Connected

I was watching a documentary about a famous person who went on a personal journey and traveled to the Amazon jungle.  During the course of his trip he met people that had no idea who he was and as a result he felt liberated from living in the world of celebrity.  In a poignant moment towards the end of his travels he meets some indigenous people in the heart of the jungle and realizes that although they are extremely different, they have similar desires for living a comfortable life.  The people spoke about their families and friends as the basis for their existence.  They did not identify work or any other type of status as what defined them, in the end it was all the simple everyday things that made their lives fulfilled.  This well made point made me think about how we are connected to the rest of the world no matter what your stage in life in life is.   There is also some vast commonality to most of us, as being human transcends all cultures, religions or languages.  If you think about how diverse our planet is and you would find that it is all vast and hard to wrap your brain around all of it.  Yet, the connection that we have to all human beings binds us with a fine thread that is woven through this great collage of individuals. This is why it is difficult to understand that we still have wars and various types of social injustice through out the world that can illustrate our poor skills in overcoming what should have been conquered long ago.  Ideally we should live in a world that celebrates the many differences among all people and that we would be more advanced as a result of this great diversity.  Although there is still a long road ahead as we try to proceed towards this ultimate goal of being able to get along with everybody who is different from us, we must persist in our goal to help get us all there.  It is through the course of our individual journeys which make us realize how we are more closely we are linked to our brothers and sisters around the globe.  We all experience the same emotions and we crave the simple things related to finding inner peace, love, harmony and being compassionate.  So we must remember that at our core we our bound to others via the human existence, which then provides us with a shorter distance between those that we think are so different from us.  Although we cannot erase the destructiveness of some of our history, we can all choose to eliminate any further discourse that would be created by us making poor decisions when we let our ego's speak instead of our hearts.          

Actions Behind Words

A lot of people get caught up in saying things that they want to do or achieve, but over time they may not ever get to their desired intentions.  I saw a quote earlier this week that encapsulated this very poignantly, in that it stated that the difference between dreams and goals is that one of them has a deadline.  Where many of us fall short at times is putting our actions behind our words, which may lead to feelings of dissatisfaction or indifference.  Dreaming about a desired goal is good in the sense that you are still captivated by something that you are passionate about.  However, when it comes down to having the same dreams for yourself over many years and you have not done anything to move towards that desire or passion, then there is evidence that perhaps one has failed to take some true action steps.  If you have large dreams for yourself, then one has to take small steps daily to reach for those things that you want for yourself.  Small actions over time can become large steps toward achieving your goals for yourself.  Especially when the dreams are bigger than normal, then one has to conclude that perhaps achievement is not as foreseeable in the imminent future.  However, one has to begin the journey of a thousand miles by walking one step at a time.  If you have goals that are more within reach, then also due your due diligence in working towards them.  Stop having the recurring answer for yourself that states that you will get to something sooner or later.  Put yourself first and allow for those things that you want to be the priority in your life, so you get to them more quickly.  We have to remember that with life there are no guarantees in how much time we get.  There is evidence in every family that I know, including my own, that some people leave us a lot sooner than we had anticipated.  In fact, when we lose people that we feel did not live a full life we mourn for their loss, as well as, the potential that perhaps was not realized.   When we do get to leave this world it is our actions that will become our legacy and I know that most of us would love to see our legacies be filled with good thoughts about what we did while we were here.  If you have been contemplating something or have a recurring dream for yourself, then begin to take actions that will lead to your own fulfillment.  In the end, we have a limited amount of time and the goal would be to live our best life without any remorse or regret.  Remember that one small step daily in the direction of what fulfills you most, will lead you to where you deserve to be.

The Direction Towards Happiness

In listening to an interview today, I heard the author of a book, "Before Happiness", Shaun Achor allude to happiness being what you feel on your way towards your achieving your life purpose.  His interview was longer and more in depth, but those words made me think about what brings happiness into our lives and how do we keep more of that feeling in the forefront of everything that we do.  I think that happiness can be a state of being and if you learn to condition yourself similar to exercising a muscle, it can be stronger and utilized more effectively when you need it.  It is my feeling that we can choose to be happy and even if the circumstances that you are in do not merit that immediate inclination, you can decide for yourself if you want to spend more time in uncertainty along with apprehensiveness or the latter.  What I have experienced over the years is that it is a lot more work to live in an unhappy state which can create the feeling of a pity party island that is difficult to be rescued from.  The people that I have seen that tend to live in this other world have found some sense of comfort in their own chaos and as a result are not as interested in living a more peaceful life.  Here is where personal choice has an impact, because one has the opportunity to be selective about what will lead us in our current state.  We can be led by negativity and uncertainty, however, the pressure of that type of living can wear anybody out.  If we strive to achieve more of what we are meant to do in this world, then we are bound to gravitate to those things that will bring more happiness onto our paths.  Think about the things that add value to yourself and others and learn to focus on those items that can continue to provide long lasting results.  One can work on focusing on the happy moments that either exist in the present or have existed in the past as a foundation for how to add to many levels of future happiness.  As we get rid of the thoughts and actions that don't add value to us, one can then find themselves in a place that is more meaningful and harmonious as a result.  In the days ahead, create a daily routine of moments that focus on happiness.  Then think about how to continue to bring more of that emotion into your life on a consistent basis.  As you continue to accumulate the desired inventory for your life, you will find that the other items that brought less positive emotions will be sifted away.  Concentrate on keeping your direction pointed towards your life's purpose and when you realize that you have more happy thoughts or moments filled with that positive emotion, you know that you are walking in the right direction.

Getting Through Challenges

There are many times in our lives when we all feel like we are in the middle of a dream and that what is real, perhaps may not be.  These feelings can happen whether you are in a state of pain or euphoric happiness.  What we don't do very well as human beings is just allow things to occur without having to put a lot of analysis into particular situations.  For instance, if we are going through a challenging period in our life we always gravitate towards the side of us that wants to fix things and create solutions right away.  One of the things that I have learned over the years is that before you even begin to come up with your brilliant plans, sometimes you just have to be still in the moment of what is occurring to you.  Once you have allowed yourself to experience being in the present and not developing multiple solutions for your dilemma, the next thing you ought to consider is the gratitude that you have for the things that are right in your life.  I know that this usually is not the first thing that comes to mind when you are in the middle of a storm.  However, what I have found over the years is that as soon as I begin thinking about the good things in my life, the less dire the situation that I may be in seems.  To up the ante so to speak, I would challenge you to wish good thoughts on others in your state of mind and pay less attention to your own circumstance.  What can happen when you give something less power over you, can begin the long awaited journey to your own breakthrough.  As I said, it may not be easy if you find yourself in these situations, however, practice will enable you to have less of a low period and quickly ascend into the place that you need to be.  We all go through our own peaks and valley's within our own lives, so knowing that can also provide you with less apprehension for when those trying periods are among you.  One simply has to get still, acknowledge what is occurring and trust that the conclusion to your challenge is merely a short distance away.  Having a strong sense of self, along with faith and determination will get you to your intended goal.  It is also helpful to have a strong circle of support that will ground you while lifting you up when you most need it.