Tag Archives: New Experiences

22

How to Use Your Space

Leave a comment

You Create Space Where Things are Created

quote-Jonathan-Sacks-make-space-in-your-life-for-the-213035Change is an inevitable and vital part of life. Change is happening to everyone each day. Some of the differences are imperceptible as to be invisible, but they are their none the less. It is human nature to hold tightly to the past and the things we are comfortable with, like a child with a blanket. These ideas and possessions present a form of comfort, even if they no longer serve us in any meaningful way.

We each have a certain amount of space in our lives for the people and possessions that matter most to us.   Space in our lives is an important entity. There is only so much in our consciousness, and for new things to come into our lives, we must let go of some older things. To be healthy, all people must grow, and space helps us evolve into a better version of ourselves.

Cleaning Out The Closet

616245989833236_a-c5911e68_0MWQUg_pmCreating space in your life is the same as creating space in a closet. Your life has collected experiences, thoughts, and ideas about everything from the designated hitter’s value in baseball to where honesty fits into your life. As we develop as people, the number of items we collect can become bulky and hard to handle. Our “closets” are getting full, and it is time to weed out our thoughts and find the ones that will provide the most value in your life.

As you look at the new thoughts and information coming into your existence through a change, you can remove older ideas and ideas that are simply taking up space. Some clothes once were relevant in your closets at home, which are not of value anymore. Finally, giving them away to charity and getting them out of your life creates space for new things that will have relevance in your world today.

The same can be said about thoughts, ideas, and beliefs we carry throughout our lives. How many are ready to be recycled? What new ideas and experiences can take their place?

Growth is the Result

The benefit of letting go of the old and creating space for the new is the unstoppable force of growth that will come with it. I have found that growth is a constant journey in my life, and at times, when we slow down and resist growing, life will urge us on. Sometimes that guidance will come in the form of a challenge, creating space, 222which, as unsavory as it seems, moves us toward becoming a better self. We will change anyway, get older, wiser, or become less intelligent and accepting of things. It is up to us what types of change we institute in our lives. Creating space allows new things and people to come into our lives more easily.

Letting Go of Mistakes and Misfortune

This also means that the more we hold onto the past’s mistakes and misfortunes, the less space we have available for forgiveness, learning, and all kinds of positive new things. If you are still holding onto the pain and disappointment of a past relationship, the less room there is for someone new who can bring some healing, joy, and happiness into your life. You will cling to old emotions and disappointments while new possibilities move past you because there is no space for them to enter your life. Make the space.

If you feel crowded and slow in your life and desire new things, a great place to start is to let go of the past and allow the latest to come into the spaces you created. You will never know what will come. Your life will be changed one way or another, and each day provides a blank canvas for you to create your life on. You decide if the painting will be of the possibilities in front of you or the misfortune and mistakes behind you.

Look at your life today and see what space can be created. To move forward, you have to put the past behind you. Letting go of the things that no longer serve us allows room for new experiences, people, and something that makes our lives more enjoyable. Relationships, jobs, artistic expression, etc. Accept it, embrace it, and move forward.

 

21

Creativity Experience

Leave a comment

New Experiences

change, growth, fearEach new experience with someone else changes us on a fundamental level. Sometimes I have difficulty being creative or thinking about what topics to write about.  In these difficult times, I remember fondly of the days when I could see a question, and quickly and easily organize my thoughts, and express my feelings about it.  I was in a flow and easily able to access it.  Such fun!

But sometimes, I follow the same format, and I struggle to form a sentence even to get the beginnings of thought down. Fortunately, there doesn’t have to be a long-stagnant stage in the process of creativity.  You can always do something to spark your creativity.  We are all in charge of this type of action and spirit in life.  Some will fret and worry that with billions of people globally, everything has been created already. But I think that thought process misses the point. Even though there are so many minds in the world, there is only one you! YOU are the only being on the face of this planet who can produce your thoughts, ideas, and view of the world. The things we can create belong to us alone. That is one of the things which makes life great.

Change and Growth Change Everything

I have gone through a great experience that has left an unmistakable and long-lasting mark on me, but sometimes I cannot seem to write as easily as I used to.  This has been a frightening thing to realize.  I have tried approximately a hundred times to start writing about the thoughts and views that I think are important. Still, after a promising first sentence or catchy paragraph, the ideas and creativity would vanish into the ether as if they never existed at all.  I have the drafts to prove it.  Many ideas were generated, developed, and lost. It does not feel good.

But the process of creativity at times is going to be a struggle. It may mean you are not true to yourself. Or perhaps you are trying to appeal to a particular audience or worrying about how you look rather than the creative process itself. Creativity is what it is, and the right audience will find and resonate with it.  Or maybe you are just trying too hard. Whatever the case, keep trying, relax, breathe. Let your creativity flow from within and enrich the world. In doing so, you enrich yourself.

You Aren’t That Person Anymore.

change-quotesWhen I was struggling, it dawned on me that one of the effects of experiencing new people and things in your life is that they change you fundamentally in almost all ways.  They don’t make you better or worse they make you different.  I know that it is called growth, and without the capacity to grow as individuals, we will wither and die, either literally or figuratively, or both.

Of course, the flip side of change is that a whole new level of thought and insight is at your disposal. Like coming to the end of a tunnel and busting through only to find a cache of rooms full of ideas never considered or understood, which impossible before. This is the doorway of creative passion and a realization of a whole new world at your disposal. Write about the things all the new people bring to you, and the lessons of the experiences.

My Past  Writing

Reading through my writing from the past few years, I can mark my development and growth as a road map to my thoughts and insights today.  It feels much like you do when you look at old pictures of yourself.  You remember the moments, and they are special, but that is not you anymore. You are now someone else. Each time you read a new thought and develop as a person, there are new layers of your thought and being exposed to the creative process.

inspirational_words_of_wisdom_quotesHere is to hoping that I can adjust to the new experiences I have and find the topics that will push my growth further along on my journey.  I am looking deep within to find the content that needs to be explored and the edges that need to be smoothed.  It should prove to be an interesting ride no matter what happens. Life always provides what is needed.

I say to all of those people I have met and worked with over the years, “Thanks a lot!”  Seriously, though, I would never have reached these thoughts and ideas without you and the inspiration you brought me by your good and/or bad behavior.

So What Do I Do Now?

I-begin-with-an-idea-300x297It seems clear to me that my writing in this space has to move from the theoretical and move toward being more descriptive about the experiences I have had in life.  That is a challenge but a good one to try.  Only time will tell if my insights are interesting enough to take a look at or not.  All I can say is that all are welcome on this journey, and I am always looking for the next person or situation to provide insight and creativity in any situation.  I am always looking for more knowledge to share and adventure to have. I have been fortunate to have great people in my life. They all have contributed to my thoughts and my pursuit of being a better person mentally, physically, and spiritually.  They have taught me how to treat others by their kindness and their cruelty. Put your creativity as a priority in your life and see what you can bring into the open space of existence.

 

 

 

10

I Was So Scared that Day

Leave a comment

I was so scared that day……..

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

Seeking Different Things

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

Some Positive Steps

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

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

Change is Real

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

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

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

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

The Best is There for You

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

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

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

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