Spring Clean(r)ing

We love the spring. It's a time full of growth and new possibilities... but the old, confused, clutter can get in the way of the joy and delight that comes from having a fresh path and all that springtime energy! It's time to clean up and clear out that old dusty, no longer needed stuff, mental and physical,  so you can move forward on the next phase of  your journey. Take small steps and start now. When spring arrives you will be free to walk your path free of obstacles.

Pay attention to what you are willing to keep, the stuff that gets in the way of your truth or your path. Fill your mind up with high octane truth. You tend to run better and get more mileage when you fill your mind with positive affirmations.
Start noticing the contradictions in your mind. When you find yourself thinking something that doesn't serve you, you begin to feel stuck. Remember it's your thoughts that are stuck and your thoughts don't run you. You run your thoughts. So, change them. If you put the power in your mind, then you can take charge of the contradictory thoughts. We spend time there because we bought into the fact that what we are thinking is true.  Contradictory thoughts will be your downfall. Keep your thoughts clear. Recognize when you can when your thought are not the truth of you.  If you believe that where you are God is, then thoughts of fear or lack has no place in your mind. Sometimes, we let busy take over our lives. We have contradictory thinking like "we are too busy." You are never too busy. It's a false belief. It is a matter of clearing your mind or your space, if that's making you believe you are too busy. So often, we talk about getting rid of things like magazines or clothes you no longer wear and do nothing about it. Those thoughts or things didn't keep you from achieving the things you wanted. Your success so far comes from clear thinking. You had it then and you can have it now. Maybe you've fallen behind on your spiritual practice. Have your meditated lately? Begin whatever you did before that brought you closer to your truth.  Your spiritual practice can never take a backseat to the success it creates.
Start small. Stay alert to the next time you place a book, magazine, etc. on the table or to a thought that says "you don't have time to ......" and change it right there and then, what you think or do.  Don't judge it. Just move on to the next item or thought and watch that springtime energy sneak up on you and you find yourself going out for a jog or a walk and know that you have the time to do it.

Activate The Power Within

Power is in the Believer; Not in the Belief

I've always believed that the only actions you really need to take in life are having the necessary conversations to move your social life forward because relationships are all we got. The interconnectedness of all things. If you want to grow especially in your retirement years, you need to have conversations with friends, family and  partners. You need to have conversations with people in your community too. It's that simple. 

And yet, why is it so difficult to have these conversations? 

 Retired individuals tend to stay home a good bit of the day because they either love their home, they have health issues that make traveling challenging or they are shy.  For some people making new friends can be extremely challenging. Because we are so afraid of what the other person may think. We are afraid of receiving a negative response because of what we made the "no to acceptance" mean: rejection, failure, unworthiness. 

If you were raised to be judgmental of others because of their success, happiness, wealth, health, all that means is that you are judging yourself.  When you sit in judgment you become stagnant. Belief is a habit of mind. You have thought one way for such a long time, you believe it to be true. What you think and what you know are two very different things. Your job is to separate what you think from what you know. Your truths are not necessarily the truth. Make a paradigm shift and decide what you want to believe.  Ask yourself, "is what I'm believing working for me?"   How much of what I believe is actually true?  
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Make that call, arrange the lunch date, go play cards with the group at the community center, join a book group or call one friend and take a walk. 

Empowering yourself and 72 days homeless

For the victims of Sandy who are now. more than 72 days without a home, I address how important it is to remember now that you life is worth living.  You are valuable to yourself and to your loved ones.

When good things are not happening in your life naturally, you can create a new paradigm.  You can elevate the quality of your life by empowering yourself now. If you have faith, surrender to it: God, Jevohah, Jesus, whatever you call it, surrender to it now. Once you surrender to your higher self and get out of the thinking that where you are is all there is, you become empowered. Instead of getting stuck in the frustration, resentment, or anger over what your life has become, all the emotions that bring on disease, let your faith be your assistance and empower you. You will feel the immediate, unlimited power of Spirit.  A life that is worth living is a surrendered life. There is something greater than government. And you are that greatness. As you let go and become one with the power (whatever you name it), your old idea of life begins to disintegrate. Choose to surrender daily to the power through affirmative prayer, meditation and contemplation, and your life will be transformed beyond your expectations.  Trust the journey.twitter.com/RevWaukena

This reminded me so much of Eckart Tolle's Power of Now.

Worth the few minutes to be reminded that we don't need a high-paying job, a big house, fabulous vacations (nothing wrong with having all of them) to find happiness.

Enjoy!

Mindfulness Meditation

I recently started attending a weekly meditation group where we practice mindfulness meditation. Mindfulness is the art of paying attention to our present moment experiences with openness and  curiosity and a willingness to be with what is.
It's about teaching us to come into the now, into the present moment. We tend to be lost in the past or the future. Our mind, if you are to check into it at any point in the day, is not present. It is actually thinking about something else, worrying, planning, obsessing, remembering, replaying, ruminating, but not right here right now or if it is in the present moment, we are analyzing, comparing, judging or complaining.
Mindfulness teaches us to be in the present moment with an open curiosity and a willingness to be with what is, to really show up for our lives.  The way we learn this tool ( a quality of attention that we can have at any moment) is through meditation, how to be mindful, so we can bring it out to our lives and have it in any moment so we don't have to get lost in these thoughts of the past and future.  But we can come into the present and in the present there is a reduction of stress.  There is a sense of well-being that comes, a sense of ease. We are not lost in the stress that our mind creates in the past and the future. 

What about those thoughts that come up and we wander off into the thoughts?

Our mind produces thoughts constantly and sometimes during meditation you have the good intention of staying in one place but your mind is all over the place.  This is what our minds do. There is nothing wrong. Some people have this misconception about meditation that you are not suppose to have any thoughts. You are suppose to have a blank mind. With this type of meditation, mindfulness meditation, that is not the goal. The goal is to be aware of our thoughts, let go, and then come back into what is happening in the present moment which usually is the breathing but it could be body sensations, sounds. It could be a number of things. What tends to happen is that we get caught up in our thoughts and this is why we suffer ergo "don't believe everything you think.".  Remember  thoughts are just thoughts. They are coming and going. We don't have to believe them all the time. Of course there are wonderful thoughts that lead to something great in the world but there are thoughts  that lead to a lot suffering; anxious thoughts, judging thoughts, comparing thoughts, sad thoughts,  hate related angry thoughts. So what we learn to do in the meditation is not to get so caught in the thought and learn to come back to the present moment.  An analogy to those thoughts that come up and what to do with them are like this. Imagine your thoughts as trains,  going, going,  going. What we typically do is find ourselves on the train and twenty minutes later you realize you were lost in thought worrying about something for twenty minutes. The idea of mindfulness is not get on the  train. You just let it pass. You stay at the station and let the train go. Its a different way of relating to our thoughts. Instead of being lost in your  thoughts, personalizing them, thinking "Oh no. Im having this horrible thought," let the train leave the station and we stay at the station centered and let the train go or if you find  yourself caught in the thought, you get off the train. This tool is helpful in  meditation and in life.  www.waukenacuyjet.comhttps://www.facebook.com/ActivatingThePowerWithin

http://www.newtransformationstrategies.com/Solo/call-DerekRydall528.php

http://www.newtransformationstrategies.com/Solo/call-DerekRydall528.php

Journey to transformation shared

Taking Responsibility for Yourself

Taking Responsibility for Yourself

Achieving success is taking responsibility for yourself which means being responsible for your actions and inactions. Set your standard for yourself and make it higher than anyone around you. Be serious about your obligations but don't take yourself too seriously. Acknowledge your mistakes and see them as opportunities to grow. Show up early to appointments or turn in your projects before they are due. Most importantly, be impeccable with your word. These are easy to follow instructions for success in life but none of the above ideas mean a thing if your heart is not involved in what you do. Being passionate about your life and how you live it is the real success we want. Being passionate in your daily routine and excited to get up in the morning to greet the day is tapping into your unlimited potential. If you are not passionate about what you do, make it your responsibility to change how you feel. Jesus said in the gnostic Gospel of Thomas, "If you bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth with destroy you." You are a natural seeker. You are a bud ready to blossom. When you live from the heart's desire, you tap into unlimited potential. What would you be like if you started today to make the most of the rest of your life? Passionate people don't always have the best job or less challenges as the rest of us. Passionate people are profoundly aware and present to what is happening in their lives, to what is happening within themselves as well as around them. They use and enjoy their senses more. They inhabit their bodies as well as their minds. They are serious about life while they laugh at themselves. They seek to empower others as they empower themselves. Move out of your cardboard box you call home and take up residence in the ever expanding world. This is also called thinking out of the box. Begin to savor the day. If you have to start with the moment do so and savor the next and the next. If you forgot what that feels like, close your eyes and remember favorite physical pleasures like rolling in a pile of snow or a pile of leaves. The most passionate people have given considerable time and thought developing their inner senses. Set an intention every morning how you want your day to unfold. The technique of visualization is a very effective too in attaining any goal you set. You can visualize a desired result and then after establishing a clear picture in mind, let go of all thought as to how the desired result will be attained. Be an active participant in your life. Decide to be happy and allow yourself to feel good. Traffic is still traffic. Bills will have to be paid. Others will call upon you to do for them. Life as you know it will not stop. It does when your time is done here. But in the meantime, make the most of your 24 hours you receive every day. It's your experience and how it unfolds is based upon how you take responsibility for it. Today is the time to begin ridding ourselves of those mental barriers and move ahead toward a successful life you want.