Transcend Your Fears

“You can never become a great man or woman until you have overcome anxiety, worry, and fear. It is impossible for an anxious person, a worried one, or a fearful one to perceive truth; all things are distorted and thrown out of their proper relations by such mental states, and those who are in them cannot read the thoughts of God.” ~ Wallace D. Wattles

We live in a world of wonderful connections and relationships. Yet, there is something that looms within those connections and relationships that keep us stuck, keep us struggling, keep us broke, and keep us falling into habit patterns that simply do not serve. That something is fear. As Wattles says in The Science of Getting Rich, when we are fearful we cannot perceive truth or properly connect with God or one another.

I have read that most relationships end because of lack of communication. I believe the underlying agent is fear. Why can't we communicate properly? We are afraid of what the other might think.... We are afraid of being rejected.... We are afraid of being hurt.... We are afraid of looking stupid.... And on and on and on it goes. Why are we so afraid? Beliefs, habits and paradigms that do not serve us.

Then we get into another relationship that looks exactly like the one we just got out of or even more toxic. The cycle continues. It is time to get off of the merry-go-round of fear and anxiety. Life is meant to be about ease and flow, not effort and fear. Unfortunately, I see more of the latter than the former. I can see it very clearly because I used to be smack dab in the center of it. I was afraid of everything. Growing up in violence, fear was the name of the game. So, I learned to disappear and it served me well - too well, I may add.

I finally made the decision to get off the fear merry-go-round. But it was not easy. It still is not easy; but because I made the decision, I did it. I had to get in alignment with what the universe had in store for me. Today, I have the tools in my toolkit to release the fears that hold me back and keep me stuck, and transcend the fears that are working for my highest good.

Here's to transcending your fears!

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?

"How has meditation changed your life?" 

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

Practice Mindfulness

“Meditation brings wisdom; lack of mediation leaves ignorance. Know well what leads you forward and what hold you back, and choose the path that leads to wisdom.” ~ Buddha

According to Wikipedia, meditation is a holistic discipline during which time the practitioner trains his or her mind in order to realize some benefit. The focus being to train the mind.

My definition of meditation is the practice of becoming present and centered. If you are anything like me, you have the very active monkey mind – where your thoughts swing to and fro. So, to try and sit still to meditate was not happening. Then I began doing mindfulness meditation. You can mindfully meditate while walking in nature, while walking your dog, while jogging, while doing the dishes. It is about being present without resistance or judgment.

I started serious meditation to relieve chronic pain. This morphed into gaining increased creativity, heightened awareness, more focus and concentration, and being able to make better decisions about my life. As the Buddha says, meditation brings wisdom while the lack of meditation leaves ignorance.

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?

"How will you be your own change?" 

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

Be Your Own Change

The often quoted mantra attributed to Mohandas Gandhi is “Be the change you want to see in the world.” The famous peacemaker was saying that if you want to see any kind of radical shift, you must first be that shift. This is profound wisdom and rings true for every area of life.

If you want to have peace in your immediate world – in your family, in your work life, in your spiritual life – then you must first be the peace you wish to have. You cannot want peace in your life and constantly be in a state of chaotic stress and yelling bouts. Once you calm down to the level of peace you want to see, you will be amazed at how your immediate surroundings will match your level of peace.

It has been said that you cannot fight fire with fire. How many times have you raised your voice either to be heard or to get your point across – or both? What did the other person do? I can bet they raised their voice as well; perhaps even louder. Soon you were just two people yelling at one another; no one was actually listening to the other. This is not peace; this is not even conversation. It is two very loud monologues. Not very productive, I must say. But what if you lowered your voice instead of raising it? Or, what if you just stopped talking for a moment and simply listened? Yes, a novel idea! But what tends to happen is true conversation, true dialogue; not two angry and loud monologues. If you truly want peace, you must make the effort to create peace in your environment.

Ever noticed that when you whisper to someone, they will whisper back; and even ask, “Why are we whispering?” Pretty funny! But it is the power of being what you want to have. You want to have peace, you must be peace. You want to have health, you must be health. You want to have love, you must be love. You will never receive back what you yourself are not willing to give. It is in giving that we receive, as the prayer states.

So, just for today, be the peace, the love, the change you wish to see in the world.

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,