My Favorite Day

Yes Man

Here’s a quick thought for today.

If I don’t have enough trust and respect in myself for “yes I can” to be my default response to myself when faced with a problem or situation, than at that moment I make it so I actually can’t.
It’s an instant self-fulfilling prophecy.

It’s the same principle at work that we see with abusive parents.
Children that are raised always hearing things like “you’re stupid,” “you won’t amount to anything,” and “you’ll never…” usually end up proving their parents right. And while it’s a sad fact, it’s something that happens because our brains our designed to make real that which it is fed.
Garbage in, garbage out. This isn’t some esoteric platitude. This is the way we have observed things to work.

How often do I tell myself “I can’t” throughout the course of a day?
What would happen if I told my friend “you can’t do that” as often as I told myself that?

I’m not just talking about big situations here either.
In fact, it’s even worse with the little situations. Suppose you were invited to go see a movie with some friends. If you didn’t want to go, your first response would probably be something along the lines of “I can’t.” In that moment you’re telling yourself that you don’t have enough control over your own life to even do a simple thing like go to the movies. That may not be the fact in reality, the but that is the reality you create at that moment.
And how can I expect to have enough confidence in myself with big situations and obstacles if I don’t even have enough confidence in myself to go to the movies?

Now obviously I’m not saying that you actually have to say yes to everything. That’s just ridiculous. It’s not about physically responding with a yes attitude. It’s about mentally responding with trust and confidence and respect in yourself.
Getting to a place where “yes I can” is a default response is not an easy thing. I certainly haven’t gotten there yet.
But I think I’ll find that once I start approaching everything, and I mean everything, from a situation with respect and confidence in myself, I’ll be challenged to start seeing and living my life very differently.
And just a word of warning: once you start doing this, you’re going to be forced to live your life a lot more honestly; with others and with yourself.

“Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t – you’re right.”

― Henry Ford

How to mute Spotify without pausing commercials

So today I’d like to share something a bit different…
But first, a small soap box.

I like Spotify. And I know many others out there also like Spotify. And although it has more social functions, more options, and more music, I will continue to use other services (such as Pandora) as my go-to streaming source for one simply reason – Spotify’s advertising practices.
You probably already know what I’m talking about. The ridiculously archaic and shitty way they force commercials on you.
Why, Spotify? No one else does this. Imagine a TV that, once a commercial came on, would not allow you to turn down the volume or switch channels, or mute the sound.
They have to know they’re not gaining any respect. And they’re only setting themselves up to be overtaken by a company that caters to their customers by only a slightly larger margin. Tell me this, Spotify. Do you really think catering to your advertisers and not your customers is the greatest long-term strategy?
This is the archaic and dying interruption-marketing paradigm rather than the new permission marketing model.

Anyway, today I thought I’d share with you a simply way to get around this. It’s not automatic, and it’s not the most streamlined process, but it works.
The one thing you will need for this is an app called SoundFlower.

So for all those of you who aren’t too computer savvy, here’s a walk thru of how to mute spottily without pausing commercials.

Keep in mind I am a mac user and so this is in regards to OSX Lion. Although I imagine it couldn’t be that much different on Windows.
Also, I don’t use Spotify on my mobile devices. So this is a workaround for when you’re sitting at your computer listening to music. Not while you’re on the go.

Most work arounds I’ve seen have needed scripting, and other such things that i’m not too familiar with. I know solutions like this can be pared with scripts and Quicksilver commands to make everything automatic and stuff, but this is mostly for those of you that want an easy solution without having to mess with apple scripts and downloading a bunch of other things.
I know there’s a really slick app called Smutefy that’s supposed to work really well too, but unfortunately it does not work with Lion.

If you have other sound devices, like an audio interface, apple TV, if you’re hooked up to a separate display… any of those will also work as a sound source to switch do during commercials.
I simply chose Soundflower because it was easy, and perhaps the only option for some.

If you found this helpful, feel free to share it with others who you think might find it helpful.

Hope this has helped to make your life a little bit more commercial free.

 

I want to see the world

Doubting Your Path

When seeking your path, or having recently started walking it, you will inevitably be faced with days of doubt and uncertainty.
I’m not here to say why this happens. I don’t know why.
But it does. And I think everyone has felt this in some way or another in their lifetime.

The good news is that it is temporary.
And I’m here to encourage you that all that self doubt and uncertainty is (usually) also bullshit.
Think back to the time you became aware of your grand mission – your path. Remember what it was that you felt, how you felt, and exactly what your vision or realization looked like.
Hold that in your mind. Not in a positive or negative way, but just hold it in your mind for a while. Don’t rush this part.

Now be aware of how it makes you feel. Does it still ring true with you? Does it still evoke the same responses that it did the first time? Chances are if you came to it in a pure and open way, it probably does.

If you need more reassurance, ask the Universe, God, your guides, or whatever for signs and answers. Ask for indications that you are on the right path. And don’t just ask, but also intend for yourself to realize whether you are on the path or not.

This is the easy part.
The hard part is letting go and letting the answers and affirmations come to you.
For some this is easy. For others, not so much.

The Universe can use an infinite amount of ways to send you messages. Let go of your anxiety, your thoughts, and all preconceived notions of how you expect to get an answer.
You may seek and ask as much as you’d like, but then watch, listen, be aware, be present. The universe has a very subtle way of speaking to you. And you will never receive the messages if you are too busy worrying, being stressed out, too busy, or insistent on “conventional” forms of communication.

Above all, know that whether you are seeking your path, doubting it, trying to find it, or even just enjoying your journey, that you are exactly where you need to be right now.
There is nowhere you need to be, and nothing you need to do, except what you are being and doing right now.
And wherever you end up, it will happen at a perfect time, and it will be at a perfect place.

An Astronaut’s Advice

 

original link: http://zenpencils.com/comic/106-chris-hadfield-an-astronauts-advice/

Be Like Water

I wanted to share something that I came across this morning. It really struck me, mostly because it reminded me that I’ve been getting away from this lately.
I hope it brings you back to center the same way it did with me.

A man who fears suffering is already suffering from what he fears.  – Michel de Montaigne

“The moment your mind takes control of your present state of consciousness and begins to think about worries and fears of the future, is the moment you have left behind your true state of consciousness. Ending your suffering means to end the mind’s illusion of a past or future.

This is the thought process the ego feeds and thrives on, but it’s not who you really are. It is whatever that is happening in this present moment, in the now, that we should be in harmony with. Live in the present moment, be aware of every second that ticks, and react to what is around you. This is what Bruce Lee, along with Tao and Buddhist practitioners mean when they say “be like water”. Water conforms or reacts with its immediate environment instantly, and yet as calm and timid as it may seem, it is more importantly the most efficient reaction.

As we live our daily lives, we might be able to smoothen our days by practicing to not label or judge things as they happen, just witness what’s happening and continue on your path accordingly. The moment you see a bird flyby and ask yourself what type of bird it is, you have escaped the present moment of experiencing the bird’s flyby, and you have ventured into a world of illusion, one of thought form where past and future is falsely exalted. Your path itself is an ongoing quest, unfolding itself to you after each moment that passes. Be in tune with the present moment and watch your life reach success with efficiency and contentment.”

original link: http://www.reddit.com/r/Buddhism/comments/1bmzs6/a_man_who_fears_suffering_is_already_suffering/

Doing

We all have goals.
Dreams we want to see come true. Realities we want to see fulfilled.

But when was the last time you actually did something to get there?

We get caught up in this trap of analysis, thinking that we’re actually getting somewhere.
And before we know it we’ve spent hours compiling our research, reading, surfing the web.

Now, obviously research and learning have their place. I’m not here to tell you these things are wrong.
But if you’re like me, you start to rely on it as a crutch, and perhaps (whether consciously or subconsciously) we use this as just another way to put off what really needs to be done.

We think, that if we only had this one thing…
Or maybe if we only could get some advice from this one person…
If we just had a little more knowledge…

But there’s absolutely nothing that’s going to help you.
No one’s going to hold your hand.
No one’s going to tell you what to do, or even how to do it.
No amount of research, compiling, reading, and other such activities are going to help you.
In the end, there is only one thing that makes you credible. One thing that counts toward your goals.

Doing.

You want to be a writer? Than you have to actually write.
You want to be a business owner? Than you actually have to start a business.
You want to loose weight? Than you actually have to do something to get there.

And there’s always something you can do. It may be tiny and maybe the only thing you can do at this point seems insignificant.
Maybe it seems downright stupid, or maybe you’re just scared.
Sometimes I’m scared of doing things even when I know my fears are irrational.

But you can do something. You can always do something.

To Be or Not To Be — Part II

This is a continuation from Part I.

I’ve been sharing some information I’ve recently been learning, and to which I’m now becoming fully aware.
This information is paraphrased from the Conversations with God books by Neale Donald Walsch.

A couple years ago I was searching for answers to major questions I had, and trying to decide what it was I really believed — about life and the universe as a whole.
As I really started to form my own thoughts and beliefs, I very “randomly” came across these books. And I discovered that these books captured very accurately, and put into very precise words and ideas what, up until then, I could only retain in my mind. For the first time I found words for my thoughts and was able to see my beliefs and questions all come together in a beautiful, cohesive Whole.

What I’m going to share today is just one aspect of the many things on which I’ve recently been able to gain a concrete knowingness.

We ended the last part with a question:
How can one “be” anything (happy, for example), if you are not having what you think you need in order to “be” that?

And the answer is: act as if you are.
You act the way you’d act if you just went straight into being instead of focusing on having something in order to get there.
Act out what you want to be and you will draw it to. Not only will you draw it to you but you will actually become that which you act.
You might simplify this idea with the phrase, “fake it till you make it.”

However, you can’t actually just be faking it. Sincerity is very important here. Not because the universe will “reward” or “punish” either way, but because natural law requires thought, word and action to be united in the Creative process for it to be effective. It stars with you actions, though. Do something long enough and eventually your mind will let go of its former thoughts about a thing (the thought keeping you from being sincere) and create a new thought about it. Once this happens, you start creating it as something that’s actually a part of you rather than something you’re just acting out.
Even your actions must be sincere, though. And if you cannot bring yourself to sincere actions, try taking the personal gain out of it.

In other words, whatever you choose for yourself, give to another.

If you choose to be happy, cause another to be happy.
If you choose to be prosperous, cause another to prosper.
If you choose more love in your life, cause another to have more love in theirs.
Do this sincerely. Not because you seek personal gain, but because you really want the other person to have that—and all the things you give away will come to you.

The very act of your giving something away causes you to experience that you have it to give away. And since you can’t give someone something you do not already have, your mind comes to a new conclusion, a new thought, about you. The new thought being that you must have this, or you could not be giving it away. This new thought then becomes your experience. You start “being” that. And once you start “being” a thing, you’ve engaged the gears of the most powerful creation machine in the universe — your Divine Self. Whatever you are being, you are creating.

The circle is complete, and you will create more and more of that in your life. It will be made manifest in your physical experience.

And always remember the element of sincerity. If you give to another as a contrivance or manipulation meant to get something to come to you, your mind knows this. You’ve just given it a signal that you do not now have this. And your thoughts are reproduced in physical form, that will be your experience. That is, you will continue to experience “not having it” — no matter what you do!

What’s more is that when someone sees that you are merely seeking to get something, that you have nothing, really, to offer, your giving will be an empty gesture. Seen for all the self-serving shallowness from which it springs.

The very thing you sought to attract, you will thus push away. But when you give something to another with a sincere heart, then you will discover that you have it to give. And that is a grand discovery.

 

To Be or Not To Be — Part I

Yes I know, I’m supposed to be posting every week.
But this one holds special importance to me, so I took a little more time with it. In fact, I’m splitting it into two parts! (the other I will publish a few days after this one)

This one will also be a bit different.
I’m going to share some information I’ve recently been learning, and to which I’m now becoming fully aware.
This information is paraphrased from the Conversations with God books by Neale Donald Walsch.

A couple years ago I was searching for answers to major questions I had, and trying to decide what it was I really believed — about life and the universe as a whole.
As I really started to form my own thoughts and beliefs, I very “randomly” came across these books. And I discovered that these books captured very accurately, and put into very precise words and ideas what, up until then, I could only retain in my mind. For the first time I found words for my thoughts and was able to see my beliefs and questions all come together in a beautiful, cohesive Whole.

What I’m going to share today is just one aspect of those many things on which I’ve recently been able to gain a concrete knowingness.

It’s called the Be-Do-Have paradigm, and most people have it reversed. Most people believe if they “have” a thing (more time, money, love—whatever), then they can finally “do” a thing (write a book, travel, undertake a relationship), which will allow them to “be” a thing (happy, peaceful, content, or in love).

What I’m starting to understand is that this is actually a reversal of the Be-Do-Have paradigm. “Havingness” does not actually produce “beingness.” It’s the other way around.
For example, if you want to “be happy,” you start by “doing” things from this place of being-happy-ness. Soon you’ll discover that what you are doing winds up bringing you the things you’ve always wanted to “have.”
To put this in practical terms: look at what it is you want to “have,” and ask yourself what you think you would “be” if you “had” that, then go straight to being.

In my own life, there have been plenty of times when I thought if I could only have a little more time, a little more money, or a little more love, then I’d be truly happy. I didn’t get the connection between “not being very happy” right now, and not having the time, money, or love I wanted. And the person who is “being” happy, has time to do everything that’s really important, all the money that’s needed, and enough love to last a lifetime.
They find everything they need to “be happy”… by “being happy” to begin with! Deciding ahead of time what they choose to be, and producing that in their experience.

Happiness is a state of mind. And like all states of mind, it reproduces itself in physical form.

When you come from “happiness,” you do certain things because you are happy. You don’t do things because they’ll make you happy.
When you come from “wisdom,” you do certain things because you are wise, not because you are trying to get to wisdom.
When you come from “love,” you do certain things because you are love. You don’t do things because you want to have love.

I hope you can see the reversal here. When you come from “being,” rather than seeking to “be.” You cannot “do” your way to “being.” Whether you are trying to “be” happy, be wise, be love, or be anything, you cannot “get there” by doing.

So how can one “be” happy to begin with, or “be” anything if they don’t have what they think they need in order to be that?

Well, my friends, the answer to that will come in part 2!