This is a great article about putting things into perspective
in your life...
Counting Your Lucky Stars
Have you noticed how easy it is to forget the important things
in life?
It's easy to get caught up on trivial matters or get into
flustering over what else must get done.
But learning to live a holistic lifestyle almost certainly
involves - at some point or other - a slowing down of life and
a taking stock. When this happened to me there was one thing at
the crux.
At the crux was a new understanding of how I interacted with
the world. I began to understand something about my own energy
- something I didn't understand before.
What do I mean?
What I mean is I became aware of when and how I lose and gain
energy and how to tune the body system to become sensitive to
situations so I could be at my most efficient, more of the
time.
As we come to know our own energy our awareness grows. We note
that some people and some situations drain us while others lift
our spirits. When this happens, we can begin to alter life in a
way that lightens our burden. This in turn means more pleasure
and less pain and frustration. We can also become sensitive to
the moment when energy drops in a conversation or meeting and
know that it's either time to leave, protect yourself or
transform the energy.
There are three elements to this:
1. Being aware of your own energy
2. Being sensitive to changes in your energy
3. Knowing how to change it
The first step is about knowing how you feel. Do you feel flat
or abundant in energy or somewhere in between? If you feel
abundant, then great, if you feel flat then you need to raise
your energy (see the tips - below).
If your energy feels good and then you notice tiredness coming
over you for no apparent reason, then you've probably maxed out
in a situation (unless it's midnight or you had a late night).
In which case it's time to change things.
For step three see the tips.
Of course, there are always situations that test us. My father
has just been taken into hospital with cancer. The question I'm
asking is how can I help, but not be effected by a situation
like this.
Maybe the answer is to imagine myself in a pink bubble. Maybe
it's to thank my lucky stars I'm not on the hospital ward.
Maybe it's bringing a smile to people's faces in the beds.
Maybe it's just sitting next to my father and appreciating some
wonderful moments. Maybe it's all of the above.
When it comes down to it, work and money and the stuff money
buys are all nice, yet they're trivial in comparison to human
life.
Simple tips for raising your quickly:
1. Take a dozen really good deep breaths.
2. Get some fresh air
3. Listen to your favourite piece of music
4. Dance
5. Make your excuses - leave if necessary
6. What else do you enjoy doing? Make a list and use it to
raise your energy when you need to.
With love and good wishes
Neil
About The Author: This article was written by Neil Fellowes of
CommunitySoul. If you enjoyed this, you'll his weekly
newsletter about living a holistic, sustainable and purposeful
life. http://www.communitysoul.co.uk
Friday, June 29, 2007
Friday, June 15, 2007
Living Your Purpose
In the popular press these days, a dominant theme is about
living your purpose. The articles usually ask "Are you
passionate about what you're doing earning an income?" One
thing about living your purpose or your passion for that matter
is that living your purpose can really get ugly at times.
When you live a life on purpose you might appear selfish to the
people around you. That's because purpose is about unleashing
the quiet giant inside of you. That giant wants to give to the
world something that tends to be larger than life. The famous
comic book writer Stan Lee said "With Great Power Comes Great
Responsibility"
You have to have an immense amount of love inside yourself to
let your purpose come to life. When you peek at your purpose,
you know that it must happen. It's a glimmer that sparks all
great businesses, big and small. You are passing through you,
the gift that was lovingly implanted in you at conception from
the glorious universe. But you live in the everyday mundane
world of hard cold realities.
All around you, you'll find well meaning people who say they
absolutely support you living your purpose. (As long as they
aren't inconvenienced by it.) Nobody tells you a purpose has a
lifecycle to it. Only other people living their purpose know
this cycle. But they even have a hard time articulating it.
They will share the glory side of it and that there is no
better way to live. But they won't share the phases.
Here is the hard reality I have uncovered. There is a
germination phase, the assimilation phase, the achievement
phase and maturity. Here's the real kicker, until you reach the
third phase, you can face a lot of emotional and economic
hardship. You may find that no one who knows you, will really
understand you. So let me ask again "do you want to live a life
of purpose?"
I don't want to scare you out of living a life of purpose.
Quite the opposite, once you enter the world of living on
purpose it is a Pandora's Box that can't be closed. You are a
child learning to walk with everyone around you saying with a
big smile (yeah right) "you can do it" while they sit on your
shoulders or kick your feet out from under you any chance they
can.
If you decide to create a small business from your passion you
might hear a cacophony of remarks; "It can't be done", "just
get a real job already" or "you can do it in your spare time".
These torments only make you more determined to stand up,
waddle and run. Because walking your purpose becomes the only
thing controlling your existence!
So ask yourself, if you had no income coming in, would you
still be doing the kind of work you are doing right now? Would
you be able to endure everyone around you saying you are crazy
doing what you're doing because at this moment they may see no
income? Would you spend all you emotional energy and risk all
your financial resources to live your purpose not knowing for
certain a positive outcome? When you're on purpose there is no
other choice and that's why others may not understand you. Talk
to any successful business owner they'll tell you "Welcome to
the world of small business."
Most people are working in a job that provides a suitable
income and false safety. Yes, that's right suitable income. I
specifically did not say sustainable. As soon as a JOB
disappears the income stops. Suitable income is such that you
have enough to pay the bills that you can't really afford. A
sustainable income occurs even when you're sleeping.
What anyone who is living a life of purpose will tell you is
that they can't imagine doing anything else. The amount of
energy they put into their purpose creates a passion that
creates even more energy. There is no working on purpose; it is
only living on purpose. You get so much more than you give.
"Purpose livers" will also tell you that the money takes care
of itself. It does, once you abandon yourself to a "knowing"
that everything will be OK and you dedicate yourself to
accepting all your purpose has to offer. During the
assimilation phase is when you begin to realize how to
communicate your passion to others so they finally understand
how your passion is about helping the world at large not a
selfish lust for something.
When you reach the achievement phase of purpose, you may
discover a sense of silliness and peaceful knowing that life
has so much that's wonderful. A clarity falls into place and
the tragedies of life are shaping tools that make life more
humane. For those on the path, there is a cycle. All too often,
the mature phase can introduce disharmony. But that too is part
of the cycle to enter an even higher purpose with greater
impact. The highest purpose is after all found when our life's
activities outlive our life. And that all the lives we touched
through our purpose are greatly enriched because we took a
brief moment in history to love the sleeping giant within
enough to teach it to walk, run and fly.
About The Author: Michael Spindelman lives in Western New York,
an Engineer from RIT, writer, trainer, mentor, 6 Sigma Champion
with nearly 30 yrs experience in business development as a sr.
exec and is a mature serial entrepreneur. More about living
your purpose at: http://www.eventronics.com/CEOSecretWeb
living your purpose. The articles usually ask "Are you
passionate about what you're doing earning an income?" One
thing about living your purpose or your passion for that matter
is that living your purpose can really get ugly at times.
When you live a life on purpose you might appear selfish to the
people around you. That's because purpose is about unleashing
the quiet giant inside of you. That giant wants to give to the
world something that tends to be larger than life. The famous
comic book writer Stan Lee said "With Great Power Comes Great
Responsibility"
You have to have an immense amount of love inside yourself to
let your purpose come to life. When you peek at your purpose,
you know that it must happen. It's a glimmer that sparks all
great businesses, big and small. You are passing through you,
the gift that was lovingly implanted in you at conception from
the glorious universe. But you live in the everyday mundane
world of hard cold realities.
All around you, you'll find well meaning people who say they
absolutely support you living your purpose. (As long as they
aren't inconvenienced by it.) Nobody tells you a purpose has a
lifecycle to it. Only other people living their purpose know
this cycle. But they even have a hard time articulating it.
They will share the glory side of it and that there is no
better way to live. But they won't share the phases.
Here is the hard reality I have uncovered. There is a
germination phase, the assimilation phase, the achievement
phase and maturity. Here's the real kicker, until you reach the
third phase, you can face a lot of emotional and economic
hardship. You may find that no one who knows you, will really
understand you. So let me ask again "do you want to live a life
of purpose?"
I don't want to scare you out of living a life of purpose.
Quite the opposite, once you enter the world of living on
purpose it is a Pandora's Box that can't be closed. You are a
child learning to walk with everyone around you saying with a
big smile (yeah right) "you can do it" while they sit on your
shoulders or kick your feet out from under you any chance they
can.
If you decide to create a small business from your passion you
might hear a cacophony of remarks; "It can't be done", "just
get a real job already" or "you can do it in your spare time".
These torments only make you more determined to stand up,
waddle and run. Because walking your purpose becomes the only
thing controlling your existence!
So ask yourself, if you had no income coming in, would you
still be doing the kind of work you are doing right now? Would
you be able to endure everyone around you saying you are crazy
doing what you're doing because at this moment they may see no
income? Would you spend all you emotional energy and risk all
your financial resources to live your purpose not knowing for
certain a positive outcome? When you're on purpose there is no
other choice and that's why others may not understand you. Talk
to any successful business owner they'll tell you "Welcome to
the world of small business."
Most people are working in a job that provides a suitable
income and false safety. Yes, that's right suitable income. I
specifically did not say sustainable. As soon as a JOB
disappears the income stops. Suitable income is such that you
have enough to pay the bills that you can't really afford. A
sustainable income occurs even when you're sleeping.
What anyone who is living a life of purpose will tell you is
that they can't imagine doing anything else. The amount of
energy they put into their purpose creates a passion that
creates even more energy. There is no working on purpose; it is
only living on purpose. You get so much more than you give.
"Purpose livers" will also tell you that the money takes care
of itself. It does, once you abandon yourself to a "knowing"
that everything will be OK and you dedicate yourself to
accepting all your purpose has to offer. During the
assimilation phase is when you begin to realize how to
communicate your passion to others so they finally understand
how your passion is about helping the world at large not a
selfish lust for something.
When you reach the achievement phase of purpose, you may
discover a sense of silliness and peaceful knowing that life
has so much that's wonderful. A clarity falls into place and
the tragedies of life are shaping tools that make life more
humane. For those on the path, there is a cycle. All too often,
the mature phase can introduce disharmony. But that too is part
of the cycle to enter an even higher purpose with greater
impact. The highest purpose is after all found when our life's
activities outlive our life. And that all the lives we touched
through our purpose are greatly enriched because we took a
brief moment in history to love the sleeping giant within
enough to teach it to walk, run and fly.
About The Author: Michael Spindelman lives in Western New York,
an Engineer from RIT, writer, trainer, mentor, 6 Sigma Champion
with nearly 30 yrs experience in business development as a sr.
exec and is a mature serial entrepreneur. More about living
your purpose at: http://www.eventronics.com/CEOSecretWeb
Sunday, May 13, 2007
50 and Living It
50 and living it is intended to be a light-hearted look at life after 50. I'm sure you have heard that life begins at 50 and I think we need to share the good aspects of this milestone with each other.
Many yearn to be younger again, but think back to all the hard times you have endured and smile, secure in the knowledge that you have made it to this great stage in your life!
It's time to start enjoying life. 50 and living it is about sharing our experiences and providing encouragement to those that have yet to reach this plateau.
Share with us your dreams, laughs and other wonderful stories that are...
50 and living it!
Thanks for sharing,
David
Many yearn to be younger again, but think back to all the hard times you have endured and smile, secure in the knowledge that you have made it to this great stage in your life!
It's time to start enjoying life. 50 and living it is about sharing our experiences and providing encouragement to those that have yet to reach this plateau.
Share with us your dreams, laughs and other wonderful stories that are...
50 and living it!
Thanks for sharing,
David
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