Value of Time - this will help you value life, time, friends, family and etc! What's it really worth to you?
Imagine there is a bank that credits your account each morning with $86,400.
It carries over no balance from day to day.
Every evening deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use
during the day.
What would you do? Draw out every cent, of course!
Each of us has such a bank. Its name is TIME.
Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds.
Every night it writes off, as lost, whatever of this you have failed
to invest to good purpose.
It carries over no balance.
It allows no overdraft.
Each day it opens a new account for you.
Each night it burns the remains of the day.
If you fail to use the day's deposits, the loss is yours.
There is no going back. There is no drawing against the "tomorrow".
You must live in the present on today's deposits.
Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness and success!
The clock is running. Make the most of today.
To realize the value of ONE YEAR, ask a student who failed a grade.
To realize the value of ONE MONTH, ask a mother who gave birth to a
pre-mature baby.
To realize the value of ONE WEEK, ask the editor of a weekly newspaper.
To realize the value of ONE DAY, ask a daily wage laborer with kids to feed.
To realize the value of ONE HOUR, ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.
To realize the value of ONE MINUTE, ask a person who missed the train.
To realize the value of ONE SECOND, ask a person who just avoided an accident.
To realize the value of ONE MILLI-SECOND, ask the person who won a
silver medal in the Olympics.
Treasure every moment that you have! And treasure it more because you
shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time.
And remember that time waits for no one.
Yesterday is history.
Tomorrow a mystery.
Today is a gift.
That's why it's called the present!
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
The Strangest Secret
The Strangest Secret
The Strangest Secret has sold over a million copies and is the only gold record ever achieved for the spoken word. Its message is simple, yet powerful … You become what you think about … and it became the basis for the Nightingale-Conant Corporation. Many thousands of people have attributed this recording with turning their lives around and helping them make their fortunes in the world.
Turn up your speakers and enjoy listening to Earl Nightingale's great words, inspiration and thought.
To listen click on the link
The Strangest Secret has sold over a million copies and is the only gold record ever achieved for the spoken word. Its message is simple, yet powerful … You become what you think about … and it became the basis for the Nightingale-Conant Corporation. Many thousands of people have attributed this recording with turning their lives around and helping them make their fortunes in the world.
Turn up your speakers and enjoy listening to Earl Nightingale's great words, inspiration and thought.
To listen click on the link
http://www.markvictorhansen.com/strangest_secret.php
Monday, December 10, 2007
Hold on Tight to Your Dreams: How to Get What You Want in Life!
Hold On Tight To Your Dreams: How To Get What You Want In Life! by Cucan Pemo
How many times have you felt that your dreams weren't ever going to come true? Whether you've tried to make things work and things have failed over and over again, everyone has gone through a crisis of faith to a certain extent, wondering if they just aren't being realistic.
You might be seriously wondering if it's even realistic for you to think about creating wealth and abundance in your life. Here's some food for thought.
1) What you're thinking is creating your reality
The laws of attraction state that what you put out into the universe either in thought or action will be returned to you in kind.
So, thinking that your dream is unrealistic may not be the best way to begin living your dreams. It's a negative thought, after all.
Let's change this thought to the idea of whether or not your goals are reachable. That's a completely different way to look at things ' and it's a step in the right direction.
If you're looking to make a million dollars in a day ' that's not a realistic thought. While it might be a dream of yours and perhaps some people have done this, all in all, this isn't likely to happen.
If you're thinking about having a fancy car in the next hour, that's probably not going to happen either ' even car dealerships can't work that quickly. Sorting out realistic and reachable are two different things.
2) You may be limiting the universe
One of the tricks with setting timelines or creating an 'it has to be done this way' with your dreams is that the universe becomes limited with this energy. You're creating only one way for your dream to happen ' or not.
But this limitation generally causes your dream to become more difficult to reach. You're trying to make things happen YOUR way, rather than allowing the universe to take care of the details.
The universe is a powerful force that can figure out a way for you to reach your dreams, but creating an impossible situation for the dreams to occur is something that might not work out as well as you might hope.
You want to have a certain dream in mind, but then allow the universe to start coming up with the way that it can fulfill it for you.
3) What about having goals?
Goals are still a good thing, however, but it's how you create them that make them work more efficiently. The point is that you need to create goals that you can reach in timelines that you can reach them.
And this is important; you need to do something about it. Many people believe that if they just think successful thoughts, they'll immediately become successful. This is partly true, but it's not the whole truth and it may be where you have failed in the past.
Instead, let's create a realistic goal for your own personal definition of abundance or your dreams.
a) Be specific about what you want and when you want it.
b) Figure out a way to measure your progress
c) Pick a goal that is attainable
d) Again, remember to be realistic about the goal.
e) Try to come up with a timeline
When you stop to break down your ideas of abundance, they will seem a lot less scary.
4) Building up momentum
What you're doing is starting to build energy for the things that you want in your life. You NEED to think about what you want, a lot, in fact.
Instead of just a fleeting thought about your dreams, you need to constantly refer to them so that you can start using the laws of attraction to begin to make them your reality.
Think of it this way, you can want to date the most beautiful man/woman in the world, but if you never head out of your house, is this realistic?
Take some time to define your dreams. Close your eyes and visualize your life with all of the things that you want, all of the things that you really want in your life.
Really stop for a moment to figure out what it is that will make you happiest in this world. When you have that picture clear in your head, think about how you feel, how your life is, and how content you are.
This is a picture that you will want to carry around in your head whenever things begin to feel too 'hard' or complicated.
Being realistic is only part of the equation on the way to your dreams, being clear about what you want is much more important. The universe can only give you what you want if you can name it.
If you know DEEP in your Heart and Soul BOTH of you are meant to live your Lives TOGETHER, get my FREE Save Relationship Video tutorial and learn how you can SAVE YOUR MARRIAGE or Relationship TODAY with my POTENT strategies, no matter how hopeless your relationship circumstances are! Gain INSTANT ACCESS to even more FREE Attraction and Love Advice if you desire to attract Men or Women! Read the RAVE REVIEWS from my readers from ALL over the world!
Article Source: http://www.positivearticles.com
How many times have you felt that your dreams weren't ever going to come true? Whether you've tried to make things work and things have failed over and over again, everyone has gone through a crisis of faith to a certain extent, wondering if they just aren't being realistic.
You might be seriously wondering if it's even realistic for you to think about creating wealth and abundance in your life. Here's some food for thought.
1) What you're thinking is creating your reality
The laws of attraction state that what you put out into the universe either in thought or action will be returned to you in kind.
So, thinking that your dream is unrealistic may not be the best way to begin living your dreams. It's a negative thought, after all.
Let's change this thought to the idea of whether or not your goals are reachable. That's a completely different way to look at things ' and it's a step in the right direction.
If you're looking to make a million dollars in a day ' that's not a realistic thought. While it might be a dream of yours and perhaps some people have done this, all in all, this isn't likely to happen.
If you're thinking about having a fancy car in the next hour, that's probably not going to happen either ' even car dealerships can't work that quickly. Sorting out realistic and reachable are two different things.
2) You may be limiting the universe
One of the tricks with setting timelines or creating an 'it has to be done this way' with your dreams is that the universe becomes limited with this energy. You're creating only one way for your dream to happen ' or not.
But this limitation generally causes your dream to become more difficult to reach. You're trying to make things happen YOUR way, rather than allowing the universe to take care of the details.
The universe is a powerful force that can figure out a way for you to reach your dreams, but creating an impossible situation for the dreams to occur is something that might not work out as well as you might hope.
You want to have a certain dream in mind, but then allow the universe to start coming up with the way that it can fulfill it for you.
3) What about having goals?
Goals are still a good thing, however, but it's how you create them that make them work more efficiently. The point is that you need to create goals that you can reach in timelines that you can reach them.
And this is important; you need to do something about it. Many people believe that if they just think successful thoughts, they'll immediately become successful. This is partly true, but it's not the whole truth and it may be where you have failed in the past.
Instead, let's create a realistic goal for your own personal definition of abundance or your dreams.
a) Be specific about what you want and when you want it.
b) Figure out a way to measure your progress
c) Pick a goal that is attainable
d) Again, remember to be realistic about the goal.
e) Try to come up with a timeline
When you stop to break down your ideas of abundance, they will seem a lot less scary.
4) Building up momentum
What you're doing is starting to build energy for the things that you want in your life. You NEED to think about what you want, a lot, in fact.
Instead of just a fleeting thought about your dreams, you need to constantly refer to them so that you can start using the laws of attraction to begin to make them your reality.
Think of it this way, you can want to date the most beautiful man/woman in the world, but if you never head out of your house, is this realistic?
Take some time to define your dreams. Close your eyes and visualize your life with all of the things that you want, all of the things that you really want in your life.
Really stop for a moment to figure out what it is that will make you happiest in this world. When you have that picture clear in your head, think about how you feel, how your life is, and how content you are.
This is a picture that you will want to carry around in your head whenever things begin to feel too 'hard' or complicated.
Being realistic is only part of the equation on the way to your dreams, being clear about what you want is much more important. The universe can only give you what you want if you can name it.
If you know DEEP in your Heart and Soul BOTH of you are meant to live your Lives TOGETHER, get my FREE Save Relationship Video tutorial and learn how you can SAVE YOUR MARRIAGE or Relationship TODAY with my POTENT strategies, no matter how hopeless your relationship circumstances are! Gain INSTANT ACCESS to even more FREE Attraction and Love Advice if you desire to attract Men or Women! Read the RAVE REVIEWS from my readers from ALL over the world!
Article Source: http://www.positivearticles.com
The Value of Positive Emotions and Thoughts
The Value of Positive Emotions and Thoughts by Mary Ann Copson
Thinking and emotion go hand in hand. It seems that a negative mood activates negative thinking and a positive mood calls forth positive thinking. Does it matter if you are in a negative mood thinking negative thoughts or in a positive mood thinking positive thoughts? Is one better than the other? What is the advantage in thinking and feeling positive?
Emotions Have Evolutionary Value
Negative emotions have evolutionary value. Negative emotions like fear, loss, and aggression activate the flight or fight response. When we experience negative emotions, we have a feeling of aversion, which sets us on course to identify what is wrong and eliminate it. Negative emotions and thinking are associated with a survival alert that activates a reaction to fight, flight or conserve - each reaction with obvious evolutionary value.
Positive emotions also have evolutionary advantage. They "broaden and build." Experiencing positive emotions increases our survival chances because positive emotions broaden our intellectual, physical, and social resources and build reserves for us to draw upon.
Experiencing positive emotions increases our drive for exploration and discovery and provides the basis for positive social interactions. When we experience positive emotions, we become more tolerant, expansive, and creative. The more positive emotion we experience the more open to new ideas and new experiences we become.
Negative emotions narrow our perspective to focus only on the immediate threat. When negative emotions are experienced, we withdraw, freeze, or protect. When we experience positive emotions, we feel safe and engage in active, playful exploration, and discovery. Negative emotions contract and positive emotions expand.
Positive emotions form the experiential foundation for mentally healthy people. Positive emotions provide a foundation for growth and exploration and build the intellectual, social, and physical capital for further growth and development.
When we experience negative emotions, they tell us to deal with what is wrong and eliminate it. When we experience positive emotions, we start looking for the virtues of what is happening. We become constructive, generous, un-defensive, and open to seeing possibilities.
Experiencing positive emotions gives us an entirely different way of thinking from a negative mood. A negative mood helps us think about and detect threats in our environment and focus our thoughts on protection. A positive mood moves us into thoughts about growth and development, exploration and discovery.
Positive Emotions Build Resources and Capital for the Future
Positive emotions build the resources and capital that will become the basis for growth and development in years to come. When we feel and think positive, we reach outward and broaden our resources through exploration and discovery. We are more creative, think quicker, and do not succumb to premature closure or other forms of superficial intellectual processing.
Depressed people experience what is called a "downward spiral" of negative emotions. Depressed emotions call forth negative memories that feed more negative thoughts, that feed more negative memories, that feed more depressed emotions. Breaking this downward spiral is crucial to stopping the depression.
Psychologists have found what they call an upward spiral of positive emotion. Positive emotions produce a different way of thinking and acting. The thinking becomes creative and broad-minded, and the actions become adventurous and exploratory. This increased creativity and exploration results in greater expansion.
Often negative emotions and thinking are taken more seriously because traditionally they have been believed to be the evolutionary backbone of human motivation. It was believed that people are motivated primarily to avoid experiencing negative emotions and that positive motivation was merely superficial.
But positive emotions are just as real, authentic and important as negative emotions and are equally important for development, growth, and success.
Positive Emotions Lead to More Successful Interactions in the World
Experiencing more positive emotion results in more friendships, stronger love, better physical health, and more successful interactions in the world accompanied by a sense of mastery. Growth, positive development, and creative and successful interactions in the world (i.e. mental health) may have their foundations in the experience of positive emotions and thinking.
Happy people view themselves subjectively as more successful in the world. Happy people remember more good events than actually happened and forget more of the bad events that happened Happy people see success as lasting, personal and pervasive and failure as impersonal, temporary and specific. Happy people may lose a bit of realism but this does not lock them into ineffective functioning. Happy people are more likely to switch tactics when involved in a task that appears to be failing. In the normal course of events, happy people rely on their tried and true positive past experiences while less happy people are more skeptical. However, when events are threatening, happy people, more readily than less happy people, switch tactics and adopt a skeptical and analytical frame of mind. Happy people can deal better with adversity.
Happier people are markedly more satisfied with their jobs than less happy people. Happiness inceases productivity and results in higher income. Happiness also makes gainful employment and higher income more likely. Both adults and children who are in a good mood select higher goals, perform better, and persist longer on a variety of tasks.
Happy People Are Healthier
Positive emotions result in better physical health. Positive emotions predict health and longevity and protect people from the wear and tear of aging. Positive emotions strongly predict who lives longer, who dies earlier, and who will become disabled. Happy people are more likely to seek out and make use of health risk information. Happy people have better health habits, lower blood pressure, and stronger immune systems than less happy people. They endure pain better and take more health and safety precautions when threatened. Positive emotions and thinking prolong life and improve health.
Happy People Are More Connected With Others
Very happy people differ markedly from average people and from unhappy people in one principle way - a rich and fulfilling social life and more secure relationships. Happy people have more close and casual friends, are more likely to be married, and are more involved in group activities than unhappy people. Happy people are also more altruistic. When we are in a good mood we are less focused on ourselves, we like others more and we want to be kinder and share our good fortune with others. However, when we are experiencing negative emotions and thinking we become distrustful, turn inward and become defensive about our own needs.
Focusing on Positive Emotions
Positive emotions undo negative emotions and reduce the negative physical and psychological stresses of negative experiences. Negative emotions tell you that you are facing a win-loss encounter and need to take steps to engage with the obstacles. Positive emotions and thinking tell you that you are in a potential win-win situation.
Positive emotions and thinking guide you to be more expansive, tolerant, and creative and maximize the social, intellectual, and physical benefits of the situation. Positive emotions and thoughts provide both the fuel and the raw material for experiencing more growth and development, more exploration and discovery, more mastery and successful interactions in the world. So, yes, there is a great deal of value in feeling good and positive thinking. Go for it!
Copyright (c) 2007 Mary Ann Copson
Mary Ann Copson is the founder of the Evenstar Mood & Energy Wellness Center. With Master's Degrees in Human Development and Psychology and Counseling, Mary Ann is a Certified Licensed Nutritionist; Certified Holistic Health Practitioner; Brain Chemistry Profile Clinician; and a Health, Wellness and Lifestyle Coach. Reconnect to your physical, emotional, mental, psychological and spiritual natural rhythms at http://evenstaronline.com
Article Source: http://www.positivearticles.com
Thinking and emotion go hand in hand. It seems that a negative mood activates negative thinking and a positive mood calls forth positive thinking. Does it matter if you are in a negative mood thinking negative thoughts or in a positive mood thinking positive thoughts? Is one better than the other? What is the advantage in thinking and feeling positive?
Emotions Have Evolutionary Value
Negative emotions have evolutionary value. Negative emotions like fear, loss, and aggression activate the flight or fight response. When we experience negative emotions, we have a feeling of aversion, which sets us on course to identify what is wrong and eliminate it. Negative emotions and thinking are associated with a survival alert that activates a reaction to fight, flight or conserve - each reaction with obvious evolutionary value.
Positive emotions also have evolutionary advantage. They "broaden and build." Experiencing positive emotions increases our survival chances because positive emotions broaden our intellectual, physical, and social resources and build reserves for us to draw upon.
Experiencing positive emotions increases our drive for exploration and discovery and provides the basis for positive social interactions. When we experience positive emotions, we become more tolerant, expansive, and creative. The more positive emotion we experience the more open to new ideas and new experiences we become.
Negative emotions narrow our perspective to focus only on the immediate threat. When negative emotions are experienced, we withdraw, freeze, or protect. When we experience positive emotions, we feel safe and engage in active, playful exploration, and discovery. Negative emotions contract and positive emotions expand.
Positive emotions form the experiential foundation for mentally healthy people. Positive emotions provide a foundation for growth and exploration and build the intellectual, social, and physical capital for further growth and development.
When we experience negative emotions, they tell us to deal with what is wrong and eliminate it. When we experience positive emotions, we start looking for the virtues of what is happening. We become constructive, generous, un-defensive, and open to seeing possibilities.
Experiencing positive emotions gives us an entirely different way of thinking from a negative mood. A negative mood helps us think about and detect threats in our environment and focus our thoughts on protection. A positive mood moves us into thoughts about growth and development, exploration and discovery.
Positive Emotions Build Resources and Capital for the Future
Positive emotions build the resources and capital that will become the basis for growth and development in years to come. When we feel and think positive, we reach outward and broaden our resources through exploration and discovery. We are more creative, think quicker, and do not succumb to premature closure or other forms of superficial intellectual processing.
Depressed people experience what is called a "downward spiral" of negative emotions. Depressed emotions call forth negative memories that feed more negative thoughts, that feed more negative memories, that feed more depressed emotions. Breaking this downward spiral is crucial to stopping the depression.
Psychologists have found what they call an upward spiral of positive emotion. Positive emotions produce a different way of thinking and acting. The thinking becomes creative and broad-minded, and the actions become adventurous and exploratory. This increased creativity and exploration results in greater expansion.
Often negative emotions and thinking are taken more seriously because traditionally they have been believed to be the evolutionary backbone of human motivation. It was believed that people are motivated primarily to avoid experiencing negative emotions and that positive motivation was merely superficial.
But positive emotions are just as real, authentic and important as negative emotions and are equally important for development, growth, and success.
Positive Emotions Lead to More Successful Interactions in the World
Experiencing more positive emotion results in more friendships, stronger love, better physical health, and more successful interactions in the world accompanied by a sense of mastery. Growth, positive development, and creative and successful interactions in the world (i.e. mental health) may have their foundations in the experience of positive emotions and thinking.
Happy people view themselves subjectively as more successful in the world. Happy people remember more good events than actually happened and forget more of the bad events that happened Happy people see success as lasting, personal and pervasive and failure as impersonal, temporary and specific. Happy people may lose a bit of realism but this does not lock them into ineffective functioning. Happy people are more likely to switch tactics when involved in a task that appears to be failing. In the normal course of events, happy people rely on their tried and true positive past experiences while less happy people are more skeptical. However, when events are threatening, happy people, more readily than less happy people, switch tactics and adopt a skeptical and analytical frame of mind. Happy people can deal better with adversity.
Happier people are markedly more satisfied with their jobs than less happy people. Happiness inceases productivity and results in higher income. Happiness also makes gainful employment and higher income more likely. Both adults and children who are in a good mood select higher goals, perform better, and persist longer on a variety of tasks.
Happy People Are Healthier
Positive emotions result in better physical health. Positive emotions predict health and longevity and protect people from the wear and tear of aging. Positive emotions strongly predict who lives longer, who dies earlier, and who will become disabled. Happy people are more likely to seek out and make use of health risk information. Happy people have better health habits, lower blood pressure, and stronger immune systems than less happy people. They endure pain better and take more health and safety precautions when threatened. Positive emotions and thinking prolong life and improve health.
Happy People Are More Connected With Others
Very happy people differ markedly from average people and from unhappy people in one principle way - a rich and fulfilling social life and more secure relationships. Happy people have more close and casual friends, are more likely to be married, and are more involved in group activities than unhappy people. Happy people are also more altruistic. When we are in a good mood we are less focused on ourselves, we like others more and we want to be kinder and share our good fortune with others. However, when we are experiencing negative emotions and thinking we become distrustful, turn inward and become defensive about our own needs.
Focusing on Positive Emotions
Positive emotions undo negative emotions and reduce the negative physical and psychological stresses of negative experiences. Negative emotions tell you that you are facing a win-loss encounter and need to take steps to engage with the obstacles. Positive emotions and thinking tell you that you are in a potential win-win situation.
Positive emotions and thinking guide you to be more expansive, tolerant, and creative and maximize the social, intellectual, and physical benefits of the situation. Positive emotions and thoughts provide both the fuel and the raw material for experiencing more growth and development, more exploration and discovery, more mastery and successful interactions in the world. So, yes, there is a great deal of value in feeling good and positive thinking. Go for it!
Copyright (c) 2007 Mary Ann Copson
Mary Ann Copson is the founder of the Evenstar Mood & Energy Wellness Center. With Master's Degrees in Human Development and Psychology and Counseling, Mary Ann is a Certified Licensed Nutritionist; Certified Holistic Health Practitioner; Brain Chemistry Profile Clinician; and a Health, Wellness and Lifestyle Coach. Reconnect to your physical, emotional, mental, psychological and spiritual natural rhythms at http://evenstaronline.com
Article Source: http://www.positivearticles.com
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Ever Want To Change the World
Ever wanted to change the world?
Sick and tired of all the pain and suffering that we inflict on each other? On a planet full of despair, there are very few left who are willing to step up and say, "Enough!"
But an ordinary man has decided to change all of that, and his message will change the world.
Burt Goldman's goal is to raise the consciousness of 1 million people over the next year by sharing the experiences of his prolific life as a disciple of yoga, and as a protege of a leading parapsychologist.
Can you imagine? He's become an award winning photographer, a painter, an album releasing singer, and he's in the best of health-and he's EIGHTY YEARS OLD.
Now through the power of the internet, he will be delivering his message to the planet for free-as 7 lessons from Burt Goldman, the American Monk.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
20 Great Problem Solving Tools and Techniques
Have you been faced with a problem but haven’t had the right tools and techniques for solving it. I’ve dug up 20 great problem solving tools and techniques that will reduce the time it takes you to solve problems. It doesn’t matter whether you’re solving small mental problems or really serious and complex problems these problem solving tools and techniques will still apply.
These tips can aid you through everyday life and will teach you how to deal with sometimes the most abstract of situations. One great tip for solving problems is to never be one dimensional about the whole process, creativity in many different forms will guide you to the answers.
These tips come from the great Win Wenger. . . He’s a modern day thinker in creative problem solving.
To read the rest of this article follow the link below
http://selfpursuit.com/33/problem-solving-tools-and-techniques/
These tips can aid you through everyday life and will teach you how to deal with sometimes the most abstract of situations. One great tip for solving problems is to never be one dimensional about the whole process, creativity in many different forms will guide you to the answers.
These tips come from the great Win Wenger. . . He’s a modern day thinker in creative problem solving.
To read the rest of this article follow the link below
http://selfpursuit.com/33/problem-solving-tools-and-techniques/
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Make It A Masterpiece
Make It A Masterpiece by Rhoberta Shaler
Developing an authentic lifestyle--one that truly reflects what is important to you in all areas of life--is a work of art. It is your personal statement to the world. Are you creating your masterpiece with both the intention and attention a great artist gives her creation?
Reflecting on the ideas and manipulating the materials over time, the artist begins to clarify the vision and, as the piece emerges, watches, refining her ideas, adding this, discarding that, reworking, until the materials begin to match the vision. Once the realization of the dream is glimpsed, work accelerates, and joy and passion carry the piece to completion. Isn’t that much like our lives?
Few artists receive their inspiration from attempting to fulfill someone else’s idea of what the clay, paint, rock, notes, words, fabric or wood might become. Imitation in art is only the tool of the student as the techniques are learned. The truly authentic work of art must come from within the artist, through the techniques and media, into reality.
Similarly, you cannot live the dreams of your parents, the desires of your friends or the visions of another with passion and integrity.
Great artists understand that their art is their personal expression, and is, therefore, unique. The artist values the medium for its potential to express the idea. The artist works diligently with it-- keeping the vision in view, making small adjustments, learning new techniques, experimenting--until the vision emerges in concrete form and becomes an extension of the artist. It is visible then to all who care to look. The piece bears the artist’s name and influences all who view it.
Sometimes, pieces do not please the artist and they are reworked, painted over, melted down, unraveled. These pieces have great inherent value. The artist’s vision is clarified, the materials better understood. This contributes much to the next project, the next work of art.
Sometimes, pieces become a legacy and influence many by their existence. These are the authentic works, the true expressions of the artist. These are the quality pieces, as Willa A. Foster, says, “Quality is never an accident; it is the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives.”
You want your life to be of quality, filled with wise choices. Therefore, approach it with high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution.
When creating a work of art, you must be present with it, fully engaged each moment, totally absorbed by the possibility you are actualizing and the potential you are exploring. This intense focus is required if you are not to be distracted by the myriad of seductive, and easy to justify diversions. It is a powerful process uplifting, inspiring, sometimes frustrating, satisfying, and, most of all, creative. When you are making a success of something, it s not work. It‘s a way of life.
Now, if by chance, you are thinking that viewing your life as a work of art, or a lofty contribution to the world, is impractical compared to a factual time-management, goal-oriented, bottom-line approach, please consider this. Every successful business, organization and corporation has two types of leaders, visionaries and administrators. Both are required. You need to be both visionary and administrator in your own life, to live a life of integrity, of wholeness.
After all, would you prefer your life to be a fleeting statistic, or a memorable piece of performance art?
By Rhoberta Shaler, PhD
www.SpiritualLivingNetwork.com
Rhoberta Shaler, PhD, has helped thousands to see life differently. Dr. Shaler connects people with their authentic selves, their purpose and values, and provides insights and inspiration to overcome the challenges of personal, family and business life.To learn more, visit: www.Rhoberta.com. and join www.SpiritualLivingNetwork.com . It’s fr*ee.
Article Source: http://www.positivearticles.com
Developing an authentic lifestyle--one that truly reflects what is important to you in all areas of life--is a work of art. It is your personal statement to the world. Are you creating your masterpiece with both the intention and attention a great artist gives her creation?
Reflecting on the ideas and manipulating the materials over time, the artist begins to clarify the vision and, as the piece emerges, watches, refining her ideas, adding this, discarding that, reworking, until the materials begin to match the vision. Once the realization of the dream is glimpsed, work accelerates, and joy and passion carry the piece to completion. Isn’t that much like our lives?
Few artists receive their inspiration from attempting to fulfill someone else’s idea of what the clay, paint, rock, notes, words, fabric or wood might become. Imitation in art is only the tool of the student as the techniques are learned. The truly authentic work of art must come from within the artist, through the techniques and media, into reality.
Similarly, you cannot live the dreams of your parents, the desires of your friends or the visions of another with passion and integrity.
Great artists understand that their art is their personal expression, and is, therefore, unique. The artist values the medium for its potential to express the idea. The artist works diligently with it-- keeping the vision in view, making small adjustments, learning new techniques, experimenting--until the vision emerges in concrete form and becomes an extension of the artist. It is visible then to all who care to look. The piece bears the artist’s name and influences all who view it.
Sometimes, pieces do not please the artist and they are reworked, painted over, melted down, unraveled. These pieces have great inherent value. The artist’s vision is clarified, the materials better understood. This contributes much to the next project, the next work of art.
Sometimes, pieces become a legacy and influence many by their existence. These are the authentic works, the true expressions of the artist. These are the quality pieces, as Willa A. Foster, says, “Quality is never an accident; it is the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives.”
You want your life to be of quality, filled with wise choices. Therefore, approach it with high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution.
When creating a work of art, you must be present with it, fully engaged each moment, totally absorbed by the possibility you are actualizing and the potential you are exploring. This intense focus is required if you are not to be distracted by the myriad of seductive, and easy to justify diversions. It is a powerful process uplifting, inspiring, sometimes frustrating, satisfying, and, most of all, creative. When you are making a success of something, it s not work. It‘s a way of life.
Now, if by chance, you are thinking that viewing your life as a work of art, or a lofty contribution to the world, is impractical compared to a factual time-management, goal-oriented, bottom-line approach, please consider this. Every successful business, organization and corporation has two types of leaders, visionaries and administrators. Both are required. You need to be both visionary and administrator in your own life, to live a life of integrity, of wholeness.
After all, would you prefer your life to be a fleeting statistic, or a memorable piece of performance art?
By Rhoberta Shaler, PhD
www.SpiritualLivingNetwork.com
Rhoberta Shaler, PhD, has helped thousands to see life differently. Dr. Shaler connects people with their authentic selves, their purpose and values, and provides insights and inspiration to overcome the challenges of personal, family and business life.To learn more, visit: www.Rhoberta.com. and join www.SpiritualLivingNetwork.com . It’s fr*ee.
Article Source: http://www.positivearticles.com
10 Steps to a Life of Simplicity (and some Extras too!)
10 Steps to a Life of Simplicity (and some Extras too!)
Ever felt your brain was so full of thoughts that it felt like it was going to explode?
You would be suffering from classic symptoms of stress caused by an overload of information
Sounds scary? It isn't! Check out these great tips on how you can immediately simplify your life so you can start breathing again!
Get These Easy Steps Here >>
or go to http://www.mindhacks.org for more articles like this.
Ever felt your brain was so full of thoughts that it felt like it was going to explode?
You would be suffering from classic symptoms of stress caused by an overload of information
Sounds scary? It isn't! Check out these great tips on how you can immediately simplify your life so you can start breathing again!
Get These Easy Steps Here >>
or go to http://www.mindhacks.org for more articles like this.
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Quieting the Mind and Being Present
Quieting the Mind and Being Present by Gina Lake
The Self speaks to us primarily through intuition. It is the language of the Heart. The value of meditation and other spiritual practices that quiet the mind is that they make intuition more accessible. Most people need these practices to get over the hurdle of the dominance of the mind and into greater alignment with the Self.
Meditation, or any other activity that focuses the mind, causes the mind to become quiet because it keeps it busy with a task. Actually any activity that we are fully engaged in can serve as a meditation. When we focus all of our attention on something, the mind becomes quiet and serves us only when needed.
We tend to skim by on the surface of life, instead of diving into the moment and really experiencing it. The mind keeps us at a distance from the real experience and, instead, substitutes thoughts about the experience. It distances us from the present moment, where life is rich and alive. We can learn to be more present to the moment by just noticing what is going on. This is usually accomplished by taking our attention off of thoughts and putting it on whatever else is happening in the moment.
Exercise: Being Present: Being present means giving your attention to everything that is happening in the moment, not just to your thoughts. If a thought arises, notice it and then continue to notice whatever else is present. When you are engaged in a task and your mind wanders off of it, bring your attention back to the task, to the sensations that are present, and to the entire experience of that moment. Soon it will be natural to be present to whatever is going on in the moment.
Doing a more formal kind of meditation is another very helpful practice. When done on a regular basis, meditation helps establish a calm mental state, which makes the intuition (and the Self’s guidance) more accessible. It is the most effective spiritual technique available for shifting out of the egoic state of consciousness and into the experience of our true nature. It is also no more complicated or difficult than being present to an activity. Exercise: Sitting in Meditation: Set aside some time in a quiet place for this. Start by sitting in meditation for 10 minutes, and slowly increase this as your enjoyment of meditation increases. Be sure to make this as comfortable, enjoyable, and pleasant as possible so that you look forward to doing this. Try to do this daily, even if only for a few minutes. Choose something to focus on that you enjoy so that your meditation will be pleasurable. If you are auditory, you would probably enjoy listening to music or to the sounds in the room. If you are more kinesthetic, you would enjoy focusing on any physical sensations that are present and also on any subtle energetic sensations. If you are more visual, you might enjoy gazing at a picture of a saint, a work of art, colors, flowers, or something in nature. Whenever your mind wanders from what you are focusing on, gently bring it back. Also notice what you are experiencing as you sit in meditation. While the mind is busy with what it is focusing on, experience is still happening. This experience is who you are! As you practice meditation more, your mind will wander less and for shorter periods of time, and you will spend increasing amounts of time in the now.
Once you begin spending more time in the now, meditation becomes very pleasurable. The now is intensely pleasurable. It has everything: joy, bliss, peace, contentment, fulfillment, love, and wisdom. You will wonder why you ever wandered from the now, but then you will catch yourself doing it again. The mind is very seductive even though the now is so joyous and full. Even those who live mostly in the now find themselves wandering through the corridors of the mind from time to time.
Thinking can be fun. The Self enjoys thinking when it is appropriate, and thinking can serve the Self. Not all thinking is a problem. It is our relationship to it that causes the problem. When we become identified with our thoughts, we lose awareness of the now. It is possible, however, to think and not become identified with our thoughts. When we remain aware of the Self while we are thinking, then thinking is kept in its rightful place.
Thinking can be like any other activity we are present to. We can be present to our thoughts just as we are present to whatever else is part of that moment. When we are present to our thoughts, it doesn’t feel like we are thinking them but more like we are noticing them being thought, which is very different from the usual way of thinking. Exercise: Being Present to Thoughts: Notice whatever thought is arising right now. Observe it as if you were standing at a distance from it. What is the experience of thinking? Notice that thinking seems to be contained in your head. What is aware of thinking? Is this Awareness contained by anything, even your body? How big is it? Does it have a boundary? What is the experience of this Awareness? This is who you are. You are the Awareness that is aware of thoughts coming and going.
The thoughts that arise in your mind have nothing to do with who you really are. What arises in your mind is not up to you. It is just the conditioning you were given. Without following a thought, commenting on a thought, or holding an opinion about a thought, simply observe how your thoughts come and go: One thought replaces another. Where do they come from? Where do they go? Notice how little coherence there is between thoughts and how they jump from subject to subject. At times, it seems they are designed solely to get your attention. What else do you notice about them? Are there different voices attached to them? Do you notice certain themes? How true are they? Do they have an impact on this Awareness?
Being present to thoughts this way allows us to be objective about them. With objectivity, we can examine them in a way that is not possible when we are identified with them. Through this examination, a great deal can be learned about the nature of our conditioning, and this can free us from it.
This new relationship to the mind is very freeing. It not only frees us from our conditioning but it frees us to be aware of the fullness of the moment. Because the mind no longer has the power to draw us into identification, we are free to give our attention to the whole of life instead of only to our thoughts. What we discover is that part of what is happening in the whole of life is that the Self is speaking to us in its own way—through intuition.
Gina Lake has a Masters degree in Counseling Psychology and over twenty years experience as an astrologer and a channel. She is the author of several books, including Radical Happiness and Return to Essence. Gina is available for astrological and channeled phone consultations that support awakening and living a conscious life. For more info, to order her books, to read excerpts, or to download the free e-book: Radiance: Experiencing Divine Presence, please visit http://www.radicalhappiness.com.
Article Source: http://www.positivearticles.com
The Self speaks to us primarily through intuition. It is the language of the Heart. The value of meditation and other spiritual practices that quiet the mind is that they make intuition more accessible. Most people need these practices to get over the hurdle of the dominance of the mind and into greater alignment with the Self.
Meditation, or any other activity that focuses the mind, causes the mind to become quiet because it keeps it busy with a task. Actually any activity that we are fully engaged in can serve as a meditation. When we focus all of our attention on something, the mind becomes quiet and serves us only when needed.
We tend to skim by on the surface of life, instead of diving into the moment and really experiencing it. The mind keeps us at a distance from the real experience and, instead, substitutes thoughts about the experience. It distances us from the present moment, where life is rich and alive. We can learn to be more present to the moment by just noticing what is going on. This is usually accomplished by taking our attention off of thoughts and putting it on whatever else is happening in the moment.
Exercise: Being Present: Being present means giving your attention to everything that is happening in the moment, not just to your thoughts. If a thought arises, notice it and then continue to notice whatever else is present. When you are engaged in a task and your mind wanders off of it, bring your attention back to the task, to the sensations that are present, and to the entire experience of that moment. Soon it will be natural to be present to whatever is going on in the moment.
Doing a more formal kind of meditation is another very helpful practice. When done on a regular basis, meditation helps establish a calm mental state, which makes the intuition (and the Self’s guidance) more accessible. It is the most effective spiritual technique available for shifting out of the egoic state of consciousness and into the experience of our true nature. It is also no more complicated or difficult than being present to an activity. Exercise: Sitting in Meditation: Set aside some time in a quiet place for this. Start by sitting in meditation for 10 minutes, and slowly increase this as your enjoyment of meditation increases. Be sure to make this as comfortable, enjoyable, and pleasant as possible so that you look forward to doing this. Try to do this daily, even if only for a few minutes. Choose something to focus on that you enjoy so that your meditation will be pleasurable. If you are auditory, you would probably enjoy listening to music or to the sounds in the room. If you are more kinesthetic, you would enjoy focusing on any physical sensations that are present and also on any subtle energetic sensations. If you are more visual, you might enjoy gazing at a picture of a saint, a work of art, colors, flowers, or something in nature. Whenever your mind wanders from what you are focusing on, gently bring it back. Also notice what you are experiencing as you sit in meditation. While the mind is busy with what it is focusing on, experience is still happening. This experience is who you are! As you practice meditation more, your mind will wander less and for shorter periods of time, and you will spend increasing amounts of time in the now.
Once you begin spending more time in the now, meditation becomes very pleasurable. The now is intensely pleasurable. It has everything: joy, bliss, peace, contentment, fulfillment, love, and wisdom. You will wonder why you ever wandered from the now, but then you will catch yourself doing it again. The mind is very seductive even though the now is so joyous and full. Even those who live mostly in the now find themselves wandering through the corridors of the mind from time to time.
Thinking can be fun. The Self enjoys thinking when it is appropriate, and thinking can serve the Self. Not all thinking is a problem. It is our relationship to it that causes the problem. When we become identified with our thoughts, we lose awareness of the now. It is possible, however, to think and not become identified with our thoughts. When we remain aware of the Self while we are thinking, then thinking is kept in its rightful place.
Thinking can be like any other activity we are present to. We can be present to our thoughts just as we are present to whatever else is part of that moment. When we are present to our thoughts, it doesn’t feel like we are thinking them but more like we are noticing them being thought, which is very different from the usual way of thinking. Exercise: Being Present to Thoughts: Notice whatever thought is arising right now. Observe it as if you were standing at a distance from it. What is the experience of thinking? Notice that thinking seems to be contained in your head. What is aware of thinking? Is this Awareness contained by anything, even your body? How big is it? Does it have a boundary? What is the experience of this Awareness? This is who you are. You are the Awareness that is aware of thoughts coming and going.
The thoughts that arise in your mind have nothing to do with who you really are. What arises in your mind is not up to you. It is just the conditioning you were given. Without following a thought, commenting on a thought, or holding an opinion about a thought, simply observe how your thoughts come and go: One thought replaces another. Where do they come from? Where do they go? Notice how little coherence there is between thoughts and how they jump from subject to subject. At times, it seems they are designed solely to get your attention. What else do you notice about them? Are there different voices attached to them? Do you notice certain themes? How true are they? Do they have an impact on this Awareness?
Being present to thoughts this way allows us to be objective about them. With objectivity, we can examine them in a way that is not possible when we are identified with them. Through this examination, a great deal can be learned about the nature of our conditioning, and this can free us from it.
This new relationship to the mind is very freeing. It not only frees us from our conditioning but it frees us to be aware of the fullness of the moment. Because the mind no longer has the power to draw us into identification, we are free to give our attention to the whole of life instead of only to our thoughts. What we discover is that part of what is happening in the whole of life is that the Self is speaking to us in its own way—through intuition.
Gina Lake has a Masters degree in Counseling Psychology and over twenty years experience as an astrologer and a channel. She is the author of several books, including Radical Happiness and Return to Essence. Gina is available for astrological and channeled phone consultations that support awakening and living a conscious life. For more info, to order her books, to read excerpts, or to download the free e-book: Radiance: Experiencing Divine Presence, please visit http://www.radicalhappiness.com.
Article Source: http://www.positivearticles.com
Shifting Your Perspective Through Gratitude
Shifting Your Perspective Through Gratitude by Gina Lake
Gratitude comes from essence—your truest Self. It is not the ego’s nature to be grateful but quite the opposite. When you feel gratitude, it is coming from essence. When you are feeling gratitude, it is helpful to acknowledge the gratitude and really allow yourself to feel it and to sustain it with positive statements that express the feeling in that moment. Essence is in love with all of life and bursting with joy over the miracle that it is. The ego dampens this joy with complaints and ideas for how the moment could be better. We rarely stay long in gratitude because the ego is so quick to pull us out of it, but if we can learn to give our attention to the natural gratitude that arises from essence, that can become our ongoing feeling about life.
We are programmed to pay attention to the ego and its complaints about life, so to counteract this, we have to make an effort to give our attention to gratitude when we experience it and to create the feeling of gratitude when we are not experiencing it by noticing what is good and lovable about life rather than what the ego doesn’t like. The ego’s ongoing commentary is basically about what is wrong with something. If we give our attention to that, then that is what we will experience and give voice to. If you want to experience life as lacking, then listen to the egoic mind. The more you do that, the more you will find lacking. On the other hand, if you want to experience life as good, then notice the experience that your true self—essence—is having instead of the running negative commentary of the mind.
The experience of essence is one of love, acceptance, and openness to all life. This experience is ongoing and accessible in any moment; it just isn’t experienced through the mind. To be happy and feel the joy of essence, we have to turn away from whatever the mind is telling us to the experience of the moment, where that joy can be felt. Joy is an experience—not a thought—and it is only available in the here and now. You have to discover it in the moment, and once you do, you have to continue to give your attention to it, or you are likely to find yourself thinking again. Being in essence and staying there requires your continued attention to the moment rather than to the mind. Whenever your attention wavers off the moment, you will surely be back in the mind.
Whatever you give your attention to becomes stronger, so if you give your attention to what you are not grateful for, then feelings of lack, resentment, anger, disappointment, and frustration will grow. On the other hand, if you give your attention to what you are grateful for, then the feeling of gratitude grows along with other positive feelings: joy, peace, contentment, acceptance, and happiness.
Exercise: Increasing Gratitude
You can train yourself to be more aware and expressive of gratitude in any number of ways:
1. Write down all the things you are grateful for and recite them to yourself every morning and night.
2. Make a collage or picture of everything you are grateful for. This is a very powerful way of expressing and reinforcing your gratitude because it takes time, energy, and focus.
3. Bring gratitude to as many moments as possible during your day.
Doing these things to align yourself with gratitude rather than lack is a very powerful spiritual practice, which can change your life when done consistently. The reason gratitude can change your life is that it is a simple way to move from the ego to essence. All it requires is remembering to be grateful. You can reprogram your mind by using gratitude to replace any thought of lack, resentment, disappointment, frustration, or anger. Whenever a negative thought arises, replace it with gratitude. For example: If the thought arises “He shouldn’t have done that to me,” it can be replaced with “I’m grateful I have the strength and understanding to deal with this.” In doing this, you move from victimization to peace, personal power, and acceptance.
Statements of gratitude such as this are not only truer, but they eliminate the suffering created by negative and untrue statements. You have the power to change your experience of life by changing what you say to yourself about your experiences. Our initial response to any experience is likely to come from the ego because it is programmed to respond instantly, automatically, and negatively to whatever is happening. We have to learn to slow down our responses enough to allow for a different and more positive response. When we do that, we are reprogramming our mind and healing our conditioning, and that conditioning is less likely to arise again, or arise as strongly.
Because the egoic mind is so unrelentingly negative and because we are programmed to listen to it, we have to be unrelentingly committed to another, more positive perspective, or we will be left with the egoic mind’s perspective. Happiness doesn’t lie in the direction of negativity and lack of gratitude. No matter how wronged you may feel by someone or by life, the only way out of the suffering involved in that is to change your perception of the situation. Essence is grateful for all experience because all experience brings growth and learning and because certain attributes, such as compassion, patience, and perseverance, can only be developed through challenges.
Exercise: Being Grateful for Challenges
Although it may not be possible to be grateful for having had a particular experience, we can learn to focus on being grateful for the growth or other positive things that came from it. No experience is without benefit. These benefits may be difficult to see when we are in the midst of a particular tragedy, but as time passes, they become easier. Ask yourself: How did that experience serve me? What was good about it? How have I grown as a result of it? The more you can focus on how something served you, the easier it will be to forgive, let go, and move on.
We tend to focus on what we dislike about something, how awful it is, and how unfair it is, and other people are often happy to agree with us and reinforce this perspective. However, doing this is not healing and it doesn’t help us grow from the experience and turn it into the gold it can be. Every difficult experience can be transmuted and a means of transformation of ourselves and others, or it can be a source of ongoing pain and limitation. We get to choose what it will be. Gratitude is the key to shifting our perspective to one that will heal us and help us grow and be a positive force in the world.
Gina Lake has a Masters degree in Counseling Psychology and over twenty years experience as an astrologer and a channel. She is the author of several books, including Radical Happiness and Return to Essence. Gina is available for astrological and channeled phone consultations that support awakening and living a conscious life. For more info, to order her books, to read excerpts, or to download the free e-book: Radiance: Experiencing Divine Presence, please visit http://www.radicalhappiness.com.
Article Source: http://www.positivearticles.com
Gratitude comes from essence—your truest Self. It is not the ego’s nature to be grateful but quite the opposite. When you feel gratitude, it is coming from essence. When you are feeling gratitude, it is helpful to acknowledge the gratitude and really allow yourself to feel it and to sustain it with positive statements that express the feeling in that moment. Essence is in love with all of life and bursting with joy over the miracle that it is. The ego dampens this joy with complaints and ideas for how the moment could be better. We rarely stay long in gratitude because the ego is so quick to pull us out of it, but if we can learn to give our attention to the natural gratitude that arises from essence, that can become our ongoing feeling about life.
We are programmed to pay attention to the ego and its complaints about life, so to counteract this, we have to make an effort to give our attention to gratitude when we experience it and to create the feeling of gratitude when we are not experiencing it by noticing what is good and lovable about life rather than what the ego doesn’t like. The ego’s ongoing commentary is basically about what is wrong with something. If we give our attention to that, then that is what we will experience and give voice to. If you want to experience life as lacking, then listen to the egoic mind. The more you do that, the more you will find lacking. On the other hand, if you want to experience life as good, then notice the experience that your true self—essence—is having instead of the running negative commentary of the mind.
The experience of essence is one of love, acceptance, and openness to all life. This experience is ongoing and accessible in any moment; it just isn’t experienced through the mind. To be happy and feel the joy of essence, we have to turn away from whatever the mind is telling us to the experience of the moment, where that joy can be felt. Joy is an experience—not a thought—and it is only available in the here and now. You have to discover it in the moment, and once you do, you have to continue to give your attention to it, or you are likely to find yourself thinking again. Being in essence and staying there requires your continued attention to the moment rather than to the mind. Whenever your attention wavers off the moment, you will surely be back in the mind.
Whatever you give your attention to becomes stronger, so if you give your attention to what you are not grateful for, then feelings of lack, resentment, anger, disappointment, and frustration will grow. On the other hand, if you give your attention to what you are grateful for, then the feeling of gratitude grows along with other positive feelings: joy, peace, contentment, acceptance, and happiness.
Exercise: Increasing Gratitude
You can train yourself to be more aware and expressive of gratitude in any number of ways:
1. Write down all the things you are grateful for and recite them to yourself every morning and night.
2. Make a collage or picture of everything you are grateful for. This is a very powerful way of expressing and reinforcing your gratitude because it takes time, energy, and focus.
3. Bring gratitude to as many moments as possible during your day.
Doing these things to align yourself with gratitude rather than lack is a very powerful spiritual practice, which can change your life when done consistently. The reason gratitude can change your life is that it is a simple way to move from the ego to essence. All it requires is remembering to be grateful. You can reprogram your mind by using gratitude to replace any thought of lack, resentment, disappointment, frustration, or anger. Whenever a negative thought arises, replace it with gratitude. For example: If the thought arises “He shouldn’t have done that to me,” it can be replaced with “I’m grateful I have the strength and understanding to deal with this.” In doing this, you move from victimization to peace, personal power, and acceptance.
Statements of gratitude such as this are not only truer, but they eliminate the suffering created by negative and untrue statements. You have the power to change your experience of life by changing what you say to yourself about your experiences. Our initial response to any experience is likely to come from the ego because it is programmed to respond instantly, automatically, and negatively to whatever is happening. We have to learn to slow down our responses enough to allow for a different and more positive response. When we do that, we are reprogramming our mind and healing our conditioning, and that conditioning is less likely to arise again, or arise as strongly.
Because the egoic mind is so unrelentingly negative and because we are programmed to listen to it, we have to be unrelentingly committed to another, more positive perspective, or we will be left with the egoic mind’s perspective. Happiness doesn’t lie in the direction of negativity and lack of gratitude. No matter how wronged you may feel by someone or by life, the only way out of the suffering involved in that is to change your perception of the situation. Essence is grateful for all experience because all experience brings growth and learning and because certain attributes, such as compassion, patience, and perseverance, can only be developed through challenges.
Exercise: Being Grateful for Challenges
Although it may not be possible to be grateful for having had a particular experience, we can learn to focus on being grateful for the growth or other positive things that came from it. No experience is without benefit. These benefits may be difficult to see when we are in the midst of a particular tragedy, but as time passes, they become easier. Ask yourself: How did that experience serve me? What was good about it? How have I grown as a result of it? The more you can focus on how something served you, the easier it will be to forgive, let go, and move on.
We tend to focus on what we dislike about something, how awful it is, and how unfair it is, and other people are often happy to agree with us and reinforce this perspective. However, doing this is not healing and it doesn’t help us grow from the experience and turn it into the gold it can be. Every difficult experience can be transmuted and a means of transformation of ourselves and others, or it can be a source of ongoing pain and limitation. We get to choose what it will be. Gratitude is the key to shifting our perspective to one that will heal us and help us grow and be a positive force in the world.
Gina Lake has a Masters degree in Counseling Psychology and over twenty years experience as an astrologer and a channel. She is the author of several books, including Radical Happiness and Return to Essence. Gina is available for astrological and channeled phone consultations that support awakening and living a conscious life. For more info, to order her books, to read excerpts, or to download the free e-book: Radiance: Experiencing Divine Presence, please visit http://www.radicalhappiness.com.
Article Source: http://www.positivearticles.com
Friday, August 24, 2007
Are your Prayers For Healing Being Heard?
By Catherine Rauch
When Aretha Franklin crooned the words “I say a little prayer for you” in the hit 1960s song she probably didn’t imagine that the soulful pledge would become the stuff of serious science. But increasingly, scientists are studying the power of prayer, and in particular its role in healing people who are sick.
Most research in the field looks at how people who are sick are affected by their own spiritual beliefs and practices. In general, these studies have suggested that people who are religious seem to heal faster or cope with illness more effectively than do the nondevout.
But a few scientists have taken a further step: They’re trying to find out if you can help strangers by praying for them without their knowledge.
A recent, controversial study of cardiac patients conducted at St. Luke’s Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri, concludes that this type of prayer — known as intercessory prayer — may indeed make a difference. “Prayer may be an effective adjunct to standard medical care,” says cardiac researcher William Harris, Ph.D., who headed the St. Luke’s study. The study was published in the October 25, 1999 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Harris and team examined the health outcomes of nearly 1,000 newly admitted heart patients at St. Luke’s. The patients, who all had serious cardiac conditions, were randomly assigned to two groups. Half received daily prayer for four weeks from five volunteers who believed in God and in the healing power of prayer. The other half received no prayer in conjunction with the study.
The volunteers were all Christians. The participants were not told they were in a study. The people praying were given only the first names of their patients and never visited the hospital. They were instructed to pray for the patients daily “for a speedy recovery with no complications.”
Read the full story
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