Inner Journey - Higher Awareness

[MajestyJo]

LAUGH!

"We don't laugh because we're happy, we're happy because we laugh."
-- William James

Why laugh?

Laughter nourishes the soul and triggers joy. It's a natural stress reliever. It stimulates the immune system and increases oxygen, stamina and our breathing capacity. Medical literature is full of reasons to laugh for the health of it.

Don't rely upon your funny friends, favorite sit-com or jokes to tickle your funny bone -- just laugh for the joy of it!

"Laughter is like the human body wagging its tail."
-- Anne Wilson Schaef

[MajestyJo]

STEP BY STEP

"The shortest way to do many things is to do only one thing at a time."
-- Sydney Smiles

When I get overwhelmed by the number of tasks on my to- do list, I remind myself that the only way to get anywhere is step by step. And I cover the most distance in the journey of my life when I take a moment to decide which step will bring the greatest rewards.

"Often he who does too much does too little."
-- Italian Proverb

"If you chase two rabbits, both will escape."
-- Source Unknown

[MajestyJo]

SMILE!

"Smile, it's free therapy."
-- Doug Horton

I've learned that if I put a smile on my face when I'm feeling down, my spirits will automatically lift. The body knows that a smile means happiness.

Knowing this doesn't mean I'm always willing to do it. Many times, I have absolutely refused to cheer myself up. Isn't that interesting!

It's a clue that sometimes the ego positively enjoys being miserable. It can be enlightening to explore the pay-offs we get from our black moods.

"Depend upon it that if a man talks of his misfortunes there is something in them that is not disagreeable to him; for where there is nothing but pure misery there is never any recourse to the mention of it."
-- Samuel Johnson

Become aware of your subconscious limitations, your character strengths, weaknesses and potentials, your life challenges, gifts, talents, and your deepest desires and aspirations.

[MajestyJo]

ARE YOU IN INTEGRITY?

"In order to live a rich life, everything about who you are must be one, in alignment, and in pure harmony."
-- Suze Orman

For clear and honest expression, our thoughts, speech and actions must all be congruent. We will not stand in our power if we are inadvertently sending mixed messages-if we say one thing and do another.

I found it helpful to consciously identify the values that matter most to me. With these values in mind, it's easier to ensure I'm living them.

"Honor your integrity and you will be repaid many times over with increased prosperity."
-- Sanaya Roman and Duane Packer

[MajestyJo]

COMMITMENTS TO SERVE

"Our deepest need is for the joy that comes with ...knowing we are of genuine use to others."
-- Eknath Easwaran

Holding an intention to be in service shapes our overall attitude towards life in many ways. For example, it brings a greater sensitivity and awareness of others, a commitment to harmlessness, a willingness to put others' needs before our own and a desire to be in harmony with all.

An attitude of service also involves a willingness to be served when we truly need support.

"... there is no such thing as just existing. Everything is in service to everything else. Existence is giving and receiving. A stone gives and receives no less than a saint."
-- Jacob Needleman

*** Do you feel an urge or calling in you to be or do more? Then honour it and open to more meaning and fulfillment by exploring your life purpose. Maybe it is time to do life instead of life doing you!

[MajestyJo]

STRUGGLING WITH A DECISION?

"You can conquer almost any fear if you will only make up your mind to do so. For remember, fear doesn't exist anywhere except in the mind."
-- Dale Carnegie

My anxiety level spiked the other day as I wrestled with whether to choose option A or option B. I was so afraid of making the wrong choice!

And then I remembered, with deep gratitude, Susan Jeffers' sage advice: There are no wrong decisions! Whatever we might choose in life will bring valuable experiences if we are open to receive them.

"Lighten up! Whatever happens as a result of your decision, you'll handle it!"
-- Susan Jeffers

[MajestyJo]

THINKING OF POVERTY OR WEALTH?

"Being poor is a frame of mind."
-- Mike Todd

What do you think of money?

Our beliefs create our reality. If you have struggled with money most of your adult life, chances are that something happened when you were young to create limiting beliefs around money and prosperity. Look back to your early years. What beliefs did your parents and other influential adults have about money? Chances are you're also carrying those beliefs. Are they serving you?

"The law of abundance is that everything replicates after its own kind. Like is attracted to like. If you want more wealth, concentrate of wealth; think thoughts of abundance and wealth."
-- Delfin Knowledge System

*** Tackle your financial challenges holistically!

[MajestyJo]

JUDGMENT CREATES

"If you judge people, you have no time to love them."
-- Mother Teresa

We know the power of thoughts to create. Consider, then, the impact of our judgments. When we judge someone critically, those judgments have the power to affect the one being judged, if they are open to our perceptions. This is the case even when we don't say what we're thinking.

For example, if I judge someone to be fat, and that individual perceives him or herself to be fat and is sensitive to the opinions of others, my thoughts will reinforce their 'fat' experience.

Being aware of the impact of our judgments helps us let go of our tendency to judge.

"There are three kinds of violence: one, through our deeds; two, through our words; and three, through our thoughts. ...The root of all violence is in the world of thoughts, and that is why training the mind is so important."
-- Eknath Easwaran

*** Restart building a new foundation for your life. Clear blocks and transform your life.

[MajestyJo]

GROWING THROUGH AWARENESS OF MONEY

"What is [the role of money] in the search for meaning? Is our relationship to it one of the chief factors that keeps us in our prison, or could it also be a tool for breaking out, for awakening to a life filled with intensity of purpose?"
-- Jacob Needleman

How do you relate to money?

Money is a powerful tool for growth. Pay sharp attention to your thoughts, emotions, reactions and actions where money is involved. Don't judge what you find; just be aware of what's going on. Your growing awareness will automatically support changes in your behaviour.

"What we're after in Prospering is nothing less than a major shift in consciousness-in the attitudes, beliefs, and ideas you have about yourself and your relationship to money."
-- Jerrold Mundis

[MajestyJo]

ATTACHMENT

"The soul that is attached to anything, however much good there may be in it, will not arrive at the liberty of divine union. For whether it be a strong wire rope or a slender and delicate thread that holds the bird, it matters not, if it really holds it fast; for until the cord be broken, the bird cannot fly."
-- Saint John of the Cross

"Attachment to spiritual things is... just as much an attachment as inordinate love of anything else."
-- Thomas Merton

"The tighter you squeeze, the less you have."
-- Zen Saying

Access your own inner wisdom by tapping into your subconscious and intuition. Release stress, blocks and negative emotions, and spark imagination and greater vision. Go deeper...

[MajestyJo]

MAKING LIFE OUR OWN

"Life is not lost by dying; life is lost minute by minute, day by dragging day, in all the thousand small uncaring ways."
-- Stephen Vincent Benet

What's needed for a new relationship with time and life?

Intention -- Get really clear about what you want.

Desire -- How much do you want something new for yourself? Know your motivation. Desire brings the energy for change.

Belief and/or willingness to trust you can have what you want. If belief is lacking, can you believe in the possibility that you can find a new way of living?

Perseverance, discipline -- It takes time and effort to change attitudes and habits. We can't expect a new life overnight.

Acceptance, both of what's happening now and of who we are. Until we honestly and openly accept our present situation, we cannot change it.

A willingness to try something new.

"It is so easy to waste our lives: our days, our hours, our minutes. ... It is so easy to exist instead of live. Unless you know there is a clock ticking. So many of us changed our lives when we heard a biological clock and decided to have kids. But that sound is a murmur compared to the tolling of mortality."
-- Anna Quindlen

[MajestyJo]

THE EYES OF THE SOUL

Today, we want to share a passage from Martia Nelson's book, 'Coming Home':
"My greatest teacher was the experience of living in split realities: personality and true self. Personality is our daily companion, our conscious self that sees the world through the eyes of limitation and dutifully keeps us informed about what we can and cannot do. True self, on the other hand, patiently stands by, offering the unwavering knowledge that a state of vibrant well- being and unlimited possibility is our true nature, a birthright that can be lived if we choose to do so. ... True self simply refers to the aspect of our being that is completely aware of its expanded nature no matter what we may be experiencing at the time."

Whenever we feel constrained, fearful, unworthy, inadequate or anything we deem to be negative, we have identified with our personality. We can always choose to view the same situation from the perspective of our soul.

"As a Witness, you begin to discover that you are not that which you have been observing; you are not those things that you have been noticing about your body. Instead, you are the noticer."
-- Wayne Dyer

Is your spiritual development important to you?

[MajestyJo]

QUESTIONS THAT AREN'T HELPFUL

"We accept many notions because they seem to be the logical answers to our questions. But have we asked the right questions?"
-- Harold L. Klawans

Sometimes we ask questions for which we really don't want the answer! Nonetheless, when we ask a question, our subconscious minds will get to work to answer us.

Here are some examples of questions we want to avoid:

What's wrong with me?
How long could this take?
What could go wrong?
How much trouble could it be?
How hard could it be?
Asking questions can be empowering - as long as they're smart questions!

"The uncreative mind can spot wrong answers, but it takes a very creative mind to spot wrong questions."
-- Anthony Jay

[MajestyJo]

TIME FOR STILLNESS

"We're so engaged in doing things to achieve purposes of outer value that we forget that the inner value, the rapture that is associated with being alive, is what it's all about."
-- Joseph Campbell

The sages all say that the path to liberation is found in entering the stillness within. To experience that stillness, we need to be willing to regularly stop the activity for a while.

How do we do this in a busy life? We set our priorities. Perhaps it means giving up a TV program or using a coffee break to grab a few moments of solitude. Perhaps we have to ask our partner, relative or neighbour to give us 30 minutes of time away from the kids. If we really want something, we can make it happen.

"Learn to pause... or nothing worthwhile will catch up to you."
-- Doug King

*** Step by step, progressively learn basic meditation methods to relax, concentrate, focus, reflect, contemplate and illuminate. Learn to meditate with new exercises weekly.

[MajestyJo]

ACCEPTING REALITY

"...self-contempt never inspires lasting change."
-- Jane R. Hirschmann and Carol H. Munter

I can suck myself down into a deep, black hole when I focus on what I think I SHOULD be... more loving, sexy, productive, whatever. Thinking I should be something else means I'm not good enough now. This is poverty thinking and a guaranteed way to be miserable.

I can let go of this suffering by accepting WHAT IS. I can say, "This is how I am right now and that's okay."

When I first tried this, I could say it but not believe it. Then I began to experience the freedom this perspective brings - just by changing my mind! Now I'm beginning to believe it. What a gift!

"When we stop opposing reality, action becomes simple, fluid, kind, and fearless."
-- Byron Katie

Become aware of your subconscious limitations, your character strengths, weaknesses and potentials, your life challenges, gifts, talents, and your deepest desires and aspirations.