Kybosh echoes of defeat

We all evolve from thinking to doing and being, each time we learn skills and apply them in life.  Yet, people tell me they find it easier to follow this thread back after experiencing the process.  The perceived difficulty comes in how daunting it can seem to reconfigure innocent perception.  Well, the buck stops here.  Let's examine some erroneus reasoning that may hold you back from taking steps to alter the ways you understand yourself and the world:

1)  "I can't, I won't, I shouldn't..." Its unwise to accept any reasoning if you have to fiddle with your basic frame of reference or values in order to justify it.  Sounds like you make excuses based on what someone else has conditioned you to believe.  Learn to assert yourself in ways that counteract why you feel you may be wrong. 

2)  "It wouldn't be good for me."  Says who? You don't know yourself as well as you think.  Persecution often results in efforts to justify misperception.  Why would you do this to yourself?  What you haven't done or are unwilling to do may be worse.

3)  "I don't have time."  Priorities, priorities.  How you spend your time reflects what means most to you on deeper levels.  Did you ever think time might have been created just for you to learn?  Confidence won't be developed fully until you do.

4) "It would require sacrifices."  Any talk of sacrifice arises solely from fear and has no place here.  If you sensed you had everything, you would be incapable of sacrificing.  Associate efforts to better yourself with strength, not weakness.   

5) "I know enough."   Enough is a word to remove from your vocabulary. You only know when you cease to ask questions.  Perception is temporal.  True perception is the basis for knowledge.  Any difficulties you experience are because you don't yet know yourself.  You see in many ways because your current perception involves interpretation.  Lessons can be learned from every single error in judgement. 

Time to rethink judgement

I've met people who complain about how fear controls their lives and prevents them from taking risks they assume would lead to greater fulfillment.  Nonetheless, they continue making thought and life choices that reinforce feeling fearful.  They associate fear with their own pain and suffering, yet remain unaware of what they can do.  The time you have can be used to shift your own judgement.

It's ineffective to ask other people to release you from your inner fear.  Only you can release yourself from what you create.  You may simply underestimate the power you have to change. Don't know where to start?  Here are some suggestions;

1) Tell yourself fear doesn't exist.  Write it down.  Say it aloud.  Make decisions that force you to face sources of fear.  Easier said than done, you say? Well, it begins in your mind.  You may not yet understand the power of thoughts and how you can take steps to transform them. Only when you're ready will you decide to think and create a different way of seeing and living your life. When will you begin?

2) Realize the law of cause and effect.  By choosing fear, this state of mind naturally effects the state of your life.  Think of it this way: what if fear causes you to misperceive everyone and everything, to underestimate your abilities and potential, to hold yourself back without good reason? It pays to rethink your freedom to choose.  What would it take to stop believing in the power of something which doesn't exist? After all, you conjured it up.  Ask yourself why.

3) To focus on error is to reinforce error.  As a child, you may have imagined ghosts in your closet that made you afraid at night.  When you called out for your parents, they would tell you that you had no reason to feel afraid because those scary images were only in your mind.   If you had not been given reason to correct your thinking, you may have gone on just as you were.  Yet, you were encouraged to correct yourself and move to a new state of mind.  You can do this, even now.

4) Understand what is worthy.  To imprison your mind is to convince yourself that you will be punished for taking certain courses of action.  In order to discover inner peace, you need to learn not to frighten yourself with projections.  Choose instead to think about what is positive, creative, and good.  If you're tempted to succomb to fear, replace them with warm, lovable feelings.  Don't know the difference? Find out!

Mind over matter to make it happen

If you hope to find a special person simply to permit you to feel more complete, you would benefit from clarifying for yourself what kind of person you are truly seeking and why.  After all, he or she could enter your life and if you're not prepared, you wouldn't even know it!

1) Expect to meet the person. Such an optimistic view is a fabulous start.  Send out positive energy based on your intentions.  Invite people and opportunity into your life.  Where would you expect to meet?  Note also that if you decide you won't meet this person or, doubt in any way this possibility, it is also self-sabotage. 

2) Believe the real source is internal.  You may choose to make a collage of images from newspapers or magazines that help you clarify your vision. Cut out words or letters that spell out traits, qualities or other details to further clarify your special person. Glue them on paper.   Be honest about what you desire.  Refer to this collage often to reinforce your ideas and make you feel more connected to them. 

3) Grasp that thinking produces form at some level. Imagine the person you desire to meet. What would make him or her meaningful to you?  Your mental pictures can direct the evolution of what matters.  Choose to correct your confusion.  You're responsible for what you think.  This is the level where you exercise choice.  What you do results from your thoughts.  If you choose someone out of fear, this isn't in your best interest.  To be willing to change your mind will change your behavior. 

4) Have faith in magic.  This would imply you believe in creative ability within the Universe that your mind is unable to control.  Recognize events beyond your control can unfold to enrich you, providing you are open to this possibility.  Remind yourself that at every moment, your mind is creating and so is the Universe. 

5) Guard your thoughts carefully.  Realize you deserve love and affection.  Believe you exert influence over the evolution of your life.  Refrain from fear, guilt or any other negative feelings which would lead you to believe otherwise. Thought and belief combine to generate power that influence events beyond your current scope. 

Consistency begins with you

Many people will exert effort to focus more on positive thinking. They hear it's a worthwhile thing to do and decide to "give it a go." And yet, people will also say they find that it can be challenging not to fall back into previous, negative habits. If being consistent is key, then the question you would best ask yourself is what sorts of strategies would be helpful? Make a list.

1) Listen to yourself.  How often do you utter negatives, contraditions and tentatives such as, "not bad," "awfully good," "terribly delicious,""try" or "not sure"?  You may benefit from more vigilence. Think before you speak. Which words do you use? You send subliminal messages to yourself and others. When you're serious about being more positive, you will refrain from using words that reinforce the opposite. Ask someone to point words out in case you miss them. Every word counts.

2) Distinguish between patterns you desire and don't desire.  Do you have an issue with mood swings? word usage? attitude? destructive mindset? specific behaviors in specific settings? In order to make a conscious change, you really need to have a conscious understanding of issues that bother you.  Identify conditions, people or events that trigger patterns you like or don't. All forms of mental transformation hinge on this basic understanding at the level of perception.

3) Respond constructively. As you learn to discern the kind of thinking you wish to nurture in yourself, its vital not to reprimand yourself if you deviate from the desired path. Such a reaction would focus on negativity, and this is precisely the kind of pattern you aim to eliminate. Rather than wonder if your confusing right- or wrong-minded thinking, simply respond to all your efforts with desire to heal, correct and move forward. Sense your progress. It will come when you're truly ready.

Never far

My maternal grandfather passed over on Wednesday September 5.  He was approaching 97 and set a wonderful example of how to live life to the fullest in the face of unfathomable odds.  His wife of 72 years preceded him 36 days. I post this entry as an echo of something he might say:

An angel came and called my name and took me by the hand,

and said its time to leave the life you led to embrace a whole new land.

The angel told me my place was ready in Heaven nearby,

and I'd have to temporarily say goodbye.

Know that I love you and I am never far,

Look up at night and find me flying amongst the stars.