If we see ourselves as artists, as Don Miguel Ruiz said in his book “The Voice of Knowledge,” the art is up to us. We have the power to create and maintain our own masterpiece: what perspective we want to view it from, what colors we use and where to add light.
Previously, I wrote about Love and Fear, today I will be discussing that the difference between acting through either love or fear is becoming aware of whether you’re listening to the voice of your ego or the voice of your heart.
Free yourself from your ego…
Sadly, most human beings describe their lives through a place of suffering. Everyone has problems, issues, obstacles, struggles, pain and frustrations. This is part of being human. Thankfully, there’s good news! We also have a major amount of blessings God has placed upon us. These are the blessings we need to focus on.
Focus on Your Blessings…
Problems can be solved – everyone has them, stress can be managed – we all experience it. When we panic, we are making the choice of staying in a state of fear and attempt to “tone out” reality as we know it. This reality, however, is what needs to be addressed head on. Face your fears, clarify and pinpoint the problems and then find a way to solve them. You might be surprised how many people can relate to what You are going through right at this very moment in your life.
Lessen the World’s Complaints…
Will Bowen’s International Bestselling book “Complaint Free World,” has sold over 4 million copies and was translated into 35 languages worldwide. His mission is to encourage people to stop living with all the negativity by offering a 21-day Complaint Free Challenge. This is simply done by purchasing a Complaint Free Bracelet placing it on your wrist, then switching it to the other wrist with every spoken or written complaint. When you stay with it 21 days-in-a-row without complaining, you become a “Certified Complaint Free Person!”
Practice Good Deeds…
Another great example for upping our good vibes is Shannon Anderson’s “Deed a Day.” Anderson is a Jackson County School Teacher who’s now an award winning children’s book author and national speaker. She drew attention with the fb group “A Deed A Day” and went on to partner with Chicken Soup for the Soul books, mentors teachers and writers and also helps with keynoting at events.
Act in Kindness…
Each of these examples of action plans acted out have an exponential effect on one another, our community and the world as a whole. Pick a flower to cheer someone up, visit a loved one who’s lonely and be a good listener when someone needs you. You can be the shoulder to cry on so keep your mind open and your heart welcoming. “Don’t Ration Compassion” in any fashion. Even a smile at the grocery store or gas station makes the day a brighter world.
“We can only be said to be ALIVE in those moments when our HEARTS are conscious of our treasure.”
Psssst: Don’t forget to treat yourself well regularly! Here are some tips to helps distract from our stress and problems: read a comic, watch a cartoon, draw, color, sing, dance, play Lego’s, roll down a hill, fly a kite, take a nature walk, go camping without phones, take a bath or lay in the sun and don’t ever forget to look up to the sky both day and night! Then report back to me on how that makes you feel.:)
In today’s world, fear is all around us and a commonplace, yet it is not real. Fear is a purely imagined “worst case scenario” that hasn’t happened, is untrue and inauthentic. Those trained by the military and other service men and women are taught to stay calm during times of crisis. People who panic are those most vulnerable.
Living with fear continuously is a recipe for disaster and affects our mental capacity to absorb new information. This fear develops into becoming impulsive and emotional which leads to being negative in judging and decision making. Instead of being safer with fear, it actually weakens our immune systems.
Anytime you experience fear think about whether it’s true, then think of the actual truth (reality) by imagining the “best case scenario” and how that will feel. Enjoy the feeling of faith and trust by doing the best you can and leaving the rest to God.
“Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going” (Eccl. 9:10, NKJV).
All relationships carry influence on our relationships with those closest to us. ~ E. Lang
Whoa…did I just use the “R” word?
This time, peeps, it’s about other types of relationships as you might expect. In this post, I will touch on many of our “other” relationships that have a connection with our more/most intimate relationships such as our significant other, family and friends.
Heather Moody, our Environmental Science teacher at Siena Heights University, told us students once that with every choice we make in life, we can experience unexpected connections and sometimes even unintended consequences. Even though she was referring to the environment and our practices in accountability towards it, this can easily translate to our everyday lives.
In this post, I will touch on our relationships to things, our bodies, change and our minds.
…Relationships to things
Every morning upon waking, we share a relationship with our alarm clocks. We set them, depend on them, maintain them and sometimes threaten them. Some of us even blame and abuse them. Our relationship with time management can be quite challenging, especially for those that are extremely creative. Distraction is wonderfully welcome to our souls yet disrupting to our schedules.
Of course there are different types of distractions, those in which family or friends ask for help and those in which our soul is screaming for attention. Other things in our lives are our phones, food, our clothes and our cars to name a few. Think about how you relate to all of these things throughout your every day and practice awareness on your thoughts. Weed out the negativity, frustration and disappointment and seek instead thankfulness and gratitude.
Think of bad thoughts as tiny ships passing by in a river. Allow the ships to pass that are not helpful in nourishing your soul. ~ E.Lang
…Relationships to our bodies
After several decades of carrying our bodies around, eventually our bodies respond to how we relate to it and with A.G.E. aka age, our bodies change as they begin to have different needs.
What? Wait – all the while we’re taking care of our kids, our bills, our appointments, etc. now our bodies are beginning to communicate more to us, so does that mean that we’ve been denying that it’s telling us things all along? Yes. We’ve been ignoring, dealing with and pushing our bodies’ cries under a rug (at least some of us), so don’t ignore what your body is telling you, because believe me, it’s not recommended to wait for it to SCREAM.
Practice good habits…
Eat Well:
be aware of what you eat, our modern diet has changed drastically and more and more people suffer from celiac disease, allergies and food sensitivities. As you put food into your mouth notice the texture and taste of the food, eat slowly and controlled. Make sure to consume natural foods and allow yourself ample time to eat. Be grateful for food!
Our body is like a garden, only put good foods in it to nourish and cultivate good bacteria, practice to be mindful of what you think, eat and do, and do it all with love and gratefulness. ~ E. Lang
Relationships to Change
and practicing Mindfulness
Changes are always certain as long as life exists
All things take place by change from how they are to make new and everything that exists is the seed of which will be. Pain is not evil, it is human and necessary. Enjoy life by joining one good thing to another and try not to leave even the smallest intervals between.
Change is clearly one of the most challenging obstacles in our lives. Each and every time a change happens, all things move. With changes in life we are thrown off our tracks and must relearn, regroup, reflect and regather ourselves. As long as ones perspective stays positive and faithful that there will indeed be value in terms of learning and progress, lessons will be learned and wisdom will be gained. During the process, we try to fight without reason, until we learn. When we open ourselves up to learn a new life lesson, it can be quite amazing, almost magical because we grow stronger, start fresh and try harder to be a better version of ourselves.
Life is a garden, practice planting good seeds through investing in good thoughts. Pull your weeds regularly. ~ E. Lang
Healing from Change
As I find, the most important things in life are the simplest: Faith in God, spending quality time with family and friends, self-care, healthy rituals and regular routines that encourage our best self to thrive. When we finish a chapter, we must begin again. In order to begin again, we need to evaluate our current situation, adjust and get back to the basics: when you are stressed: Be grateful for God, family and healthy habits!
Breathe Well:
be aware of your breaths as your chest rises and falls. Take deep breaths and hold it for a count of ten, then slowly and controlled, let it go out again. Be grateful for the air we breathe!
Mindfulness
The age of Mindfulness didn’t just get here by surprise, nor did it pop out of a cracker jack box, we’ve been going against nature in our way of life in a gradual but steady and exponential way. Other cultures have been practicing mindfulness for centuries. The closer we are to nature, the closer we are to our true selves. All the while we are trying to keep up, keep going and improve our lives, the improvement starts with us and us alone and always needs to come from within our core. Faith, hope and love carry a deep connection for this to happen and are necessary. Peace happens when we are one.
A separation from nature is a separation from ourselves. ~ E. Lang
Be grateful for Life and celebrate your Blessings!
Our bodies are an intricately complex system built for the essential task of generating and dispersing energy.
~ Tru Niagen, a health and bioscience brand specializing in cellular health and NAD+ research.
…When you think of life as a life form, living beings are merely bundles of energies both positive and negative. A considerably peaceful and positive person has an aura of good vibes in their presence. They know themselves well. They are at peace with who they are, strong in their faith in something bigger than themselves and want to be of service and joy to others. Do you remember the JC Penney commercial “don’t just get there, arrive”? One can truly learn from this. I have learned that it is of utmost importance to live intentionally and to be aware of one’s thoughts, words and actions. How we resonate with others affects absolutely everyone.
Here are some helpful tips to “up your good vibes“:
Clear your mind of all distractions by finding a quiet, peaceful and uncluttered space (a room, a greenhouse, a cabin, a treehouse, etc)
Open your heart and think what it might be like to “live in anothers’ shoes”
Evaluate your thoughts, beliefs and actions in all of your current relationships
Always, always try to see the good in every situation
Learn from mistakes: these are great ways to learn, after all, after the first “miss-take,” there’s always room for a “second-take,” by getting up, picking up the pieces and trying again in a different way with an enlightened and adjusted perspective
Develop good habits (actively listening, taking the others opinion in consideration, valuing each others time, ideas and suggestions, etc.)
Give up and eliminate bad habits
Never forget to be grateful for all people and blessings in your life, don’t take anything for granted, instead practice gratefulness and appreciation regularly
What Resonates through Us?
What’s within us, is projected out
All people carry thoughts and beliefs in us. Do we evaluate these thoughts before we let them take over and just let it be? We all have a choice to hold up those ships that carry “access baggage,” in other words, we can stop negativity before it takes root. Once we become more aware of our thoughts (it becomes easier when practiced regularly), we are then able to evaluate and re-evaluate them, analyze which of them are “bad,” and let them just “sail by” on a stream away from us.
In our Western world, society has become more and more a culture of sameness, who is even still paying attention to all the “likes?,” or wait – it’s whoever is famous that “liked” something gets many more likes until someone realizes that – hold on, they did something wrong now, so what now?
Be aware of your thoughts, let them be your own thoughts because these are the same thoughts that turn into beliefs and develop into actions. We all know what’s right and wrong because it’s engrained into our very being.
How do you resonate with others?
Resonance begins with tone, your clear and positive tone of voice is an important factor in successful communication. If you slur or speak very low, your voice could be drowned out by all the other white noise. Part of our communication is compiled of speaking and listening and the listening becomes more and more difficult when there are so many distractions around us. However, when active listening is practiced, a harmonious relationship can grow.
Researchers have discovered that tohavea genuine connection, active listening is one of the most crucial- and transformative skills in building deep and lasting relationships. In a world where speaking has dominated our daily attention through videos and media, active listening has become more challenging.
Our words are much more important than we think. Negative and positive words are truly felt by those that receive them as they usually produce a corresponding reaction and reply from the other person. Once someone explained bad and good words through the metaphor of an apple and a diaper. So, why wouldn’t we all want to “talk apple?”
Some words carry meaning from a persons childhood or an experience they had in their life. The other person you’re talking to could have positive or negative experiences associated with certain words that you choose to speak.
As we all associate positive and negative to our words, all words can be seen as both as well. For example, a diaper is actually also a good thing because the invention of a diaper itself sure helped many Moms in the world!
Last on the list, are our non-verbalques that resonate. People associate some non-verbal language as ques or signs. One could feel happy and accepted, or threatened and rejected and some show this without words. In communication, we often show how we feel by our expressions of joy or despair, sadness or gladness. “Peace is in a smile.”
Some people can just “capture the room,” and these are the kind of people that resonate well with others. You can spot them from a crowd, notice them across the room and one can almost sense their being in the room. They carry a strong presence.
…Back to the bundles of energy…
Here’s insight from Oprah:
“Please take responsibility for the energy you bring into this space.”
I realized that for every relationship, not only do I have to be accountable for the energy I bring, but I also have to take responsibility for the energy that I allow from others. I understand that strengthening the bond in any situation is impossible if you’re not surrounded by energy that lifts you up.
————————————————————————–Be intentional with the energy that you create for yourself and others, have patience and compassion with others and keep your space free of negative energy.
evanalife74
