As promised in last week's blog, I will spend the next six blogs explaining and expanding on the qualities of life that I mentioned. The first of those was this: "LIFE IS SUPPOSED TO BE GOOD".
Far too often we can easily fall into the habit of assuming that life is a trial, some sort of painful process that we must go through to reach some "mythical" or "promised" destination. For some, that destination might be "heaven", for others it might be "paradise", or it might be some form of "reincarnation", but it is a recorded fact that the vast majority of people do actually choose to believe that this is not all there is - that there is something greater and better to come, in the "hereafter".
I'm certainly not going to dispute their beliefs or their faith - that is personal to them and I respect every individual's right to choose their own path. For me personally, I do believe in an "hereafter", but only in so far as I know that we are made of energy and energy can never be destroyed, it can only be converted; so what that "hereafter" may look like I have absolutely no idea and even less concern. I (like every single one of you reading this) am eternal. The energy that makes up the essential me always was, and always will be.
Far too often we can easily fall into the habit of assuming that life is a trial, some sort of painful process that we must go through to reach some "mythical" or "promised" destination. For some, that destination might be "heaven", for others it might be "paradise", or it might be some form of "reincarnation", but it is a recorded fact that the vast majority of people do actually choose to believe that this is not all there is - that there is something greater and better to come, in the "hereafter".
I'm certainly not going to dispute their beliefs or their faith - that is personal to them and I respect every individual's right to choose their own path. For me personally, I do believe in an "hereafter", but only in so far as I know that we are made of energy and energy can never be destroyed, it can only be converted; so what that "hereafter" may look like I have absolutely no idea and even less concern. I (like every single one of you reading this) am eternal. The energy that makes up the essential me always was, and always will be.
No indeed, the hereafter can look after itself. What I am concerned to talk about is the here and now - the PRESENT; this thing we call life. On average most of us will have around 28,000 days of life on this planet (some a little more and some a little less) and what concerns me is how we spend those days. What are we supposed to do with this thing called life?
If we take my opening comment - "Life is supposed to be good" and examine it, what can we discover? Firstly, if life is meant to be good, then it surely changes our whole outlook on everything we do. If we are meant to live a life filled with joy and happiness, doing what we absolutely love then suddenly we can look at our own lives with new eyes - why are we not experiencing that joy and happiness that we are meant to receive?
I would pose the question: Does it make any sense that we would be put on this planet to struggle, to suffer and to experience great pain - slaving at a job that neither fulfills us nor excites us just so we can grab a few fleeting moments of joy and pleasure at weekends (if we're lucky)? What would be the point of a life like that? Sadly, for many, that is exactly how they would describe their own lives.
Well, I'm here to tell you that it doesn't have to be that way - life IS supposed to be wonderful.
If we take my opening comment - "Life is supposed to be good" and examine it, what can we discover? Firstly, if life is meant to be good, then it surely changes our whole outlook on everything we do. If we are meant to live a life filled with joy and happiness, doing what we absolutely love then suddenly we can look at our own lives with new eyes - why are we not experiencing that joy and happiness that we are meant to receive?
I would pose the question: Does it make any sense that we would be put on this planet to struggle, to suffer and to experience great pain - slaving at a job that neither fulfills us nor excites us just so we can grab a few fleeting moments of joy and pleasure at weekends (if we're lucky)? What would be the point of a life like that? Sadly, for many, that is exactly how they would describe their own lives.
Well, I'm here to tell you that it doesn't have to be that way - life IS supposed to be wonderful.
The impact that we make when we finally realize that to change our lives and our worldly circumstances what we need to do is to change ourselves and the way we think is much greater than you might imagine. The best analogy I've read to illustrate this is what is known as the "butterfly effect". It poetically and eloquently sums up the massive effect that the change in one person's outlook and attitude can have on the rest of the world. "When a butterfly flaps its wings in Brazil, it sets in motion a chain of events that ends with a tornado in Texas." This is exactly what happens when we change our outlook on life, our thoughts, and our actions. By flapping our wings we set in motion a chain of events that impacts firstly on ourselves, our families, our friends, our work colleagues and ultimately on society as a whole. When we choose to embrace life and love life we make a real difference in more than just our own lives. This is the pure beauty of falling in love with life.
My tag line for my blogs has always been; "Changing the world - one reader at a time!" and this is the perfect example of putting my beliefs into action. I can't change the world in massive strokes - I'm not a world leader, a great politician, a great scientist or a well respected business leader, but if one person makes a positive change in their life after reading one of my blogs, the "butterfly effect" ensures that my actions will spread; like ripples in a pond through that person's family, friends, colleagues and community. I believe we all have this power within us to change the world for the better - and lets be honest this world desperately needs change; it needs salvation and that salvation can only come from within those of us who choose to change.
My tag line for my blogs has always been; "Changing the world - one reader at a time!" and this is the perfect example of putting my beliefs into action. I can't change the world in massive strokes - I'm not a world leader, a great politician, a great scientist or a well respected business leader, but if one person makes a positive change in their life after reading one of my blogs, the "butterfly effect" ensures that my actions will spread; like ripples in a pond through that person's family, friends, colleagues and community. I believe we all have this power within us to change the world for the better - and lets be honest this world desperately needs change; it needs salvation and that salvation can only come from within those of us who choose to change.
One of the first things we should understand is that EVERYONE and I do mean everyone that inhabits this beautiful world called Earth has a special and unique talent that can and should be shared with the world. Unfortunately the vast majority of us never get to understand or realize what that unique talent is and deprive ourselves and everyone else of the joy and creativity that they could be indulging in. For me, that unique talent is the ability to share my thoughts, ideas and visions through the written word and although it took me far too many of my 28,000 allotted days to discover that talent, I am now committed and excited to spend the rest of the days I have left doing exactly that - writing.
I strongly believe that the happiest, most joyful people in the world are those that have discovered their unique talent and have managed to combine it with an ability to earn an income from it. We all know people who are doing what they truly love to do and also making a living doing it - whether they be entrepreneurs, musicians, artists, writers, actors, scientists, doctors, nurses; whatever, by developing and practicing their unique ability they have combined happiness with wealth and for most of us that would seem to be a perfect recipe for life.
I strongly believe that the happiest, most joyful people in the world are those that have discovered their unique talent and have managed to combine it with an ability to earn an income from it. We all know people who are doing what they truly love to do and also making a living doing it - whether they be entrepreneurs, musicians, artists, writers, actors, scientists, doctors, nurses; whatever, by developing and practicing their unique ability they have combined happiness with wealth and for most of us that would seem to be a perfect recipe for life.
An enormous clue to discovering your unique talent is to be found in a quotation from mythologist Joseph Campbell when he told us; "To Follow our Bliss". Everyone should sit down and consider what it is they do that takes them to a place of bliss, a place of pure joy and happiness. For some, that place of bliss could be; hiking in the great outdoors, for others it may be listening to or playing great music or for others it could be something as simple as gardening on a beautiful day. The point is that whatever it is that makes us experience those moments of great joy and great bliss, within that activity lies our unique talent and gift. Once we have discovered that and determined to pursue it I guarantee doors will open and circumstances will change.
It is impossible to be negative when you are filled with the joy and happiness of doing something that makes you feel vital, complete, fulfilled and blissful. The vibration that you send out to the Universe when you are in this state of happiness and bliss will always ensure that the circumstances, people and opportunities to experience more of that bliss and happiness will pour into your life - almost as if by magic. This is the true power of the Law of Attraction. There are so many people today who have turned their blissful hobbies or interests into full-time, income generating employment. They didn't achieve that because they were better than you, smarter than you, or {God forbid) they were "luckier" than you. The reality is they achieved it because they followed their bliss and approached life with an attitude of joy and love. I will talk about attitude in my next blog but suffice it to say; attitude is one of the key components of success in anything - especially in life!
It is impossible to be negative when you are filled with the joy and happiness of doing something that makes you feel vital, complete, fulfilled and blissful. The vibration that you send out to the Universe when you are in this state of happiness and bliss will always ensure that the circumstances, people and opportunities to experience more of that bliss and happiness will pour into your life - almost as if by magic. This is the true power of the Law of Attraction. There are so many people today who have turned their blissful hobbies or interests into full-time, income generating employment. They didn't achieve that because they were better than you, smarter than you, or {God forbid) they were "luckier" than you. The reality is they achieved it because they followed their bliss and approached life with an attitude of joy and love. I will talk about attitude in my next blog but suffice it to say; attitude is one of the key components of success in anything - especially in life!
So, to answer the question I posed in the title of this blog: Life - Why? In one word the purpose of life is to be HAPPY! All success and fulfillment in life comes from HAPPINESS and happiness comes from the perspective of LOVE. To achieve happiness and fulfillment in life, you really must "fall in love with life" and cease to view it as a trial or a struggle that you must get through. You should wake up every morning excited and thrilled at the opportunities each new day has to offer. Every day of life of our 28,000 days is a true gift and we must treasure and nurture each day as being the absolute wonder that it is. Stop living in the past (regretting the things we did or didn't do); Stop worrying about the future (it will be determined by what you do today) and live 100% in the marvel of the present - of today (for that is all you can ever have and all you can ever influence).
Now, I want to finish by challenging every single person that reads this blog to do just one thing after having read it.
Now, I want to finish by challenging every single person that reads this blog to do just one thing after having read it.
I don't want you to quit your job and hightail it off to a Tibetan monastery or to an Indian Yogi, or whatever, to seek further enlightenment. I don't even want you to make massive changes in your life. I just want you to do this:
Sometime in the next few days I want you to find some time for yourself. Just thirty minutes where you won't be interrupted by children, by your spouse, or by your electronic devices (in fact turn off your cellphone for thirty whole minutes - can you do that?) I want you to sit down in a quiet room and write a list of what truly excites you, what gives you real pleasure and joy. These can be things you already do (such as hobbies or interests) or they can be things you've always wanted to try (a sort of bucket list), but most importantly they must be things that you know will put you in that place of bliss.
Now, over the next week I want you to either spend some time indulging in that activity or making concrete plans to try one thing you've always dreamed of trying. When you do this I want you to picture yourself actually participating in that event. I want you to feel the emotion, the excitement, the trepidation even, of trying something new. When you are finished I want you to feel in your mind that you have already achieved it. I want you to feel the excitement and sense of achievement of accomplishing that thing. Most of all I want you to treasure and remember the feeling of bliss you experienced when participating in your activity.
It is from this type of exercise that your unique talent will make itself aware to you. You will probably receive a massive flash of inspiration or intuition that this is something you are not only good at, it is something that fills you with joy and happiness. This is what life is supposed to be about.
Sometime in the next few days I want you to find some time for yourself. Just thirty minutes where you won't be interrupted by children, by your spouse, or by your electronic devices (in fact turn off your cellphone for thirty whole minutes - can you do that?) I want you to sit down in a quiet room and write a list of what truly excites you, what gives you real pleasure and joy. These can be things you already do (such as hobbies or interests) or they can be things you've always wanted to try (a sort of bucket list), but most importantly they must be things that you know will put you in that place of bliss.
Now, over the next week I want you to either spend some time indulging in that activity or making concrete plans to try one thing you've always dreamed of trying. When you do this I want you to picture yourself actually participating in that event. I want you to feel the emotion, the excitement, the trepidation even, of trying something new. When you are finished I want you to feel in your mind that you have already achieved it. I want you to feel the excitement and sense of achievement of accomplishing that thing. Most of all I want you to treasure and remember the feeling of bliss you experienced when participating in your activity.
It is from this type of exercise that your unique talent will make itself aware to you. You will probably receive a massive flash of inspiration or intuition that this is something you are not only good at, it is something that fills you with joy and happiness. This is what life is supposed to be about.
I'll leave you today with one final thought: Every day this coming week, when you wake up in the morning, before you get out of bed, even before you start to think about the day ahead and what it might hold for you, just say the following sentence to yourself (saying it out loud is even more powerful and effective): "Today I CHOOSE to be happy". The power of those words is enough to set your day off on the right foot. "TODAY I CHOOSE TO BE HAPPY!"
Have an awesome week and remember always; you are a special, unique child of the Universe. Nobody has the abilities and talents that you have. Be proud of who you are and love life.
Have an awesome week and remember always; you are a special, unique child of the Universe. Nobody has the abilities and talents that you have. Be proud of who you are and love life.
CHOOSE TO BE HAPPY!
EMBRACE THE OPPORTUNITIES LIFE PRESENTS TO YOU AND ALWAYS, ALWAYS FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS!
Have a great life and spread the love!
Changing the world – one reader at a time!
EMBRACE THE OPPORTUNITIES LIFE PRESENTS TO YOU AND ALWAYS, ALWAYS FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS!
Have a great life and spread the love!
Changing the world – one reader at a time!
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