Feb 18, 2016 | Linda's Book Reviews
Recently, I picked up a copy of a book I read years ago. In fact, it is the 25th anniversary edition of Paulo Coelho’s,
The Alchemist. This short read is a parable of a young man’s journey in search of treasure and his destiny. Paulo Coelho has written many books since then and I am a fan. This book will give you many “aha’s” to boost your commitment to your vision in 2016. I want to share some of the wisdom from
The Alchemist:
On making a decision… “When someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he never dreamed of when he first made the decision.”
On fear… “Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And, that no heart ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second encounter with God and with eternity.”
On failure… “There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.”
Happy reading and let me know what you think of the book. We’ve provided a link so you can order it right now from amazon.
Feb 8, 2016 | Inspiration For Your Life Path
Living your own life and going for your own dreams can seem selfish if you have a bit of old programming. Now, during the Lunar New Year, it is time to sweep those old thoughts out. This is the Year of the Fire Monkey – the year for ambition and adventure.
Monkeys are clever, quick and full of mischievous fun. Think about your life now and how you can add a dose of ambition. What dream needs a dusting off? Have you talked yourself out of something that would please or delight you? You can re-think your desires during this lunar New Year.
Part of the New Year tradition is a thorough house cleaning. When we visited Vietnam two years ago, we were there during Tet, the Vietnamese New Year. As our bus rolled along the highways, we saw people bringing all their furniture out to deep clean their home. This New Year cleaning is symbolic of the cleaning out of any old spirits, which readies the home to welcome guests.
What old spirits are lingering in your mind that need to be cleaned out to prepare you for a year of action and adventure? What are you telling yourself about a goal or desire? Do you tell yourself that you “don’t deserve that”, are “too old to do that”, and “shouldn’t spend the money to have that”? It is time to clean those thoughts out so that you can open your mind and heart to a new deserving attitude.
Sometimes it feels selfish to have you own desires and goals. Think about it a new way: if you don’t go for your dreams who will? If you don’t take action toward a heart’s desire, who will? If you are waiting for the “right” time, you may wait too long. If you are waiting for everyone to be “OK” with your goals, you may wait too long. If you are waiting for someone to come along with you on an adventure, you may wait too long. What one small step can you take now toward your desired adventure or goal?
“One step begins the journey of a thousand miles.” -Old Chinese saying.
Fun, in our workaholic Puritan culture, is often set aside for work: Work in the yard, work overtime for our career. Work is glorified in our American culture. But it is fun that gives you mental rest and fuel to be creative with your life. How can you add more fun? How do you define fun? Is it going to a movie? Is it a dance or art class? Is it a walk in the woods or the beach? Is it a trip to a museum, an art gallery or the amusement park for a day? One great, fun experience we had this year was taking our grandson to Disney World for two days. If you have not experienced an amusement park with a child, put that on your list. Delight is all I can say. Having fun brings you back into the child like persona that is creative like a monkey.
Open your life to new experiences and dust off old ambitions as the Lunar year brings you fabulous Fire Monkey energy to fuel your life path.
Feb 2, 2016 | Inspiration For Your Life Path
Oh, what a tangled web of neural synapses we have formed over a life of impressions, events, people, places, things and happenings that are both joyous and sad. Every–and I mean
every–event and encounter has been judged as a joy or a sorrow, as an OK thing to happen again or as something to be avoided at all costs by our ever protective subconscious. Then, in each present moment our busy and diligent mind is forming its own research project to determine if this new sight, sound, smell or feeling has happened before. The neural pathways go looking for the prior event to see if “we” are OK with this current happening. If there is any indicator that a similar occurrence
might happen, our neural pathways light up to warn us of the impending joy or danger. The sad, the lonely, the scary, the inadequate, the inferior, the rejected and the painful feelings in our life create deep ruts. Therefore, more often than not, danger is discovered. The danger, the dread, and the worst case scenario plays a game with us to show us what might be happening, to show us how we felt before, and to create a
re-action plan to protect us.
It is almost as if we are living only a linear life of experiences that replay for us. In the moment between the current experience and that neural research going on in our subconscious, those automatic reactions – there is an opening for a creative thought to intercede. Oh, to capture that instantaneous flash and redirect the “reaction” into a new neural pathway. That is the moment to connect with the magical infinite creativity of the God mind that we are immersed within.
Oh, to STOP those opportunities and to redirect that monkey mind that runs away with our joy, dashing it into the rotting old images of the past. Those lost times of reaction putrefy our loving relationships and stagnate our soul’s journey to love.
Ah, but we are the masters of that neural pathway. We alone are the rulers of the heart and soul over the subconscious mind. We are the players of the game and we are the pawns of the game. Move after move, synapse after synapse we are either caught in the rushing energy of the past pushing its way into our present OR we marshal our God-given creativity and become the director of the game. Owning the past as it was and as the past. Opening up to the now, we are able to create through our continual connection to the Divine. The creative divine mind is there all the time – ready, willing and able to carry us into moments of the bliss and joy, of acceptance and love.
Jan 25, 2016 | Inspiration For Your Life Path
When you truly listen to conversations, you often hear people’s frustrations. At a recent meeting, I heard one woman express her frustration about her house not selling. Then, she continued about how bad the housing market was and that she and her husband failed to get the house on the market in the best time last summer. On and on it went.
Over worked. Underpaid. Children are frustrating. Work is frustrating.
Life can be frustrating if you let it.
How can you move your thinking from frustration to fulfillment? First, you have to be aware of what you are saying and thinking. Too often we are on autopilot. Thoughts come in and we express them. Retraining our thinking takes a bit of focus. Speak only of what you want, not of what you don’t want.
Next, identify specifically what you want; what your intent is. Fuzzy dreams and fuzzy goals bring fuzzy results. The lady trying to sell the house is an example. I asked her did she really WANT to sell the house. She replied that she loved the house and hated to move. But, she and her husband were both too far from their work. That is a fuzzy intent so no wonder the house has not sold.
Clear intent is a desire with passion behind it.
Passion is the fuel, the positive feeling that moves you from frustration to fulfillment. When you have true passion, you will move over, under, around and through any obstacles to get to your goal. When you have doubt or reluctance, then the intent is murky and that creates frustration. The frustration then leads to conversation about the frustration.
Passion brings out your creativity and serendipity to fuel your intent and action ideas. That leads to results or the fulfillment of your desire. Focus your mind, your mental images and your conversation on what you do want, what you truly intend and leave frustration thoughts and conversation behind.
Jan 1, 2016 | Inspiration For Your Life Path
What if you followed your own inner heart/soul desire?
Data on Star Trek is an android, a computer-generated being. Periodically one of Data’s computer chips would malfunction and its behavior changed. The chip had to be repaired or replaced so that Data could function at its highest level.
We, too, have soft tissue chips that often malfunction and need a repair or replacement. One of the damaged chips many of us carry around is the “THEY” chip. This chip as it malfunctions can ruin and run our lives.
“THEY” are the tapes, voices, and good opinions of others in our lives that we carry in our mind and in our heart. THEY can often keep us from fulfilling our own life path. We can proceed through life unaware of the “THEY” influence on our behavior, our feelings, and our thoughts about ourselves and even about others.
The “THEY” voice in our thoughts is programmed into our subconscious chip early in life. Some say it begins at conception, certainly at birth. The scripts, expectations, and programming that “THEY” gave and give us becomes a visceral integration into our being, often without our conscious knowledge. Much like a copy machine places no value on the items copied. You can copy great poetry or you can copy smut. Our subconscious mind takes in impressions, feelings, stories, emotional reactions, expectations, and programs from the “THEYS” in our world. “THEY” tell you:
You…
- are clumsy
- will never amount to much
- are beautiful
- can’t run your own business
- are sickly
- can’t be a musician (artist) and earn a living
- must clean your plate
- are not good at math, a good speller, writer, etc.
- are very smart
- are a slow reader
- are so far ahead of your class
- have no rhythm
- can’t trust “those” people
- need to be married, to have children
- can’t hit a ball
What are “THEY” telling you right now? Write you own list. It is good to become aware of the “THEY” influence in your life.
