The other day a friend mentioned that he’s looking forward to autonomous cars, as it will help lower the accident and fatality rates caused by distracted driving. True, was my initial reply, with a caveat: what we gain on the roads we lose in general attention. Having yet another place to be distracted does not add to our mental and social health.
Little good comes from being distracted yet we seem incapable of focusing our attention. Among many qualities that suffer, recent research shows creativity takes a hit when you’re constantly busy. Being able to switch between focus and daydreaming is an important skill that’s reduced by insufferable business. As Stanford’s Emma Seppälä writes:
The idea is to balance linear thinking—which requires intense focus—with creative thinking, which is borne out of idleness. Switching between the two modes seems to be the optimal way to do good, inventive work.
She is not the first to point this out. Neuroscientist Daniel Levitin made a similar plea in his 2014 book, The Organized Mind. Information overload keeps us mired in noise. In 2011, he writes, Americans consumed five times as much information as 25 years prior; outside of work we process roughly 100,000 words every day.
This saps us of not only willpower (of which we have a limited store) but creativity as well. He uses slightly different language than Seppälä—linear thinking is part of the central executive network, our brain’s ability to focus, while creative thinking is part of our brain’s default mode network. Levitin, himself a former music professional who engineered records by the Grateful Dead and Santana, writes:
Artists recontextualize reality and offer visions that were previously invisible. Creativity engages the brain’s daydreaming mode directly and stimulates the free flow and association of ideas, forging links between concepts and neural modes that might not otherwise be made.
Engaging creatively requires hitting the reset button, which means carving space in your day for lying around, meditating, or staring off into nothing. This is impossible when every free moment—at work, in line, at a red light—you’re reaching for your phone. Your brain’s attentional system becomes accustomed to constant stimulation; you grow antsy and irritable when you don’t have that input. You’re addicted to busyness.
And that’s dangerous for quality of life. As Seppälä points out many of the world’s greatest minds made important discoveries while not doing much at all. Nikola Tesla had an insight about rotating magnetic fields on a leisurely walk in Budapest; Albert Einstein liked to chill out and listen to Mozart on breaks from intense thinking sessions.
Paying homage to boredom—a valuable tool in the age of overload—journalist Michael Harris writes in The End of Absence that we start to value unimportant and fleeting sensations instead of what matters most. He prescribes less in the course of a normal day.
Perhaps we now need to engineer scarcity in our communications, in our interactions, and in the things we consume. Otherwise our lives become like a Morse code transmission that’s lacking breaks—a swarm of noise blanketing the valuable data beneath.
How to disconnect in a time when connection is demanded by bosses, peers, and friends? Seppälä makes four suggestions:
1. Make a long walk—without your phone—a part of your daily routine
2. Get out of your comfort zone
3. Make more time for fun and games
4. Alternate between doing focused work and activities that are less intellectually demanding
That last one is also recommended by Cal Newport, author of Deep Work. Newport is not on any social media and only checks email once a day, perhaps, and even that time is strictly regimented. What seems to be lost in being “connected” is really irreplaceable time gained to focus on projects. Without that time, he says, you’re in danger of rewiring your neural patterns for distraction.
Spend enough time in a state of frenetic shallowness and you permanently reduce your capacity to perform deep work.
That’s not a good sign for those who wish to perform creatively, which in reality is all of us. Research shows that the fear of missing out (FOMO) increases anxiety and takes a toll on your health in the long run. Of all the things to suffer, creative thinking is one of our greatest losses. Regardless of your vocation a flexible mindset open to new ideas and approaches is invaluable. Losing it just to check on the latest tweet or post an irrelevant selfie is an avoidable but sadly sanctioned tragedy.
Mindfulness is defined as an attention training which can benefit health and general well-being. There is a lot scientific research confirming it. In this article we will present the other type of attention training called Open Focus. We believe, combining these two approaches may help to understand attention training better and to experience its benefits faster.
What Is Mindfulness?
In its most basic form, Mindfulness means to pay attention to what’s happening, on purpose, in the present moment, and to do so without judgement. Originally from Buddhist roots, it was introduced into the West by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zin and the University of Massachusetts. Since its appearance in the West around twenty years ago, many people have participated in the Mindfulness based stress reduction course and similar programs. Research shows that participants may experience profound benefits such as reduced stress, a greater sense of well-being, increased clarity and focus, and improved sleeping patterns.
According to Dr. Kabat-Zin, by paying attention in a certain way, we can switch off our so-called autopilot mode, in which we often go through life unaware of what’s happening within and around us. Living on autopilot not only means that we miss out on a lot of the richness of life, but we are also more likely to be stressed. Stress and autopilot are linked because when we are on autopilot, we are much more likely to act out unhelpful or even damaging patterns of behaviour. In other words, we react instead of respond to challenging experiences in our life. Mindfulness helps us to become aware of these habitual patterns and gives us a choice to change how we relate to challenging experiences. It’s not about taking stress away or hoping to live a life without any stress, but rather fundamentally changing how we relate to the things we experience.
On the other hand, many of us spend much of our time living in our heads. We live in a kind of virtual reality consisting of thoughts and inner dialogue, and thoughts tend to relate either to the past or to the future. Mindfulness helps us to learn how to return to the present and to what’s actually happening rather than our perceptions of what’s happening, which are often inaccurate. We practice it by cultivating greater somatic awareness — that is, awareness of the body, because the body is always in the present moment.
Ultimately, the more we practice Mindfulness and observe the changing nature of experience, the more we may begin to sense that what we previously thought of as being tangible and solid, such as our sense of self, is actually quite transitory and ephemeral. We may begin to understand what lies beyond objects arising in awareness such as sensations, thoughts, and emotions. We may begin to experience awareness itself. This is an extremely significant moment in practice and in life, when we start to experience ourselves as something greater than what we observe and our sense of being the observer.
In Mindfulness, attention generaly focuses on one object (such as the breath, sensations in the body, thoughts, or emotions), exploring it with a sense of curiosity and interest. Another way Mindfulness can be practiced is through Open Monitoring or Open Awareness, where no particular object of experience is selected and there is an openness to all that is unfolding within awareness. Here too, however, as various objects pass through awareness, attention is often paid to each object in a narrowly focused way
What Is Open Focus?
Open Focus is the name of an attention training program created by Dr. Lester Fehmi, a neuroscientist and psychologist from Princeton University. Dr. Fehmi found that once ourwhole brain activity becomes more synchronous in alpha frequency, our mental and physical health improves. He created a series of mind exercises that help to cultivate this brainwave pattern, and he designed a neurofeedback EEG machine that can detect it.
On the basis of his findings, Dr. Fehmi developed The Four Attention Styles theory, which describes four different ways we can pay attention, and relates these styles to brain physiology.
According to Dr Fehmi, pain, stress, anxiety, and other challenges make our attention narrow and objective. It is natural to narrow our attention (focus) on pain or a problem in order to deal with it efficiently, but most people overuse this style in everyday life. They are unaware that it keeps them in continuous ‘fight or flight’ mode. Moreover, habitual focusing creates an impression that the reality consists of separated objects, since we can focus on only one thing at a time, leaving the rest outside of our focus. It can make us feel distant, alienated, and lonely.
Dr. Fehmi says we can begin relating to what’s difficult in a more balanced, accepting way by diffusing our attention. Diffusing allows us to see the big picture and connect (immerse) with its elements. It helps to realign with the world and to create healthy relationships. This style is linked to the ‘rest and digest’ part of our physiology and makes the whole brain activity more synchronous in alpha frequency, which can be confirmed by Dr. Fehmi’s machine (see graph below).
Dr. Fehmi suggests everyone’s attention should be flexible, meaning that you can alternate between ‘narrow and objective’ and ‘diffused and immersed’ styles of attention or balance all at the same time. Dr. Fehmi says that the way we pay attention is directly linked to our well-being. Once you are able to balance your attention, you can positively influence your mind and body.
During Open Focus training, we practice diffusing by becoming simultaneously aware of many objects. The object can be everything you can focus on, like a physical object, a sound, a taste, a thought, a feeling, a sensation from the body, etc. Then you can progress to awareness of the space between objects, like the space between physical objects, the silence between sounds, or the breaks between thoughts, etc. Finally, you become aware of space between and inside objects which, according to Dr. Fehmi, helps us achieve diffused and immersed style. In this style of attending, all objects (including yourself) dissolve in space and you immerse with reality, becoming fully connected.
Are Mindfulness and Open Focus Complementary?
Open Focus and Mindfulness are not distinct and competing practices but rather highly complementary.
Mindfulness helps us to learn to pay attention to our experience and to notice how we are relating to it. Open Focus then builds upon the benefits and skills of Mindfulness by training us not just to pay attention, but to be more aware of how we are paying attention and to be more flexible in our attention styles.
We then have the benefits of two complementary practices available to us: learning to pay attention and being flexible in how we pay attention. We could say that Mindfulness is an excellent foundation for Open Focus training and that Open Focus helps us to get the most from Mindfulness training.
What Can Open Focus Offer Mindfulness?
As mentioned, much Mindfulness practice is based on a narrow way of paying attention (that is, we are focused on one object). Although it is useful in helping us to be more aware of what is happening in the moment, overusing this style may lead to tightness and overexertion in unexperienced practitioners, since many people think they have a choice of staying watchful (mindful) of what is happening, or they slip into daydreaming. They keep trying harder and it makes them exhausted and it sometimes leads to frustration and disappointment.
We therefore propose that Open Focus can bring to Mindfulness the idea of paying attention in the diffused style and the concept of attention flexibility.
Mindfulness practitioners who learn how to diffuse their attention may find that it helps them to progress. There are several reason for this.
The diffused attention style tends to quickly quiet internal chatter. For example, it is sometimes enough to become aware of sensations coming from both hands and at the same time to sense peace and calmness of the mind. It is because synchronous alpha brain waves play a top-down inhibitory role in the brain network. The quiet mind makes observing without judgment much easier.
In diffused attention style, you do not redirect your attention from one object to another, but rather redistribute it between many objects, which are attended at the same time. The only way to do it is to attend objects in a very soft (less rigid, relaxed) way. This skill can then be used in everyday life. For example, you can stay continuously aware of breathing while listening to someone talking to you and there is no struggle between competing objects in your awareness. It helps to continuously sense the present moment and it has very practical applications (see this post).
It is important to note that in this style, one of the objects you pay attention to could be your daydreaming. Including daydreaming into the diffused attention helps to reduce struggle with it during practice. It is possible (and quite easy) to accept daydreaming as one of many objects you pay attention to (see this post). It can be easily extended to everyday life and it helps to stay present.
In order to become fully aware of the world, it can be helpful to cultivate a more diffused than focused attention style. Focused attention requires one to cut off a lot of what is really happening around us and it restricts experience to a narrow stream of sensations. In the diffused attention style, you are aware of the object and its background (see this post). This may broaden the perspective, helping to put things into context. It may also help to disable an autopilot and develop one’s ability to respond as opposite to reacting.
As mentioned previously, Open Focus exercises cultivate an awareness of space around and inside objects. Once a practitioner is aware of space inside the object, it may become softer, lighter, and easier to be with and observe (for example when we attend an unwanted emotion). By switching to a diffused attention style, the difficulty may be diluted by a broader spectrum of attention. This could be likened to putting a teaspoon of salt in an egg cup filled with water and tasting it — the water would taste very salty. If the same teaspoon of salt were put in a swimming pool, it would be difficult to taste the salt. Mindfulness enables us to be aware that there is salt in the water, but Open Focus allows us to experience the salt in the context of the swimming pool rather than the egg cup!
The diffused and immersed attention style helps to dissolve objects like pain or unwanted feelings. Mindfulness practitioners are sometimes encouraged to bring attention to an ache in the back and to observe how this ache feels, exploring how it would be to allow the ache to be there. In Open Focus, they might feel the ache but at the same time feel the space around and in the ache together with the space in the room. In addition, they might imagine that we are part of the ache itself, allowing themselves to become immersed in the ache. This sometimes makes the pain or feeling softer, blurred with its background, and then it may naturally and effortlessly dissolve. The dissolving pain and unwanted feelings process is well documented in Dr Fehmi’s book.
Conclusion
Mindfulness teaches us to pay attention to our experiences so that we can interrupt habitual patterns of relating to ourselves and the world that may not be helpful for us. Open Focus enhances Mindfulness practice by teaching us not just to pay attention, but to bring more awareness to how we are paying attention.
As this article has demonstrated, these are two highly complementary and mutually reinforcing practices. Ultimately, with both we can learn to be present and be flexible in how we are present, after which we may uncover an unlimited sense of peace and love that lies beneath the ‘noise’ that we are usually confronted with and try to suppress.
In scientific terms, this may be regarded as homeostasis; in more spiritual language, this may be regarded as revealing our true nature or higher self. These practices may lead us to fulfil our personal and evolutionary potential and to live lives with grace and ease.
How You Can Try Mindfulness and Open Focus
We could write a lot but more about Mindfulness and Open Focus, but the best way to know them is to feel them!
There is a choice of Open Focus exercises on Dr Fehmi’s and Tomasz’s website (the main difference is that most of Tomasz’s exercises are shorter and they are designed to introduce diffusing and to bring a quick and noticeable experience).
This article was written with Mrs. Sarah Gulland a Mindfulness teacher who works from London, Guildford and Sussex.
Every day, we receive confirmation that we are on the right path. Little synchrocities may pop up or perhaps a white feather will slowly fall from the sky and land at your feet. These aren’t mere coincidences as EVERYTHING has a meaning and a purpose!
We’re entering a new spiritual awakening paradigm of thought which is exponentially gaining momentum. People are waking up and are facing their biggest fears, only to find out that this reality is a dream inside of a dream. In other words, we never die and our waking lives are merely a reflection of the subconscious mind which always brings us our biggest obstacles and fears in order to overcome these obstacles and to grow spiritually.
Within this shift of consciousness is a new mentality that refuses to be locked inside the box of conventional wisdom and brainwashed rhetoric. This is part of the great awakening.
At first, one may begin to seek their own inner truths in private but as the awakening continues, his or her search becomes an integral part of their lives. For example, people beginning their spiritual journeys may not talk about their concerns, issues or discoveries with their friends due to a fear of peer ridicule. Unfortunately, this falls under the category of “groupthink” and is akin to the same psychological conformity tests such as the Asch Conformity Experiments.
We begin to realize that virtually all of our thoughts have been cultivated by society through our biased educational facilities and through the main stream media, which dictates how we should behave, what we should eat, how we should look, etc… If we trace the roots of ALL of the main stream media, we find that they’re predominantly run by 6 people who control ALL of the media, which includes our educational facilities.
This is why we were never taught how George W. Bush’s grandfather, Prescott Bush, funded both sides on World War II. Why? Because the Zionists have an agenda that’s been cultivated for many, many years. This is why we’re over-stimulated and over-entertained.
You end up rolling your eyes when you hear questions like these:
“Who’s gonna win the big game this weekend?”
“Did you see the latest Dancing With the Stars?”
“Check out my new i-Phone.”
I have the same answer that I say under my breath: “Who really gives a rat’s ass?” How does that fit into your spiritual growth? How is that making you a better person? How is that helping the world resolve its current issues?
The term “conspiracy theory” always seems to have a negative association linked to it, mainly by the main stream media. Why would this be? I think you know the answer… Yet this form of truth seeking seems to lead to a spiritual path for many as they realize that everything that’s currently happening in politics and religion leads to a greater awakening through truth. This brings us to the next level of spirituality.
The ego becomes exposed as we learn how to understand and control our materialistic ways. We start to make changes in our lives that are more positive. Sometimes, we also confront what we fear the most, such as a failed relationship, losing your job or loss of long-time friends who don’t understand your change in demeanor.
At times, it seems like the universe is taking a dump on you, yet when you look back at your difficulties, you realize that the universe presented you an OPPORTUNITY to overcome and grow from these obstacles.
You begin to surround yourself with like-minded people who share similar views and thoughts about making this world a better place for all of us. Many of these people are brought into our lives through the Law of Attraction or have soul contracts to meet with you at a specific time in your life. These contracts were made in the ethereal realms and can include literally millions of people.
For example, one small action can influence many people. As a driver, if you let someone into traffic, then that makes their day. It’s also likely that the same person will do the same for other people that same day. Your one action has now multiplied into many kind gestures. The same principle works when we smile at someone or open the door for a stranger.
You may experience the discontinuation of a dead-end relationship. At that point in time, it seems unbearable, but the universe is allowing you to get a fresh, new start on life by releasing negative influences that are attached to you. At this point in time, it’s important to forgive the other person, as well as yourself, for the failed relationship. By doing so, you’ve released any negative karma associated with this person.
17 Advanced Signs Of Spiritual Awakening
Now your spirituality begins steamrolling forward! How many of these have you experienced?
You openly talk about spiritual issues with virtually everyone. If you have Facebook, your wall is literally plastered with spiritual and metaphysical quotes, links and videos and you no longer post trivial statements that relate to the ego or materialism.
Your heart is filled with love for all living things, including plants and animals.
You react differently to things that used to bother you, including any political rhetoric because you realize that most world leaders do not care about you and that it’s up to you to become real change that you want to see in this world.
You completely understand what it means to “become one with everything” but also know the importance of healing and integrating all soul fractions of yourself, positive and negative, from this life and in the past.
You have a greater appreciation and understanding of nature and her elements.
You become more conscientious about what you’re eating and drinking, as well as how that affects your DNA.
You may experience a high pitched frequency that are not the result of tinnitus or a Vitamin D deficiency.
Your dreams are very positive or futuristic because your subconscious mind no longer relates to fear.
Your higher self keeps reminding you, “It’s time”.
You experience synchronicities on a daily basis and understand that these synchronicities are signs of your awakening. These synchronicities may include numerical sequences, such as 11:11 or finding the right video or article at an opportune time in your life.
You stand within your truth. Like Gandhi said, “Even if you’re the minority of one, the truth is still the truth.”
One last thing to mention: It doesn’t matter where you are on your spiritual journey as long as you’re moving forward!
This is much more than the “Barnum Effect” in which people accept vague generalizations as truth. This is reality. This is your journey, enjoy the ride!
The Content You Consume Becomes Your Reality
Steven Maxwell
July 10, 2016
By Steven Maxwell
“A man’s mind may be likened to a garden, which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild; but whether cultivated or neglected, it must, and will, bring forth. If no useful seeds are put into it, then an abundance of useless weed seeds will fall therein, and will continue to produce their kind.” — James Allen in As A Man Thinketh.
I’m a ravenous consumer of content. I bet you are, too. If we are what we eat, for better or worse, the content we consume becomes our reality. It becomes the story we tell ourselves, the principles we believe in, and it may even determine our health. Some content is detrimental and some is beneficial. Because we’re bombarded with information from every direction, it’s never been more important to carefully curate what we consume.
Practically everything we observe and experience now seems to be “content.” From music, movies, books, news, politics, gossip, work, friend feeds and texts, even to our immediate surroundings like how our homes are decorated. Sometimes the noise and choices can get overwhelming. This overload is like decision fatigue.
Steve Jobs popularized the idea of “decision fatigue” when he chose to wear the same outfit of clothing every day to eliminate wardrobe decisions from his daily decision bank. Decision fatigue describes when we make too many decisions in too short a time, we significantly reduce our decision-making ability.
The video below is an excellent explanation of decision fatigue and its potential effects:
Some common effects from decision fatigue are losing self-control over things you normally refrain from doing, decision paralysis, or beginning to avoid making decisions altogether. Significantly, life starts happening to you instead of for you. High performers like Steve Jobs require life to happen for them, not to them.
Often we’re tempted by the emotional clickbait headlines without considering the consequences on our psyche. There are some things we cannot unsee or unhear. Words and images affect us. They mold our reality. We have to ask ourselves if we really want to manufacture more rage in our lives. Rarely do we stop to deliberately protect ourselves from the content we consume.
But like the James Allen quote above says, the mind will grow harmful weeds if not deliberately cultivated. These weeds can be damaging. They seem to manifest as stress or anxiety which can lead to a host of mental and physical ailments. And much like decision fatigue, we seem to lose room for critical thought and productive ideas to blossom.
For me the flood of content I was consuming caused me anxiety. I was in my mad-as-hell stage of awakening and I was rabidly rage-clicking on endless reels of content that confirmed my rage. I thought being awake meant “if you aren’t angry, you aren’t paying attention.” But I was wrong.
Then I had a simple epiphany: the best way to better the world around me is to better myself. I was responsible for the content I consumed and how it made me feel. I realized that I was planting the wrong seeds in my mind and they were producing choking weeds. The rage I felt toward the machine dramatically subsided.
As a Man Thinketh was instrumental in shaping this epiphany. Listen to it for free below.
Upon focusing my thoughts to more fruitful purposes, my life started getting better. Suddenly it made sense that this strategy, individually, would be far more effective activism than merely raging against the machine.
Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s healthy to be angry at the right things. But when we’re experiencing information overload, it’s all too easy to become angry over trivial differences in tribalism, for example.
So the next time you catch yourself tempted to click on “rage clickbait,” ask yourself if that’s the type of garden you want to cultivate in your mind. Does rage make your life better? What will?
The Buddhists say that the mind can be likened to a monkey. Just like a monkey jumps from branch to branch, being continually restless, the mind jumps from thought to thought without end, leaving us agitated and confused.
But why is the mind so restless? And how can one calm it and find stillness? The following short story sheds some light on these questions.
A disciple and his teacher were walking through the forest. The disciple was disturbed by the fact that his mind was in constant unrest.
He asked his teacher: “Why most people’s minds are restless, and only few possess a calm mind? What can one do to still the mind?”
The teacher looked at the disciple, smiled and said:
“I will tell you a story. An elephant was standing and picking leaves from a tree. A small fly came by, flying and buzzing near its ear. The elephant drove it away with its long ears. Then the fly came again, and the elephant drove it away once more.
This was repeated several times. Then the elephant asked the fly:
“Why are you so restless and noisy? Why can’t you stay just for a while in one place?”
The fly answered: “I am attracted to whatever I see, hear or smell. My five senses, and everything that happens around me, pull me constantly in all directions, and I cannot resist them. What is your secret? How can you stay so calm and still?”
The elephant stopped eating and said:
“My five senses do not rule my attention. I am in control of my attention, and I can direct it wherever I want. This helps me to get immersed in whatever I do, and therefore, keep my mind focused and calm. Now that I am eating, I am completely immersed in eating. In this way, I can enjoy my food and chew it better. I control my attention, and not the other way around, and this helps me stay peaceful.”
Don’t let your attention be carried away by distractions. Detach yourself from the unessential, focus on what truly matters while being mindful of the present moment, and you will find peace and stillness in your life.
Would you consider yourself a part of the spiritual community?
If you’ve been reading my blog for any length of time, you are probably well-aware that I am a proponent of the Law of Attraction. I know that many of my readers are spiritually-minded, kind and insightful people who care about others and who want to make the world a better place.
However, while the spiritual community is often very well-intended, at times it promotes struggle and hardship through limiting beliefs without even knowing it.
I’ve been on social media for years, and I love seeing so many spiritually-themed blog posts, memes and videos. Knowledge of spirituality and metaphysics has grown tremendously over the years.
However, not everything that glitters is gold, and not everything labeled as “spiritual” actually alleviates spiritual suffering or promotes unity, love and spiritual ascension.
Below are 8 common limiting beliefs in the spiritual community that make life harder than it needs to be. With the Law of Attraction, we create more of whatever we focus on, so focusing on the limiting beliefs below actually causes an expansion of these problems and limitations.
We live in a universe based on attraction, and we get what we believe in. When we choose to believe in the ideas below, we bind ourselves to them, and our reality reflects them in greater strength and frequency.
Common Limiting Beliefs in the Spiritual Community Today:
People who have money are corrupt and/or greedy. Money erodes spirituality.
You have to eat organic/gluten free/vegan in order to have a high vibration.
The government is corrupt.
Drugs/alcohol lower your vibration/prevent you from being “spiritual.”
You must bring awareness to social problems like hunger, violence, or illness in order to find the solutions to them.
Humans are destroying the planet.
You need to get rid of the negative/toxic people in your life if you want to be happy.
The “elites” are conspiring against the rest of us.
I know the premise of this article may be unpopular with some, and I understand why. After all, there is factual basis for these limiting beliefs. These issues and limitations do exist in our universe, and I certainly do not dispute the fact that there is evidence to support these claims.
Because these issues exist, they have been commonly debated and discussed and have ramped up a lot of momentum in the spiritual community. At the heart of these discussions are always passionate people who want to leave behind a better world for our children.
However, just because these problems and limitations exist and we want to get rid of them, our attention to them does nothing to make life easier on any of us. In fact, our attention to these issues literally makes the problems worse and the limitations more binding.
To prove my point, here are a few questions to consider:
Has our attention to the problems in the government made the government less corrupt? If whistleblowing and exposing corrupt politicians was effective, wouldn’t our government be free of corruption by now?
Has raging against the elite class evened the playing field at all? Have you noticed that the separation between the upper and middle class has actually widened dramatically as we’ve paid more attention to the disparity between the social classes?
Have you ever noticed that what is considered “unhealthy” changes as time goes on and we can’t seem to truly pinpoint what is healthy vs. what is unhealthy? For example, in the 80s sugar was the devil, and aspartame was touted as the healthy solution. Today, though, it’s the other way around! No matter how much we figure out what is unhealthy, new nutritional “problems” keep cropping up.
In any event, you will see quickly that focusing on problems and limitations does not create lasting and effective solutions. Instead, when we focus on problems, they expand and become more commonly known and experienced.
So while many people feel they must focus on limitations and problems out of duty or responsibility, this is actually a misconception. Spreading awareness only enhances and expands limitations and problems.
Why does spreading awareness expand problems and limitations?
Well, the truth is, we live in a universe with infinite realities. There are infinite versions of this world and our life in it, some “good” and some “bad.” There is a version of the world plagued by poverty, corruption and greed, another one radiating love and light, and a version for every possible combination between the two.
We get to choose what version of the world we experience through our focus. We can choose to focus ourselves into realities where problems and limitations like these exist, or we can choose to focus ourselves into realities where these issues are relatively unheard of.
This is how the Law of Attraction works. Out of a sea of infinite outcomes, each of us gets to align with whatever outcome we are focused on through our attention and our belief.
This is why some people get cancer from smoking at a young age, and others smoke into their 80s or 90s without incident. It’s why some people can eat whatever they want and stay trim while others gain weight without eating much at all.
The truth is, there are no “rules” that apply to everyone and every situation. We get to decide which rules apply to us individually through our focus and belief.
When we insist on limitations and problems by discussing and debating them, we keep ourselves firmly rooted in a reality where we believe in them and therefore they must exist.
However, though these problems do exist in our current reality, we do not have to continue to live in a world with these issues. We always have the option to change our focus and redirect to a more wanted version of reality.
How do we redirect ourselves to a “better” version of reality?
Well, the first thing to realize is that it simply isn’t possible for us to eradicate problems and it isn’t possible for us to standardize the “right” way to live life. We live in a universe of inclusion, not exclusion.
Everything is possible and must exist in an infinite universe. The good and the bad, the popular and the unpopular, the likely and the unlikely all must exist somewhere.
It isn’t your job, or my job, or anyone else’s job to eliminate all of the problems. Additionally, it isn’t anyone’s job to define the “right” way to live or be spiritual, because these are individual choices that each of us has the ability to create in our own lives.
In other words, it’s possible to be healthy and eat junk food. It’s possible to get cancer from junk food. It’s possible to be on drugs and be very spiritual, and it’s possible to be on drugs and be extremely disconnected.
It’s possible to keep the negative people in your life and be happy, and it’s possible to be surrounded by toxic people who drag you down. It’s even possible for toxic people to change! It can go whichever way we focus it into being.
To align with the world we prefer, we just have to let go of the world we don’t prefer. We let go of the world we don’t prefer by letting go of the debates, the arguments and the discussion of all of the problems that plague humanity in the realm of the universe we would like to leave.
We don’t let go because we don’t care, or because we want to be ignorant and certainly not because it’s easier to turn a blind eye. Rather, we let go because we care and because we are enlightened to the fact that our focus aligns us to the world we live in and experience.
We let go because we want to live in a world where generosity, prosperity, health and kindness abound for everyone. We let go because we know we cannot help anyone by focusing on their problems.
Universal truths
At the end of the day, there will always be a way to negatively focus, and therefore there will always be problems when we go looking for them. There are versions of this world much worse than the one we live in, and we can focus ourselves down much further if we choose to.
However, the same is true for the opposite end: there will always be a way to positively focus, and there are versions of the world much better than this one we live in. We can reach new heights through focusing our attention into these realms.
It can always get worse, but it can also always get better.
Ascend to the next level. Release yourself from the responsibility to change things you cannot change about this corner of the universe, and instead focus yourself into into the corner you’d prefer to exist in. Allow yourself to experience what’s possible, rather than what already is.
When we first learn about the Law of Attraction, it can be very exciting. If our thoughts create things, then we should be able to learn how to manifest big things including a dream job, a private plane or even a trip to the moon!
Yes, you can achieve anything you want, and it is absolutely possible for you learn how to manifest big things. However, jumping right into manifesting big things is often unsuccessful for new conscious creators because they simply don’t believe these big things can be manifested out of thin air.
Remember: the process of attraction is 1. ask, 2. believe, then 3. receive. Unfortunately, when people reach too high too soon, they often fail to attract the things they want because of lack of belief. Many of them then give up on the Law of Attraction, and this is a real shame!
So, if you’d like to learn how to manifest big things with the Law of Attraction, here are a few actionable steps you can take to really swing for the fences. Please start with the first three items on this list to cultivate belief. Once you are comfortable and well-rehearsed with the first three steps, you will be ready to move on to the final step.
1. Start with small things for practice.
If you are new to the Law of Attraction, or if you’ve yet to see it pay out with anything big, start small! I truly believe one of the best ways to master the Law of Attraction is to first put it into action with small goals to see that it works. This way, you can gain the faith you need to believe in your ability to manifest big things!
Just like a champion cyclist probably first started on a small bike with training wheels, you may find it more comfortable and effective to start with “smaller” manifestations on your way to bigger successes.
Not sure how to start small? Here are a couple of “very small” things you can begin to practice on if you are looking to become a deliberate creator with the Law of Attraction (see “Two Easy Ways to Test the Law of Attraction“).
2. Identify the big things you’ve manifested before.
It’s also a good idea to keep a running list of all of the big manifestations you have already created in your life (even if you attracted them before you knew what the Law of Attraction was).
Part of becoming a conscious creator is building confidence in your ability to attract great things! Keeping tabs on the big things you’ve already manifested is a great way to build this confidence.
The longer the list, the more reasons you will have to believe in your ability to create great things. A few things you might start with might be your most cherished relationships, a favorite car you’ve owned, any awards you’ve received, promotions or raises you’ve had, significant exams you’ve passed, degrees you’ve earned, awesome vacations you’ve been on, cool toys you’ve been given or bought for yourself, awesome parties you’ve been to or thrown, gains you’ve made with your health or fitness, or any other significant achievements or prized possessions you’ve had at any time in your life.
Keep adding to your list as you attract more, and review this list frequently to remind yourself of your ability to create big things.
3. Look for evidence that manifesting big things is easy.
Remember, the only thing that stands between you and the “big manifestations” is your belief that manifesting big things will be difficult or will take a long time. To make big manifestations easier to achieve, it’s a good idea to let go of this limiting belief and replace it with a belief that big manifestations can come to you easily and naturally.
To wrap your mind around easy manifestation, look for evidence that sometimes big things come without much effort. Like someone who wins the Powerball unexpectedly, or the soul mate couple who run into each other in a chance meeting. Sometimes the things we want the most just drop right into our laps with minimal effort.
Keep an eye out for big manifestations that have come easily, whether they are your manifestations or those of another. The more of these big, easy manifestations you identify the easier it will be for you to start to believe that big things can come naturally!
4. Take one step in the direction of your dream, then take another.
When you are ready to reach for a big manifestation, it is important to set the ball in motion and step out on the path to achieving your dream. This is done through taking a small step forward, and then preparing to take another.
So, once you’ve completed the first three items on this list, set out for a big dream by taking just one step. For example, if you want a new house, you might tour some homes that are on sale in the area you’d like to live. If you want a new career, you could do a little career research on the internet. If you’d like to find a new relationship, maybe you can join a dating website. Take the first action that is the most natural and obvious to you, and then allow the next step to present itself to keep moving forward.
After you’ve completed a step, simply ask yourself “what is the next step?”
The trick with this strategy is to take small, forward-moving steps but to let them unfold naturally. Obsessively trying to track down your dream will push it away from you, but taking small steps that are directed by your intuition will guide you toward it. Getting what you really, really want means you have to be in the right place at the right time, and the universe can direct you to that magical spot if you allow yourself to be led.
My website evolved through this process of taking steps. I didn’t know how to build a website in the slightest, so when I was ready to set out after this goal I simply did the first thing that seemed the most logical to me at the time: I got online and did some research on finding a good computer that could handle the task of building and running a website. That was my first step, but I had no idea at the time what the next step would be.
In the beginning, I didn’t know any of the technical terms about web building and administration and I had very few skills to help me do what I am doing today. At the time, I didn’t know I would be running a blog or that I would have a newsletter, or an Instagram page. I didn’t know what WordPress was, how to use Photoshop, or how you drive traffic to a website. I certainly had no idea how I would set up a business to support this dream.
I knew almost nothing I needed to know to do what I am doing today. All of these details have unfolded, step-by-step, and they continue to unfold as time progresses and I expand on this dream. All I do is take one step at a time, and the path is shown to me.
As you can see, allowing your intuition to guide you to your dreams is how you achieve big things with the Law of Attraction. If you’d like some more information on how to follow this path, check out “5 Easy Ways to Follow Your Intuition.”
To recap, first start small. Practice the Law of Attraction on little things to develop confidence in the process. Then, start to look for evidence in your capability to manifest big things, and additional evidence that big things can come easily and naturally.
Finally, once you’ve developed some skill at deliberate creation and some faith in the process, get ready to reach for a “big manifestation.” Take just one step, and then let your intuition guide you to the next steps as they appear to you. Focus on one thing at a time, and allow the path to success to unfold for you easily and naturally.
In time, you will find that your belief in the process of attraction will grow, and you will start to move toward things you once believed were outlandish or even unachievable. Learning how to manifest big things simply takes some faith in conscious creation and a willingness to move when the universe gives you a nudge.
As one final note, remember that this is a process, and it will be easier on you if you allow it to be a fun process. At the end of the day, there’s nothing written in stone that say you have to be, do or have any of these things you are reaching for. Creating your life is really just about creating what you prefer, so being serious, critical or impatient is unnecessary (and counterproductive!).
Think of this process as a game, go easy on yourself and enjoy the ride!
“Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.” Leo Buscaglia
“Worry often gives a small thing a big shadow.” Swedish Proverb
Worry.
It starts with a nagging thought.
That creates another few thoughts.
And before you know it there is a storm brewing in your mind, making you think irrationally and zapping your mental and physical energy.
Your old friend is back, creating chaos within.
I am no stranger to it either and to the powerful negative effects it can have on life and the happiness in it.
But in the last decade I have found several habits that have helped me to greatly decrease my worrying and to more easily handle such thoughts when they pop up.
1. Most of things you worry about have never happened.
I love this quote by Winston Churchill:
“When I look back on all these worries, I remember the story of the old man who said on his deathbed that he had had a lot of trouble in his life, most of which had never happened.”
I have found it to be very true in my own life.
So when you feel worries starting to pop up ask yourself this:
How many of the things I feared would happen in my life did actually happen?
If you are anything like me then the answer will be: very few. And the very few ones that actually happened were mostly not as painful or terrible as I had expected.
Worries are most often just monsters you build in your own mind.
I find that asking myself this question regularly and reminding myself of how little of the worries that actually came to life makes easier and easier to stay calm and to stop a worried thought before it becomes a big snowball of negativity.
2. Avoid getting lost in vague fears.
When fears feel vague in your mind, when you lack clarity then it is very easy to get lost in exaggerated worries and disaster scenarios.
So find clarity in a worry-inducing situation by asking yourself:
Honestly and realistically, what is the worst that could happen?
When I have answered that question then I follow it up with spending a bit of time on figuring out what I can do about it if that pretty unlikely thing happens.
In my experience, the worst that could realistically happens is usually not as scary as what my mind could make up when it is running wild with vague fears.
Spending a few minutes on finding clarity in this way can save you whole lot of time, energy and suffering.
3. Don’t try to guess what is on someone’s mind.
Trying to read someone’s mind usually doesn’t work too well at all. Instead, it can very easily lead to creating an exaggerated and even disastrous scenario in your mind.
So choose a way that is less likely to lead to worries and misunderstandings.
Communicate and ask what you want to ask.
By doing so you’ll promote openness in your relationship and it will likely be happier as you avoid many unnecessary conflicts and negativity.
4. Say stop in a situation where you know you cannot think straight.
From time to time when I am hungry or when I am lying in bed and are about to go to sleep I can become mentally vulnerable. And so worries can more easily start buzzing around in my head.
In the past this often lead to many minutes of time that where no fun.
These days I have become better at catching such thoughts quickly and to say to myself:
No, no, we are not going to think about this now.
I then follow that up with saying this to myself:
I will think this situation or issue through at a time when I know that my mind will work much better.
Like when I have eaten. Or in the morning when I have gotten my sleep.
It takes some practice to apply this one consistently and effectively but it also makes a big difference in my life.
5. Remember, people don’t think about you and what you do as much as you may think.
They have their hands full with thinking about what other people think of them. And with thinking about what is closest to their hearts like their children, pets, a partner or the job or school.
So don’t get lost in worries about what people may think or say if you do something. Don’t let such thoughts hold you back in life.
6. Work out.
Few things work so well and consistently as working out to release inner tensions and to move out of a headspace that is extra vulnerable to worries.
I also find that working out – especially with free weights – makes me feel more decisive and focused.
So even though working out helps me to build a stronger body my main motivation to keep doing it is for the wonderful and predictable mental benefits.
7. Let your worry out into the light.
This is one of my favorites. Because it tends to work so well.
By letting your “big” worry out into the light and talking about it with someone close to you it becomes a whole lot easier to see the situation or issue for what it really is.
Just venting for a few minutes can make a big difference and after a while you may start to wonder what you were so worried about in the first place.
Sometimes the other person may only have to listen as you work through the situation yourself out loud.
At other times it can be very helpful to let the other person ground you and help you find a more practical and useful perspective on the situation at hand.
If you do not have anyone to talk to at the moment about the worry bouncing around in your mind then let it out by writing about it. Just getting it out of your head and reasoning about with yourself either on paper or in a journal on your computer can help you to calm down and find clarity.
8. Spend more time in the present moment.
When you spend too much time reliving the past in your mind then it easy to start feeding your worries about the future. When you spend too much time in the future then is also easy to get swept away by disaster scenarios.
So focus on spending more of your time and attention in the present moment.
Two of my favorite ways to reconnect with what is happening right now:
Slow down. Do whatever you are doing right now but do it slower. Move, talk, eat or ride your bicycle slower. By doing so you’ll become more aware of what is happening all around you right now.
Disrupt and reconnect. If you feel you are starting to worry then disrupt that thought by shouting this to yourself in your mind: STOP! Then reconnect with the present moment by taking just one or two minutes to focus to 100% on what is going on around you. Take it all in with all your senses. Feel it, see it, smell it, hear it and sense it on your skin.
9. Refocus on the small step you can take to move forward.
To move out the worried headspace I find it really, really helpful to just start moving and taking action to start solving or improving whatever I am concerned about.
So I ask myself:
What is one small step I can take right now to start improving this situation I am in?
Then I focus on just taking that small step forward. After that I find another small step and I take that one too.
Source: “How to Stop Worrying: 9 Simple Habits,” from positivityblog.com, by Henrik Edberg
– See more at: http://theunboundedspirit.com/how-to-stop-worrying-9-simple-habits/#sthash.LSXpUBHU.dpuf
Breaking the habit of being yourself requires – dare I say it? – discipline. Daily discipline. And once you embark on it, it’s the most wonderful process in the making. It is exciting and fun, and it becomes easier and easier with every time you practice, just like training a muscle. You do indeed create your life! You’re in the driver’s seat, entirely. And if that’s not great news, I do not know what is! You absolutely have the power to change your life in any way you desire. You create your life every day, with volition or without, on a nerve cell/brain structure and thought/quantum level.
So why not actively create your life, instead of mostly running in automatic-reactive-survival mode? Why wait to change your life until crisis hits? A crisis can be a great catalyst – yet we’re free to choose change now. So why not create out of joy instead? We all can. And lasting change is not only possible, it is fun to set in motion. The following article shares ideas from a fabulous book by Dr. Joe Dispenza (see review below).
Interacting with the quantum field
Nobody is doomed by their genetic makeup or hard wired to live a specific way for the rest of their lives. YOU mold the clay that is the quantum field, and you do so by aligning your thoughts, feelings and actions (refer to my website for more information on the quantum field, or ‘the field’ for short).
Says Dr. Joe Dispenza, successful chiropractor with postgraduate training and continuing education in neuroscience, biochemistry, brain function and memory formation:
“You… broadcast a distinct energy pattern or signature. In fact, everything material is always emitting specific patterns of energy. And this energy carries information. Your fluctuating states of mind consciously or unconsciously change that signature on a moment-to-moment basis.“
In essence, we influence the quantum field through our Being-states (and not only through what we want).
Vision and creative mode
A brain region called the frontal lobe plays a key role in envisioning the life you desire. Ask yourself: Who do you I see myself as? How do I show up every day? What would I choose as my predominant Being-state, and how much am I living it on a daily basis? What’s the greatest ideal of myself? Who do I want to be? What would I have to think and feel in order to express that? The clearer you see this, the faster you can change into it. The universal quantum law applies to finances as much as happiness, health and relationships. No exception.
If you can hold a vision regardless of what’s going on around you, you are in creative mode, i.e. you refuse to respond to any triggers in your environment, and you KNOW with 100% certainty that your vision must come, as it already happened in the quantum field.
This is exactly what we admire in great leaders: Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King, Abraham Lincoln, Mother Teresa, etc. Their vision made a difference. They refused to give in to circumstance, did not blame their spouse nor the weather – they did not suffer from ‘excusitis’. Holding a vision is a means to achieving a Being-state which transcends circumstance.
Mechanics of change and the art of ‘becoming familiar with’
Repetition is the mother of all skill – and it is what wires brain cells together to create new neurological pathways. Contrary to the paradigm I grew up in which said that brain cells cannot regenerate nor change, we know today that this is completely false. The brain is highly adaptive (neuroplasticity), and changes occur all the time. The moment you learn something new, your brain makes new connections. A long standing habit can be seen as a broad, very well trodden path, a super-highway where neurons fire when a habitual thought or behaviour triggers them. A new thought or behaviour (i.e. nerve cell circuit) becomes established through use.
The more you practice a new thought or behaviour, the better you get at it, just like training a muscle. Paying attention to where you want to go is key. Become aware of how automated (in terms of thoughts, feelings, and actions) your life really is. Keep what you like, and change the rest. Not all automated brain circuits are negative. Some of them are exactly what you want. Others are not. By withdrawing your attention (i.e. quitting to walk the established path) and thinking about how you would rather be (breaking into new territory and establishing a new path), you dissolve those old highways, bit by bit (they disconnect when focus is withdrawn). Self-love is when you respond differently to what you’ve practiced all your life.
In order to truly change, we must think greater than we feel. Remember your vision. If you have none for your life, develop one! Now. Not tomorrow… and it’s not about painting some grand picture of your life straight away (but feel free if this feels good to you now).
Instead, you can pick out single aspects and start with those. Know what you want, and then assume the corresponding Being-state. This is completely scaleable, i.e. you can expand your vision as you go. But start having one! Having no vision is like going to the airport saying: ‘I want a ticket’, or saying to a waiter: ‘I want food’. You’re going nowhere fast and nothing can come to you if you don’t specify what you would like, and expect it to come. Vagueness equals standstill. In other words, in the context of creating, it’s a no-no, and you must know your target.
If you truly can do this (thinking greater than you feel), you have mastered your life. That’s how big this short sentence really is. To envision means to see something into existence. It means to create something with volition and expecting to see it, without having any idea of the ‘how’. That step is up to the field and not your job. Your job is to hold the vision and feel its fulfilment. Your job is to become familiar with the feeling-states of your desires.
See it and rehearse it over and over, daily. This process rewires your brain (creating new and wanted super-highways, replacing the automatic old ones). By the way: the Buddhist definition of meditation is ‘to become familiar with’. Meditate on desired feeling states. Familiarize yourself to the n-th degree with them. Live as if. Until it is second nature. Or first. =)
Why we get stuck in repetitive patterns & how to overcome them
Mind is what the brain does. Psychologists tell us that c. 95% of our mind is subconscious. Yet it runs us, 24/7, 365. And that’s good! Because if we had to do it all consciously, good luck surviving even a single second, trying to orchestrate our some 50 trillion cells that constitute the body. Not to mention regulating heart beat, digestion, detox, breathing… our innate intelligence takes care of it all and frees us up to create consciously. A marvellous set-up.
Some unconscious patterns do not serve us. So how do we change them for good? This is the essence of the process Dr. Dispenza proposes, detailed further in his book (see below):
First step: make them known.
Second step: undo them and replace them with what you prefer.
Third step: practice the new state.
We have many unconscious patterns that we did not choose ourselves, i.e. they arose from our environment (parents, peers, culture, etc) at a young age and were accepted as true. If unchanged, they still operate. That is how people become stuck in repetitive patterns without knowing why.
Experiences and events in life produce emotions, which eventually dictate how we behave, unless we intervene. When you think negatively, you feel bad. Feeling bad gives rise to more negative thoughts, which result in feeling worse…do you see the cycle? Most of us are trapped in it, without ever questioning it, living a very reactive life with little room for creating the life we truly desire. Most people do not know how to do this, and that it’s even possible. And it is.
Our brain cannot distinguish between something we imagine, and something that is really happening. As far as the brain is concerned, it’s one and the same. So there’s little physiological difference between remembering a negative situation and actively being involved in one. In other words: every time you beat the drum of how bad it is (in response to an observation or a memory), you activate and reinforce those thought and feeling patterns. Eventually, they become automatic, and we forget why we emotionally react as we do – we just react. The perfect stuck state. And it leads to an identity we think is us. But is it? Of course not. A question worth exploring is: What have I memorized emotionally that I live by that I think is me?
In this automated state, the body becomes the mind: it knows exactly how to respond to a situation and just does it. A good example is driving a car. When you first learned it, you concentrated a great deal (making new neural pathways). And before too long, you habitually arrive at work, with the car seemingly driving by itself. Your body knows very well what to do. And yes, you take in traffic, etc. and respond accordingly. But it’s all well practiced and smooth, and you don’t think about it. When the body becomes the mind, we live in reactive, unaware mode. This is good for some situations, and not so good for others.
The power that you have is one of focus. You can change from a reactive state to a creative one by disconnecting the dots that produce a specific reaction. You do so by focusing on what you prefer instead. When thought becomes the experience, you’re there. When your vision is so compelling and so real you forget everything else, and it feels as if five minutes elapsed instead of three hours, then you’re a creative powerhouse.
We all have been in those situations. Whether it’s playing music, reading a great book, participating in an engrossing conversation – time just flew and we could have done it all day. Harness those situations by tagging them with a little intention for your life. The feeling state is perfect – add some directive thought and watch what happens. Mind and body must be aligned, i.e. thoughts and feelings must be congruent to effect real change.
To sum it up: what you think and feel today determines how you live tomorrow. Your thoughts and feelings are that important and potent. So why wait learning how to think and feel right? Learn how to dance with your thoughts. It’s fun!
I invite you to experiment with influencing the quantum field to your liking. Have FUN! And let me know your outcomes.
You are not your shame, your fears, your addictions, your games, your guilt, the internalized remnants of negative messaging… You are not your resistance to your true path … You are not your self-doubt… You are not your self-distraction patterns. You are not your escape hatches… you are not your pessimism about a life of meaning and purpose. You are not here merely to survive and endure.
You are Sacred Purpose.
No matter what others have mistakenly told you about who you are, no matter what mistakes you may have made in the past, you are here with a sacred purpose living at the core of your being. If that weren’t true you never would have made it down the birth canal. You never would have overcome what you have already overcome in your life.
You are Sacred Purpose.
Whatever your ways of distracting, postponing, delaying, armouring, avoiding, altering, feigning, artificializing, externalizing, superficializing your life… I encourage you to STOP IT NOW. This really is no game, this is completely real, this sacred purpose that courses through your soul veins crying out to be heard from below the surface of our avoidance. I cannot say this with enough assertiveness… To the extent that you identify and honour your true path in this lifetime, you will know genuine satisfaction, real peace in your skin.. You will be infused with vitality and a clarified focus, new pathways of possibility appear where before there were obstacles. You will know a peace that will buffer you against the madness of the world, a clarity of direction that will carry you from one satisfaction to another… Life will still have its challenges, but you will interface with them differently, coated in an authenticity of purpose that sees through the veils to what really matters. To the extent, that you avoid the quest for purpose, you will live frustrated, a half-life.. your avoidance manifest in all manner of illness, perpetual dissatisfaction, emotional problems, depression, addictive patterns, ALL REFLECTIONS OF YOUR own alienation from the purposeful root of your being.. You see, there really is no escape from reality, all there is, is postponement. you should be more afraid of avoiding your path than walking it.
You are Sacred Purpose.
AND It doesn’t matter what anyone tells you about who you are. There is so much of that. This is your journey. Even those with the best of intentions, cannot know the path you are here to walk. The REAL journey is not one of adapting ourselves to someone else’s vision, but instead, shaping who we are with our own two hands. The unique clay we work with lives deep inside our soul bones, awaiting our own detection & expression. You are the sculptor of your own reality- don’t hand your tools to anyone else. Only you can know the path u r here to walk.. it’s a personal decision, and it doesn’t have to be grandiose. Your purpose can be as simple as learning how to listen better, how to enjoy the moment without getting in your own way.. wherever the growing is, wherever you find genuine peace with path, wherever you feel unmasked and genuinely real.. in the survivalist world that we are coming from, we defined ourselves by what GOT US through the day, whatever masks got food on the table, whatever way of being endured this challenging life.. but we are at the beginning of a new way, a way of being that is sourced in who we REALLY ARE, not our egoic face, not our survivalist face, not the false face of our hidden power, but the real face, the real path, the no bullshit no hype no pretence expression of WHO u REALLY ARE and a life that fully and deeply expresses the magnificence that lives within you.. Your sacred purpose may be covered in dust, it may be HIDDEN FROM VIEW, but its still in there, sparkling with infinite possibility..
You are Sacred Purpose.
This is a call to action. A call to authenticity. A call to dig yourself out from below the bushel of shame and self-doubt that has plagued humanity. A call to get off the dime and do the real work to call yourself on your distraction patterns and excavate your own purpose in this lifetime. What are you here to learn? What are you here to overcome? What are you here to express? What does your authentic face look like? Who are you, above and beyond all the noise and haste.. this is not about money, or bullshit ideas of abundance, or gratifying your ego, this is about the real thing, the real deal, the vulnerable and courageous truth about who you are and why you are here. I ENCOURAGE you to take the question of sacred purpose seriously… to not postpone it for another hour, or week, or till you retire, until the next lifetime, til you finish school, or end your relationship, but to take it seriously now… To work like a dog to find out what lives inside of you, what you are here to express, what you are here to manifest and express, what you are here to give, to share, to learn, to create, to dance, to art, to walk…. You don’t know how long you have, it may be 60 years, it may be 60 seconds, you may not make it to retirement, you may not make it to tomorrow morning, at least if you are questing for your purpose, living your truth, you will not suffer when its time to leave your body in this lifetime, you will be living in your authenticity, this is no small achievement in this distracted world, where the unconscious media and manipulative marketers try to turn us generic and frightened so we will be locked into their script., fuck that. You are already have a script and it lives deep inside you…that script is your purpose, what you are here to express, to learn, to embody, to humanifest… So u decide which script to read- the fictional novel written by those who do not SEE u, or the HOLY BOOK written by your glorious spirit. When you walk through the gateway of purpose, you walk into yourself. You are sacred purpose, you are sacred purpose, you are sacred purpose. Don’t stop until you find it.
