Archive
Monthly Archives: May 2007
Monthly Archives: May 2007
Of course!. . . this is a loaded question.
Once again I am trying to help you to pay attention to your thoughts – all the time.
Let’s start today with a quotation so your perspective, while you are reading this, is aligned with what I am about to say regarding the above question.
“Don’t cling to anything and don’t reject anything. Let come what comes, and accommodate yourself to that, whatever it is.
If good mental images arise, that is fine.
If bad mental images arise, that is fine, too.
Look on all of it as equal, and make yourself comfortable with whatever happens. Don’t fight with what you experience, just observe it all mindfully.”
-Bhante Henepola Gunaratana, “Mindfulness in Plain English”
It does not matter where it came from, who wrote it, it is very thought provoking, it can get you thinking –
If you do think that who wrote it and what religion or philosophy they ascribe to, you are doing exactly what the quote is telling you not to.
If you decide it’s validity based on who said it, you close down any receptivity you may have to beneficial insight you could realize from openly entertaining the ideas.
And actively thinking on new and different ideas which may come from a perspective differing from our own is exactly what we all need in order to fully understand our own perspectives and to discover something new.
Most people who are actively working on growing their life know that you must be open to something new, otherwise all you can do is recycle what you currently understand – that’s not growth.
I know I probably need to tell you this, but just because you already know what I have just said, how much do you actually seek new ideas that may challenge what you know and deeply think about them?
We all know many things that can benefit us, but how much do we practice or use it?
OK,
This short quote says a lot,
I think you are aware of how your mind will immediately relate something in your immediate experience to similar situations from the past.
We will tend to interpret the new experience in a similar way as we have done before – there is a pattern established in your programmed mind.
And some emotional feelings will be attached to this, the same ones attached to your memory based on how you were involved in the prior experiences.
The emotional feelings are generally categorized as good or bad – but why?
These past emotional feelings are based on your reactions to something, not the thing itself.
A thing, situation or experience does not come pre-loaded with a specific emotional feeling.
That comes from our judgement, which is based on our personal perspective at the time.
And this pattern will repeat until you purposefully change it.
So, new experiences can be looked at differently than in the past, but you have to mentally realize what you are doing when you start to interpret and judge it.
– Your past programming is welling up.
As the quote states, not judging it at all is best, this way you are not applying a specific emotional label to the experience – it just is.
Further, the quote talks about allowing whatever feelings you get to be OK – don’t fight them.
I know about now, this may sound like I am talking in circles – don’t judge, allow, and be OK with whatever you feel.
Yes, all of it together at the same time.
This is another example of the harmony of life – it’s not all or nothing.
It IS about balancing both sides.
Allowing what is and being OK with it is just an observation.
You can notice how you feel about something without getting emotionally involve currently.
This way you are not adding more, new emotional energy to it, and
You can be separate from your feelings and better analyze the best way for you to feel about it.
Maybe in a different way than you have in the past.
Try to allow things to be as they are, not how you have categorized them in the past.
A new perspective takes a new approach
– try something new and different
– with an open mind.
Question authority!
Your mental authority –
Your unconscious mind that wants to keep things going as they have been.
Ask yourself:
Why did I react that way?
Why do I feel this way every time _______?
Why do I feel this way about him/her?
Ask yourself about any topic:
Why do I see it that way?
Why do I feel about it as I do?
Ask,
Ask,
Ask,
Ask,
Ask. . . .
If you want to know
———————————–
Remember, We Are One
How has your programmed perspective and interpretation affected the way you see and treat others?
How did these attitudes get started?
Do they need to remain this way forever?
Why not start from the idea of how you would rather interact others and then adjust your perspective to match.
Go make it better out there!
John
Lots of ‘things’ and ‘stuff’ getting in the way –
Breaking your routine,
Taking you off course,
Keeping you from doing what you want.
I’m sure you can relate.
Life has a way of being like this sometimes – distracted – jumbled.
I was out of town most of that last two weeks and had computer ‘issues’ – so no laptop to use while away.
During this time most of my routines and usual activities were upended, getting me off course and out of focus.
We all have these times and they can be frustrating if we allow them to be – I have been able to ‘breathe’ through it for the most part.
As most of you know, I talk a lot about paying attention to your thinking and managing your thought to be of more specific benefit to you.
Of course no matter how much you do this on a regular basis, times like my last two and a half weeks may come up.
This is just part of life and the important thing is to not allow these distractions to become permanent. You want them to be no more than temporary aberrations.
This actually can take some effort sometimes, if you allow it to go on too long your thinking and behavior routines can change.
You may stop doing some things that you had been doing temporarily at first – like me doing this newsletter every week – and then realize after some time has passed that it is no longer part of your day.
As humans, we seem to default to what is more comfortable and known – which may not include what you are doing to change your life and live your desired life.
There is a quote I heard a long time ago that goes something like this – “the first exception becomes the rule”
What this is saying is, the first time you stop something that you are doing, or you let yourself slip into thinking or doing something you really know you should not, it can become normal and routine for you.
For example, an alcoholic knows that their resolve is weakened when they let themselves have one drink.
It then becomes much easier to have another.
And so when you stop doing something you have been doing to progress in life, and you put it off, this can be the opening – it is easier to skip it again.
So, when these situations in life occur, like I just had, it is very easy to follow your ‘lazy’ protective, comfort-seeking ego mind into that mental-emotional comfort zone of repetitive sameness.
Don’t let a distraction stop your life growth.
When things come up that you need to deal with and this takes up most of your time, you must take care of it.
Your distraction may be work related, an emergency of some kind, illness, or whatever – it must be taken care of.
Do your best not to allow it to consume you completely, but it may.
Then make a strong effort to get back to what you want to be doing as soon as you can.
It’s like another saying, “If you’re bucked off the horse, get back on right away.”
The longer you wait, the harder it gets.
The key is to be in active command of your thinking and actions most of the time.
When you are in one of these ‘distractions’ as I call it, you may not be doing your morning routine
Such as meditating, planning your day, and intensifying your focus for example.
. . . you need to get back to it as soon as possible – don’t let the exception become the rule.
If you let all the ‘things’ and ‘stuff’ that can come up in life to be what you are about – it will be.
You can very easily spend your life only reacting to all of this.
Using your life as you desire and enjoying it takes some effort, and even more to keep it up so that you realize the results you want.
And one more point about life’s ‘distractions’, be OK with it while you are involved.
If you fight it and complain about it – you are only feeding it.
Flow with it all while keeping as much of your attention on the big picture of your life as possible
Getting stressed will only hurt you mentally and physically – stress does not fix, change or accomplish anything, but it is the worst thing you can do to your body.
So when your best intentions are derailed, get back on them ASAP
John
“The road to your championship will not be a smooth, wide and
easily traveled freeway. No, great accomplishments are never
realized without first having to endure steep climbs, hard
falls and sharp turns. The key to your success is perseverance
and focus. Keep your focus on that which you desire to accomplish,
your championship, and continually discover ways to, and ways not
to, achieve your goals. Fall down and/or get knocked down 10
times and get back up 11…, and in so doing learn, grow and
move closer to your championship.”
— Greg Werner (Strength and Conditioning Coach)
“The successful man is the average man, focused.”
— Source Unknown
“Courage means to keep working a relationship, to
continue seeking solutions to difficult problems,
and to stay focused during stressful periods.”
— Denis Waitley
And now A Quiz. . .
. . . to help you get unstuck from your distractions.
Sit back and let yourself relax a little bit – take a few slow deep breaths exhaling through your mouth, while telling yourself to ‘let go’ or ‘relax’
Ask yourself these questions after you are calm and relaxed – this will help calm your mind allowing you to get more clear with your responses.
What have I been thinking about the last 15 minutes?
What were my conscious thoughts focused on in the last hour?
What have been my predominant thoughts today?
. . . last week?
. . . last month?
Is something distracting me from what I want to be doing?
What can I do about it right now?
When will I get back to my desired activities?
What are those activities?
How will I make this happen?
Sometimes you just need to ask. . . yourself.
The answers are there, but only if you seek them – ask!
Don’t allow outside situations to take over your life – they are a part of life, not all of it.
You have the command – assume it!
John
Whitman said it like this: “Oh, while I live, to be the ruler of life, not a slave, to meet life as a powerful conqueror, and nothing exterior to me shall ever take command of me.”
Did you know that you could write the screenplay for the rest of your life?
Actually, there is a screenplay for the rest of your life being written right now and who do you think is writing it?
You are – who else would be qualified?
I know, you may wish that someone else were writing especially if you are not very satisfied with the results.
The question to ask yourself is – Is it fresh and new or are you repeating the same familiar plot line you have been using for a long time?
We are always writing our life script even if we are not aware that we are. If we are not aware of this we may not be getting what we want, as it occurs automatically.
You can however write your script consciously and purposefully as you decide.
Looking at the idea of designing your desired life by means of a movie script can be a helpful tool.
Some people are very fluid with their imaginations and can envision many exciting things, situations and attribute for themselves, where others are stuck not able to come up with much of anything other than what they now experience.
The idea of writing a potential script can sometimes be easier when you begin thinking it is for a fictional character. It helps you to see beyond your current reality, which may be all you can focus on.
Sometimes when we try to think about something new in life, our mind defaults back to our current experience and we end up dwelling on that – this does not support change and growth.
This method may allow you to get outside the box of your reality, open up your creativity and allow your deep-seated desires to surface.
Allow your thoughts to just flow, thinking what could happen if this or that occurred. What would a person that ______ be like? How would they think, act and feel. If you are writing for a movie you need to think of all this so the actors can see how to bring your character to life.
Think about the energy and emotional feelings that will be present with the character at a particular time, place and event. If you allow yourself to actually feel them you will best be able to convey them specifically to an actor. (yourself) Allow yourself to get into the smallest details – this will ensure the realism of the character.
You of course then step into the part and enjoy how it feels, experience yourself living with these details just as described.
This can be an on-going project where you keep adding and refining details.
Discussing this with yourself as you go over the details helps open up your thinking and draw out the details of enjoying your desires. You know how easy it is to discuss with yourself things you don’t like – do it that way – with energy and power.
Also, a very powerful part of this exercise is the actual writing. You will be utilizing more facets of your brain when you write this all down as you develop it. First you think about it, then say it to yourself when you write it down, which is a physical/mental action.
Doing these functions with imprint the ideas into your mind in several ways making the impression stronger.
Think it
Write it
Read it
Imagine it
Describe it
Discuss it
Play the part – in your mind
Re-write
Re-read
Imagine in more detail
Describe in more detail
Etc.
Keep going
The more detail, energy and emotion you apply to this the stronger it is
Remember, you don’t need to have actually done something before – only imagine it and feel it.
Now that you have this well described script describing what you want in your life – you have something to act on.
Give yourself some time and be patient with this – it may take a little time to get use to doing if you are not accustomed to thinking like this.
It would help to start out with getting yourself relaxed mentally and physically, this slows your brainwaves and is much more conducive to creative thought and intuition.
When you are thinking about developing deeper what ‘the character’ can do and feel ask yourself this question – “If that can happen, just imagine what can happen.”
One thing will always lead to another – if you allow it.
Enjoy
John
“I have learned this at least by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” — Henry David Thoreau
“What would it be like if you lived each day, each breath, as a work of art in progress? Imagine that you are a masterpiece unfolding, every second of every day, a work of art taking form with every breath.” — Thomas Crum
“The more you see yourself as what you’d like to become, and act as if what you want is already there, the more you’ll activate those dormant forces that will collaborate to transform your dream into your reality.” –Wayne Dyer
“Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions.” — Albert Einstein
“What this power is, I cannot say. All I know is that it exists and it becomes available only when you are in that state of mind in which you know exactly what you want.” — Alexander Graham Bell
“All growth is a leap in the dark, a spontaneous unpremeditated
act without the benefit of experience.” — Henry Miller
“All men dream but not equally. Those who dream by night in
the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that
is was vanity, but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men,
for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make it
possible.” — T.E. Lawrence
Think about your energy level behind the thoughts you have for what you want in your life as opposed to your energy behind what you do not want?
I will take a guess here, there is a much stronger energy, thus emotion, behind what you don’t like or want.
This might just be what is keeping you aligned with what you don’t want and away from what you DO want.
You are flowing more energy into the ‘don’t want’ thoughts – And wa-la, the universe is responding as it does to your most energetic thoughts.
This automatic behavior of impressing negative thoughts with a high level of energy is one most of us have developed – but one we should make some changes to.
I’m not saying to try to ignore negative feelings or to pretend that they are not there – they are part of your normal emotion system. However, the amount of energy you apply to any thought and feeling is your choice.
If you are in the habit of applying stronger energy into the negative than you are the positive, guess how you have charged your emotions – to expound on the negative!
Your emotions do not come with a predetermined charge that you must be subject to – you can decide this.
The charge an emotion has for you comes from the kind and amount of energy you apply to it.
Think about it, I’m sure that you have noticed a difference in the emotional reactions you have to something versus someone you know. You may react, for example, more intensely to the death of a child than someone else, or a mistreated animal, or to someone not getting a job they wanted.
You know how you have maybe wondered why something doesn’t seem to affect someone else as it does you – or the opposite. Our level of energy behind an emotion varies – it is something we have each allowed to develop in our automatic behavior in our own unique way.
Like other thought, this too can be managed to better serve the life we want.
The reason for getting into this idea, of the energy behind your thoughts, is so that you can look at the amount of energy you apply to what you want versus what you don’t want.
Are you actually applying a sufficient level of energy to what you say you want?
You can tell by looking at your emotional feelings. Your emotional feelings will follow the energy applied.
If you don’t feel intense feelings about what you want, you are not putting enough energy into the thoughts.
Have you ever REALLY wanted something? To have something – like a new car, to be with someone, to go somewhere? Think about the intense feelings you had then.
This is an example of putting energy into a thought.
Also, using the negative, what about when you have been really upset about something – think about the power of the feelings you had. That is power!
Applying this kind of power is what is needed if you are to have the thoughts of what you want to be the most overpowering thoughts you are planting with the universe.
Remember, with your thoughts, you are planting seeds – make them well defined and potent. Weak, unspecific and low energy desires will be stuck in the ‘hope’ phase and never get results.
Your most prominent and powerful thoughts are what the universe responds to, and so do you. Looking carefully at your life right now reveals evidence of your predominate thinking.
This can include not really thinking about anything specific, and so your life goes – unspecific.
I remember Zig Zigglar use to say, “become a meaningful specific”. He was referring to taking command of your thinking rather than living a life of default – just allowing whatever comes up to be in control.
Also, managing your thinking is a 24 hour thing, you can’t just go through some specific thought exercises, going over what you want, and then spend the rest of the day allowing thoughts that oppose your desires.
If you allow much of your day to include thinking about what you don’t want or like, your frustrations, your worries and fears – what are you highlighting and enhancing for yourself?
I’m not saying that you need to keep your thoughts fixed on your desires all day – that wouldn’t work. But you need to be generally happy and satisfied right now – all the fears, doubts, dislikes and worries will dilute or negate the thoughts of your desires.
Learn to watch your thinking, feelings, reactions and behavior 24/7, it’s all a choice.
Choose to drop thinking that does not support being happy.
“Stop the mindless wishing that things would be different.
Rather than wasting time and emotional and spiritual energy
in explaining why we don’t have what we want, we can start
to pursue other ways to get it.” — Greg Anderson
“Whatever commands our time, energy and resources, commands
us.” — Tom Sine
“Power is the faculty or capacity to act, the strength and potency to accomplish something. It is the vital energy to make choices and decisions. It also includes the capacity to overcome deeply embedded habits and to cultivate higher, more effective ones.” — Stephen Covey
“Love the moment and the energy of the moment will spread beyond all boundaries.” — Corita Kent
Make your thoughts for what you want impressive and highly potent.
You’ve got to run an ad campaign for what you want in your life.
You know how companies selling products apply to your emotional hot buttons – you can do this to yourself to help intensify your feelings behind your desires in order to have them to be the greatest impression on yourself and the universe.
Lowering the energy you apply to what you don’t want or like and then increasing the energy behind what you do want is the goal.
The first step is to take conscious notice of your energy application, then you can make some assessments for yourself.
Following this, decide how you can alter the intensity to support more of what you want – to support your intention.
Looking at your feelings that come up, you can question yourself about them:
Why do I feel this way?
Do I need to feel this intensely about what I don’t like?
Can I feel more intense about what I want?
Some ways to get yourself more charged up about your desires:
Spend more time thinking about them allowing greater detail,
How much of my time goes to passive, unspecific thought and action,
Let your imagination run wild,
Specifically seek out how you WILL feel when you do, are, or experience it,
Write yourself into the part like a movie or story,
Get yourself into an assumptive mental state – that you are experiencing it now,
Ask yourself, how will I feel WHEN_____,
What fulfillment and satisfaction will you experience when you_____?
Generally, allow yourself to get riled up about it, in a good way. You do this by purposefully applying your thought to something.
You can read the amount and kind of energy you are applying to the thoughts by your emotional feelings about them.
Again, spend more time thinking about what you want.
Look at how much of your time, each day, you spend thinking about specific things. How much time goes towards what you don’t like, what you want and also when you aren’t thinking about anything specific?
How can you apply more to what you want?
Action follows your thought and experience follows your actions.
But first, your thoughts must be charged high enough in order for the universe to respond and for you to be properly motivated to do what you are guided to do.
You do have the equipment and ability to apply your thought energy to what you choose even though you may struggle with it at first. As with anything you try to learn, stick to it with the intention that you can do it at will.
So your first action is to think with intensity about what you want. Apply the time and energy to the thoughts of your desires. And, reduce the intensity of your negative or ‘don’t want’ thoughts.
Take charge, apply your energy to what you want – it’s worth it. Think on purpose!
Make a commitment to stick with this for at least 30 days so it will set in as a habit. Yes it may seem like a hopeless endeavor at first, be patient, you will come around.
John
“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” — Mohandas Gandhi
“Success… My nomination for the single most important ingredient is energy will directed.” — Louis
Lundborg