FOOD FOR THOUGHT - Meditation is Medication

Temple in the Sea, Waterloo, Trinidad

Meditation is medication. I heard myself say that one day as a slip of the tongue while doing The Work from Byron Katie's Loving What Is and it stuck with me.

On reflection, I understood how true it was - when I take my medication/do my meditation I feel solid and centred. Meditation seems to clear away the cobwebs, giving me a clearer frame of mind to face my challenges.

Byron Katie's statement made no sense at the time when I began The Work i.e. there's only ever one thing to do which in fact is the next action you take, even if it's cleaning up after someone at home or at work. Now it does

What you resist persists.

Think about it, you come home and there's a mess made by... and you refuse to clean it up. It's one of your gripes and everytime you see the mess you become more angry until it seems to take over your thoughts.

This is where meditation comes in. It's a perfect companion to The Work. Once you get yourself sorted you will see that it's not a big deal to clean up the mess and get it off your mind!

Meditation provides you with a solid foundation on which to ground your daily activities. Let it become part of your life. You will never regret those daily 5 - 15 minutes of calm. Try it.

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Anticipating Joy - Nourishment For The Soul

Food for thought to sup on at your leisure - it's about expectations and anticipating... joy.

I never consciously thought about it in the way Russell Bishop describes in his article however he is absolutely correct. When I think about things I don't want in my life anymore, I demand instant changes because I deserve it which in fact is a lie because if I really believed that I wouldn't be in the current situation nor would I have to insist.

It would be all natural and free flowing.

Of course I feel disappointed and frustrated hurrying up to wait when my expectations are not met, and that right there is the crux of the matter. Expectations lead to disappointment because joy doesn't come on demand.

We have to feel it inside.

Merriam-Webster dictionary defines JOY as the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires.

Bishop says that the anticipation of joy would be much more fulfilling (it's on its way to me) and not open to disappointment as in (I deserve it and why isn't it here) and that's where affirmations and visualization come in.

Here's an excerpt from Russell Bishop's article Soul Talk - Want More Joy in your Life? He describes affirmations and visualization as just one means of  moving the odds in your favour. An article not to be missed!

Anticipating Joy

It's pretty simple, really: Shift from expecting joy to anticipating joy. Besides the obviously-simplistic idea that this could be nothing more than semantics, there is actually a huge difference.

Expectations carry with them the sense of entitlement along with a demand for immediacy. "I expected" it is a way of saying I deserved it, and if you're expecting joy today, then not only are you running on the premise of you deserve it, but that you deserve it now and that the source of your joy comes from someone or something outside yourself.

Anticipation, however, carries with it a sense that the joy is coming and you just don't know when. "It's just around the corner" is a whole different mindset from "it damn well better be just around the corner."

The trick to anticipating joy is not that much different from that old Heinz catsup commercial put to Carly Simon's song "Anticipation" -- you just have to hang in there long enough for the joy to come out.

While you're waiting, you stay focused on how good it's going to "taste" when it finally does come out.

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Character Counts - Be Dependable and Keep Your Word

Dependability is the first foundation stone of good character.

People of character do what they say they will do, when they say they will do it, and according to agreed-upon conditions. They are the leaders, the individuals to whom others turn for guidance, because they have demonstrated that they care, that they can be trusted.

If you respect yourself enough to keep commitments even when it’s inconvenient to do so, others will come to respect you too.

Dependability, like any other character trait, is a habit. Begin today to develop the dependability habit. If you procrastinate or find it difficult to meet your commitments, start small. Promise yourself that you will be on time, for example, and manage your time so that you are. Soon you will find that it’s easier to keep other commitments as well.   Napoleon Hill

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LESSONS FROM MASTERS - Don't be Afraid to Learn, Knowledge is Weightless

Lessons from masters - I call the stories from Bob Proctor's Insight of the Day - words of wisdom learnt from experience and deserve to be shared.

Juggle Balls

Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air. You name them - work, family, health, friends and spirit and you're keeping all of these in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball.

If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls - family, health, friends and spirit are made of glass. If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged or even shattered. They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for balance in your life.

How?

* Don't undermine your worth by comparing yourself with others. It is because we are different that each of us is special.

* Don't set your goals by what other people deem important. Only you know what is best for you.

* Don't take for granted the things closest to your heart. Cling to them as you would your life, for without them, life is meaningles your fins.

* Don't let your life slip through your fingers by living in the past or for the future. By living your life one day at a time, you live ALL the days of your life.

Brian Lara Promenade, Trinidad-Tobago

* Don't give up when you still have something to give. Nothing is really over until the moment you stop trying.

* Don't be afraid to admit that you are less than perfect. It is this fragile thread that binds us each together.

* Don't be afraid to encounter risks. It is by taking chances that we learn how to be brave.

* Don't shut love out of your life by saying it's impossible to find. The quickest way to receive love is to give; the fastest way to lose love is to hold it too tightly; and the best way to keep love is to give it wings.

* Don't run through life so fast that you forget not only where you've been, but also where you are going.

* Don't forget that a person's greatest emotional need is to feel appreciated.

*Don't be afraid to learn. Knowledge is weightless, a treasure you can always carry easily.

* Don't use time or words carelessly. Neither can be retrieved. Life is not a race, but a journey to be savored each step of the way.

Brian Dyson

Former CEO of Coca-Cola Company. This was from a speech he gave at the Georgia Tech 172nd Commencement Address on September 6, 1996.

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Change how you think and your experience changes

The Law of Attraction is responding to your thought, not to your current reality. When you change the thought, your reality must follow suit.

If things are going well for you, then focusing upon what is happening now will cause the well-being to continue, but if there are things happening now that are not pleasing, you must find a way of taking your attention away from those unwanted things.

You have the ability to quickly change your patterns of thought, and eventually… your life experience.

Take 15 minutes daily, thinking of pleasant scenarios regarding your body, with the sole intent of enjoying your body and appreciating its strength and stamina and flexibility and beauty. 

When you visualize for the joy of visualizing rather than with the intention of correcting some deficiency, your thoughts are more pure and, therefore, more powerful. 

When you visualize to overcome something that is wrong, your thoughts are diluted with the "lackful" side of the equation. In time, your physical condition will acquiesce to your dominant thoughts.

Abraham

Excerpted from the book "Money and the Law of Attraction: Learning to Attract Health, Wealth and Happiness" #669

 

Read some more:

• Michael Bernard Beckwith: The Law Of Attraction: Does It Grant Us An Evolutionary Edge? (huffingtonpost.com)
• Five Ways to Bring Harmony and Prosperity (socyberty.com)
• For whom the law of attraction won't work. (using-spiritual-energy.blogspot.com)
• ~Abraham-Hicks~The Greatest Gift you can give to your child. (parenting-success.com)

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