Keeping centered

There are many situations and people in the world who may attempt to knock people out of balance. I think these are a tests to ensure we keep improving to stay in balance and be content and happy with who we are. They are situations and people who will continue to question one's actions or words, but again, I think these are tests for our self improvement and to really understand who we are and who we strive to be.

Encountering new people or new situations is a very exciting time with new opportunities to meet interesting people and learn from others. And sometimes we may have a person who we like but perhaps they may not feel the same towards you. And that's OK. Most likely there are 99% who like a person and then 1% who does not. But we focus on that 1% instead of appreciating the 99%. Who knows, perhaps the 1% can teach us the most?

It's an ever changing landscape and that is what makes each day unique and great to be alive!

All is well

When we look around at the good, we tend to see only good things and obviously the reverse of this statement is true as well. It seems that life would be far more enriching if we all choose to see the good is all situations versus identifying all that is bad in the situation. Like a new relationship, we tend to see only the good even though what we think is bad is there but we are only seeing good. Then over time, we start seeing and fixating on the bad. What happened to the good? It's still there, but we trained the mind to see things differently. We can train our mind to think whatever we want. Is everything easy and rosy? No, but we can take challenges and see this as a time to grow and learn and train our mind to see the good. The bottom line is that life is good and we create our own environments and circumstances by our thoughts.

Life is an adventure

Life is such an interesting and wonderful adventure. The more we go with the flow of life and let it just happen, the easier it is. What trips us up is when we start thinking about the past and worrying about the future instead of just living the now. When we think about the past, which we have NO control over since it's in the past and worry about the future almost creating a self fulfilling prophecy, we create resistance which creates the stress and the fear. What would happen if we had NO fear or stress in our lives? We would all be happy fearless beings. Can we have that? I say yes, it's all within each and every one's control. Now is that saying throw all caution to the wind? Heck no! But it means to enjoy the now, enjoy and be thankful for the life you have today and stop and smell the roses. Everybody has a huge list of things to be thankful for and once we concentrate on what we are truly thankful for, miraculous things continue to occur. We control our thoughts and our actions and nobody else. This is empowering! We are accountable for all that happens which means we can start being in control of all the great things we can all have! If something goes wrong, look at yourself and see how it was created and change it. Yep, it's that simple. Will the change occur overnight? Perhaps not, but it's like planting a seed, it will germinate, sprout and grow into a blossoming garden and if tended to correctly, will be free of weeds. A weed will sprout, but like any garden the key to a healthy one, is to routinely weed the garden and not let it become overgrown. So, watch your thoughts and actions and if there is a weed, pluck it and keep the healthy thoughts flourishing!

Who do you seek approval from?

It seems that most of us seek approval from somebody or something whether it's family, coworkers, society or other entity. We all crave acceptance and some folks may worry about what other people think of them. It seems the person that we need acceptance from the most, is only ourselves. When we truly accept ourselves then everybody's opinions is just that, their opinion. If you are happy with yourself and truly like and love who you are, you will always be safe and secure. Sometimes we can take what somebody says about us and perhaps learn from this and change our approach. We are always learning and growing as individuals and if we learn from all our experiences, then that is what it's all about. The ultimate goal for all of us is to truly accept ourselves and how can you test this to see how you feel? Perhaps look at yourself in the mirror and say it to yourself out loud. Is it easy to do or is it uncomfortable? That will tell you alot about how you think and feel. It seems that the people who are truly at peace are the ones who really love themselves and don't let other's opinions create fear, anxiety, worry, etc. Is that attainable for everybody? ABSOLUTELY!! It's just a matter if each of us want to change ourselves or not. We all have the ability to do so right now!! How empowering!

Being happy in any location

We all get nice and comfy in our familiar surroundings and thoroughly enjoy visiting other places since we are on vacation and enjoying life. Then there are times when we are required to leave our comfy surroundings and venture into unfamiliar territory. Sometimes we are down right excited and other times we are apprehensive. But there is beauty in every town with warm people, interestings tidbits, and fun things to do. Surroundings do not make a person happy or unhappy, it's the person that makes themselves happy or uphappy regardless of location. It is true that some places have more energy and excitement but many others have a calm and serene feel. It depends on one's mindset how they choose to look at their surroundings and see the positive. Focusing on the positive naturally enables us to look at the wonderful surroundings we live in and being grateful for such a wonderful environment. And the added bonus is always loving where you visit or if you have to move, loving your new town!

A saying that made me smile

I saw a saying yesterday that definitely brought a smile to my face that is definitely on target for some of us!

The saying was, " For peace of mind, resign as general manager of the universe." For me, I interpret that as many of trying to control all aspects of our lives which creates a bit of anxiety at times. Instead, it is much easier to relax and let things take their natural course. Now, we have some control over this course with our thoughts, words and actions, but instead of trying to rush the natural progression of things, just watch it unfold. It's our natural tendency to want to control, rush, lose patience, etc, but I think there is a different time clock out there for all of us and instead of resisting this time clock, just go with the flow and see what happens. Is this difficult to exercise patience? Yep!!! But just like any habit, you can break old ones and create new ones.

One little added tidbit, I appreciate it when I've heard that people have read my blog and it brought a smile to their face! So, thank you for reading it and hopefully you enjoyed it!!

The warmth of a fire

Talk about one of life's simple pleasures that brings about feelings of obviously warmth, but also of security, safety and an all is well feeling. A little fire whether it's built the old fashioned way with logs or simply the flick of switch and instant fire, it brings about those same feelings. It's like all of one's worries are vanished and life is really, really good! Sitting next to a fire, which I do often and receive great pleasure, is one of the best things accompanied by some good reading, a nice hot drink, listening to music, good conversation or just having in the background with a group of good friends or family. A what is great about the treasure of a fire is that for the most part it's inexpensive and still brings about the amazing feeling of calm, peace and happiness. Just another thing to appreciate in life!