Category Archives: Nature

Thoughtful Thursdays – #125 – Ten Things You May Not Know About Meditation.

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I have benefited from meditation since 2005. The benefits have been profound and permanent. Here I’ll share some of the benefits I have experienced.

  1. It takes just a few meditation sessions to reach a deep peacefulness.
  2. From the peacefulness comes the ability to be detached.
  3. Being detached gives the ability to non reaction.
  4. Meditation does not require any religious belief.
  5. A few minutes a day is all you need to be quiet.
  6. Being in nature has the same effect as a meditation session.
  7. You won’t be hit over the head with enlightenment but you will understand yourself and others better.
  8. You know you are doing it right when you feel relaxed and alert. Not sleepy. If you are sleepy you need sleep.
  9. You get to separate your wandering mind from your intuition.
  10. You can stay in the present moment for longer and longer periods.

Here’s another observation. You can’t stop you mind from thinking. So as you meditate you learn to observe the thoughts and not be dragged down by them. Meditation will boost your creativity and lower stress. Increase focus and better your health.

Meditation is my medicine, I keep it in my life. If you can’t make it to a group that does meditation, there’s plenty of meditation videos on youtube.

Give it a try for three months and you will see the benefits. You will feel better and even better the more you do it.

OM

 

 

Thoughtful Thursdays #105 Relationships

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What a loaded subject. If you want peace in all your relationships remember:

The other person’s behavior towards you tells you how they feel about themselves.

Their behavior has nothing to do with your value.

If you remember this, as time goes on you’ll stop reacting in your realtionships and start enjoying your relationships.

Procrastination

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I am an expert in procrastination. It is something I manage to do every day. I find myself doing what needs to be done after I have spent too much time Facebook, socializing and anything else that wastes time. But at the end of the day I have done very little for my hearts desire.

Then there are some days ( not enough of them ) where I am in the zone. Creating, painting, writing, expanding, whirling, expressing and all is well.

Occasionally I do fifty percent of what has to be done and fifty percent of creating. These are ideal days. Also not enough of them.

I find myself trying to figure out how to balance my art with my responsibilities and I have come to the conclusion: Make plans to do the art but know that life happens and I must be flexible. I can always restart where I left off.

 

Free Thinking

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Most of us feel trapped in our decisions as if there are no alternatives.

Not true.

Where do you feel trapped? Maybe in your job, relationships, lifestyle, trauma, beliefs. What worries you? What grates on your nerves? What precipitates your addictions? What keeps you going round and round instead of forward?

Try this.

Free write about each concern.

Free role play possible outcomes.

Free your child mind with crayons on paper.

Free yourself with music you have never heard.

Free your spirit with twenty minutes of silence.

Free your body with dancing.

Free yourself of addiction by sitting with uncomfortable feelings.

Freely choose something different instead of habits.

Freely be different.

Free your heart by speaking your mind.

Freely think of all possible outcomes.

Freely share yourself with the world.

Freely divorce yourself from negativity.

Freely choose what is purposeful for you.

Freely reach out to others when you are needy.

Your life is meant to be meaningful. You are important. When you choose alternatives that make you life better you give others permission to do so also.

Get it?

Good.

Carry on.

The Benefit of Feeling Safe

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If you don’t feel safe in your own skin, in your environment, in your mind, in any situation (other than life threatening) then you will not see opportunities to grow.

If you feel safe there is a sense of freedom. There is the belief that there are many possibilities. There is courage to try new things. There is hope. There is generosity.

Safety has a lot to do with what you believe. If your beliefs have made it difficult to feel safe, it’s time to examine these beliefs. Challange them, look them square in the eye and tell them to move over it’s time for a change. A change for the better.

Your freedom is precious, protect it, honor it, it belongs to you. You are free to choose anything. Start small and in a short time your courage will make you feel safe.

Safe enough it change your world. Wow.

You Rock!!!!!!

Commitment

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I am not going to preach about commitment. Most of the time I am not very good at it unless it is really important or necessary.  I usually focus on what I can get by with.

It is common to focus on the small window of activities in our lives because we are so busy doing actions to keep our heads above water.

Is society the cause? Is the economy the cause? Is  fear the cause? Distractions? There are as many reasons and justifications as there are people.

For me, I am willing to commit to situations I either love or really enjoy or as a result of a crisis.  Is that enough, probably not because I stay in my comfort zone. Let’s be reasonable. How much time does one have in a day.

The solution is to make an effort to get out of one’s comfort zone. Easier said than done. But so noticeable necessary.

Just try……..that’s the only requirement in a commitment.

Peer Pressure

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Children are not the only group to succumb to peer pressure.

I recently saw peer pressure at work at my office. One person clearly expressed a personal desire. Not anything out of the ordinary and announced he wanted to pursue an action to improve his life. The second  person became so enraged with jealousy because he did not think of it first and is making the first persons life miserable. Unfortunately, person one is subordinate to person two.

The first person is now quiet and dejected, embarrassed and ostracized for the moment. It will change because person one has bent over to peer pressure and the threat of financial ruin.

How stupid it is to be jealous and use your power to hurt someone else especially in a professional environment. The second person won’t get anywhere. The only thing accomplished was a show of power.

How sad and frustrating it is to be forced to act fake in order to survive. How sad to live in fear of being whipped and beaten by a nobody who thinks they are entitled to beat down others for ego purposes.

What is the resolve? I don’t know at the moment. I hope person one gets what they want and person two gets what they deserve.

 

 

 

10 Things To Consider About Rejection

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When any form of rejection happens, it is time to reflect. Here are some things to think about.

1.  It’s time to readjust your path.

2.  It’s them, not you.

3.  What areas do I need to improve on my path.

4.  What is the lesson.

5.  Mourn the loss.

6.  Avoid the same trap in the future.

7.  It is not the end.

8.  Keep moving.

9.  Reject them back.

10. Let it go.

As in any loss you will experience a lot of grief. It will pass. go easy on yourself. You will get through and be better for it.

 

 

Thoughtful thursdays #99-Free Thinkers

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How much of your day is occupied with playing it safe? Are your thoughts about taking the easy way out? Or are you thinking of different possibilities?

Free thinking is about thinking out side of the mainstream. It is thinking about the many different ways there are of tackling an issue.

Thinking in a new way is not only for solving problems. It is for changing, upgrading and getting in sync with a new quality in your life. A new quality like peace and happiness, a vocation to live for, a mission to accomplish, a new outlook, a more truer to who you are life.

Just think about what you want. Write it down. Don’t expect change right away. Take your time because the road is never straight when change is around.

Think Away!!

 

Healthy and Unhealthy Boundaries

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Boundaries can be subtle or obvious. Here’s a partial list adapted from LoveEngineer.com.

Trust everyone or no one vs developing appropriate trust over time.

Black and white thinking vs realizing nothing is black and white.

Expecting others to automatically meet your needs vs communicating your wants and needs. (with the possibility of them being declined).

Self abuse vs treating yourself with respect and dignity.

Giving too much or not at all vs respect for others generosity.

Believing others can read your mind vs recognizing others can’t read your mind.

These are just a few boundary issues prevalent in our lives. Let’s add to the list and change what we can to foster our own growth.