Our World Revisited

Target Practice

2011-02-13T02:08:00.000-08:00

                                          What is it that you believe in? What are the things you are certain of? These are the things in life that you go to as a source of inspiration, the things that serve a direct purpose in your life and give meaning to it above all other things. Whatever you believe is what you find to be true for you and possibly for others, but its residence is with you. You believe what you believe, right? However, the things you directly put out into the universe, such as what you believe as truth and become certain of, will be repelled or directly inverse by it. The things that are opposite of what you believe or the opposing view will automatically broadcasted before you. It will glare it you, sticking out like a soar thumb and impossible to ignore as flashing neon lights. Its just the way it is. Some people decide not to acquire any beliefs because of this reason of having to be somewhat defensive all the time or having to carry the possibility of debate upon their shoulders. Many times it takes much courage just to have your truth in your heart alone. However this is not because you are wrong and it doesn't mean that you should stop believing. Your beliefs become a target for the world around you because of three main reasons. First of all you are growing. Secondly, your mind is sensitive to and is constantly aware of the opposing view, making it easier for it to have its effect on you. Thirdly, you are going against the natural inclination to adapt or adjust to your atmosphere.
                                             When you were little you may recall having to get rid of your old set of teeth. Every other day it seemed like there was another one shaky enough to pull out and your parents even made a game of it saying that if you put your tooth under your pillow that the tooth fairy will take it and give you money in exchange. It was because the fact of growing, and sometimes its very process, is painful. Anything that dares not to be constrained by its confines has to push forth as a new tooth does through tender gums. It won't be easy to endure but it is expected, just as children are expected to experience loss of teeth at this stage in their lives. The target in your case is your beliefs and realizing that you are growing pushes you out of range.
                                              Believing in something or acquiring a particular truth can cause sensitivity to the existence of opposing beliefs. You become constantly aware of them and them and they seem to be ever before you. You must realize that believing means the absence of unbelief or doubt. Doubt and anything associated with it is the old pair of shoes. Now you have a new pair of shoes which is your belief and everyone knows that once you have a new pair of shoes you began to see those spots and stains on the old pair that you never really noticed before. The old shoes seem even more dirty and warn. Its just the same with believing. You begin to easily notice all the faults of the opposing view and sometimes it causes you to even desire more from what you believe in, giving way to your belief becoming a target by your own subconscious mind. However, knowledge is your strength, so knowing this pushes the target (which are your beliefs) out of range from any darts from others and from yourself.
                                            Beliefs have been apart of our society since the beginning of time and this will never change. However, what we believe in must coincide to what we know, see, hear, taste, smell. Basically it must be something we can wrap our heads around. If this is not true of what we believe, like for instance the belief in a God, we are going against our natural inclination to adapt to the society in which we live and this is mainly the reason why it is believed that there is no God for humanity seeks to create answers to his own questions. It isn't natural for us to believe that we are not in control of our own destiny. Hence the target. Again, knowing and being aware of the things that make your belief a direct target makes you out of range to being victimized or subject to the opposing views. You have to use your knowledge of the beliefs you have in order to keep them. Target practice dismissed.

Mastering You

2011-02-08T10:42:00.000-08:00

No matter who you are or where you come from, everyone has done something they wished they'd never done or said something they wish they'd never said. I know I have! There has been and will always be times where I will ask myself that all too familiar question: "Why did I do that?" Have you ever asked yourself that question? Do you find yourself asking it more often than you would like to? If you do it is not because you are a bad person. I repeat, it is NOT because you are a bad person. In fact your awareness of the situation proves that you are quite the opposite. The reason why we do things and say things or make any decision or choice is because of what we think. All actions start in the mind, you cannot do anything without the consent of your mind to do so. Even when its as automatic as eating, your mind has to give your body the consent to eat what is before you. You may be starving, your stomach may be growling, you may have a headache because you haven't eaten in weeks, but if your mind does not command your body to perform the action then you will not eat. So here is where responsibility comes into play my friend. The fact that your mind controls your entire body proves that there is no such thing as a slip of the tongue or the infamous "I wasn't thinking" statement. In fact you had to be thinking to even perform the action. Once this is realized we can move on to getting control of the mind that has for so long been in control of you.
Now that you know where your actions are originating from you are given the power to control them, even the actions most people say is very hard to control. How? By controlling what you think about. Thinking about negativity can only produce that which is negative. Thinking about positivity can only produce that which is positive. You must constantly fight to keep your mind focused on that which is lovely, good, just, pure, anything that you want to see more of in your own life. What you think is what you will become. You may not want to murder but if it is all you think about then you will eventually commit murder for murderers aren't born murderers. You must fight to think on the positive things of life in every situation or circumstance. The reason I say you must "fight" to do this is because it becomes a struggle each and every day we live to do this. With the increase of crime and poverty it seems impossible to only think of that which is positive. However, thinking positively is like exercising. Once you begin those first weeks you are always sore and tired and it seems like there is little change. Then once you keep exercising you start to see the extra energy, a pound shed here and there, a muscle or two, or even I clearer mind. Then you keep exercising and soon it becomes common place to have more energy, to look better, to feel better, and you can hardly remember the time when you hated to exercise. That's just how positive thinking is. At first you will feel unlike yourself, like you're out of your comfort zone. You will sometimes feel like you're just psyching yourself out. You must keep doing it! Keep thinking positively! Soon you will begin to say positive things, do positive things, and be the positive person you always wanted to be. You will be proud of yourself and so will others! You will then become the master of you!

The Hidden Power of Acceptance

2011-02-07T20:05:00.000-08:00

                                  When most people think about acceptance they think of "taking whatever is dished out", "tolerance", or " being a pushover", and to the most extreme "not having your own morals or ideas" There are many other negative connotations that has been given to the idea of acceptance. Before seeing the strength in something, a way of thinking, or an individual, the human eye is always trained to see the weaker side first...after all, everyone remembers every bad or embarrassing moment in a celebrity's life and sadly tend to forget the shining or career defining moments that made us love them to begin with. However, this common attribute can cost us to lose out on many life-changing opportunities, smarter choices, and satisfying relationships. In fact there is great power in acceptance, more power than expected!
                                    The first power that acceptance has is that everyone is looking for it! Its high in demand and very hard to find due to the misinterpretation of it.....just as money is sometimes misinterpreted and therefore scarce or seemingly hard to come by. The fact that acceptance is highly treasured among us human beings makes it a power within itself, and guess what? We all have it to give! We are all capable of accepting other people, point of views, walks of life, cultures, and preferences. There are far more reasons for exercising this power of acceptance than just our moral prospectives of it. One reason is that when something is high in demand and really hard to find, we will do anything for it, which can be a good thing or a bad thing. Looking from a positive point of view, acceptance can change people's lives for the better, turn around communities, get people to believe in themselves, and bring growth and success to anything and anyone. Think of flowers. Do we uproot them and place them on our living room rug and command them to grow? No! We accept that they need sunlight, water, and much nurturing in order to grow...in order to provide the outcome that is widely expected which is to be beautiful!
                                   The second power that acceptance has is that it is indefeasible! What a power! No one can ever be accepted whole hearted for who they are and not experience a positive outcome or a productive result! There is no negative affect of truly accepting someone and the lie that is widely believed is that if you accept someone they will hurt you, or if you accept something you never have before that it will deceive you. Basically it is deemed as being naive to accept or embrace. Therefore we live a closed life with a closed point of view and a closed future. When you realize that acceptance is the very first step to change, which is an attribute of growth, which is a characteristic of success, then can one truly believe. Belief is an exhibitor, not an inhibitor. Exercising your powers of acceptance can change any circumstance and any situation. Acceptance is also the first form of love and we all know that love conquers all.
                                    The third power that acceptance has is that it is contagious. If you don't think contagiousness is a power you can ask anyone who has ever had a virus! Accepting someone is a clear and sure way of having that person accept you, accept others, and spread the first form of love to everyone they know. Acceptance is like opening the door to the world. When you accept someone they must open their door too, and to receive acceptance from them, others will open their doors. Have you ever refused anyone who has come knocking at your door with a million dollars to give you? That's exactly how valuable acceptance is and many times the first instinct of humanity is to question. Even gifts are questioned for the motive at which they were given. Yet acceptance never relents! Its keeps knocking in an everlasting hope of a reply!

Someone's Treasure

2011-02-04T08:41:00.000-08:00

In life we are constantly changing. Situations change, circumstances change, even our bodies change. In the midst of these changes its easy to get caught up in our own thoughts and ideas about ourselves and where we are in life. We start forgetting that just as life demands change from us it also demands it from others. Just as you change, others change, and sometimes its for the better or for the worse. We as humans tend to think that what we see around us is all there is when really there's a whole world out there with people who are changing every minute. Do not think you're the exception, or things only happen to me, or "it's just my luck". What you may find bad about your life, others may admire and what you deem trash may in fact be someones treasure.
Thinking has a lot to do with the quality of your life. Its a skill that can work or not work out in your favor. Thinking and making conclusions based only on what you see can leave you living a life of ungratefulness, pain, and misery. You will never be satisfied and your relationships will suffer tremendously because of it. Just put it this way...for everything you don't have there is something that you do have. For every bad moment in life there is a good one. Your very existence could be someone elses reason for living. Sometimes its hard to consider this idea as being true when the human mind is so directly fixed on what is seen and its environment, but this is the beginning of life for if you find no purpose in living then are you truly alive? Start today by making a simple declaration that you won't let your mind trick you into being ungrateful and closed minded for there are many people in the world who didn't wake up this morning and here you are reading this great article! Enjoy the rest of your days and remember that your trash could be someones treasure!

Time Is Not Yours!

2011-02-03T11:26:00.000-08:00

Let's face it. Time is out of humanity's control. We try to device ways of keeping it tame, keeping it in line with our terms, we fight for it, and we seek it out yet somehow it always seems to slip from our grasp for even the most organized of people must fall subject to aging, the udefeated and undisputable entity of time known to man. However what is it about time that makes us freak out and have the urge to control it as best we can? Why does it make us frantic with worry? Perhaps its the fact that once its gone we can never get it back, or the fact that humanity has built his world around it. Oddly enough, the man who is so obsessed with time never seems to have enough of it. His world is always scattered, hectic and pressed for time. The rush of the day he never escapes, and his life is spent in the grasp of something he has absolutely no control over, his inevitable doom. However we look at time we must realize that among many other things time is not ours to control. The existence of memories is a direct argument supporting this fact for if we could go back to that place in time that we remember then we certainly would, whether to relive its happiness or undo its saddeness. Time is given to us no doubt but we must not focus on always obtaining it, or having it at our disposal. Its a gift. We must take it and do the best we can with what amount of it we have. We must not take it for granted or think that it is subject to our demands or our way of thinking it should be. When you do this you will more than likely find yourself spinning in a whirlwind of thoughts and ideas, emotions, deadlines, and quotas, and broken relationships with no way to ever get down. Take one day at a time. Do what you can now. Tomorrow belongs to time and is also something we do not own. The race isn't given to the fast or the swift but to the one who endures. Enduring can sometimes mean realizing the things you do and don't have control over.

A Ship In a Bottle Sets Sail

2011-02-01T10:21:00.000-08:00

There is a song written by Dave Matthews that I really love. It talks about a ship in bottle, a popular handcrafted model first originating in 1750 European monasteries. When you look at the figure it seems impossible that a handcrafted miniature ship would be able to fit through the opening of a bottle. Its also rather thought provoking, seeing as though ships are meant for sailing and is a means of transportation, but inside of a bottle, where can it go? How can it serve it's purpose? When I think about these questions I began to feel that humanity is alot like this ship in a bottle. We have so much purpose and so much potential, many things to offer beyond what we can see or imagine. Albert Einstein, the smartest man who ever lived only used 10% of his brain capacity, making one wonder what life would be like if we used ninety or one hundred percent! There's so many things we never knew existed until now and there is so much we have yet to know. We are ships. Each of set sail in this life not knowing the future or where we will be or even our next breath for life isn't promised to anyone. Sometimes we see the ship in a bottle as defeated, as the end. We even see our lives that way sometimes. We look around us and just because we are in this bottle called planet Earth, we feel there is no use in setting sail, in thinking beyond it, in hoping or believing for the future. Afterall, how can a ship inside of a bottle set sail?
I looked again and I noticed the fine details of the ship, the way it stood upright as if it was already afloat, as if it had somewhere to go, as if it was boldly denying its presence inside the bottle and was sure that wherever its captain wanted it to go it would get there. Hope. The meaning of your life is not determined by your circumstance, just like the purpose of this ship isn't determined by its presence inside of a bottle. Be a ship in a bottle, upright and bold, setting sail towards your destiny with certainty that you will get there. To that ship there is no bottle, and to that man there is nothing he cannot do.

Stop Financing Your Insecurities

2011-01-19T21:08:00.000-08:00

                             Its a universal thing. Everyone does it. Male, female, young, or old, we all have at some point put money into things that really just appealed to that voice in our head that's always shouting YOU NEED THIS! Do you really need another set of golf clubs? Do you even play golf? What about those skinny jeans you swore you would be able to get into by your next birthday? And those skis? You live in Miami, Florida for crying out loud! Everyone at some point has given in to the "I need this" voice before because it seems so loud and clear, almost as if it had taken on it's own identity. Sadly, for some people it has. What causes us to have this voice inside our heads that tell us we need something when we really don't? Where does it come from? Most importantly, what can we do about it?
                           The most basic method to the madness of insecurity is to first admit it. Sure the fact that you can't close your closet door doesn't mean you're insecure. Everyone has a suitcase full of makeup. I mean, isn't that what money is for? To buy things we "need" doesn't mean we're insecure. Unfortunately this is the lie that billions of businesses across the globe capitalize on. They need you to feel a certain way about yourself in order to keep their businesses thriving and to keep you as a lifetime customer. However, what is rarely thought of is the effect it has on the consumer. Most often when we purchase something we don't need it's out of insecurity (sorry to be blunt). Whether its how we appear to ourselves, or how we appear to others, insecurities drive a hard bargain in our economy, not to mention the media's constant promotion of what we have, what we don't have, what we look like, and what we don't look like. The media's top objective is programming us to feel and think a certain way about ourselves. How else will the economy stay afloat?
                         If you're like me, you realize the long term and short term effects of financing your insecurities. What can we do about it? You can never stop financing insecurities while they exist. To eliminate your insecurities you must retrace your steps and find out where you became out of control in your thinking. Where did you first lose sight of who you are without the things you have or without the things you desire? The real you is hidden underneath the rubbish of society's programming and this person doesn't need eighty pairs of shoes. This person is a unique individual with a unique design and purpose. This person has a lot to offer the world and it's simply because they are who they are, not because of what they have or what they look like. Hey you! Reader! I challenge you to find this person. There's a lot of catching up for you two.

The Trade Off

2011-01-06T10:14:00.000-08:00

Trading things was my favorite thing to do as a child. Sitting on the playground, my friends and I would trade things that we didn't want for things we did want from one another. It was simple! Everyone went away with something new...to us at least...and for us it was the perfect solution to our ever growing need for more toys and things to play with without our mother and father breaking the bank. I loved it. I remember getting some really nice things that in two weeks I thought was junk and traded for some more nice things. The truth is that life can be alot like that. We get the job we always wanted and then next year the work is too boring, our managers suck, and we're not getting paid enough. Then what? We trade. We get a new job that was somebody's old job. Its the same in everything else, relationships, friendships, material things,... etc. So what is the purpose of trading when you're just gonna feel the same way about what you get later on? What is the remedy to this instantly gratifying yet saddening rollercoaster, this game that is ageless and has no respect of person? Well the quite logical solution would be to trade something that you will never find unsatisfying, that will never lose it's value to you. What about joy, peace, and happiness? Can we ever get tired of these things? Can these things ever lose their value? So friend, my challenge to you today is to make the ultimate trade off. Trade you're sadness for joy. Trade your hopelessnees for hope, your battles for peace, and your selfishness for love and you'll never make another trade again!

Just Do It!

2011-01-02T12:46:00.000-08:00

                                  Choosing an outcome is easy! We do it everyday without thinking about it! We put our keys in the ignition of our car because the outcome we choose is to arrive at our destination! We take our kids to school because the outcome we choose is for them to have an education and a bright future!What about happiness? What about peace and joy? Everyone would choose these outcomes, but many times we misunderstand that choosing an outcome most likely means that you are choosing to perform an action first. Its crazy to think that you can go into a dark room and have light if you don't choose to flip on the light switch, right? So isn't crazy to think that you can be happy, have joy, and experience peace without acting upon it. You must choose an action and its so clear that its practically sitting on your nose. Just do it! Be happy!Be peaceful!Be joyful! Crazy theory, huh? Let's think of it in an more simple way.
                              Jason and Jimmy are identical twins. They do everything together and everyone Jason knows, Jimmy knows as well. The twin boys have loving and nurturing parents that provided them with an extraordinary childhood experience. The twins grew up and they both got married to the love of their lives and had three kids each! They finished college as well! In fact, they were both doctors! Jason lived next door to Jimmy, in the same country, in the same state, in the same town. Jason hated his life. It was filled with sadness. Being a doctor was so demanding. He had to go to work everyday and take care of sick people. His wife always wore pink and that was his least favorite color. His children always ran up to him when he came in the door, jumping all over him and hurting his back. To top it all off he also had a twin brother...someone else sharing his face! On the other hand, Jimmy loved his life! It was fantastic! Being a doctor was so rewarding! Everyday he got the chance to save lives! His wife was well, safe and sound. She always wore pink! His children always ran up to him when he cam in the door, jumping all over him because they loved him! To top it all off he also had a twin brother.....a friend for the rest of his life!
                                     What is the difference between Jason and Jimmy? Why did Jason hate his life and why did Jimmy love his life? Its because they chose to. So today, why don't you make the choice to have the outcome you've always dreamed of. Have happiness! Have peace, and joy! Just do it!

Making the Change We Want To See!

2011-01-01T02:52:00.000-08:00

Life is change! To live is to change! When a baby is born the mother must undergo a physical changing of her body. She must first experience the pain of childhood following her physical change and bring forth a precious life into the world. Thats just it! Sometimes changes must be made to bring forth something precious, something bigger than we ever expected in our lives. This change can most often be the hardest change we've ever made and sometimes the most painful! However, the more painful the change is, the bigger the outcome. Wanting things in our lives to be different is a natural desire. Its because we're alive, we are living, breathing creatures. Yet what is rarely understood is that we hold the key to the changes we want to see! With the ability to make choices we also hold the ability to shape our future and our destiny. We must make the change we want to see. How? I knew you would ask this so here is the way we make the change:

Elevate your thinking first!
Elevate your habits!
Elevate your life!

Making the change is hard. Its a choice and is definitely a sacrifice. Like childbirth there are stages and many uncomfortable changes to be experienced. However the outcome is far more precious than we ever expected and is well worth the change!

Our World Revisited

2010-12-28T16:42:00.000-08:00

Living in todays society can be hard with just one world. What I mean is that we all have an alterior world, a place we have created in our subconscious mind that is unlike the world we live in, possessing the complete qualities opposite of the world we call reality. Even if its just closing your eyes and day dreaming, you are exiting reality for a brief moment to breathe and regain a new and fresh look on reality once you return, and this is needed. What happens so often in life is that we live with one world, confined to the thoughts and perceptions of this one way of thinking, this one life, this one world when we would be replenished by realizing that with all the imperfections and anxieties of this life, another life must be born to counteract it, to undo what has been done subconsciously and redo it the way it should be, and the way it can be. When we open our minds to what can be instead of what actually is, events and situations are automatically signalled out and destined for change. Thinking positive thoughts, acquiring a good nature, all of these things come not from reality and not from the actual or logical. It comes from the second world, from our world revisited.