Now You Can Find Peace Of Mind And Meaning

There is my inside me and my outside me. Sometimes they seem to conflict horribly. It’s such a pain. My inside me is striving for a life of meaning and purpose, contentment and existential challenges. My outside me is paying bills, buying a new car and renovating the house. It seems lately that my outside me is controlling my inside me. I’m talking about being on a stress and consumer treadmill.

Sometimes I would love to give this all up and live simply in some country, pondering life, meditating, setting up a small foundation, walking the beach and discovering more wisdom and raison d’être.

What is stopping me? There will be no perfect time. I will just have to walk off the cliff one day and take a leap of faith.

An excellent start would be to start meditating again. Meditating helped me clear my mind, find my breath and increase a wonderful sense of inner peace. I was becoming good at living in the moment and appreciating the little things in life.

It’s a small step that has huge benefits. So the inside me is hopping off the stress and consumer treadmill I’ve found lately.

The other day I went for a mid afternoon stroll with one of the dogs in the small forest nearby. It was absolutely beautiful. The smell of earth and trees assailed my senses and it reminded me of those wonderful carefree summers as a kid. The sunlight splashed against vibrant and luminous green leaves. Small forest creatures darted amongst the plants and trees. I was perfectly in the moment throughout the entire walk. My inside me and outside me were in unspoiled harmony.

It’s too easy to fall out of good habits.

I want more of peace of mind and Mother Nature. Screw the treadmill.

Don’t you?

Back In The Saddle

Just got back from vacation in Ogunquit, Maine. Had a great time. Lots of beach time, wonderful meals and a couple bottles of wine.

I’ll be back writing some blog posts this week. All the posts here are written by me. I’m really into living in the present moment these days. I’ve focused on awareness of “now” and trying to let go of thinking about the past or present. I find living in the moment probably the best thing I’ve discovered in a long time. I find myself almost in a state of quiet meditation more often which is a much more accepting and peaceful way to live.

I also would like to touch on my own life changes, specifically around getting in shape and becoming financially independent. I might even let you see how I’m doing in my own life changes and post my tracker statistics for you to follow. That would be fun. I think.

I hope you subscribe to my RSS feed, and follow me. The more people I’m accountable to the better.

I think.

A Simple Strategy To Start Meditating Right Now

Here is a simple strategy to begin meditating tomorrow morning. Meditation isn’t some mystical journey whereas you are required to become a Zen or Buddhist master. Meditation is simply staying in one place quietly, eventually learning to be in the present moment until it becomes natural.

Living in the present moment is the beginning to ending the mindless clatter and worries that are constantly bombarding you. Meditation teaches you to ignore self destructive thoughts and become at peace with ones selves, warts and all.

My meditation techniques are based on the practices of Pema Chodron .

Find a quiet room away from your bedroom. Sit upright, hands on lap, legs crossed and focus on a spot 4 to 5 feet in front of you.  Concentrate on your outer breath as a way of focusing the mind. When a thought arises, label it as “thinking” and go back to concentrating on your outer breath.  Let your thoughts go over and over again by labeling them as thinking. Continue to relax and allow whatever thoughts to arise without labeling them good or bad. Return to your outer breath.

Try to perform this exercise 15 minutes a day to start. After a while you will notice that you can return to the present moment much easier. This is one of the best ways to reduce the stress caused by over thinking and worrying.

You are the master of your life.

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How I Am Getting Happier While Becoming Wealthy

Do you really want to be Happy and Wealthy?

Do you really want to take the first the first steps towards making big life changes? Do you think about a life of riches and joy but find that years pass by and nothing changes? Most people I know that are in debt, overweight, lonely or hate their jobs, don’t take any steps to make life changes. What they are talented at is bitching, complaining, avoiding and blaming everything and everyone else for their frustrating lives. They allow their egos to rule their lives and won’t even make small financial changes like investing in the company retirement plan. Instead they find themselves night after night staring at the TV. I can’t help these people. They are living in a self imposed world and are pretty much unconscious zombies plodding along day after day. The truth is that life is right outside our door. Is it a nice day outside? Why not go out and take a walk with your brain and begin to think and plan a life of meaning purpose and joy. Or just keep complaining. It’s always your choice. Maybe you like being a zombie?

Do I want to be wealthy?

Of course I want to be wealthy? Why would I not want to be? Would I live in a small shack in the woods, if I can have a modern home overlooking the beach? Of course not. I also like my iphone. I like technology. If it weren’t for technology I wouldn’t be writing this and posting it in a few minutes for you to read. But when I step out onto the deck of my new beach house I don’t want to stress about bills, cutting the lawn or any of that crap. Or else what is the point? My point here is that no matter how wealthy you are (even if you are a billionaire), if you don’t have peace of mind than you truly aren’t enjoying life to its fullest. So living a life that allows ourselves to be fully present to life’s natural wonders, from the tiniest flowers, a spectacular water fall, or even dinner with friends is what truly counts. Believe me. And every time you step away from the present moment you step away from life. So being wealthy is fabulous but learning to be fully present with the world is much, much more important. It is the most important habit to learn during your time here on earth.

How do I get to be happy and wealthy?

Here is what you have to think about. Happiness comes from living in the moment. How can you be happy not living in the moment? How can you be truly happy thinking about the future or reliving the past? As you think about the future or past, your real life, or you may call it your present life, is passing you by. You just lost a few moments of your life. Life truly starts right now. Sink into the now and you will experience an enlightenment you never thought possible. Just go take a walk and pay attention to the ground under your feet. Feel the sun. Inhale nature’s scents. Don’t think, just be. This way of thinking will open many new doors to you including a world of wealth if you decide that is your goal. You become more focuses, calm, creative and content, clearing your mind for bigger and better things. I can’t explain it better than that. Now it is your choice. Continue down the same path or feel everything life has to offer you each and every moment. Which path did you choose?

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How To Break A Bad Habit

What I have found works best for me is taken from the saying – out of sight, out of mind. I also find it important to remember that a good habit (or ridding an old habit) usually takes about thirty days to take hold. So don’t fret so much about using sheer willpower, concentrate on the thirty day time period and take pride in your accomplishments as each day passes.

It is also important not to try and break too many bad habits at the same time. Pick a couple of habits, set some goals, write them down and track them.

Breaking bad eating habits

The simplest way to avoid eating unhealthy foods is to not keep unhealthy foods in the house. Next time you go grocery shopping don’t buy those cookies, cakes or whatever food which adds unhealthy calories to you. I usually zip down the cookie isle, ignoring them as they call my name.

Breaking bad money habits.

There are plenty of people who have no willpower if money is readily available. These days it’s far too easy to extract money from an ATM machine. So what do you do? Hide it. What I mean is lock it away in a 401K plan or RRSP. That way it is much harder to get at it and you will pay penalties for early withdrawal. Once again like the unhealthy foods - out of sight out of mind. Just make your money extremely difficult to access. You will also find that you end up paying yourself first instead of everyone else.

Breaking the worry habit

Worrying about something usually take us away from the present moment. And the present moment is always the most important moment in our lives. Once we lose the present moment we stop experiencing life at its best. Living in the now means enjoying life to its fullest, letting go of the past, letting go of past conditioning and being our most authentic self. So bring yourself to experience the immediacy of each moment in life and let go of your worries. Come back to the now of yourself as much as possible. You will discover a whole new world around you.

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Happiness and Awareness

We are not always aware of the world around us because our thoughts, feelings, and behaviours usually highjack our awareness. Once we overly identify with our thoughts, feelings, and behaviours we usually lose our awareness of ourselves and the world around us. Being aware means stepping out of this destructive cycle and realizing our true or greater nature. Our true nature is bigger than this. Stepping out of an emotional cycle creates a vast space in our mind, where we can experience our true selves and not the self created from our emotions. For example, “I am angry” turns into “I am experiencing anger.” Once we recognize this we can usually step away from any emotion and it eventually recedes instead of strengthening. Being aware (or living in the now) is a pure form of consciousness that can be particularly joyful and free ,which then eliminates our temptation to use past conditioning , blaming, or other negative behaviours that will most likely be destructive.

So happiness doesn’t always begin with a simple switch of attitude. Happiness begins with the realization that we can step away from the turbulence of the mind and just soak in the now with every fiber of our body. Staying in the now elevates us to experience this world as we were truly meant to as human beings. Staying in the now or being aware makes something as simple as a walk in the park a truly joyful experience. We feel the grass under foot, the sunshine warming our skin and the scent of flowers as we are meant to experience. It is actually a very simple concept and free to experience every moment of our lives. So wake up and look around you. You are not your emotions, thoughts or conditioning. You are free. Free to embrace each and every moment as you choose to.

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