Live to Love, Love to Live

How often do you get up in the morning, rush around to get ready for work; maybe get the kids ready for school; get some kind of a breakfast down everyone and run out the door? Sound remotely familiar?

Are you wishing for more time? Dreaming of the remote vacation with no responsibilities? Wondering "why am I doing this day in and day out?"

How about if we change the "channel" of you're thinking. Now you're thinking, "what do you mean?" Let me explain. It is changing the way that you think, so that you will change the way that you are approaching life. It is all one step, or one thought, at a time.

Let's start with an example. Perhaps if we start with looking at life with a new perspective we could feel better about it. By this, when waking in the morning, ask yourself, "do I start with -oh great, it's time to get up & I am not going to make it or have a good day." Or do you start your waking thoughts with, "okay, it's a new day, and its going to be great!" Maybe for some, it is a feeling. The feeling of drudgery and forcing yourself out of bed because you have to go to work just another day and then your begin thinking "what will I have to deal with or put up with today?" Or are you one that gets up a little easier, has a feeling of being rested and looking forward to what the day is bringing and possible thinks "I am looking forward to that project or seeing so and so at work today!"

Now you may already be catching on to a couple things here. One is that it is the attitude that we start our day out with, which sets the tone for our entire day. There is truth to this, which we will go over a little more in just a moment. Two, is that you may be thinking, "yeah, but the more positive person may not have my kind of work, pay or just has a better personality." Anything is possible, however, for you to truly understand that "anything is possible" even within you -we are going to cover the basis on the premise that these individuals share the same work, talents and income.

Everyone has the same general goals, which is to live life to their desired fullest potential, love and be loved and experience peace, joy, happiness and to be heard and understood -sharing in these experiences.

So, to accomplish goals and desires, one generally wants to have a strong foundation. To have a strong foundation, you need items of the same caliber of which you intend to produce to create more of it -as a rule. As in almost any building structure, if your foundation remains strong, you can always tear down the entire building and even create something entirely new and more beautiful -without disturbing the foundation. With a foundation that is unstable, not even the strongest supports can hold it for long, it will eventually come apart. By the same token, your "foundation" for you living a fulfilling life and loving it -is what is inside of you. Primarily it is your attitude, how you think and how you approach life in general. Realistically that is the only thing you truly have control over. This is why it is your genuine foundation, strength and will -even your driving force that could "make you or break you."

Now your question is probably, "yeah, okay, so now what?" Well, now lets build a strong foundation! It is called reprogramming the internal computer. It is one thought at a time. You can do this. Realistically, it only takes 21 days to create a habit, regardless if it is good, bad or indifferent. You make decisions everyday -so you can make this one too.

Start with the beginning of your day and decide that no matter what challenge comes your way, you can handle anything and you will still choose to be peaceful anyway. If in a moment you fall to old habits, don't beat yourself up. Acknowledge the moment, appreciate your own awareness and tell yourself you will do better next time. By doing this, you will continue to improve and reach your desired goals more readily.

Take time to appreciate whatever beauty, joy and nature there is around you. Be it a park, pond, lake, plants in your home, office, animals in a zoo, pets, talented architecture or artwork and even children playing and people laughing. Smile at strangers, wink at children passing, and laugh at co-workers silly attempts to recall awkward jokes. Observe the brilliance of color in the sky at different times of the day or night. Be aware of how people express themselves with the colors they wear & notice if they appear happy, sad, outgoing or withdrawn.

Stop in the middle of your day and just breath. Take three deep cleansing breaths from the diaphragm and exhale all the stale air from your lungs and feel refreshed and rejuvenated. Take breaks; stretch your legs, walk, listen to the birds and squirrels or watch people in a mall or in a coffeehouse.

Look for the good in people that you meet and in those that you know. For every thought that you may have had or that may arise that feels like a note of judgment or criticism -think of two or three that says something positive about the person; either their appearance, personality or their abilities as an individual. Practice saying positive things about yourself. Visualize yourself doing the things you want to do and you will begin setting goals to achieve them. This will also help you to start seeing the possibilities and opportunities arise for you.

The more that you act kindly towards yourself, and think with thoughts of compassion, kindness and regard towards others -you will act on them. This all helps to create an environment where you begin to love your life and live to love. You also begin to see possibilities that you didn't see before in creating a life that you find more fulfilling and setting goals and taking steps towards it. The process can be step by step at a time, and some moments will be leaps and bounds. Remember to laugh a lot -especially at the times where you discover the mistakes were made, then you can move beyond them more quickly. Act kindly to yourself, as we must remember in any circumstance you will not achieve positive change from a negative motivation. May your journey be joyfully & blissfully blessed!