Where does it come from?

To have what you've never had you must do what you've never done.  You don't always get what you want out of life, but you generally get what you expect.  If you exert effort to learn things, you likely anticipate benefits, results, a desire for change, or some kind of reflection of what you put in.  If you don't reap rewards, you may feel like you're missing out or doing something wrong.  When you sense your choices make a positive difference, you gain confidence in the choices.  If you make no effort to learn about 'why' you do things, you can't expect your life to change.

Consider who teaches you, what you are choosing to learn or to discard as unimportant details.  Consider your lifestyle choices as a reflection of your values.  What you buy says a lot about your taste preferences, what beliefs or lifestyles you support and how you feel about all the industries, politics and economic systems that keep these products available and affordable at your level.

Think about where you live and the local climate.  If you live in a place where it snows, remind yourself how fresh fruits and vegetables are grown far away and transported in trucks, planes or ships to where you are. Anything not produced where you are comes with cost to society which goes beyond simply financial.  Modes of transport need gas to function, roads or runways or ports to be built to process the incoming cargo.  Gas-production and gas-propelled transport create pollution and environmental problems.  Economies of countries that grow and produce what you eat, at least in the off-season, may be paid less than what you would pay local people to grow similar produce. Buying products at lower prices from offshore may put local people out of work.

If you choose to be a strict vegetarian because you feel eating animals goes against your principals, it would be inconsistent to wear clothing or use other items made from animal products.  Yet, some people say one thing and hypocritically do others. 

Step back and follow the thread that connects your beliefs with your choices.  Are you buying things which are consistent with how you feel about what you've learned about the world? You may be willing to spend more money for bio-degradable products because you care about the environment, yet do you also recycle and do what you can to help the environment in other ways? Learn the origins of things and take the time to learn why you think and act as you do.

Be an Explorer

To devise and develop new ideas, you need information to draw from; feelings and experience.  How do you obtain emotional knowledge? You can search in the same old places.  You can speak withe same people you always have.  You can re-read books you have read before. Yet, you're much more likely to find original gems if you head 'off the beaten path.'  Take a chance.  Step outside your area of expertise.  Reach out to meet people. You'll make new kinds of discoveries.  You can apply what you learn to other areas of your life. 

A resourceful explorer has the attitude that answers to your dilemmas are always available.  It's simply a matter of taking steps to investigate, perceive differently and find what you need.  Open your mind to people, places and things that have no apparent connection to the problem you seek to solve.  The more diverse your approaches, the more unique your suggestions will turn out to  be.   If you've never gone in a particular direction looking for answers, you'll be surprised at what you till discover there.

Seize the Day

We learn there exist different ways to embrace each day. After all, depending on who or what we are, our energy level, what we set out to do, and how it affects others, can vary.

The spider in my bathroom starts his day by re-partitioning my ceiling.
He certainly seems to believe in his abilities.
His productivity reflects that. I watch him from the shower.
Since spiders are good luck, I left him to his delicate business.

The army of ants outside my front door is marching like tin soldiers in a row.
The team works together to move my garden pebbles out of sight.
I guess it doesn’t matter to them where they were before or why?
Ants have their goals. They know time waits for no creature.
I step over them and go on my way.

The retired couple down the street has already been gardening since dawn.
They work tirelessly until they feel that they are done,
That’s usually most of the day. They're often still outside when I get home. Water restrictions urge them to be frugal, so they summon a hired water truck.
They harness sun, nutrients, whatever they find. It’s amazing what they grow.

The garbage man already came and went. The coupon flyer man left a mark.
Hard to believe the industrious people that do their tasks in the dark.

Coffee shop bustling.
People rushing.
Somebody tells me I’m in the way.
Reading the paper.
Mobile ringing. It isn’t mine.
I dream of the bubblebath. No room for a tub in traffic.

Looking around prompts reflection.

Productivity, industriousness and progress--

You can earn a break, take a break or make a break.
Choose.

Opposites

"It is disease that makes health pleaseant, hunger that makes fullness good, and weariness that makes rest sweet." 

We learn from opposites.  You learn to understand 'up' from 'down.'  You learn the benefits of hot because of cold.  If one didn't exist, then the other would have less meaning.  You learn to appreciate and understand things better when you also experience the opposite. They can be points of reference to better understand yourself. To know an experience is to gain insight into your preferences, to be able to draw from years of testing, or living and learning. 

Happiness

How does it feel to discover happiness is not earned, but is freely given? Real and lasting happiness is grounded in love. This is something you cannot buy, or put a measurable price on.

In essence, true happiness is not created by your circumstances or perception of love.  It is the source of your creative power. It is something you open yourself to as you open the heart more fully.  A Divine connection awakens and grows.  Sometimes it helps to have guidance to recall that you are whole and healed.  Notice if you tell yourself there is something wrong with you. Notice how you distract focus from joy. Let go of the fault-finding mind.  Alter everything.

As you feel increasingly connected with your soul and why you were born, real happiness emerges.  Recognize that as you ask a question, the answer is simultaneously given.  Your sense of happiness is linked to harnessing your creative power.  Nothing outside of you has potential to affect you as deeply.  Sometimes interacting with others is a stepping stone to finding yourself.

As you see more clearly, you cannot help but smile broadly. The truth about happiness is obvious in the here and now.  Embody joy.  Allow it to fill you; go on, laugh yourself silly.

"There is only one success - to spend your life in your own way." - Christopher Morley