Monday, May 30, 2011

What is your blueprint for the day?

“All I’m saying is that to liberate the potential of your mind, body and soul, you must first expand your imagination. You see, things are always created twice: first in the workshop of the mind and then, and only then, in reality. I call this process ‘blueprinting’ because anything you create in your outer world began as a simple blueprint in your inner world.” Robin Sharma

Love Robin Sharma and how true is it that anything and everything that you create in the outer world first began in your inner world, the world of your thoughts. So what is your blueprint for the day? Is your Blueprint expansive and progressive or something less? Today is about progress or it is not....you know, are you adding or subtracting to life?

Sharma talks about a lot of very on point stuff, and today I want to spend time pondering his “7 Timeless Virtues of Enlightened Living”. Below is my take on these pillars for being deliberate and making every moment a moment for re-creating yourself to the best version of you yet.

1. “Master Your Mind. Your thinking is habitual based on conditioning. some of it serves you well and some of it does not. Mastering your mind is you having your thoughts and not them having you. It is knowing where you are thinking, you know, frontal lobe or emotional primitive part of the brain. Push through the thoughts that do not serve you and you are mastering your mind
2. Follow Your Purpose What do you love to do? There is a reason that you love it, it is resonant with your soul, go do that. And this does not mean that you have to quit a job that you have, but it does mean bringing your soul to your work
3. Practice Kaizen (constant and never-ending improvement) Every moment of every day is an opportunity for you to re-create yourself...what this Blog is about, Nuf said!!
4. Live with Discipline Honor yourself with spending your time doing the things that nurture you. Get up with the Sun, spend time quiet going inward, appreciate all that life has for you, lift someone up and be the Love that you are
5. Respect Your Time What if today was your last day on this beautiful planet? What would you do? Do the things that make you feel strong and connected, be the infinite being that you are....You wouldn't condemn the "other" political party would you? Would you be worried about your investments for retirement? Would you hold a grudge against someone you once loved for a perceived wrong doing? Didn't think so.
6. Selflessly Serve Others When you serve others, you serve yourself. Lift up another person perhaps by just a warm smile. It does not have to be a monumental task, A hug at the right moment can be huge for the person you hug....and you'll feel better too.
7. Embrace the Present” Be deliberate about being where you want to be with your thoughts, the past is gone and the future is being paved by the thoughts and feelings you are having right now, be deliberate

Today is Memorial day in the United States of America, a day to remember those that have served this country to keep it safe and free. The best tribute to those that have come before us is to be true to ourselves and pave a better future for ourselves and everyone we interact with. So what is your Blueprint? I have mine for the day, and I'm executing on the plan.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Your current experience is a result of the past....

And what you are putting your thoughts to right now is paving the future. You know that, right? What you take to be real right now, which is your intention, is the foundation for what you will experience in the future. So what are you taking to be real? Well being, or something less?

My new focus revolves around 3 things.
1. Do I know myself? Am I Self Aware?
2. Am I focused on the right stuff? My purpose.
3. Am I helpful with all my interactions?

By using these 3 inquiries, I have found that I enjoy pretty much everything that I embark upon including those things that I previously "just didn't enjoy doing". For instance, I generally do not like numbers, crunching numbers, analyzing numbers, implementing tactics to improve numbers, etc. And I have never really enjoyed spread sheets like Excel. However, by using these 3 inquiries, I am enjoying learning to use excel because I can see how if I use it to support # 2 and 3, it can be a tool to achieve what I want to accomplish.

In essence, the perspectives that I have had about numbers and "not really being a numbers person" are really just perspectives that have not served me, so I changed those perspectives and now something that I had previously "not really enjoyed, or down right disliked" now are enjoyable and further my purpose.

And in the process, I have begun really enjoying some relationships with people that tend to be "numbers" people. Now how good is that? Pretty freakin' awesome if you ask me. And guess what? My corporate gig that has aspects that I love so much I would do the work for free, and previously had aspects that I despised and frustrated me to no end, has become a gig that I embrace all aspects from a positive perspective. Those aspects that had previously frustrated me, now I see as just things that I thought were frustrating. That because of my perspective on them, they frustrated me.....and guess what happened? They indeed frustrated me.

Without a clear vision, my perspective on things manifested as just what my perspective on them was. So I changed my perspective based on a clear vision of what I want to accomplish and viola', not only do I change how I feel, but I see most of everything in a different light.

So, what perspectives that you hold consciously or un-consciously are not serving you? Gain clarity on what you want, act congruently with that clarity and you are paving the road for the future you want and the experience that will serve you. Oh, and it helps greatly if you develop an accountability partner relationship that you can expect to get candid feedback from....after all you are changing habits of thought which generally do not change overnight.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Have you ever wondered what Heaven is like?

At least once? Maybe several times? How about Heaven on Earth? Is that even possible? Heaven on Earth? With people killing each other over ideology? With people celebrating the death of another Human being? With Nature destroying so many lives and belongings? Surely heaven must be in another realm.

Nope!! Heaven, Nirvana, pure bliss or whatever label you want to put on it, is at hand always. It's closer than your breath, nearer than your very being. Close your eyes, get still, drop down out of your head and into your heart, be the Love that you are and the illusions that you are anything else just fall away.

Or as Sonia Choquette says, Fall in love with life and life will fall in love with you. Once you do that, then act on what comes to you. It might be to stop an addiction, it might be to repair a relationship that has been neglected for too long, it might be to change a direction you are taking in your life's path....who knows what may come to you, but the key is to act upon it from that essence of pure Love.

When you do this, beautiful things happen, because life will align with you and your intentions. try it and revel in the excitement of not knowing how the beauty will manifest for you.

If you do not go within, you go without! Know thyself and you know all you need to. Nothing earth shattering, ancient wisdom that we take for granted and rarely access. You have access to it always, you know that, right?

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Judgement Day....NOT!!! Or was it?

6pm came and went yesterday with not much fuss....certainly not the end of the world. I don't know the guys name that is responsible for creating the fun and games around judgement day being yesterday, but enough people though he was right, that they sent him over $18 million in donations. Which begs the question, Donations for what? If you really believed it was the end of the world, what are you donating to? Maybe they thought by buying into his baloney, they would be saved? Ugh!!

It is amazing how many people are just dying to buy into some horrible story, and for what? Why go there? Seth Godin blogged on it today and hit it right on the head. Sell a story that people want to believe or sell a story that people already believe. Ouch!! How many people believe that we are all sinners and will be judged by an old man in a white robe or some derivative of the story in revelations? Millions, and most of them are judgmental too, why not? being judged is part of their story. And I'm not judging those that choose to go with that belief!!

So, I'm working on a positive story of expansion and progression. Stay tuned. Lately I have been drawn to Lady Gaga!! Yes Lady Gaga, who at face value is a shock jock, or at least that was my perception with just bits of exposure to her via tabloid media. But I saw an interview that Anderson Cooper did with her on 60 minutes, and immediately fell in love with her and especially her mission and purpose. And her music isn't too bad either.

The story she is telling is to be yourself and love yourself. You don't have to be like everyone else and frankly you shouldn't be, because you are your own individual, so don't get lost in trying to be someone your not. And that story resonates with many people, and is very close to the story I am telling in this blog......Know yourself and choose every moment as the moment to tap into your true self.

How many Gaga fans bought into the judgement day story of yesterday? How many of the readers of this Blog bought into it. My 14 year old son, said the Universe wouldn't choose to end the world today, it's too nice of a day!! I liked that, and its always too nice a day to do anything other than progressive and expansive thinking. Thats my story and I'm sticking to it.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Why is change so hard sometimes and so easy at other times?

I can't recall the exact number, but it's well over 1 million. That is the number of people that go to the hospital or doctor's office and get an infection that they did not have before going to the hospital or doctor's office every year in the United States. Thats disgusting, and worse yet, over 100,000 of those people will die from the infection they got while seeking medical treatment for something else. 100,000 people in the US will die this year because they went to a medical facility for something, caught a completely different infection and did not recover.

Why? How does that happen? That's simple, only about 40% of Medical professionals wash their hands when they are suppose to. Medical professionals are suppose to wash their hands when they come into a room with a patient and wash their hands again as they leave, it's called "Wash in, Wash out". So in essence, these medical professionals transfer germs on their hands from one unsuspecting patient to the next.

When surveyed, these medical professionals respond that they are adhering to the "Wash in, Wash out" standard 87% of the time, more than double what they are actually doing. How can that be? Are these Doctors and nurses delusional or just misleading? Neither, they honestly believe they are following the protocol the vast majority of the time and they know the statistics and how important washing their hands is for the safety of the patients they are treating.

It comes down to how deliberate we are in our thinking and how self aware we are. And this applies to how deliberate we are in our interactions with others. Are we enabling disempowering behavior or even down right dangerous behavior. Yes, the vast majority of us are. In the medical facilities, medical staff observe doctors and peers not washing their hands as they should be, but say nothing. Why? A number of possible reasons, but it comes down to not taking it upon themselves to be responsible for holding others accountable in a meaningful and tactful manner.

Are we really that lazy or irresponsible? Well at face value, yes, we are. So what can we do? Well, begin to be self aware for one thing......be aware that actions or in-actions both accomplish something, and the question we need to ask ourselves is "By me taking this action or doing nothing about a situation, is my decision progressive and does it support growth and expansion?" Now that may seem Altruistic, and it is, but it is also how we evolve rather than repeating behavior that is detrimental or detracts from growth and expansion.

The next time you catch yourself reacting, stop and think about what that reaction will accomplish. Will it benefit you or anyone else truly? Will it empower you or someone else? or will it accomplish the opposite? Use that moment as a moment to reincarnate yourself or create a new you and change the outcome to an empowering and expansive catalyst. You can do it, you know? If not you, then who?

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Being Deliberate about you......

What do you suppose would happen if today, you deliberately chose to focus on being just 10% more self aware. In other words, you made a deliberate effort to observe your thinking, whether it was while driving your car, riding the train or bus, or sitting in a meeting. You just observed where your thoughts were going. First thing you would notice is that you have an almost endless stream of thoughts going through your mind at an waking moment. Second thing you would notice is that some of those thoughts are a little troubling and not really very positive, some might be down right judgmental.

Sunday night I came home to watch Game of Thrones on HBO. But I was drawn to turn the channel to CNN, and the big Story was Bin Laden having been killed. While everyone waited for President Obama's address to the nation, officially announcing Bin laden's death, a crowd of people gathered outside the front of the White House. Celebrating!! Singing the National Anthem, "God Bless America" and waving the flag and celebrating. My immediate thought was, Oooh, now that does not feel right for me......and I understand he was a bad guy and a terrorist and all that, but celebrating?

And, I want to be clear, I'm not judging or condemning anyone, I just find it interesting how people react to this emotional issue. Facebook was full of comments about how great it was and the evil rat got his due justice and on and on. Many of the comments coming from devout Christians who live under the commandments of their God, one of which is "thou shalt not kill"......which when you think about it, the United States is one Nation under God......which I think most people would agree is the God that put forth the ten commandments.

Did we just get caught up in the moment and take a lapse from our reason? I think it was more a momentary lapse from our true selves. I am grateful that I immediately felt the sense that celebrating the death of anyone, even Bin Laden, was not something that felt right.....in other words, I did not react to the collective and I was aware of my True Self.....as were many people......I like that, that is empowering.

One of my tenets that I live by is that we are all connected and not separate from each other. If I do something bad to someone else, I am doing that thing to myself as well.....if I do something good for myself, I am doing something good for everyone.

In closing, I saw a bumper sticker the other day that said "Why do we kill people that have killed people, if killing people is wrong?" Good Question.