Friday's Purposeful Question

“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions.” ~ Rainer Maria Rilke

“In order to stay awake and be able to create a future that reflects our goals, we need to question the present. We need to question every choice we make and look at the positive or negative consequences of our actions if we are to align our daily actions with our deepest desires.” ~ Debbie Ford, The Right Questions

The quality of your life is determined by the quality of your questions. So, what questions are you asking? 

"What are you choosing to focus your energy and attention on?

"It is not the answer that enlightens, but the question." ~ Decouvertes

Make the Choice to Meditate

"Eventually, meditation will make our mind calm, clear, and as concentrated as a laser which we can focus at will. This capacity of one-pointed attention is the essence of genius. When we have this mastery over attention in everything we do, we have a genius for life itself: unshakable security, clear judgment, and deep personal relationships." ~ Eknath Easwaran

If the thought of meditating makes you cringe just a little, then re-define the way you do meditation. Personally, I could never sit still on my own to meditate. I would squirm, fidget, itch, and forget about my mind. There would be a full length feature film of my past and my future.

I truly wanted to meditate; I wanted to have that stillness and that moment of inner peace. So, I determined to see this through. I can now meditate for an hour at a time ~ still wanting more time. What was the catalyst to change?

Firstly, I made the decision to meditate. I could either choose to meditate or choose not to meditate.

Secondly, I changed my thoughts about meditation. It was no longer this big thing that I could not do. I simply did it five minutes at a time, with music or a guided imagery. Five minutes became ten minutes which became twenty minutes, finally moving to sixty minutes. There are many guided meditations from five minutes to sixty minutes. So seek out what would help you. And be consistent.

Train your brain for inner peace,

Friday's Purposeful Question

“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions.” ~ Rainer Maria Rilke

“In order to stay awake and be able to create a future that reflects our goals, we need to question the present. We need to question every choice we make and look at the positive or negative consequences of our actions if we are to align our daily actions with our deepest desires.” ~ Debbie Ford, The Right Questions

Author and teacher Byron Katie says that when you question your stressful thoughts, the freedom that comes out of that graces the world for all of us.

The quality of your life is determined by the quality of your questions. So, what questions are you asking? 

"What do you do daily to maintain your inner peace?"

"It is not the answer that enlightens, but the question." ~ Decouvertes

The Gift of Peace

Novelist and poet Christopher Morley once said, "When you give someone a book, you don't give them just paper, ink, and glue. You give them the possibility of a whole new life."

One of the possibilities is the possibility of inner peace. Not only can a book transport a person to a far off land, to another time, a different space, but it can also give the gift of inner peace – a respite from the harried and hurried life they are all too familiar with.

When you need to give a gift and have no idea what to give – give the gift of inner peace.

Give a gift certificate to a favorite bookstore or to Amazon.com. It’s the kind of gift that will forever be appreciated and cherished.

Give the gift of peace,

Friday's Purposeful Question

“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions.” ~ Rainer Maria Rilke

“In order to stay awake and be able to create a future that reflects our goals, we need to question the present. We need to question every choice we make and look at the positive or negative consequences of our actions if we are to align our daily actions with our deepest desires.” ~ Debbie Ford, The Right Questions

Author and teacher Byron Katie says that when you question your stressful thoughts, the freedom that comes out of that graces the world for all of us.

The quality of your life is determined by the quality of your questions. So, what questions are you asking?

List your five closest friends.
Which are toxic ~ complainers, blamers and energy drainers?
Which are nutritious ~ encouraging, inspiring, challenging you to come up higher?

"It is not the answer that enlightens, but the question." ~ Decouvertes

Nutritious vs. Toxic Friends

“The people we are in relationship with are always a mirror, reflecting our own beliefs, and simultaneously we are mirrors reflecting their beliefs. So relationship is one of the most powerful tools for growth... if we look honestly at our relationships we can see so much about how we have created them.” ~ Shakti Gawain

Who are you hanging out with? Are you spending most of your time around nutritious people? Or toxic people?

Remember, you are the average of your five closest friends. Think about who those five friends are. Do you find yourself complaining about them more and more as time goes on? When you leave their company do you feel challenged, rejuvenated and encouraged? Or, do you feel drained and discouraged?

Have you stopped to ask yourself about your close relationships?

If you are tolerating toxic people, then it will reflect in your life.

If I gave you a beautiful bottle, I am sure you would take it. If I told you that bottle contains a deadly poison, you would think twice about taking it. Yet, this is exactly what you are doing when you associate with toxic people. You are not only taking the bottle, but you are ingesting the poison!

On the same coin – are you a nutritious friend to someone else? Or, are you someone other people would not want to be around? This goes both ways. Remember, when we point the finger, we have three more pointing right back at ourselves.

Just for today, take a serious inventory of your closest relationships. It may be time to do some spring cleaning.