Distinctive Ring Tones
So we see, to play successfully the game of life, we must train the imaging faculty. A person with an imaging faculty trained to image only good, brings into his life "every righteous desire of his heart" - health, wealth, love, friends, perfect self-expression, his highest ideals.
— Florence Scovel Shinn
In the film Tin Cup, Kevin Costner’s character proclaims, “When the defining moment comes along, you define the moment or the moment defines you.” We have been led to believe that life determines who we are, when at every moment we determine what our life is.
One strong metaphor for attuning to your unique guidance is the cell phone. Most people have a unique cell phone ring tone. We choose melodies and songs that we enjoy and that represent our unique taste and style. When cell phones first became popular, there were no distinctive tones, so when I stood in line at an airport, for example, a cell phone would ring and five people would each reach for their phone, in case someone was calling them. Now the rings are so distinctive that you reach for your call and not someone else’s.
Your soul’s calling also has a distinct tone. When your inner voice speaks to you it bestows a feeling of peace, ease, flow, aliveness, and a sense of coming home. By contrast, the voice of the ego, or fear, is burdensome, demanding, and disquieting. When considering whether to hearken to a voice within you, test its frequency. Is it broadcasting from fear, or love? Practice picking up the phone for love calls and refuse to answer the fear calls. As a Chasidic sage nobly stated, “Everyone should carefully observe which way his heart draws him, and then choose that way with all his strength.”
Do you recognize the frequency of your own true inner voice?
Considering a decision before you, what does the voice of love say to you?
I listen to the my own true voice and I act on it with confidence.
I am always guided to my greater good.
Wisdom for Today © 2010 by Alan Cohen www.alancohen.com
Showing posts with label self love. Show all posts
Showing posts with label self love. Show all posts
Monday, August 23, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
To thine own self be true
Shakespeare said that many years ago. Being true to yourself actually is the first step to doing anything for others. You can only give out what you have so fill up on love, joy, self respect. When you are aware of your own needs and meet those within yourself you then have that to share with others in your life.
Often people deal with burn out from doing too much and spreading their energy too thin. We live in a very fast paced world and it’s easy to just do too much and not take care of you. You are important. As a mother your patience, wisdom and understanding are dependent upon your taking care of yourself and your emotional, physical and spiritual needs.
A long bath with a good book, sitting in the back yard watching the birds, going for a long and relaxing walk are all wonderful ways to connect yourself to balance.
Buy yourself a vase full of flowers and delight in their color, texture and scent. Love yourself well.. I say that to each person I meet and for a very good reason. You will have more to share with others when you are being good to yourself.
Making sure you get food that satisfies the body, mind and spirit, rest that restores physical and mental energy, down time to restore the soul; all these fill you up with energy and the more full you are the more you have to give and the more you enjoy your life experience.
The reason so many are creating experiences they don’t enjoy is they are just plain tired, worn out, drained and that gives way to frustration. Frustration creates more to feel that way about.
Being good to yourself is the fastest way to create beauty in your life and guarantees you have plenty of love, respect and kindness to share with others.
How do you feed your soul?
Donna DeVane
http://secretdesigncreationsblog.com/
Often people deal with burn out from doing too much and spreading their energy too thin. We live in a very fast paced world and it’s easy to just do too much and not take care of you. You are important. As a mother your patience, wisdom and understanding are dependent upon your taking care of yourself and your emotional, physical and spiritual needs.
A long bath with a good book, sitting in the back yard watching the birds, going for a long and relaxing walk are all wonderful ways to connect yourself to balance.
Buy yourself a vase full of flowers and delight in their color, texture and scent. Love yourself well.. I say that to each person I meet and for a very good reason. You will have more to share with others when you are being good to yourself.
Making sure you get food that satisfies the body, mind and spirit, rest that restores physical and mental energy, down time to restore the soul; all these fill you up with energy and the more full you are the more you have to give and the more you enjoy your life experience.
The reason so many are creating experiences they don’t enjoy is they are just plain tired, worn out, drained and that gives way to frustration. Frustration creates more to feel that way about.
Being good to yourself is the fastest way to create beauty in your life and guarantees you have plenty of love, respect and kindness to share with others.
How do you feed your soul?
Donna DeVane
http://secretdesigncreationsblog.com/
Friday, January 22, 2010
Brush with Greatness by Alan Cohen
Brush with Greatness
by Alan Cohen
www.alancohen.com
One evening when I picked up my voicemail. I heard a message from my friend Kinnie, who works as a massage therapist at a luxury hotel: “Call me ― I have to tell you about my brush with greatness.”
I phoned Kinnie immediately and asked what had happened. “I massaged Dustin Hoffman today,” she reported proudly.
Well, that was cool. Yet something bothered me about her phraseology, “My brush with greatness.”
“Dustin Hoffman is a great actor,” I told her. “But when you say, ‘my brush with greatness,’ it sounds as if he is great and you are not, and you were lucky to touch greatness for a moment. In my opinion you are just as great as him. You are an outstanding massage therapist and an awesome person. It saddened me to hear you portray yourself as less than him. Who knows, maybe after his massage he phoned a friend and reported, “Let me tell you about my brush with greatness . . .”
Kinnie thanked me for my affirmation of her worth. Yet the lesson goes far beyond that one encounter. We have all have been taught that greatness lives outside of us and we need to rub up against it or import it so we can become great. That’s exactly the opposite of how true greatness operates. Magnificence resides within all of us, and we need but tap into it and bring it forth. We don’t need to brush with greatness; we need to simply brush from greatness.”
We give our power away when we bestow exalted attributes upon people we worship, at the expense of recognizing our own. Former child star Shirley Temple Black recounts, “I gave up believing in Santa Claus when I was six. When my mom took me to see him, he asked for my autograph.” You can imagine the child running to be validated by the god of all children, only to find the god dashing to be validated by the star he adored. While we seek approval from the outside world, if we do not respect ourselves, the gifts bestowed by others fall on barren soil. Rather than importing affirmation from those we adore, we need to claim the good we seek right where we stand. Then we can appreciate and celebrate others’ magnificence side by side with our own.
You cannot acquire greatness by association; you can recognize it only by identity. People who habitually name-drop or flaunt photos of themselves with famous people do not appreciate their inherent worth. It’s not who you know that counts; it’s who you are. When you stand firmly and unapologetically in your own dignity, you attract powerful and worthy comrades. They are drawn to you magnetically, and your conversations are not about what you can get from them, but what you can co-create.
People who brush from greatness, not toward it, are simultaneously humble and powerful. They recognize that the talent that flows through them is seeded from a Source far grander than their ego. When a reporter asked twelve-year-old tennis sensation Jennifer Capriotti, “Do you intend to be the next Chris Evert?” she answered, “No, I intend to be the first Jennifer Capriotti.” Ten-year-old art prodigy Alexandra Nashita, called “the next Picasso,” affirmed, “The difference between me and others is that I am willing to do what I am good at.” Mozart put it this way: “It is when I am, as it were, completely myself, entirely alone, and of good cheer . . . that ideas flow best and most abundantly. Whence and how they come, I know not, nor can I force them.”
Many years ago while Ram Dass was under the influence of mind-altering substances at the Newport Jazz Festival, he found his way backstage. There he noticed a hole in the tent and decided to peer out of it. To his surprise, he saw another eye looking back at his. The other eye had obviously ingested similar substances, and the two eyes just stared at each other for a long, long time. Finally a voice accompanying the other eye spoke from outside the tent: “Wanna get in?” The irony, of course, was that Ram Dass already thought he was in. Yet the other guy perceived himself as in. So “inside” and “outside” are relative indeed!
In high school I envied student body president Dick Brown, who was good-looking and popular, offered everyone a smile and kind word, and had a cheerleader girlfriend. I liked Dick but envied him for being in the in-crowd ― actually its leader. By contrast, I judged myself as a less-than, dithering on the outskirts of coolness.
Years later I bumped into Dick and we hashed over high school days. I confessed that I envied him for being in the in-crowd. He laughed and told me, “That’s weird ― I always thought you were the in-crowd and I was out. I envied you.”
How powerfully we upgrade all of our relationships as we let go of seeking external validation, and recognize that the only in-crowd worth penetrating is the one that lives inside us. There and only there will we find the artist’s hand that brushes with greatness.
by Alan Cohen
www.alancohen.com
One evening when I picked up my voicemail. I heard a message from my friend Kinnie, who works as a massage therapist at a luxury hotel: “Call me ― I have to tell you about my brush with greatness.”
I phoned Kinnie immediately and asked what had happened. “I massaged Dustin Hoffman today,” she reported proudly.
Well, that was cool. Yet something bothered me about her phraseology, “My brush with greatness.”
“Dustin Hoffman is a great actor,” I told her. “But when you say, ‘my brush with greatness,’ it sounds as if he is great and you are not, and you were lucky to touch greatness for a moment. In my opinion you are just as great as him. You are an outstanding massage therapist and an awesome person. It saddened me to hear you portray yourself as less than him. Who knows, maybe after his massage he phoned a friend and reported, “Let me tell you about my brush with greatness . . .”
Kinnie thanked me for my affirmation of her worth. Yet the lesson goes far beyond that one encounter. We have all have been taught that greatness lives outside of us and we need to rub up against it or import it so we can become great. That’s exactly the opposite of how true greatness operates. Magnificence resides within all of us, and we need but tap into it and bring it forth. We don’t need to brush with greatness; we need to simply brush from greatness.”
We give our power away when we bestow exalted attributes upon people we worship, at the expense of recognizing our own. Former child star Shirley Temple Black recounts, “I gave up believing in Santa Claus when I was six. When my mom took me to see him, he asked for my autograph.” You can imagine the child running to be validated by the god of all children, only to find the god dashing to be validated by the star he adored. While we seek approval from the outside world, if we do not respect ourselves, the gifts bestowed by others fall on barren soil. Rather than importing affirmation from those we adore, we need to claim the good we seek right where we stand. Then we can appreciate and celebrate others’ magnificence side by side with our own.
You cannot acquire greatness by association; you can recognize it only by identity. People who habitually name-drop or flaunt photos of themselves with famous people do not appreciate their inherent worth. It’s not who you know that counts; it’s who you are. When you stand firmly and unapologetically in your own dignity, you attract powerful and worthy comrades. They are drawn to you magnetically, and your conversations are not about what you can get from them, but what you can co-create.
People who brush from greatness, not toward it, are simultaneously humble and powerful. They recognize that the talent that flows through them is seeded from a Source far grander than their ego. When a reporter asked twelve-year-old tennis sensation Jennifer Capriotti, “Do you intend to be the next Chris Evert?” she answered, “No, I intend to be the first Jennifer Capriotti.” Ten-year-old art prodigy Alexandra Nashita, called “the next Picasso,” affirmed, “The difference between me and others is that I am willing to do what I am good at.” Mozart put it this way: “It is when I am, as it were, completely myself, entirely alone, and of good cheer . . . that ideas flow best and most abundantly. Whence and how they come, I know not, nor can I force them.”
Many years ago while Ram Dass was under the influence of mind-altering substances at the Newport Jazz Festival, he found his way backstage. There he noticed a hole in the tent and decided to peer out of it. To his surprise, he saw another eye looking back at his. The other eye had obviously ingested similar substances, and the two eyes just stared at each other for a long, long time. Finally a voice accompanying the other eye spoke from outside the tent: “Wanna get in?” The irony, of course, was that Ram Dass already thought he was in. Yet the other guy perceived himself as in. So “inside” and “outside” are relative indeed!
In high school I envied student body president Dick Brown, who was good-looking and popular, offered everyone a smile and kind word, and had a cheerleader girlfriend. I liked Dick but envied him for being in the in-crowd ― actually its leader. By contrast, I judged myself as a less-than, dithering on the outskirts of coolness.
Years later I bumped into Dick and we hashed over high school days. I confessed that I envied him for being in the in-crowd. He laughed and told me, “That’s weird ― I always thought you were the in-crowd and I was out. I envied you.”
How powerfully we upgrade all of our relationships as we let go of seeking external validation, and recognize that the only in-crowd worth penetrating is the one that lives inside us. There and only there will we find the artist’s hand that brushes with greatness.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Dare to be Yourself ... by Paul Hoffman
Who am I? What do I want? What level of consciousness am I living from? These are great questions to ask yourself as you begin to usher in the dawn of a new day. The absolute truth in answering these questions is simply you are brilliant, magnificent, genius, caring, loving, kind, extraordinary, unstoppable, successful, creative, giving, generous, supportive, nurturing, confident you get the picture. You are all these qualities and so much more in every moment of your day. I ask you today to "Dare To Be Yourself" and bring out all these awesome qualities and values of who you are in all you do. When you do, life will begin to take on a new color and vibration of abundance and prosperity in every aspect of your being so that the person you really are emerges powerfully in all your relationships as you communicate the joy of being who you are.
There is no holding back the divine inspiration that you are. You can only be that which you believe you are. When you lose focus and clarity about the true authentic being you are then thoughts of lack and limitation creep in. You must have the courage to be steadfast in your commitment to living in your excellence. You must have the determination to stay the course in the journey you have chosen so that the vision in your heart becomes your reality. You must believe in yourself so you will receive all the divine intelligence that is encouraging you to keep stepping into your brilliance. There can be no other way to be. It is all within you right here and now to have it all. All you need to to do is "Dare To Be Yourself" and watch as the most amazing thing happens. YOU will be given the keys to the castle and your life will become all that you have dreamed it could be. Try it you'll like it!
"The first choice you should make each day is to be committed to be the blessing you are so that everyone will get to share in the magnificence of who you are."
I AM ready to show up in all my power
I AM open to the calling of my heart
My dream is the reality I see in my life today
I AM committed to the full expression of who I AM
I see the road ahead with focus and clarity
I AM full of infinite opportunities and possibilities
There is magic everywhere
I LOVE ME!
It's your day...MAKE IT A GREAT ONE!
-Paul Hoffman
There is no holding back the divine inspiration that you are. You can only be that which you believe you are. When you lose focus and clarity about the true authentic being you are then thoughts of lack and limitation creep in. You must have the courage to be steadfast in your commitment to living in your excellence. You must have the determination to stay the course in the journey you have chosen so that the vision in your heart becomes your reality. You must believe in yourself so you will receive all the divine intelligence that is encouraging you to keep stepping into your brilliance. There can be no other way to be. It is all within you right here and now to have it all. All you need to to do is "Dare To Be Yourself" and watch as the most amazing thing happens. YOU will be given the keys to the castle and your life will become all that you have dreamed it could be. Try it you'll like it!
"The first choice you should make each day is to be committed to be the blessing you are so that everyone will get to share in the magnificence of who you are."
I AM ready to show up in all my power
I AM open to the calling of my heart
My dream is the reality I see in my life today
I AM committed to the full expression of who I AM
I see the road ahead with focus and clarity
I AM full of infinite opportunities and possibilities
There is magic everywhere
I LOVE ME!
It's your day...MAKE IT A GREAT ONE!
-Paul Hoffman
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Negative Emotions Can Turn Into Fears ... by Angie Sierra
Negative Emotions Can Turn Into Fears ... by Angie Sierra
I’d like to share a true story with you:
There was a little girl who admired and respected her father. She always enjoyed watching him work around the house.
One sat. evening, her father was working on an ongoing complicated project in the garage. He was tired, frustrated, irritated and didn’t want to be bothered.
The daughter (unaware of how her father was feeling at that exact time) walked inside the garage in a exciting, care free and happy mood.
Watching him from a distance, she decided to impress her father and work on her own little project. So she picked up a hammer, a small nail, a piece of wood and began to hit the nail with the hammer.
She was doing well until she missed the nail and instead hit her finger.
Holding back her tears from the pain & throbbing of her finger,she grabbed the hammer to try again, her father yanked the hammer from her hands and yelled at her saying: “You don’t know how to do anything! just get out of here! And leave me Alone!”...
Even though our parents or guardians were our first teachers, we can not blame or get upset on how they raised us. Being a parent or guardian does not come with instructions.
There actions toward you were based on how they were raised, how they were discipline, how they were treated or mistreated, and how they were loved.
Some parents had a hard upbringing and learned from there experiences, overcame them and vowed never to treat there children the way they were mistreated, others kept there emotions locked away, not knowing/understanding how to approach or handle there emotions.
You see the father lashed out with anger not because of his daughter but because of how he was feeling and took it out on his daughter. The bad news is the little girl heard and believed every word he said...
Experiences like this can stay with you for many years and the negative emotions at a young age can easily turn into fears as we grow. That’s what happened in this case.
As she grew into a teenager, she became extremely shy. She didn’t talk very much and kept to herself. In school she never volunteered for any thing because she was afraid to mess up and believed no one wanted her around...
This story was based on one of my personal experiences.
The feeling of never being good enough has always been a struggle. A battle within myself of either trying my hardest to accomplish or being afraid to succeed. but
The understanding I got after working on myself first (healing) was by far most important in improving my entire life.
Can you recall of a moment or moments that may have had a negative impact through out your life?
Write about it in your journal...
Join me in 3days, for a better understanding.
Have an Amazing Journey!
TrueHealthAndHappiness.com
© Copyright 2009 TrueHealthAndHappiness.com All Rights Reserved
Angie Sierra
757 E. Realty St.
Carson
90745
United States
I’d like to share a true story with you:
There was a little girl who admired and respected her father. She always enjoyed watching him work around the house.
One sat. evening, her father was working on an ongoing complicated project in the garage. He was tired, frustrated, irritated and didn’t want to be bothered.
The daughter (unaware of how her father was feeling at that exact time) walked inside the garage in a exciting, care free and happy mood.
Watching him from a distance, she decided to impress her father and work on her own little project. So she picked up a hammer, a small nail, a piece of wood and began to hit the nail with the hammer.
She was doing well until she missed the nail and instead hit her finger.
Holding back her tears from the pain & throbbing of her finger,she grabbed the hammer to try again, her father yanked the hammer from her hands and yelled at her saying: “You don’t know how to do anything! just get out of here! And leave me Alone!”...
Even though our parents or guardians were our first teachers, we can not blame or get upset on how they raised us. Being a parent or guardian does not come with instructions.
There actions toward you were based on how they were raised, how they were discipline, how they were treated or mistreated, and how they were loved.
Some parents had a hard upbringing and learned from there experiences, overcame them and vowed never to treat there children the way they were mistreated, others kept there emotions locked away, not knowing/understanding how to approach or handle there emotions.
You see the father lashed out with anger not because of his daughter but because of how he was feeling and took it out on his daughter. The bad news is the little girl heard and believed every word he said...
Experiences like this can stay with you for many years and the negative emotions at a young age can easily turn into fears as we grow. That’s what happened in this case.
As she grew into a teenager, she became extremely shy. She didn’t talk very much and kept to herself. In school she never volunteered for any thing because she was afraid to mess up and believed no one wanted her around...
This story was based on one of my personal experiences.
The feeling of never being good enough has always been a struggle. A battle within myself of either trying my hardest to accomplish or being afraid to succeed. but
The understanding I got after working on myself first (healing) was by far most important in improving my entire life.
Can you recall of a moment or moments that may have had a negative impact through out your life?
Write about it in your journal...
Join me in 3days, for a better understanding.
Have an Amazing Journey!
TrueHealthAndHappiness.com
© Copyright 2009 TrueHealthAndHappiness.com All Rights Reserved
Angie Sierra
757 E. Realty St.
Carson
90745
United States
Friday, April 3, 2009
Welcome to Your New Beginning! by Angie Sierra
Everything in your life happens for a reason, You didn't just so happen to subscribe to these emails and are now continuing to read each word. (Note: I discovered Angie's articles, subscribed and believe they're worthy of sharing)
This is not a coincidence, its all apart of YOUR Journey.
Maybe you're looking for answers or in need of encouraging words, maybe you're looking to change your present life, find balance and move forward.
Or maybe you're one of my supportive friends (which I welcome and
appreciate by the way)Whatever your reasons are, they've lead to this moment...
As you know, we don't live in a perfect world and things aren't always going to go as planned. Running into obstacles and always facing challenges are apart of our lives. The lessons we learn, the sacrifices we take, the emotional roller coaster we face and the negativity we live in, are there to help us Experience, Learn, and Evolve.
Some might ask, "Then how do I deal with it all, especially the stress, challenges and bad situations?"
Its very simple.
The answer:
By Never Giving Up and Thinking Positive No Matter What.
For example lets say you get hurt or were involved in some sort of accident and now your in the hospital. Its OK... Things aren't always what they seem. Maybe you needed to get some rest an take a break, maybe you were moving too fast and needed to slow down, maybe you were headed towards something worse and this had to happen to stop you from going any further. There's always a deeper meaning. You'll see & understand exactly why things happen but only after overcoming the emotional process.
Remember this: Your Greatest Learning Experiences always come from bad situations. let me repeat "Your Greatest Learning Experiences Always Come From Bad Situations".
Accept your problems and solve them as they come. Tell yourself your challenges are temporary and will pass. Ask "What is this experience trying to teach me" or "How can I grow from this setback?". This helps deal with the situation, finding ways to solve, accept and move forward...
You see you're a Powerful Person who can influence and attract more good then bad in your life by Feeding your Mind with Positive Thoughts no matter what. Overcoming our obstacles and gaining knowledge along the way is what its all about.
Take the First Breath, Welcome to Your New Beginning!
P.S I understand many of us have hectic life's but we need time off to work On Ourselves to Create a more Positive Outcome. Having a personal journal to write down any thoughts, dreams, goals, quotes, etc. is a great way to help develop your personal growth. It increases your self-awareness and helps keep you on track. By also writing the exact dates and time, will allow you to go back reflective and analyze where your state of mind was at that moment.
So everyday or at least 2×'s a week set a quiet time for yourself to relax, clear your mind, gather your thoughts and look over your journal. This is the time to Reevaluate your life, make changes and Improvements. To have awareness and clarity, to receive guidelines, hunches, and ideas. (with No distractions)
P.S.S Its also extremely important when receiving an email, you reread that particular email at least 2×'s that week.
A suggestion would be to place your emails in one folder for easy access, by clicking on Move...[New Folder]...then entering a name for your folder...and moving all your emails into that folder. Your new folder will be located on the left hand side underneath My Folders.
The Value Of Learning Is Truly Beyond Words
Have an Amazing Journey!
TrueHealthAndHappiness.com
© Copyright 2009 TrueHealthAndHappiness.com
This is not a coincidence, its all apart of YOUR Journey.
Maybe you're looking for answers or in need of encouraging words, maybe you're looking to change your present life, find balance and move forward.
Or maybe you're one of my supportive friends (which I welcome and
appreciate by the way)Whatever your reasons are, they've lead to this moment...
As you know, we don't live in a perfect world and things aren't always going to go as planned. Running into obstacles and always facing challenges are apart of our lives. The lessons we learn, the sacrifices we take, the emotional roller coaster we face and the negativity we live in, are there to help us Experience, Learn, and Evolve.
Some might ask, "Then how do I deal with it all, especially the stress, challenges and bad situations?"
Its very simple.
The answer:
By Never Giving Up and Thinking Positive No Matter What.
For example lets say you get hurt or were involved in some sort of accident and now your in the hospital. Its OK... Things aren't always what they seem. Maybe you needed to get some rest an take a break, maybe you were moving too fast and needed to slow down, maybe you were headed towards something worse and this had to happen to stop you from going any further. There's always a deeper meaning. You'll see & understand exactly why things happen but only after overcoming the emotional process.
Remember this: Your Greatest Learning Experiences always come from bad situations. let me repeat "Your Greatest Learning Experiences Always Come From Bad Situations".
Accept your problems and solve them as they come. Tell yourself your challenges are temporary and will pass. Ask "What is this experience trying to teach me" or "How can I grow from this setback?". This helps deal with the situation, finding ways to solve, accept and move forward...
You see you're a Powerful Person who can influence and attract more good then bad in your life by Feeding your Mind with Positive Thoughts no matter what. Overcoming our obstacles and gaining knowledge along the way is what its all about.
Take the First Breath, Welcome to Your New Beginning!
P.S I understand many of us have hectic life's but we need time off to work On Ourselves to Create a more Positive Outcome. Having a personal journal to write down any thoughts, dreams, goals, quotes, etc. is a great way to help develop your personal growth. It increases your self-awareness and helps keep you on track. By also writing the exact dates and time, will allow you to go back reflective and analyze where your state of mind was at that moment.
So everyday or at least 2×'s a week set a quiet time for yourself to relax, clear your mind, gather your thoughts and look over your journal. This is the time to Reevaluate your life, make changes and Improvements. To have awareness and clarity, to receive guidelines, hunches, and ideas. (with No distractions)
P.S.S Its also extremely important when receiving an email, you reread that particular email at least 2×'s that week.
A suggestion would be to place your emails in one folder for easy access, by clicking on Move...[New Folder]...then entering a name for your folder...and moving all your emails into that folder. Your new folder will be located on the left hand side underneath My Folders.
The Value Of Learning Is Truly Beyond Words
Have an Amazing Journey!
TrueHealthAndHappiness.com
© Copyright 2009 TrueHealthAndHappiness.com
Monday, March 23, 2009
Finding Joy In Gridlock Traffic
by Karen Krakower Kaplan
Gratitude is the gentle recognition, rediscovery or "re-remembering" of the simple abundance around you.
It is to be a child again, in awe of a purple crayon.
It is sprinting from your car to the office and stopping your jangled thoughts just long enough to savor the sight of someone holding the elevator door for you, someone you do not even know.
Gratitude is noticing the extraordinary in the ordinary. And then taking the nanosecond to feel it.
But in this adrenaline-driven, multi-tasking frenzy we call Life, how do we have time to stop and smell the roses when we don't even have time to stop for gas?
Easy...
1. Just stop.
To access a sense of wonder, every hour or so, just stop. Just for a moment. Take a breath, wherever you are, and step out of your raging river of thought and look around. Notice the photograph hanging in your cubicle that you put up months ago, but haven't noticed since. Look at each face and recall the one thing about them you couldn't live without. "Re-remember" why you hung the photo in the first place.
2. Freeze-frame it.
"Think about someone, something in your life you loved and freeze-frame the picture," says clinical psychologist Blair Justice, Ph.D., professor-emeritus of psychology at the UT School of Public Health at Houston . "The physical effect on the heart [when overlaid by the emotional heart of loving] is what's called cardiac-coherence."
Everything comes into balance when the physical heart and the emotional heart are, say, beating as one.
"A growing body of research supports the notion that rediscovering a sense of abundance by thinking about those people and things we love lowers the risks of coronary events," Justice offers.
3. Create a gratitude journal.
"The gratitude journal assigns us to look for and record the ordinary wonders that come across our paths," Justice explains.
It may take the form of a gratitude list:
an old friend called you today
your kids cleared the table without a fight
a co-worker walked you through a computer snag
At first you may find yourself listing the "at leasts"
at least my kids aren't starving
at least I have a roof over my head
at least I have two legs
Tapping into a sense of abundance doesn't mean that someone else must have it worse for you to feel better about your lot. Nor does it mean that you can't whine when you're stuck in gridlock traffic.
It simply means that since you are stuck in traffic, you might let your mind surrender to the idea of "found time" with yourself, instead of wasted time in traffic. Found time in a gratitude journal might read, "Someone let me into their lane in gridlock traffic. I waved a 'thank you.' They waved back. It felt good."
4. Replace the words 'at least' with 'even if'.
Feeling a sense of emotional wealth comes from a deep, abiding acknowledgement of the present moment. Let's face it: yesterday is gone. Tomorrow, or even tonight isn't here yet. All we have is right now.
In a gratitude journal you might write, " Even if I am stuck in traffic, I have a fabulous new CD, a half-tank of gas and a glorious sunset in my rearview mirror."
5. Change your lens.
Justice suggests that life can be viewed through a different lens, to gain a fresh perspective. First, try on the wide-angle lens: before you define a moment as bad, negative, hurtful, or simply boring, view the situation broadly, both literally and figuratively. Then flip it to the micro-lens to find the extraordinary in the ordinary, or "the sacred in the profane," says Justice.
Say you have an important meeting that you've just found out requires you to walk several buildings over because there's no parking. This is a surprise to you. Now you're crunched for time, not dressed for a hike, unsure how to get there on foot and worried how your laptop is going to make your bad back feel six blocks later..
Put on the macro lens: in the grand scheme
it doesn't really matter if you're five minutes late
the other attendees are walking, too
a comfortable amble will lower your heart rate before this big meeting
and this irritation will be lost to your memory by dinner tonight
and you'll know just how out of shape you've become
and this will be your wake-up call to start walking every day
Flip it to the micro lens: if you zoom up closely
the grounds to the building are stunning
there's a man feeding a squirrel right out of his hand
the sun on your face feels good
your shoes really were a steal, now that you think about it
You enter the meeting relaxed, refreshed and awake
6. The three questions
Justice practices a gentle daily examination. "At the end of the day, I ask myself three questions."
What has surprised me?
What has touched me?
What has inspired me?
He says that "hard-bitten folks have trouble finding beauty or seeing life anew in a daily way, and their arteries and immune system suffer for it." Answering these three questions inspires us to see the stuff of our days through fresh eyes.
Justice tells the story of a burned-out, jaded heart surgeon who attended a workshop on stress reduction. When asked these three questions, "he rolled his eyes, scoffed at the question and answered, 'Nothing, nothing, nothing, respectively.' "
Justice says that the surgeon was told that he was only seeing the human heart through the eyes of a surgeon, and it was time to see the heart through the eyes of a poet or an artist.
"When he returned to the group, he told how he had tried to change his eyes and for the first time in his career, a patient reached out and hugged him. The physician was floored, and forever changed," Justice recalls.
7. Connect your mind to your body
Studies show that journaling-recalling the day's events-both challenging ones and joyous ones, decreases physical symptoms of pain and illness, "and increases our sense of well being," Justice says.
Research also supports that the frequency of appreciation for the small things and the intensity with which we feel gratitude have an exponential growth potential. It creates a benevolent avalanche: the more often you tap into joy, the more joyous you'll feel, the deeper you'll feel it. The body's immune system and cardiovascular system then reap the benefits.
Sensing gratitude is the simplest possible gift we can give to ourselves that yields the highest possible return on our investment. "Letting ourselves feel that sense of wonder that surrounds us every single minute is what elevates our hearts beyond a mechanical pump and turns them into instruments of love and kindness."
This article is posted at http://www.dailygood.org/more.php?n=3641a
Gratitude is the gentle recognition, rediscovery or "re-remembering" of the simple abundance around you.
It is to be a child again, in awe of a purple crayon.
It is sprinting from your car to the office and stopping your jangled thoughts just long enough to savor the sight of someone holding the elevator door for you, someone you do not even know.
Gratitude is noticing the extraordinary in the ordinary. And then taking the nanosecond to feel it.
But in this adrenaline-driven, multi-tasking frenzy we call Life, how do we have time to stop and smell the roses when we don't even have time to stop for gas?
Easy...
1. Just stop.
To access a sense of wonder, every hour or so, just stop. Just for a moment. Take a breath, wherever you are, and step out of your raging river of thought and look around. Notice the photograph hanging in your cubicle that you put up months ago, but haven't noticed since. Look at each face and recall the one thing about them you couldn't live without. "Re-remember" why you hung the photo in the first place.
2. Freeze-frame it.
"Think about someone, something in your life you loved and freeze-frame the picture," says clinical psychologist Blair Justice, Ph.D., professor-emeritus of psychology at the UT School of Public Health at Houston . "The physical effect on the heart [when overlaid by the emotional heart of loving] is what's called cardiac-coherence."
Everything comes into balance when the physical heart and the emotional heart are, say, beating as one.
"A growing body of research supports the notion that rediscovering a sense of abundance by thinking about those people and things we love lowers the risks of coronary events," Justice offers.
3. Create a gratitude journal.
"The gratitude journal assigns us to look for and record the ordinary wonders that come across our paths," Justice explains.
It may take the form of a gratitude list:
an old friend called you today
your kids cleared the table without a fight
a co-worker walked you through a computer snag
At first you may find yourself listing the "at leasts"
at least my kids aren't starving
at least I have a roof over my head
at least I have two legs
Tapping into a sense of abundance doesn't mean that someone else must have it worse for you to feel better about your lot. Nor does it mean that you can't whine when you're stuck in gridlock traffic.
It simply means that since you are stuck in traffic, you might let your mind surrender to the idea of "found time" with yourself, instead of wasted time in traffic. Found time in a gratitude journal might read, "Someone let me into their lane in gridlock traffic. I waved a 'thank you.' They waved back. It felt good."
4. Replace the words 'at least' with 'even if'.
Feeling a sense of emotional wealth comes from a deep, abiding acknowledgement of the present moment. Let's face it: yesterday is gone. Tomorrow, or even tonight isn't here yet. All we have is right now.
In a gratitude journal you might write, " Even if I am stuck in traffic, I have a fabulous new CD, a half-tank of gas and a glorious sunset in my rearview mirror."
5. Change your lens.
Justice suggests that life can be viewed through a different lens, to gain a fresh perspective. First, try on the wide-angle lens: before you define a moment as bad, negative, hurtful, or simply boring, view the situation broadly, both literally and figuratively. Then flip it to the micro-lens to find the extraordinary in the ordinary, or "the sacred in the profane," says Justice.
Say you have an important meeting that you've just found out requires you to walk several buildings over because there's no parking. This is a surprise to you. Now you're crunched for time, not dressed for a hike, unsure how to get there on foot and worried how your laptop is going to make your bad back feel six blocks later..
Put on the macro lens: in the grand scheme
it doesn't really matter if you're five minutes late
the other attendees are walking, too
a comfortable amble will lower your heart rate before this big meeting
and this irritation will be lost to your memory by dinner tonight
and you'll know just how out of shape you've become
and this will be your wake-up call to start walking every day
Flip it to the micro lens: if you zoom up closely
the grounds to the building are stunning
there's a man feeding a squirrel right out of his hand
the sun on your face feels good
your shoes really were a steal, now that you think about it
You enter the meeting relaxed, refreshed and awake
6. The three questions
Justice practices a gentle daily examination. "At the end of the day, I ask myself three questions."
What has surprised me?
What has touched me?
What has inspired me?
He says that "hard-bitten folks have trouble finding beauty or seeing life anew in a daily way, and their arteries and immune system suffer for it." Answering these three questions inspires us to see the stuff of our days through fresh eyes.
Justice tells the story of a burned-out, jaded heart surgeon who attended a workshop on stress reduction. When asked these three questions, "he rolled his eyes, scoffed at the question and answered, 'Nothing, nothing, nothing, respectively.' "
Justice says that the surgeon was told that he was only seeing the human heart through the eyes of a surgeon, and it was time to see the heart through the eyes of a poet or an artist.
"When he returned to the group, he told how he had tried to change his eyes and for the first time in his career, a patient reached out and hugged him. The physician was floored, and forever changed," Justice recalls.
7. Connect your mind to your body
Studies show that journaling-recalling the day's events-both challenging ones and joyous ones, decreases physical symptoms of pain and illness, "and increases our sense of well being," Justice says.
Research also supports that the frequency of appreciation for the small things and the intensity with which we feel gratitude have an exponential growth potential. It creates a benevolent avalanche: the more often you tap into joy, the more joyous you'll feel, the deeper you'll feel it. The body's immune system and cardiovascular system then reap the benefits.
Sensing gratitude is the simplest possible gift we can give to ourselves that yields the highest possible return on our investment. "Letting ourselves feel that sense of wonder that surrounds us every single minute is what elevates our hearts beyond a mechanical pump and turns them into instruments of love and kindness."
This article is posted at http://www.dailygood.org/more.php?n=3641a
Sunday, March 15, 2009
SPREAD THE JOY by Dr. Lisa Love
The sharing of joy, whether physical, emotional, psychic, or intellectual, forms a bridge between the sharers which can be the basis for understanding much of what is not shared between them, and lessens the threat of their difference.-- Audre Lorde
Dr. Lisa Love Coaching Tip
The other night I was home with my son and received a video link from a Facebook friend in Greece. The images of Greece combined with the music got my heart happy and the next thing you know I was singing and dancing all over my home. I new fan of Twitter, I "tweeted" about all the fun I was having to friends there and the next thing I knew I was in the middle of an international party spreading the joy all around. I even had people from other states in the United States call me on the phone. The laughter, the networking, the sheer fun and silliness of it all kept amping up the joy in my life. In turn I amped it up with the people around me and went to bed on a super high of giggles and smiles.
As I woke up the next morning I thought to myself, "Instead of telling people around the globe in this economic crisis to go shopping, maybe we should tell everyone to go dancing instead." A vision of people all around the world dealing with the economic crisis not by saying, "Oh my, how will I handle this all?" but by indulging in one big joy fest of singing, dancing, laughing, and smiling flooded my imagination. I could even see YouTube videos being shared of people just sharing the major joy fest they were having. None of it costs a thing to indulge in, yet far more than shopping I am certain such a thing would do way more to help out the economy than anything else we could think of. Can't you see it? A world wide laugh fest? No one able to supress our spirits because we decide instead to raise them up to a whole new vibration regardless? Couldn't be better. So get out your dance shoes. Tune up your instruments. Looses up your vocal chords. Get playing and spread the joy! It's infectious! And, it's one virus worth spreading right now.
Dr. Lisa Lisa
www.doctorlisalove.com
Dr. Lisa Love Coaching Tip
The other night I was home with my son and received a video link from a Facebook friend in Greece. The images of Greece combined with the music got my heart happy and the next thing you know I was singing and dancing all over my home. I new fan of Twitter, I "tweeted" about all the fun I was having to friends there and the next thing I knew I was in the middle of an international party spreading the joy all around. I even had people from other states in the United States call me on the phone. The laughter, the networking, the sheer fun and silliness of it all kept amping up the joy in my life. In turn I amped it up with the people around me and went to bed on a super high of giggles and smiles.
As I woke up the next morning I thought to myself, "Instead of telling people around the globe in this economic crisis to go shopping, maybe we should tell everyone to go dancing instead." A vision of people all around the world dealing with the economic crisis not by saying, "Oh my, how will I handle this all?" but by indulging in one big joy fest of singing, dancing, laughing, and smiling flooded my imagination. I could even see YouTube videos being shared of people just sharing the major joy fest they were having. None of it costs a thing to indulge in, yet far more than shopping I am certain such a thing would do way more to help out the economy than anything else we could think of. Can't you see it? A world wide laugh fest? No one able to supress our spirits because we decide instead to raise them up to a whole new vibration regardless? Couldn't be better. So get out your dance shoes. Tune up your instruments. Looses up your vocal chords. Get playing and spread the joy! It's infectious! And, it's one virus worth spreading right now.
Dr. Lisa Lisa
www.doctorlisalove.com
Friday, March 6, 2009
And the Award Goes to...
Does the idea of standing in front of a mirror and appreciating your positive qualities feel uncomfortable and stupid? It did to me-which was a sign that I really needed to try it.
I first learned this mirror exercise in 1990, when I took a week-long course from my mentor, Jack Canfield, on self-esteem. Jack assigned the exercise as homework every night, saying, "Make sure you do this behind a closed door so nobody walks by and thinks you're crazy." Each night my roommate and I took turns going into the bathroom, shutting the door, and whispering sweet nothings to our reflections: "You're kind." "You're loyal." "You have a loving heart."
The first night, I felt like a California New Age woo-woo nutcase, but soon I experienced a rush of sadness; I was such an expert at judging myself-why was it so hard to say nice things?
With practice, it gradually became easier to list reasons to love myself: "You're smart." "You go out of your way to help others." And so on. But the real power of this exercise came when I learned to express appreciation for myself for no reason-to look myself in the eye and simply love who I was, unconditionally.
If you're like most people, consciously recognizing the positive about yourself may feel conceited. After all, we're raised not to "toot our own horns." So we end up not giving ourselves credit or acknowledgment or even worse, beating ourselves up, which shuts down our hearts, contracts our energy, and decreases our happiness levels.
Doing the research for my book Happy for No Reason, I interviewed scores of scientists along with one hundred unconditionally happy people (I call them the Happy 100). One of the things I discovered is that truly happy people have a compassionate, encouraging, and validating attitude toward themselves. This isn't arrogance or self-centeredness; it's an appreciation and acceptance of who they are.
Learning to see the positive about yourself starts by changing your brain's habit of focusing on your negative experiences and instead inclining your mind toward joy.
So today, begin registering your happy experiences more deeply-- consciously look for them. You can make it a game you play with yourself. Have the intention to notice everything good that happens to you: anything you see, feel, taste, hear or smell that brings you joy, a "win" you experience, a breakthrough, an a-ha, or an expression of your creativity-the list goes on and on.
This intention triggers the reticular activating system (RAS), a group of cells at the base of your brain stem responsible for sorting through the massive amounts of incoming information and bringing anything important to your attention. Have you ever bought a car and then suddenly starting noticing the same make of car everywhere? It's the RAS at work. Now you can use it to be happier. When you decide to look for the positive, your RAS makes sure that's what you see.
Adelle, one of the Happy 100, told me about a unique method she has for registering the positive. As she goes about her day, she gives away awards in her mind: the best-behaved dog award, the most colorful landscape design at a fast food drive-through award, the most courteous driver award. This keeps her alert to the beauty and positivity that is all around her. Charmed by this idea, I tried it myself. I liked it so much, I've been giving out these "Happiness Oscars," as I call them, ever since.
Once you notice something positive, take a moment to savor it consciously. Take the good experience in deeply and feel it; make it more than just a mental observation. If possible, spend around 30 seconds, soaking up the happiness you feel. If you want to accelerate your progress, take time every day to write down a few of your wins, breakthroughs, and things you appreciate about others-and about yourself.
You'll know you've really mastered this when you can give yourself an Academy Award-for outstanding achievement in true happiness!
Marci Shimoff
I first learned this mirror exercise in 1990, when I took a week-long course from my mentor, Jack Canfield, on self-esteem. Jack assigned the exercise as homework every night, saying, "Make sure you do this behind a closed door so nobody walks by and thinks you're crazy." Each night my roommate and I took turns going into the bathroom, shutting the door, and whispering sweet nothings to our reflections: "You're kind." "You're loyal." "You have a loving heart."
The first night, I felt like a California New Age woo-woo nutcase, but soon I experienced a rush of sadness; I was such an expert at judging myself-why was it so hard to say nice things?
With practice, it gradually became easier to list reasons to love myself: "You're smart." "You go out of your way to help others." And so on. But the real power of this exercise came when I learned to express appreciation for myself for no reason-to look myself in the eye and simply love who I was, unconditionally.
If you're like most people, consciously recognizing the positive about yourself may feel conceited. After all, we're raised not to "toot our own horns." So we end up not giving ourselves credit or acknowledgment or even worse, beating ourselves up, which shuts down our hearts, contracts our energy, and decreases our happiness levels.
Doing the research for my book Happy for No Reason, I interviewed scores of scientists along with one hundred unconditionally happy people (I call them the Happy 100). One of the things I discovered is that truly happy people have a compassionate, encouraging, and validating attitude toward themselves. This isn't arrogance or self-centeredness; it's an appreciation and acceptance of who they are.
Learning to see the positive about yourself starts by changing your brain's habit of focusing on your negative experiences and instead inclining your mind toward joy.
So today, begin registering your happy experiences more deeply-- consciously look for them. You can make it a game you play with yourself. Have the intention to notice everything good that happens to you: anything you see, feel, taste, hear or smell that brings you joy, a "win" you experience, a breakthrough, an a-ha, or an expression of your creativity-the list goes on and on.
This intention triggers the reticular activating system (RAS), a group of cells at the base of your brain stem responsible for sorting through the massive amounts of incoming information and bringing anything important to your attention. Have you ever bought a car and then suddenly starting noticing the same make of car everywhere? It's the RAS at work. Now you can use it to be happier. When you decide to look for the positive, your RAS makes sure that's what you see.
Adelle, one of the Happy 100, told me about a unique method she has for registering the positive. As she goes about her day, she gives away awards in her mind: the best-behaved dog award, the most colorful landscape design at a fast food drive-through award, the most courteous driver award. This keeps her alert to the beauty and positivity that is all around her. Charmed by this idea, I tried it myself. I liked it so much, I've been giving out these "Happiness Oscars," as I call them, ever since.
Once you notice something positive, take a moment to savor it consciously. Take the good experience in deeply and feel it; make it more than just a mental observation. If possible, spend around 30 seconds, soaking up the happiness you feel. If you want to accelerate your progress, take time every day to write down a few of your wins, breakthroughs, and things you appreciate about others-and about yourself.
You'll know you've really mastered this when you can give yourself an Academy Award-for outstanding achievement in true happiness!
Marci Shimoff
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
This World is Perfect
This World is Perfect
by Swami Vivekananda
Is it not a blasphemy to say that the world needs our help? We cannot deny that there is much misery in it; to go out and help others is, therefore, the best thing we can do, although in the long run, we shall find that helping others is only helping ourselves. […]
Life is good or evil according to the state of mind in which we look at it, it is neither by itself. Fire, by itself, is neither good nor evil. When it keeps us warm we say, "How beautiful is fire!" When it burns our fingers, we blame it. Still, in itself it is neither good nor bad. According as we use it, it produces in us the feeling of good or bad; so also is this world. It is perfect. By perfection is meant that it is perfectly fitted to meet its ends. We may all be perfectly sure that it will go on beautifully well without us, and we need not bother our heads wishing to help it.
Yet we must do good; the desire to do good is the highest motive power we have, if we know all the time that it is a privilege to help others. […]
[And] one must first know how to work without attachment, then one will not be a fanatic. When we know that this world is like a dog's curly tail and will never get straightened, we shall not become fanatics. If there were no fanaticism in the world, it would make much more progress than it does now. It is a mistake to think that fanaticism can make for the progress of mankind. On the contrary, it is a retarding element creating hatred and anger, and causing people to fight each other, and making them unsympathetic. We think that whatever we do or possess is the best in the world, and what we do not do or possess is of no value. So, always remember the instance of the curly tail of the dog whenever you have a tendency to become a fanatic. You need not worry or make yourself sleepless about the world; it will go on without you. When you have avoided fanaticism, then alone will you work well. It is the level-headed man, the calm man, of good judgment and cool nerves, of great sympathy and love, who does good work and so does good to himself.
--Swami Vivekananda, From "The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda," Vol. 1
by Swami Vivekananda
Is it not a blasphemy to say that the world needs our help? We cannot deny that there is much misery in it; to go out and help others is, therefore, the best thing we can do, although in the long run, we shall find that helping others is only helping ourselves. […]
Life is good or evil according to the state of mind in which we look at it, it is neither by itself. Fire, by itself, is neither good nor evil. When it keeps us warm we say, "How beautiful is fire!" When it burns our fingers, we blame it. Still, in itself it is neither good nor bad. According as we use it, it produces in us the feeling of good or bad; so also is this world. It is perfect. By perfection is meant that it is perfectly fitted to meet its ends. We may all be perfectly sure that it will go on beautifully well without us, and we need not bother our heads wishing to help it.
Yet we must do good; the desire to do good is the highest motive power we have, if we know all the time that it is a privilege to help others. […]
[And] one must first know how to work without attachment, then one will not be a fanatic. When we know that this world is like a dog's curly tail and will never get straightened, we shall not become fanatics. If there were no fanaticism in the world, it would make much more progress than it does now. It is a mistake to think that fanaticism can make for the progress of mankind. On the contrary, it is a retarding element creating hatred and anger, and causing people to fight each other, and making them unsympathetic. We think that whatever we do or possess is the best in the world, and what we do not do or possess is of no value. So, always remember the instance of the curly tail of the dog whenever you have a tendency to become a fanatic. You need not worry or make yourself sleepless about the world; it will go on without you. When you have avoided fanaticism, then alone will you work well. It is the level-headed man, the calm man, of good judgment and cool nerves, of great sympathy and love, who does good work and so does good to himself.
--Swami Vivekananda, From "The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda," Vol. 1
Saturday, February 28, 2009
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