Ignore distractions

Positive thinking is a skill you can nurture inside yourself.  This requires that you don't permit negative feelings to control your mind.  People you meet may seem behave in ways that aim to provoke you.  How do you react? Do you typically find yourself on the defensive or, do you brush off negative comments, stunts and vibes, because you see beyond the test to what you gain?

Many people recall when others have "rubbed them the wrong way," swindled them or, done something which evoked hard feelings. How do you choose to see these kinds of situations?  You can see them as a challenge or, as a means for you to reframe what you might of thought was initially important.  Positive thinking is all about learning to reframe events and see the benefits.

Make a point of reflecting back on at least two situations which have distracted you from your desired focus or peace of mind.  Consider your initial impressions, impulsive reactions and what you would or wouldn't do again if there was "a next time."  How will you plan ahead? Take the time you need to learn lessons. 

As you decide to percieve your life as a process of learning experiences, then you'll discern new opportunities to make new kinds of choices.  Optimism is a choice.  Hope is a choice.  Living and learning is another choice. Your life can be what you make of it.  Ignore distractions that lead you off your desired path.  Firgure out what it is and prosper.  Attitude sets the stage.   

Not what you thought

"A man does not always choose what his guardian angel intends." - Thomas Aquinas

Many a time, you may set out with particular plans and assume you're meant for a particular path.  Yet, how often do events unfold such that circumstances were not what you initially thought?

Its possible that your guardian angel is gradually revealing things you need to know.  This angel leaves you clues to piece together to remind you what you already know, but forgot.  Its possible that you're not prepared or even ready to receive all the details of your purpose all at once.

At this moment, you may sense what you feel destined to do, but you may not stop to think who or what has influenced the evolution of your perception.  External influences may cause you to diverge from your real path.  Never fear.  All experience is helpful.  This is an opportunity for you to learn more about life and yourself. 

Timing is everything.  As you reach certain levels of self-understanding and acceptance, you will see doors open for you that you never imagined. How do you evolve to recognize them? What would you like to see? Which doors would you close?

Your point of view and the way you sense the world around you changes with your sense of self.  An angel can be a friendly reminder.  Will you reach out to realize life is not what it seems?

Cherish the timeless

Death occurs in every family. Its one of the few predictable events we can count on. Everyone knows what its like to lose a loved one and yet, everyone may also react differently to the idea and experience of loss. Some people grieve about lost relationships.  Other people aren't openly affected. They may think it marks a phase in a process of lives and celebrate their loved one is safely in another place.

This topic is on my mind because my 95 year old grandmother recently passed on. Her longevity astounded me. She lived through three major wars, and although in ill-health for an extended period, hung in there for her 72nd wedding anniversary. During her lifetime, she lived through daunting challenges including, moving and living in multiple countries as a refugee and immigrant. She set incredible examples of determination and resilience. Above all, I'll always remember her will and spirit.

Each of us are reminded people will come and go in our lives. We also feel more connected to some people than others.  We keep in more frequent contact with some people and not others.  As young people get older, they tend to move out of their parents' home to forge a life of their own. Since more people are moving, fewer people live in the same geographic area of their close families. Age causes you to perceive time and relationships differently. Priorities change.

I encourage you to reflect on the connections you feel with people you have loved. Consider what you gain simply because of having known them during their brief lifetime. To gain intangibles is what leads to those immeasurable memories you aren't meant to put a price on. To reach inside and reminisce can seem timeless.

Can we reverse prospective cultural extinction?

I encourage you to watch this video from TED. It features photographer Phil Borges shares his stunning portraits, documenting the world's disappearing cultures, from persecuted monks in Tibet to embattled tribes in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Note in the lifetime of an elder, the languages spoken in the world will half. (already reduced from 6000 down to 3000 over last 100yrs).

During his speel, Borges notes that a recent $2 million National Geographic survey reveals Americans aged 18-26 rated second last out of nine developed countries in terms of knowledge of what's going on in the rest of the world. 70% of Americans questioned didn't know the wherabouts of Iraq or Afghanistan on a map, let-a-lone India or the position of the Pacific Ocean?

How does this cause you to see yourself and how you think about the future? Can we reverse prospective cultural extinction? Are the on-line connections around the world in the program described a wave of the future? Or, do you foresee another international fate?

Howstuffworks "Phil Borges Talks at TED About His Photography"

Destination for the sake of it

Why is it that we dream of certain destinations? Is it mainly instinctual or, is there much more to it?  If you live a distance away from your family or long-time friends, then travel destination priorities may well involve bringing you closer to these people.  If you sense some connection to a place you've never been, you may feel driven to get yourself to these places.  The following were eleven reasons people gave me as motivations for choosing a specific travel destination:

1) Leisure/ vacation: lured by the exotic

2) Family live in the area

3) Wedding/ Reunion/ Funeral location

4) Work conference/ meeting setting

5) "Always wanted to go there"

6) Spiritual reasons (i.e., desire to witness miracles or to make a pilgrimage)

7) Random choice

8) "Someone recommended it"

9) "Why not?"

10) Seat sale

11) Heritage (i.e., gathering material for a family tree; visiting relatives' graves, retracing immigration path or finding/ reuniting with blood relatives)