Path

The is no set path, just follow your heart.

Coincidences

There are a few books that I like to revisit from time to time. The Celestine Prophecy is one of them. This book is a first-person narrative of the narrator's spiritual awakening as he goes through a transitional period of his life. During his journey, he begins to notice instances of synchronicity, which is the realization that coincidences may have deep meaning. And along the way he uncovers eleven insights to his enlightenment. Today I found myself thinking about his seventh insight.

The Seventh Insight: Engaging the Flow
In pursuit of our personal mission, we can discover an inner intuition that shows us where to go and what to do, and if we make only positive interpretations, brings a flow of coincidences that opens the doors for our mission to unfold. First we have a question; then dreams, daydreams, and intuitions that lead us towards the answers, which usually are synchronistically provided by the wisdom of another human being.

Alone

Alone is not the same as lonely.

Someone once told me that when you become more self aware and enlightened, you begin to move higher up on the universe's vibrational frequency. And then you begin to attract that same sort of vibrational energy and people into your life.

She used a metaphor-- it's like riding up in an elevator. Some people may get off on their floors and you may find yourself alone, riding up in the elevator for a while. But sure enough, someone new always gets on and rides with you again.

Conversion

Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?
- Abraham Lincoln

Mind

So the single most vital step on your journey toward enlightenment is this: learn to disidentify from your mind. Every time you create a gap in the stream of mind, the light of your consciousness grows stronger. One day you may catch yourself smiling at the voice in your head, as you would smile at the antics of a child. This means that you no longer take the content of your mind all that seriously, as your sense of self does not depend on it.

- Eckart Tolle

Comfort

com•fort
noun
• A condition or feeling of pleasurable ease, well-being, and contentment.
• The capacity to give physical ease and well-being.

"Every time you take a risk or move out of your comfort zone, you have a great opportunity to learn more about yourself and your capacity."
-Jack Canfield

Optimism

"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity, an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."

-Winston Churchill

Happy

Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.
- Abraham Lincoln

The basic thing is that everyone wants happiness, no one wants suffering. And happiness mainly comes from our own attitude, rather than from external factors. If your own mental attitude is correct, even if you remain in a hostile atmosphere, you feel happy.

- The Dalai Lama

Expose

Most fears cannot withstand the test of careful scrutiny and analysis. When we expose our fears to the light of thoughtful examination they usually just evaporate.

- Jack Canfield

Flow

Everything in the universe has a purpose. Indeed, the invisible intelligence that flows through everything in a purposeful fashion is also flowing through you. Everything is in motion. Everything flows. Everything is vibrating.
- Dr. Wayne Dyer

Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them - that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.
- Lao-Tzu

Entropy

Entropy: A measure of the disorder or randomness in a closed system.

Destiny: A predetermined course of events considered as something beyond human power or control.

Fate: the end or final result .

Entropy is the study of the progress of patterns towards a conclusion, whether destiny or death. It is a Sphere of dynamic change, bringing things to their inevitable conclusion – or even changing their conclusion, and giving them a new destiny.

Entropy is the study of chaos – literally, disorder and the breakdown of order. Over time, you can learn to predict the patterns of chaos, speed them up or slow them down, and finally see order where there was none before. Entropy is about understanding the patterns and cycles of the world, and learning how to alter their progress.

So if we don't have as much control as we think we do, then why participate at all? My dear friend recently had this to say, "I turn the little wheel and the universe turns the big wheel". I guess it's just another way of saying that the little things we do affect the big things.

Visualization

I think that visualization is easy when you know what you really want. I mean really really really want. But what about when you just don't know what it is? And something inside is telling you that there is something better for you out there, but what?

Then it is probably time to visualize something that you love, a feeling, a place, a concept, an emotion, etc. to align your creative energy to the universe.

Start somewhere.

Clip out magazine images that you are drawn to, quotes that you like, a poem, an old photo, a postcard, etc. Turn it into a collage. If it is a collection of things that you like, then each time that you look at it, it will affect your vibrational energy and thoughts.

And that is just about when the universe starts responding by helping you to uncover your next visualization.

At least that is how it works for me.

Possibilities

One word can change everything.

I have been referencing a Jim Carey movie a lot lately, Yes Man,. In this movie, Jim Carey's character, Carl Allen, is at a standstill. No future to look forward to... Until the day he adopts a very simple idea from a spiritual "guru": say yes to everything! Carl discovers with amazement the magical power of "Yes", and sees his professional and romantic life turned upside down overnight: an unexpected promotion and a new girlfriend.

But he'll soon discover that better can be good's enemy, and that all opportunities shouldn't be taken. He learns that you have to find a balance between the two, learning to embrace opportunities that are right for you and pass on those that aren’t. But the key is that opening your mind allows you to be open to the possibilities that exist around you so you can make those educated decisions, instead of leading a life that is boxed into the corner, with no hope of going anywhere.

My challenge for the week: say yes to three new things a day.

Karma

How people treat you is their karma; how you react is yours.
-Dr. Wayne Dyer

Balance

"There's no secret balance, you just have to feel the waves."
- Frank Herbet

"Action and reaction, ebb and flow, trial and error, change- this is the rhythm of living. Out of our over-confidence, fear; out of our fear, clearer vision, fresh hope. Out of hope progress."
- Bruce Barton

Kindness

"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible." - Dali Lama

Steps to practicing kindness:

1. Commit to at least three random acts of kindness every day. Maybe it’s something simple, like telling someone they’re great at their job. Or perhaps it requires more effort, like helping an elderly woman with bags. Of course there is no limit! Kindness is like a fire–the more you stoke it, the brighter it burns.

2. Work toward kinder thinking. Example: a coworker snaps at you for something that’s not your fault. You’re human–at first you might feel annoyed and think she’s being unfair and irrational. Choose a more compassionate thought, like: She’s feeling defensive, and that must be painful. What can I do to help? Kindness in thinking leads to kindness in action.

3. Ruminate on the kind deeds and thoughts of people greater than yourself. Martin Luther King, the Dalai Lama, Mother Theresa–these leaders inspired millions with their strength, humility, and kindness. We all carry the exact same potential to change lives by being better, stronger, and kinder every day. Even if you inspire just one person, you’ve tapped into your personal power.

4. Remember kindness is contagious and addictive. Many times when you act with kindness it comes back to you. When it doesn’t, you’ll still feel blessed. Positive intentions–and their ripple effect on your self esteem and state of mind–are greater than any validation you could get from someone else.

Detach

Be open to everything yet attached to nothing.

If you realize that all things change, there is nothing you will try to hold on to. If you are not afraid of dying, there is nothing you cannot achieve.

- Lao Tzu

Between

A life between fantasy and reality is a pretty great place to be.

Thoughts

Your beliefs become your thoughts
Your thoughts become your words
Your words become your actions
Your actions become your habits
Your habits become your character
Your character become your destiny

- Ghandi

Fantasy

"I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living. It's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of the telescope. Which is what I do, which enables me to laugh at life's realities." - Dr. Suess

Gestation

ges·ta·tion

noun
1. The period of development in the uterus from conception until birth; pregnancy.
2. The conception and development of a plan or an idea in the mind.

3. the period of such a development; in humans it is about nine months.

Zen

I just started reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I have tried to read this book many times before, but was never able to stick with it. When I saw my boss with his copy, I decided that was incentive to pick it back up and give it another try (perhaps he and I can finally begin our bonding, a' la book club style).

The first chapter discusses the benefits of taking the back roads instead of the main thorough ways. It explains that people have the opportunity to really connect with each other, themselves, and nature when they take these winding, slower roads. It went so far as to suggest that varying your route to work or school everyday is a good way to experience this. Today I took a different route to work. As a result, I was ten minutes late and found myself experiencing a mild form of road rage because the other motorists on this less-traveled path were in no hurry to get to work.

Hmmm... isn't that the point?

Love

"Love is the condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own. " - Robert Heinlein