Tolerance

Human Beings are a mixed bag!  That's just the way we are...we all have our own free will and develop characters that are unique and infinitely different.  Learning tolerance is a key to maintaining harmony amongst each other.  Hatred is an ugly word and to hate another person is unproductive and damaging to your soul.  Your own free will allows you to be the person you choose and in turn exercising tolerance allows others to be how they choose.  You don't have to like their character traits or choose to be around them, but try to send them peaceful thoughts, love and compassion instead of hatred.

End each day by letting go of all your negative thoughts that you have inadvertently accumulated during the day.  Surrender, and accept what is.  Forgive yourself and others;  release the need to be right. 

Start each day with your eyes wide open and view the world through your heart.  When you are confronted with differences, try not to judge or criticize; allow someone else to be right and see how you feel.  Avoid conflict, stay silent and don't add fuel to the fire.  Conflict cannot survive without participation. 

Smile and allow yourself to be.  Namaste.

Motivation

What motivates you to take action?  Is it the anticipation of fun, excitement, well-being, security or pleasure?  Routine and habits create a daily flow of activities in your life; motivation is the drive that is needed to change the journey.  Search for the motivation behind what you are doing, if it is not there, perhaps its time to find new things to do.  A job may be boring, stressful or frustrating, however it may provide security and that may be enough motivation to carry-on. 

Dreaming is fun; you can do or be anything you want, create the characters and the plot that suites your inner-most desires.  Take these dreams and write them down, make a collage or dream board to focus your attention towards your desires.    Without motivation your desires remain a figment of your imagination. When the time is right you will be ready.

I was recently on holiday in Maui, I really wanted to swim in a clear fresh pool with a waterfall cascading down on my head.  I found the perfect place, however something interfered with realizing my desire, I wish I could have followed my heart like my child and just jumped in!

Logic sometimes prevents the realization of dreams, the  uncertainty of what the future will bring and the fear of failure.  You need to use logic to make decisions and choices, along with intuition and feelings.  Try not to use them both at the same time.  Use logic to a point and then rely on your feelings, logic can sabotage your dreams if it is over-used.

Motivate yourself into action, trust your intuition, take a chance.  Find your inner-child, be child-like and go for it! 

Joy to the World!

Joy is a feeling that is only captured if we keep our hearts open.  Christmas brings joy when we are viewing it through our hearts, having fun, and (en) joying the now.  If only it could be Christmas all year long?  I heard this Christmas Carol and thought, why can't it be?  If we were to live our lives with our hearts and find joy each day, would that not be a celebration!  It is really up to us to capture the joy, feel joy and emanate those feelings to others.

Enjoy the winter beauty.

Christmas is a reminder of our capacity to feel joy, it is always there, we just get too busy most of the year to en...joy it.  A great way to open your heart is to listen to children.  They speak from the heart; innocent and unbiased.  Try to play without competition, dance, sing at the top of your lungs...with your heart wide open. Don't worry if you're off key, or think you can't dance, do it alone if you like, just have fun.

Sing to your heart's content!

Associating Christmas with presents has always been a struggle for me as I hate to shop.  I am the polar opposite of materialistic, my clothes could all fit in one piece of luggage.  We would still have a microwave from 1980 if it didn't start smelling like it was burning.  Shopping does not bring me joy, I might go as far as saying that it ignites feelings of nausea for me, I have to force myself to buy things.



Back to basics...enjoy!

My fondest memories of Christmas were the get togethers at our house with friends and family.  We would listen to music, someone would play the guitar or piano and we would sing.  In my young adult years, I remember rushing back to Coquitlam after work parties to be with my family and to see my grandma who brought great joy to my life.

 

Focus on Nature's gift.

This Christmas I am going to practise giving the gift of joy so that it may become a habit that I carry throughout the year...Joy to the World!

Acceptance

Accepting things as they are is a difficult balance. Your mind, (ego) wants to change things; it thinks it knows what is best.  The dilemma is that every one's mind is unique, everyone has a different perspective and everyone thinks their way is the best!  You may win the battle but lose your mind. 

The overload of resistance in your mind to 'what is' creates stress. Where do you draw the line between action and inaction?  Choose your battles and learn to accept things as they are.  Logic and intuition are tools that you have to determine what to accept and what to do something about.  They are both valuable, but should be used one at a time.  Logic may take you down a path that determines that no matter what you do, nothing will change the situation.  The mind can then accept 'what is'.  At other times, your intuition may tell you that something needs to be done.  Your intuition pushes the action button.  Logic can then take over and determine if you should continue with the action or stop and accept 'what is'.

Acceptance is especially challenging as a parent.  When do we take action and when do we remain silent and allow them to make their own choices?  Logic and intuition are again the tools we use, however, I think we tend to error on the cautious side as their well-being becomes more important in our mind than our own.  Kids are stressful, that I am afraid is a fact that we just have to accept!

Grateful for what is.

Sunsets are one of the most photographed scenes, each one is unique and changes by the minute.  It is the end of a day and truly one of life's greatest gifts.  Surprise sunsets are the best, ones you're not expecting seem to be even more spectacular.  I recently experienced a sunset that was looming behind a crowded stadium, the rain was drizzling to the east while the sun broke through the clouds to the west.

The beauty that is offered to us in life can be so easily missed.  I'm sure there were many people in the crowded stadium who remained seated with there eyes focussed on the grey eastern skies.  Perhaps we should think about this in our everyday lives and try to change our view, try something different, go somewhere new, you never know what you're missing until you see it. 

 

Focus on the positive that life offers you and you will attract more positive situations.  Accept that every situation will not be perfect and be grateful for what is.

Silence is Golden

Keeping quiet in life's situations is a very difficult task for many people.  I know it is difficult for me, I am not adverse to giving an opinion, to making a comment, even when it is not asked.  How do you stay silent?  How do you trust that all will be fine even if you don't contribute your two cents?  How do you balance your worthwhile contributions with silence.  We need to speak-up at times and listen at other times.  Can we offer an opinion and still remain humble?

Like the seasons change our external landscape, our energy flow also changes effecting our moods and inner beings.  We must embrace all that we are, the good and the bad, the strengths and the weaknesses.  Experience the differences with appreciation, learn from life's seasons and practise silence especially when the wind is blowing all around us.

Let it go

The cluttered mind obstructs energy.  If you carry too much stuff in your mind you will create a blockage and stop energy from flowing.  Visualize a flowing stream, throw some sand into the stream and it will continue to flow quite nicely.  If you start piling up boulders, more and more, you will create a dam and the flow will be blocked.  We need to learn to let go of stuff that really doesn't matter, if its done or you have no control over the matter, then let it go.

My own mind has been more cluttered these days with back to school, back to business and routine stuff.  I have not been writing in this blog or doing any photography.  I feel blocked and it made me wonder if most people feel this way all the time with their busy lives.  Finding a balance is difficult, we need to give ourselves the gift of time to enjoy life.  One thing we all have control over is the amount of stuff we hang on to, so throw those boulders to the shore and free-up the flow of energy for yourself to enjoy.

"Holding onto anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else;  you are the one who gets burned".    - the Buddha.

Holding onto to problems or situations will add to the pile of stuff gathering in your mind.  Try to turn your problems into lessons, learn from the experience, and move on.  Hold onto the lesson to avoid repeating the situation, but throw out the details along with the energy sucking anger, judgement, regret ect.

Focusing your attention on the lesson will "empower" you, rather than "trap" you into a habitual pattern that ends up repeating the same mistake.



Bliss - Unobstructed Energy.