What is the universe telling you?

Many people question their purpose. They ask how to gain a deeper understanding of the meaning and direction in their lives. You reap what you sow. How often do you ask what the universe is telling you? How conscious are you of its replies?

1) Note nothing is external. Everything you experience outside yourself reflects some internal part of you. The universe reflects back what you project in thoughts and feelings. Your mental images and physical life are metaphors for what you know at deeper levels of consciousness.

2) Examine your entourage. Friends, close family, relatives, regular bloggers, strangers, each encounter in your life reflects deep beliefs you hold. Identify common threads.  Your reaction to attitudes, habits, preoccupations and choices, tell you about what you accept and reject about your hidden self.

3) Ask and it is given. If you sense you are unhappy or do not live th life that resonates with your soul, then you nurture counter-productive emotions deep within you that undermine your dreams. Eliminate incompatible beliefs within and certain conditions and obstacles disappear from external perception.

4) Take responsibility.  As people evolve to realize they are completely responsible for all their vibes, feelings and choices, they find inner knowing is life-transforming.  The energy of the universe can only bend to energy vibrations you possess and send out. To address questions, discomfort and doubt, take a closer look in the mirror. Everything you eat, drink, wear, think and feel reflects traits that evoke comfort of peace.

5) Celebrate the possibilities.  Recognize all options wait to manifest based on your inner beliefs and deliberate intention. Raising self-awareness draws attention to layers of inner complexity. You want something, yet the ego tells you to fear success or failure. Negative energy can be discerned and seen for what it is.  Notice what happens as you stop controlling. Thoughts come and go.  Dreams blossom.  You sense who you are.  Embrace it.

“There are no extra pieces in the universe. Everyone is here because he or she has a place to fill, and every piece must fit itself into the big jigsaw puzzle.” –Deepak Chopra

Build faith in your success

Your day evolves, moment-by-moment, not based on what you do, but on how you think and how aware you are in any kind of circumstance.  The nature of confidence and trust that you are building within yourself brings you back to the present and the reality of your success.  What do you fathom as implications?

1) Success is now.  People often convince themselves that success is a thing to work toward in the future. They forget time obscures reality and reasons to be grateful. To disregard measures of time enables you to tap into synchonicity.

2) Perception limits reality. How you think about where you are shapes how you view what you do and whether you choose to change. Your perception shifts as you consciously recognize you limit success to what is measured by your familiar senses.

3) Purpose deepens before it is grasped. Learning more about who you are is the underlying reason for everything.  Achieving what you set out to accomplish draws attention to outcomes. You uncover two, inter-related core motivations.

4) Inner alignment is expanding. As you move to focus on quality rather than quantity in experience, you begin to realize you dwell on energy that acts as the backdrop of everything.  Your field of awareness is expanding beyond self-created limits. Success loses its form and you sense loving feelings.

5) Awareness is the key focus. The nature of your journey evolves from this moment and everything you discern about it. To feel capable of linking more than one view of success is part of transformation. You reconcile mental, physical and spiritual growth and grow aware of interconnectedness.

6) Cycles reshape success. Transitions are always unfolding. Every event is created so that some new experience arises. Each stage invites learning.  You become more and then feel like less. You gain possessions, experiences, relationships and gradually lose, sell or give them all away.  Life grows and contracts and the physical body does the same. You are form now and return to formless worlds from whence you came.

Deciphering ignorance

The Indian Patanjali suggests you need to return to school in order to rise above ignorance and achieve success.  According to him, we may all access useful knowledge in our minds.  It's what we choose to do with this that creates our version of success. Who is given the authority to determine what kinds of facts and skills are more important or more useful than others? What kinds of reasons do you have for accepting a particular hierarchy of steps to success?

If, by drawing from some of your skills, you're able to acquire more money and you desire this, then it may make sense to pursue this avenue.  However, if someone chooses to apply different kinds of knowledge at his disposal, which brings him less money, this individual is not ignorant, though certain cultures would have us believe that intelligence is measured by level of income.  For some people, success is based on feelings, such as a level of accomplishment or satisfaction.

Ignorance can be felt as what Wayne Dyer calls, "falsely identifying oneself as only of the ego-based world."  How can you reframe views of success such that you unlearn your thoughts to separate yourself from cravings and objects you desire? Ignorance prevents you from experiencing success and fulfillment so long as you continue to pursue what appears to provide it rather than find a sense of purpose and success within yourself without doing anything. 

Your senses may influence your view of success by tempting you with things you think you want but don't really need.  Success may involve overcoming certain self-destructive habits, such as over-eating, addictions, focusing on sources of grief, frustration and pain. 

Come waht may, remind yourself that you are not your experiences. You are not the person who thinks he chooses and controls them. A watcher exists beyond all that is perceived. Know values and habits arise as your own illusions. Reflect on your selected activities and what they reveal about your views on success. Ask yourself whether any belief about success is ever spot on.

Retirement goals

Each of us knows family or friends who are approaching and experiencing retirement. You may even be living this kind of life transition yourself. What is it about goals that change over time? This is only natural when your physical, emotional and other abilities are evolving too. Know that whenever somethign seems to end, somethign else is beginning.

I know a man who fears not finding enough to do during his retirement. To ensure he keeps busy, he collects boxes of old papers and electric items past their prime, with the intention of sorting and repairing. This man certainly has more than enough to do to fill his perceived time.  Still, he fears what retirement represents: change of routine, a loss of professional identity, apparent aging, thoughts he makes less of a contribution to society and is then less valued. Does this ring true for you?

Everyone is invited to realize lif continues as long as you allow it. Notice whether you see who you are is reflected in what you do. In truth, nothing that is changing actually reveals who you are but only points to it. Imagine what life feels like as you sense that everything is helping you accept yourself as you are.

I know another man who retired in his thirties because of achieving financial freedom. From that moment on, he decided to focus his time on training for elite triathalon competitions and assisting other people to achieve financial freedom. He chose to see retirement as an opportunity to better himself, physically, emotionally, that he had nothing to lose to work hard to get there and everything to gain.  He embraces each day and sees it as filled with new opportunities.

I know a woman who doesn't plan to retire until her health gives out. She takes high blood pressure medication and often puffs when she climbs the stairs. She collects movies with plans to watch most of them during retirement, yet she has little time now and feels too many people need her services to let them down. She works full time and cares for her two aged parents. Her goals are to accomplish as much as she for as many people as she can in the time she's got.

I know another man who retired from a career in the church in his 50s in order to put his experience to use as a counsellor.  He chose to begin a second career, fall in love, get married and have a family.  When he outlived his wife, he married again. He also encouraged himself to write a book to help others. He continues to visit friends and keeps busy to stay motivated.  Among his goals, he would like to live long enough to know his first grandchild.

I know a woman who's hospital staff colleagues gave her a retirement going away part and a ticket for a cruise.  When she returns from the trip with her husband, she'll decide what's next.

I know another man who is still working well into his seventies because he can't afford to retire. He doesn't receive a pension.  Throughout his life, he lived from paycheck to paycheck and never learned how to save.  In fact, sometimes he spent more than he earned.  His children grew up and moved away and his wife died already. Now he has to fend for himself.

When it comes to your retirement goals, you benefit from defining what you desire and by a specific timeline.  If time is the commodity you seek more of, it makes sense to plan what you would do with it so you'll be prepared.  When you ask other people or society for what you want in the form of opportunities, they may not simply hand these things over.  You need to be ready to act and also make sacrifices. 

Retirement is then, a state of mind that embraces life transitions with grace and gratitude.  As you reflect, this may represent more time to do those things you've always wanted to do or more time on the golf course.  It may mean you simply decide how to re-organize your time in ways that give you new purpose. Know purpose is always evolving with you. To nourish a zest for life means you life life to the fullest regardless of what you do and for how long.  You stop measuring and focus on enjoying.