Daily Awareness

Do you live in the space of “if only”?

Do you live in the space of “if only”? If only I had more money. If only I would lose 20 pounds. If only I lived in a different home. If only I had taken the job I was offered in 1995. If only I had saved more money. If only….

Anyone who is focused on the “if only” view of life is missing out on the most important part of life; the present.

Countless individuals are so focused on the past or so worried about the future that they are missing out on what is happening right here, right now.

So how do you stay in the present? It’s actually quite simple; gratitude. When we are focused on what we have to be grateful we can’t help but be in the present.

The key is to focus on those things we have to be grateful for right here, right now.

If I was to list what I have to be grateful for the list would look something like this:

• My connection with Source
• My health
• My relationship
• My business
• My pets
• My friends
• My creativity
• The abundance I enjoy on a daily basis
• The ability to share my abundance with others
• My morning walks
• Good books
• The ability to make great choices that give me a life of joy, passion, laughter, depth and contribution
• A blog I can share my thoughts on.

There’s plenty more but this is a great start for my gratitude list.

So what is it you have to be grateful for? What can you do to be totally present and say out of the “if only’s”?

Leave your comments in the box below. Oh yes, I would be very grateful if you would retweet this.

 

When all else fails, dance!

If everything were so easy we would have no need to dig deeper. How often do we find our greatest strength during times when all seems to be blocking our progress?

Life often does not work the way we think it should. The temptation is to resist what is happening, move into a state of frustration and wonder “why me?”. Rather than wonder why me, why not ask with a hint of curiousity, “Wow! Why me? Why now?”

It's not always fun

Granted, when we are in the middle of what appears to be stagnation we may not be so joyful as to get excited about our plans going south. Yet, without periodic road blocks we wouldn’t be “encouraged” to look deeper, dig further and be open to a different way of viewing the solution to something we are working on.

No one is exempt from the times when things don’t seem to be working out. Yet, in reality, everything is working exactly as it should. All we need do is be open.

Quit forcing

Rather than trying to force the answers, the solutions or the remedy, stop and make a conscious shift. The shift may be in the form of taking a walk, reading a book that’s long been on hold because we were just a little too busy, making a call to a family member to just say hi, journaling, or even putting on some high energy music and dancing.

Any one of these actions can shift our energy, focus and attention. Take dancing. Literally everything shifts when we move into a state of high energy dancing. It is in the shift we may find just the answers we seek.

When all else fails, dance.

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Is it that life sucked or my focus did?

Yesterday I woke up in an "off" mood. It seemed the more I tried to get myself out of the mood the worse it got. It was one of those mornings where all I could focus on was what wasn't working rather than what was working.

I also found myself creating resentments for a number of people I know. Now mind you, these are friends and colleagues I love and respect, but at that particular time I was thinking of one or two things I felt justified in being righteously upset about.

Thinking the solution was to put my nose to the grindstone I tried to get some work done, but to no avail. Then I attempted to read a book also to no avail. It seemed the more I tried to get out of my foul mood the worse it got.

Finally I decided to take a drive. As has been a practice of mine for years I had a talk with my maker.

Living life on life's terms

Life doesn’t always work according to our plans. There will be times what we think should happen, doesn’t. Perhaps a client cancels a contract we had high hopes for. Maybe a loved one gets deathly ill or a project we are working on is not turning out at all like we planned.

There are times it may appear as if everything we hoped for comes to a standstill with no apparent explanation. Consider this; when life is outwardly stagnant it’s likely a major internal transition is taking place.

Often, the very things we view as obstacles are the very events that allow us to dig to the depths of our soul to become more of who we are meant to be.

When life turns out different than expected what do you do?

Life doesn't always turn out how we want, but it does turn out how we need.

Think about it; how often has something you expected to turn out one way turned out completely different for any number of unknown reasons?

When things don't turn out the way you want how do you respond? Do you get angry? Do you accept the experience? Do you see this as simply a part of the process of life? Can you find a blessing in the experience?

Inspiration without perspiration is hallucination

"Inspiration without perspiration is hallucination"

Words of wisdom from Reverend Linda, Center for Spiritual Living, Eugene, Oregon.

While sitting in Sunday service today these five words impacted me deeply. Although Rev. Linda's words always impact me deeply today's message moved me to share my thoughts with you. 

I liken this statement to creativity without action is simply an exercise of the mind.

Creativity and inspiration are not what make manifest a life filled with incredible memories. It is the action we take on the ideas that creates the tapestry of our life. The action is where the perspiration is derived from.

An essential element of running a spiritual business

Conscious entrepreneurship is a topic of conversation for many people these days. Long gone are the days of running a business simply to make money.

Today, many business owners, and soon to be business owners, want to do more than simply run a business to achieve the outward rewards. They want to make a contribution to the betterment of society, specific organizations that make a difference in the world and they want to sincerely improve the  lives of their customers and feel great about the good they bring to their vendors by virtue of the fact they hired them.

There is much more of a spiritual element to business today than ever before. Yet for many entrepreneurs there seems to be a deep seated conflict that making money is not spiritual.

If you already broke your resolutions here's why

Recently millions of people made some type of resolution. At the top of the list for many people is to have a better quality of life to including more time with family and friends.

Quit smoking is always high on the list as is quit drinking. Get fit and eat healthy always hits the top of the charts with resolutions.

The fact is many resolutions are broken within 24 hours of being made. Rather than feeling better about ourselves we beat ourselves up for not having the "willpower" to resist whatever the temptation is we are trying to avoid.

Is your life significant?

What surfaces when you think about your life? Do you have thoughts of how blessed you are or thoughts of how unfair life is?

Let’s get one thing out on the table right away; life IS unfair. There are things that happen that we have no explanation for. The fact is life is life. It just is.

Often we can’t change what is going on while other times we absolutely can be a catalyst for the change.

Many people desire change and do nothing to make the change. They wait for “them” to create the shift all the while talking about how unfair life is.

If balance, great health and abundance are in your 2011 resolutions read this...

No doubt you have been reading lots of blog posts, tweets, FB wall postings, and articles about setting resolutions in the coming year. Likely you have had ample conversations with friends, family and colleagues about what you desire to experience in 2011.

One resolution that can serve you beyond your wildest imagination is to commit to meditate on a daily basis. It has been proven over and over that meditation has ample benefits emotionally, physically and spiritually.

Yet many people who say they want to mediate also say they are far too busy to do so. Ironically, when you make meditation a regular part of your daily practice you tend to get things done in a more productive fashion.