow

“The great solution to all human problems is individual inner transformation.” —Vernon Howard

“If we don’t change, we don’t grow. If we don’t grow, we aren’t living.” —Gail Sheehy  

“The way must be in you; the destination also must be in you and not somewhere else in space or time. If that kind of self-transformation is being realized in you, you will arrive.” —Nhat Hanh

22

The Power of Your Choice

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

diffent the same

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 all connectedday 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

tumblr_lejihkylQ41qcre5zo1_500When 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 tgreatnesshat 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?

 

22

The Benefits of Your Stillness

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The stillness of life is going to provide all people with significant benefits. No matter where you go to find it, the peace and tranquility of time spent relaxing your body and retreating in your mind from the hustle of everyday life can calm your nerves and revitalize your brain. Seek out the places that are special to your heart and your soul. Quiet contemplation is essential for all people’s development as human beings. Finding a balance between time with others and time for yourself is one of the significant learning challenges of life. Here is a look at the benefits that can come from moments of meditation or simple stillness when we breathe more deeply, see more fully, hear more acutely, and find an understanding of who we are.

Reboot the Brain

One of the most significant benefits of time alone is that it allows you to reboot your brain. Thoughts are coming at you in rapid-fire succession, and being able to step back and look at the ideas you have been entertaining allows you to stop focusing on the ones that are not serving you and your life and focus on the things you want to be a priority. Unwinding and revamping are great uses of time for yourself.

This will also allow your brain to improve its work by increasing your ability to concentrate and focus your thoughts. Hone in on the ideas that resonate with you and move you toward the experiences you want. A higher level of productivity will result from having some alone time. Goals are created, and the path to accomplishing them is formed in these moments spent in quiet contemplation of our lives.

Creates Better Relationships

Having time to yourself makes your relationships better. Without time to create and think about ways to improve your life, stagnation is the only other option. Interacting with others brings new perspectives into your life, and time to yourself helps you evaluate all your views. By knowing yourself better and liking who that person is, you have much more to bring back to a relationship in caring, kindness, experiences, thoughts, and words. All are increased by having time to think by yourself.

Alone time allows you to increase your ability to practice empathy toward other people and their situations in life. In times of deep thought, an understanding can help you know what will make you happy and allow all things in your life to move with more synchronicity. When problems do exist, this is time to work through them from the thoughts you have, the emotions they elicit, and what action to take to alleviate the pain you may be in. Bringing these discoveries back to your relationships creates more honest and powerful connections with others.

Finding Your Balance

This can be a difficult thing to do. Either we spend too much time with others, allowing no time to ourselves, or we are trapped in a seemingly endless cycle of being by ourselves, looking for more connections. There is a healthy balance I think we are all striving for. It all begins, I believe, with accepting who you are and liking that person. Never feel wrong about the things you enjoy doing. If they don’t hurt anyone, do them freely and joyfully. Follow your interests, and you will also meet people with similar interests.

For all things, there is time. A time to be alone and a time to have company and understand what works for you will lead to your happiness. Society would like to tell you what they think, but I urge you not to listen to societal messages. We are all individual programs; what works for someone else and makes them happy will not work for me. Too often, people feel something is wrong with them if they don’t fit into a specific mold. Fit into your mold. Be yourself and find the time to develop your person and the life you want to live. Find the stillness and listen to the voice within you when you are there.

“All true artists, whether they know it or not, create from a place of no-mind, from inner stillness.”-Eckhart Tolle.

“The stillness in stillness is not the real stillness; only when there is stillness in movement does the universal rhythm manifest.”-Bruce Lee.

“Empty yourself of everything. Let the mind become still.
The ten thousand things rise and fall while the Self watches their return.
They grow and flourish and then return to the source. Returning to the source is stillness, which is nature’s way.”-Laozi.

 

22

Leaving Judgement behind

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judgementWhy We Judge

It can be easy to look at someone else’s life and quickly dissect all they are doing wrong or at least be doing better. Their lives seem like a simple puzzle; they are too lazy, too rich, too poor, don’t care enough, or care too much. People look so quickly and coldly that they never really see the harm that judgment can do to their lives.

It is negative energy, which will never be a good thing. Acceptance is the key to positive relationships in life. If you are looking for happiness, then judgment needs to be avoided at all costs. Who are we to judge someone else? There is no more precise definition of where you are in your journey than how you judge someone else. Or perhaps how much you misjudged someone else. 

Hiding In Plain Sight

So why do we all have such an inclination to participate in something that is clearly detrimental to our lives in every way? One of the reasons is that when we direct our attention and others’ attention outward toward someone else and their behavior, the poor decisions and mistakes you have made are overlooked. Isn’t there a safe feeling inside when you say, “I may be struggling, but I am not struggling that much?”  So our judgments are constantly distracting attention away from our weaknesses. Does that make your weaknesses any less real?

Putting someone else down with judgments automatically puts you in a position above whomever decisions are being thrown at. It defines you because you focus on distractions rather than working on your problems and becoming a better person yourself. Your concerns are still simmering in the background, waiting to boil over.  It is impossible to be happy when you know an explosion is coming. And there is an explosion of chaos coming your way.  

Defining Ourselves

It will come down to the choices that we make each day when it comes to judgment. You have the option to be more accepting of others and their challenges because, in reality, it is not any of judgment 3456your business.  The choice to look at yourself honestly and work on your decisions, thoughts, feelings, and actions is a daily struggle that you need to start to pay attention to.

We define ourselves for the world in each thought we have and each word we speak. There is an illusion that nobody sees our weaknesses in our minds if we create a big enough cloud of dust by speaking in judgment about others.  Not your circus, not your monkeys. You will decide whether your meanness and judgment define you or kindness, love, and acceptance. It is that simple. When you judge someone else, you are clearly defining yourself, and you are ignoring your areas that are in significant need of improvement.

I used to worry a lot about what other people thought of me. Now I am much more concerned with what I think of others and how I look at their behavior and try not to take their terrible actions personally. It is a reflection on them and has little bearing on me.

When you judge another, you do not define them. You define yourself.~ Wayne Dyer

Are you judging or accepting today?

 “When someone judges you, it isn’t actually about you. It’s about them and their insecurities, limitations, and needs.” Lulu

“Never judge someone by the opinion of others.” Anonymous

“Be curious, not judgemental.” Walt Whitman

 “Everyone has untold stories of pain and sadness that make them love and live a little differently than you do. Stop judging; instead, try to understand.” Anonymous

“I don’t judge others.” Sarah Jessica Parker

 

22

Knowledge Will Change You

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BeliefOur minds work overtime sometimes, and we must establish a clear representation of our thoughts, goals, and perspectives on life to find our direction based on the things we truly believe. All knowledge will change you and move your consciousness one way or another and leave you with a final set of core beliefs representing your experiences and how you choose to interact with the world. Looking at my experiences over the last year, I needed to revamp my collection of what I think and look at other people.

So here is the current version of MY Mission Statement. Presented in no particular order, here are a few things I hold as truths in my life.

We Are All Connected

Call it God, the Universe, or whatever your religion dictates, but to me, we are all connected through a divine order. All people have the same abilities for great love and equal power to commit evil, which is just a part of this crazy game called life. We are given individual gifts at birth to make our unique mark on the world if we choose to do so. When you look at all things, events, and people in your life, you can see the thread that connects everything.

This connection runs through the hearts of all people. There is an illusion that our experiences are seperate events; a universal force is running between us all, connecting all of our stories. Remember this the next time judgment of others and separation’s effects enter your life. There but for the good fortune of your circumstances, go you. There is no difference between you and anyone else but choices and details. We are all connected.

Our Beliefs Control Our Lives

Each of us has developed throughout our lives a core belief system. We established most of these beliefs early on in life. These are limiting beliefs that delay or even stop our development completely. Our expectations were built by our parents, grandparents, siblings, teachers, religion, and peers. Most were developed before age ten and have remained with us to this day. Our beliefs have to power to achieve goals or stop us from becoming what we should be.

The great thing is that all beliefs can change at any point in life when we look and find irrefutable evidence that contradicts them. All of the “you can’t,” “no’s,” “you’re not good enough’s,” “You can’t make a living doing that’s,” or any other limiting statement from your youth making you feel like you are not good enough can be eliminated — the processing and acceptance of new information about you and your abilities.

Here is a secret; you are powerful and can do anything you set your mind to accomplish. You have the chance to try anything. Look honestly at the barriers stopping you; most often, you will find insecurities and limits that we place on ourselves because of limiting beliefs we choose to accept. Accept new ideas to guide you.

Your Actions Define YOU

Talk is cheap; what you do is the definition of your character. I have heard the soft and sympathetic words that were worth nothing but have been blessed by the actions of many great people. Saying you are something means nothing, and being that thing means everything.

Each day is a new opportunity to take action toward a goal or a dream that you have. Take a step, mail a letter, make a call, or do whatever small thing you can that will lead you toward your goal. Action is the power source for people’s dreams and will cancel out fear.

Every person that has ever been born has had a dream of some kind, and there are no exceptions. When a person takes action, they can make their dream come true. If that action leads to failure, then at least you know, and a direction more suitable to you may show itself from the effort.

Thinking Positively Leads to Positive Results

Bad stuff happens to everyone at some point in life; how you deal with it is crucial. Life is full of things that we define as good or bad. Positive thinking is not about ignoring the “bad” in life and always looking on the bright side, although those factors result. Positive thinking is bringing the focus of love, understanding, kindness, acceptance, and peace to all you experience—ignoring your counterpart’s hate, judgment, separation, meanness, and conflict.

All experiences have the power to bring the positive or negative inside a person to the surface, and what emotions and thoughts you let dominate your behavior will decide what actions come from you and what feelings are happening inside you. All things are just things until we assign a value to them and determine how we look at them.

All People Have Value

A person’s value is difficult to remember when I am angry or someone has hurt me, but that doesn’t change the fact that I believe this is true. People live differently, make poor decisions, and look differently, but they are all valuable and unique individuals.   All that separates us from the circumstances of another is mere chance. At our core, we are all beings of love, and understanding and are looking for acceptance in the world.

We are all born with a unique gift that can contribute to the world’s good. It is the meaning of life to find out what that gift is and how to use it. Some people lose their way through the experience of life and bury their talents too profoundly to be retrieved, but the reward is still there. With the right nurturing, perhaps it could resurface.

Gratitude is the Gateway to Abundance

How often do you appreciate all the positive things in your life? Moving through life each day is easy; let events and people swirl past you without absolute acknowledgment. Stop for a moment and give thanks for each experience. Even when the lessons are not what you are looking for, they will provide clues as to the direction you should be moving in.

Being grateful and putting yourself in that mindset each day creates an energy of acceptance around you, and that energy attracts more into your life. What you focus on multiplies; if you are grateful for what you have, you will have more things to be thankful for having in your life. Take time and reflect a bit each day on the blessings in your life. Breathing in and out and having an experience is a blessing many lose daily.

Forgiveness is Necessary to Move Forward

To forgive someone for something they did that harmed you is very difficult. It can’t just be lip service of saying you forgive; it has to be inside your heart. The only one who can give forgiveness is you, and the sooner you give it, the sooner you can move on. Letting go of pain, sadness, anger, or any other negative emotion is key to enjoying life.   I read somewhere that you know forgiveness occurs when you think of that person, and there is no subtle searing inside your heart. It can take a conscious effort, but with forgiveness comes freedom and strength.

Embrace Love, Avoid Fear

All people carry this inside of them, and the one you pay attention to will determine how much you enjoy this ride we call life. Focus on the love-based emotions like kindness, understanding, generosity, acceptance, patience, and love while avoiding the fear-based feelings and thoughts of anger, hate, separation, jealousy, stereotyping, and judgment. It can be harder to do than it sounds, but the effort is well worth it.

Remember that fear will be a continual battle for you throughout your life. It will attack you both outwardly with dangers real and imagined. It will also subtly invade your life through indirect methods, invading your thoughts and being powered by your emotions. All things will work out if you let them. Some powers exist which are far wiser than you. Learn to trust them.

Our beliefs are essential to the type of life that we live. If you do not work to control them, they will direct you. We all have to live with the results.

22

Our Personal Assignments

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make a list
Who’s on your list?

I was reading a great article the other day, which stated that we all have a list. This list contains people who need us or has needed us at some point, in some way in their lives. Our personal assignments will help us achieve, get through, or overcome something. Or perhaps to help make their lives a little bit better and brighter. When you look at life like this, each interaction you have throughout the day can put a new person on your list if you want it to.

How many times can you choose to do something for someone else that will make their day a little happier? Quite a few, I bet. Each conversation, chance meeting, or interaction provides the opportunity. Those people just made your list. I encourage you to start looking for the times you were a gift to others and for those who were a gift to you.

You, Will, Look at People Differently

Train your mind to see the good in every situation
The good is there when you look for it.

Start making a list for yourself right now. Think about just the last 24 hours and the interactions with people that you have had. I guarantee that each provided some energy to the participants, from the most intense to the most distant. Whether that energy was positive or negative is the question you have to answer.

In these interactions, most provided something that you needed, someone else needed, or both. You are the catalyst in these situations that dictate what energy surrounds you. Make this list, see what you are contributing to the lives of others, and, almost as significantly, what they are contributing to you.

Be Positive with your List

People will become more interesting, and you will view each interaction under a different scope. I often feel like my interactions with people are beneficial for both parties. However,

Be kind to one another
Kindness is a simple thing

; I also notice things I want to avoid.

When I am conscious of what I am contributing to others and they to me, negative things seem to stand out. When a person engages in gossip about someone else, I know nothing I want to be involved with. I always say something positive about the person or situation being discussed. After a while, people give up talking about other people around them. This makes your conversation with them more favorable for both parties involved. They are definitely on your list.

Value those who lift you up

Noticing the tenor and tone of interactions will also allow you to appreciate the positive energy that people bring to your life because you are clear on their list. When you recognize the positive energy, you are left with after encountering someone, it is common sense to seek them out more often. All people want to feel good, and those who make us feel a great need to be in our lives more and more. Make sure you allow yourself to be added to their list. Conversely, those who leave us feeling tired, angry, or just plain old negative about things, need to be avoided. Life is too short to be miserable. Eventually, you have to shorten your list by avoiding the habitually negative.

Look for more people to add to your list.

Each person that you come in contact with is a potential member of your list. Add them freely and look for the moments that you can add a little positive momentum to others’ lives. It can be as simple as smiling, holding a door open, or giving a compliment. These things happen all the time and should be appreciated by all parties involved. It is simple to make a living a little bit more positive for all involved, and it all begins with a conscious effort to be kind, considerate, understanding, or giving. Look for the people who are your personal assignments today. They are there waiting for you.

22

Try A Little Kindness

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It is part of life. Most people experience some pain daily because of the selfish, thoughtless behavior of others, and this phenomenon has been

Be aware of your imprint on the world daily. It exists.

occurring throughout time. Just as there have probably been people like me, who have realized the pain that we might have caused others, not only by what we said to or about someone but also by the things we didn’t say or the small acts we didn’t do when they might have made all the difference to someone else’s outlook on life and experience, it amazes me so much anger and unhappiness could be avoided in life if we would take a moment to say the kind word or do the thoughtful act for someone. These are the little pieces of hell we perpetrate on ourselves and others throughout our lives. But it doesn’t have to be this way. We always have a choice. We can always practice kindness

Be Responsible for Someone Else’s Smile

It is estimated that 90-95% of a person’s behavior is completed without the benefit of conscious thought. We react based on patterns and stimuli that have been ingrained in us through experience. So when we are faced with a situation where our kindness needs to be consciously shared,

smile
You can be responsible for someone else’s smile with just a little effort.

We fail to do it because we are reacting rather than caring.

Our daily lives provide opportunities for growth and kindness regularly, and our ability to see this chance and seize upon it can change someone else’s life in a better way and improve your life as well. When choices are made that honor ourselves, the enjoyment derived from our lives increases. The simple things can do the trick to speak kindly, forgive a transgression, allow someone to feel valuable, and celebrate the smallest of accomplishments with enthusiasm. Still, someone else’s happiness and well-being are ahead of your own. It can be as simple as smiling.

You cause a little hell in someone’s life when you deprive them of this experience because you are too busy or wrapped up in your own life or just unaware of how your kindness could make a difference in someone else’s life. What kind of world would it be if being kind and caring to others were the focus of our lives? What kind of difference can you make?

Accepting of Things

Our thoughts are as dangerous for creating small hells as our words or actions. How poor, different, short, tall, beautiful, or ugly someone is

be a good person
To Be A Good Person, or at the least, don’t be a jerk.

It shouldn’t be the first thought that comes to your mind. Your negative ideas about others will lessen the positivity in your life, and each view that demeans another diminishes your reality.

This doesn’t mean that you accept the poor behavior of others. Never tolerate behavior that is against common sense or decency. But don’t follow that act with one conscious choice that is just as harmful to you. Judge the action but send understanding to the people. Even the worst criminal was once an innocent person with hopes and dreams, but their experiences led to poor choices that didn’t honor themselves.

All actions and consequent blanket judgments of others are not honoring thoughts. They bring negativity to your life and diminish the positive capability of making a difference in the world.

Final Thoughts

Consider your actions, thoughts, and words in all situations and evaluate them honestly. Do they bring a benefit to the lives of anyone? Do they honor you? If they don’t, it is best to focus on other things. Every day, we all have this choice in each thought, word, or action to extend a little heaven or a little hell to someone.

We are unique people, and our value to the world is not determined by how much money we make, the size of the house we live in, or the status of our social circle. The value we bring to the world is in the little acts, thoughts, and words we speak each day. Each person, from the richest to the poorest, leaves the proof of a person’s ideas, ideals, and character in their wake. There is either a garden or mangled wreckage left in someone’s path. Which have you left behind you?

“Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.”  -Franklin D. Roosevelt.

“Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear, and the blind can see.” -Mark Twain.

“You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson.

“Guard well within yourself that treasure, kindness. Know how to give without hesitation, how to lose without regret, how to acquire without meanness.” -George Sand.

“A warm smile is the universal language of kindness.” -William Arthur Ward.

“Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate.” -Albert Schweitzer.

“Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you.” -Princess Diana.

 “Love and kindness are never wasted. They always make a difference. They bless the one who receives them, and they bless you, the giver.”  -Barbara de Angelis

 

22

Treasure Inside

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It can be fantastic to think we spend so much time and effort in our lives looking for things that are outside of our existence to make us happy. We seek riches, fame, love, and acceptance from others out there……somewhere.

The place we should be looking for is much easier to locate and closer to us. It is situated in the confines of our being. The thoughts, beliefs, and actions we take in pursuit or because of these things are all contributing factors to what we have and do not have in our lives. We are always looking for gold and treasure outside. We undertake a journey because we feel compelled to seek our fame and fortune. But the hidden gem is not buried under and X on an island in the Pacific Ocean. Our greatest treasure is hiding in the last place we think to look. But like pirates of old legends, we search the world over with a flourish. We look at our job, relationships, or even our family, but we never seem to be looking in the right place.   Your treasure exists. You need to know where to start looking for it.

Why We Look In the Wrong Place

People are continually looking for a break that will allow their greatness togold 2 be shown to the world and bring the success they dream will make them happy and free. That break we are looking for has to come through the minefield of issues that we have developed over a lifetime.

Some blocks stop us from achieving the goals that we dream of. All blocks come from unresolved issues within ourselves, so if we can resolve these things and arrive at a place of acceptance, we are on the right path. This power is in yourself and nowhere else, and it is up to you to tap into this reservoir of energy. Reading books and learning can help show you the way, but that will never change until the individual takes the initiative. All things you want to accomplish, big or small, all begin with how you think. Get your mind in order, come to grips with your limits, overcome them, and see what is there. Limiting thoughts and beliefs are built on our experiences, and we can change them any time we choose by changing how we think about our experiences.

Look Inside of You

Take a moment and take that honest look inside yourself and decide how you feel about what you see. Do you know the power that you have? Or do you see all the excuses your beliefs tell you? Ask yourself, why not? Your mind will answer you with the programming you have built over the years. Could you write it down? Once you see your limiting beliefs in writing, you can eliminate them and create a more positive perspective on the action. Your thoughts will become your beliefs, and your views will dictate the reality that you experience. If you feel you are not suitable or not worthy of love or afraid of putting yourself out there, then it can’t be a surprise when that is your reality.

Focus on what you can do, the actions you can take, lead the gold inside you, or nothing, depending on your attitude and actions. Do this, and the world outside of you will fall into place. It will not be easy or automatic, but the thoughts inside you will dictate your world, and it is your choice which thoughts you give acceptance to and which you do not. If most people saw the beauty and power they possess and ignored everything they don’t like, we would see many more dreams come true.

Our Purpose

All of us share the wealth inside of us that the world is looking for. There is a wealth of talent, kindness, and caring waiting there and in many.

This is the wealth that lies within each of us waiting to be used.
This wealth lies within each of us, waiting to be used.

cases, it’s dormant. You are seeking the opportunity to come out and see its fate in the world. It never will if we don’t give it a chance. That chance can come when outside forces convince you or you to convince yourself. There is no value that you can find outside of you that doesn’t exist inside of you first. To create a treasure in your mind and take action toward making it a reality. The only person who can make this wealth evident is you by honestly looking at the things holding you back and replacing limiting beliefs with more positive ideas. Let your kindness and quest for service push you in the right direction.

‘Learning too soon our limitations, we never learn our powers.’-Lydia Sweatt.

“You begin to fly when you let go of self-limiting beliefs and allow your mind and aspirations to rise to greater heights.” ―Brian Tracy.

“Don’t limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do, and you can go as far as your mind lets you. What you believe, remember, you can achieve.” ―Mary Kay Ash.

“Do just once what others say you can’t do, and you will never notice their limitations again.” ―James Cook.