OfficeZenInspiration

Life creates change and pushes the self to evolve and become creative loving citizens. However during this process change may also be perceived as a negative life event. On the other hand it is possible to learn compassion, love, hope, and a long list of other things. St. John of the Cross has been recorded as saying that, “the purest suffering produces the purest understanding.” If your parents never loved you, your experiencing a death, you were raised in poverty, you were abused, abandoned, in a war, or whatever is creating a negative feeling, know that it will pass. Every negative human emotion will change with time. Know that you were born with greatness, and all the God like qualities needed to overcome anything. Take the first step towards you’re a positive reality and stay the course because the rest will come together for you. Have the faith that whatever you want will arrive. If you feel like you’re going through hell and the dark clouds are raining demons on you, know that this cause does not have to have an effect. You don’t have to complete the equation, because without an effect there can be no cause, they need each other to affect your reality. Try to separate yourself from the effect you are experiencing, by asking if it will matter 5 years from now. This question will allow the problem to loosen its grip on you. After you have envisioned your problem 5, 10, or 20, years from now, remind yourself how insignificant it will feel to you in the future. Think about the stress a piece of metal goes through in order to become a shiny, sharp sword. It may help to envision a sword stuck in some hot coals and a big hammer hitting down on it. It will take many blows from the hammer in order for the sword to have any strength.

You can use the blacksmith image to see how your situation can evolve into a lesson. Evoke or imagine any symbol or idea that makes you feel strong. Once you feel that you have escaped the unwanted emotion or turmoil, cloak yourself with a shield made out of inspiration. Use books, tokens, charms, or any object that evokes a positive feeling. Surround yourself with people that Love you and believe in you. Explore the ways that others have been inspired, or try inspiring others. Try helping others or engaging in doing something special for someone else. Try connecting with books, magazines, or stories about miracles, saints, or other positive sources. Bookstores, libraries and the Internet are packed with inspirational stories, parables, or fables. Some stories may provide a sense of being grateful since your shortcomings were not as big or important as you originally thought.

vaya con dios

photo courtesy of  Ian Wedlock

Why would a dog risk getting bugs in his eyes by sticking his head out of a car window? I guess getting bugs in the eyes is worth the ride.

Once in a while stick your head out and embrace change, be steadfast with your thoughts and invite the Syncronicities that will surely change your luck. –Yovani Medina

test

 photo courtesy of  ejp photo

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Romans 12:2

 Non inspiring routines have the ability to become states of depression. Depression is a warning sign that your current desires are out of balance with your thoughts and actions. Many people live with a constant imbalance between their dreams and their reality. I try not to ignore my dreams because they are renditions of a life I am meant to live. When it comes to the meaning of dreams I think they allow you to live your passions without constraints. For a third of our lifetimes we are dreaming. Have you ever had a dream where you had the ability to bounce between night and day? Have you ever had a dream so real it affected your breathing? In the dream world time and places do not exists notice the next time you dream how you can be young or old, in motion, and still at the same time and be in different places seemingly at once.

Jerry and Ester Hicks authors of “ABRAHAM” (www.abraham-hicks.com) have written some of the most inspiring things I have read in my life. Reading and practicing the wisdom of Abraham has made it easier for me to understand energy balance and the relationship between intention and manifestation of desires into the physical world. 

How would you feel if your internal desires or your passions had the ability to shine outward without barriers of any kind? Would you be a great composer? Perhaps an accomplished writer or singer. Nourish your passions always and continue painting, singing, writing, dancing, or whatever makes you happy. Try to keep those passionate things at the forefront of your thoughts by doing so you change your luck and witness your desires materialize.  

Here are a few things I do to keep my desires on equal footing with my thoughts. I use these easy techniques to help me practice manifesting my desires by using my imagination as a catalyst.

1.      I create an image, a picture in my mind’s eye that helps me imagine and focus on the abundance I want to obtain every night before bed time. Before you go to sleep or during meditation keep a mental picture of your desires and deny the negative pictures, worries, or fears that may invade the space you have created.

2.      Surround yourself with visual reminders in and around your home or car that contain inspiring messages or pictures that fire up your passion to move towards abundance. These things can be an inspiring quote placed in your car on on your computer, a token in your pocket, a written note to yourself or pictures of things you expect to be connected with.

3.      Understand that as you choose your thoughts the roads are built for your journey away or towards happiness and abundance. Feeling a sense of synchronicity is the  sign you are heading in the right direction. You alone  have to chose to get closer to manifesting your desires today and learn how to create the Destiny you want with your thoughts. Anyone can be inspired. It doesn’t take a great artistic genius to experience and understand the relationship between focusing  that leads to manifesting your desires.

courtesy of ejp photo

 It’s hard to forget the neighbor that plows the path to your home’s doorway. The immediate feeling we get is to want to give forward. The act of giving sets off a chain reaction of inspiration for others to give it forward. If you currently lack financial offerings to give try going through your closet and give away some of those things you have not used in a while. We all have some things like tools, bikes, toys, clothes, and shoes just taking up space and cluttering our houses. Cut the lawn or shovel your neighbor’s driveway in the winter. If you have a surplus of Joy, Happiness, time, knowledge, Compassion, or Kindness offer a small part of it to someone else without needing recognition, or a returned favor. Make this the year of giving and the year for others. Any small thing can be large from another person’s perspective. This coming year think about taking on the small act of giving and in the process it will become big. Whenever you encounter a barrier to change think about the tree that bends with the wind and does not break. The smaller branches reach out to the sun and seek out the rays or they die. The natural world around us does not stay the same, nor does it resent or resist growth. This year I am happy to write I have had 255 days or so of joy, freedom and inspiration buy trying little things. Taking steps in another person’s shoes and keeping things small and simple are great ways to start a year and inspire others.

1. understand you don’t have to be right all the time

2. de clutter your living space

3. accept with an open mind that all things change

4. do what you do with passion 

5. love people

6. take walks or bike rides often

7. do something small and inspiring today

8. let go of last year completely

9. have fun

10. place fewer and fewer demands on others and yourself

A man is born gentle and weak;

at his death he is hard and stiff.

All things, including the grass and trees,

are soft and pliable in life;

dry and brittle in death.

Stiffness is thus a companion of death;

flexibility a companion of life.

The hard and stiff will be broken;

the soft and supple will prevail.

76th verse Lao-tzu 

vaya con Dios

I have read various literature on the power of intention and I noticed a basic underlining idea in all three books. When thinking from the outcome they talk about seeing yourself already living with what you want to attract in your life. The main idea is to stay away from statements like, I can’t do it, with this economy it’s impossible, people like me are stuck, these statements deflate the intentions you want to manifest. Contemplate what you want every day and be steadfast in your faith to obtain abundance. Thomas Edison was contemplating light not darkness when he finally found the filament strong enough to finally create the light bulb. I find myself getting off track at least once a day, but I quickly return to thoughts of abundance whenever I can. When I sense myself getting off balance I get back on as soon as possible. Keep the drive to be positive in the forefront of your day. Have your thoughts match up with your desires even in the presence of perceived failures. Think about the thousands of low income children that make it out of their circumstances and reach success; and the hundreds of survivors that keep a positive outlook despite unimaginable conditions. Thinking from the end lets you visualize your magnificence and more importantly matches your thoughts to your desires instead of thinking thoughts of it not happening. Surround yourself with the conditions and people that can fuel and inspire you. Thinking from the end and being grateful are powerful catalysts that will bring you the luck you need to obtain what you desire. Distance yourself from negative energy and the thoughts that come from a lacking point of view. Think from the outcome of abundance, see yourself already having and living the way you want. Follow this and you will surely activate the power of intention and you will be surrounded by constant synchronicities that will take you directly to your desires. I believe the quotes below speak volumes on thinking from the outcome.

where there is no vision, the people perish.

Proverbs 29:18

When you change the way you think the things you look at change.

Dr. Wayne Dyer

Vaya con Dios

The Hope of  loving  by Meister Eckhart

What keeps us alive, what allows us to endure? I think it is the hope of loving,
or being loved.

Hope is a very power full tool that may be the difference between surviving and dying. We have all experienced some form of depression or helplessness. It’s a place where all things become dark and you feel as if you’ll never be able to climb out of a dark deep hole. I’m certain this story will make you think about hope and how it can keep you going through dark days. Fido’s story can give us some optimism as we cross through troubling times and the feeling that all hope is gone arrives. Tiffin Shewmake is the author of Canine Courage and in the book she writes about a dog named Fido that met his owner at the bus stop when he came home from work every day in the early 40s. The owner died suddenly in the war and no longer returned home. Fido never gave up hope of being able to meet again with his owner. In the story it mentions how the dog would show up every day and did so for fifteen years. His strength and optimism teaches us to appreciate how universal hope is and the strength between animal and human. The town has rewarded Fido’s devotion with a memorial and gold medal. The book goes over real life stories and explains how the dogs are exposed to the same emotional beliefs we are.

When Pandora opened Pandora’s Box, she let out all the evils except one: hope. Apparently, the Greeks considered hope to be as dangerous as all the world’s evils. But without hope to accompany all their troubles, humanity was filled with despair. It was a great relief when Pandora revisited her box and let out hope as well. It may be worthy to note that in the story, hope is represented as weakly leaving the box but is in effect far more potent than any of the major evils. In some faiths and religions of the world, hope plays a very important role. Hope can be passive in the sense of a wish, or active as a plan or idea, often against popular belief, with persistent, personal action to execute the plan or prove the idea. Consider a prisoner of war who never gives up hope for escape and, against the odds, plans and accomplishes this. By contrast, consider another prisoner who simply wishes or prays for freedom, but without genuine hope, or another who gives up all hope of freedom.

vaya con Dios

courtesy of ejp photo

The morning wind spreads its fresh smell.

We must get up and take that in,

that wind that lets us live. Breath before it’s gone.

                                                                                                                 – Rumi

Rumi was a poet and a great thinker that believed that the ego was capable of an evolutionary cycle that

would bring it closer to spirit. He also believed in the power of Love being the signature of spirit. He  lived

some 800 years ago and his writings have survived from century to century because he had a writer called

Shams that copied down much of his poetry and wisdom. A good deal of his writings have been translated

into English where it has gained popularity in the U.S.

Taking time to listen to the silence can be an inspiring practice. In the morning when we normally have access to a

few hours of silence is a great time to be alone without distractions and noise. In this silence we will be able to 

attract the ideas and clarity necessary to be able to let go of the illusions created by the ego identity and remove

oneself from the ways of living and thinking (at least for a time).The beliefs that have been imposed on you by others

and your culture create noise i your thinking process.inspiration cannot come to the distracted mind, creativity ’

and the answersyou seek can only come to the quiet mind.   

Vaya con Dios