Sunday, November 23, 2008

What's important?

“Infinitely more important than sharing one's material wealth is sharing the wealth of ourselves -- our time and energy, our passion and commitment, and, above all, our love.”
- William E. Simon

We spend most of our time working so that can afford to live a certain lifestyle that we forget why we are actually on this planet. Do you think we were created to work 8-12 hours a day until the age of 65 and then try and enjoy life when we are actually too old to enjoy it to it's fullest? My logical mind tells me there is something wrong with our current perception of life. I have come to the realization that relationships with friends and family are far more important than material possessions. Think about it, when we leave this planet to wherever it is we go, what do people remember most? What we owned or the type of person we were? What do we remember most about people close to us who have passed on? What they owned or the relationship we had with them?

“That which you create in beauty and goodness and truth lives on for all time to come. Don't spend your life accumulating material objects that will only turn to dust and ashes.”
- Denis Waitley


The reason I have changed my outlook on life is that I am going to be a parent in a few months, and I remember my own childhood. My father wasn't around as often as he should have been, he was too busy working to give us a certain lifestyle. But did you know that children need something far more precious than material things in their developing years. They need the most precious thing of all, our time. When we give our children a new toy, how long does it keep them happy for? Depends on the toy, but give a child your time and attention and they will cherish it forever. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with wanting the best for your family, but if it means sacrificing quality time with them you need to take a long hard look at the situation. And sometimes we think we know what is best but we don't take the time to discuss it with those close to us.

“Children will not remember you for the material things you provided but for the feeling that you cherished them.”
- Richard L. Evans


I have just started reading a new book and in it I read something profoundly true, 'We do not become good by trying to be good, but by finding the goodness that is already within us, and allowing that goodness to emerge.' The same thing applies to happiness, 'We do not become happy by trying to be happy, but by finding the happiness that is already within us, and allowing that happiness to emerge.' The buying or accumulating of material things will only make us temporarily happy, until we need our next fix.

“Any so-called material thing that you want is merely a symbol: you want it not for itself, but because it will content your spirit for the moment.”
- Mark Twain


Sometimes we even treasure our material possessions more than we do our relationships. How often has it happened that a friendship has been ruined because of something as silly as a broken possession? And did you know that by nature we are hoarders, we keep things packed away in our cupboards for one day when we might need it, and usually that day never comes. My wife and I try and do a clean out every 6 months, and we battle to let go of some of our possessions, even though we haven't used them for quite some time. And with Christmas around the corner, now is a really good time to do a clean out and give some of your unused items to someone who actually needs it and will have a use for it.

Our material possessions do not define who we are, so I urge everyone to make more time for each other and more time for yourself, I know I'm going to.

“Increase of material comforts, it may be generally laid down, does not in any way whatsoever conduce to moral growth.”
- Mahatma Gandhi

“Material possessions, winning scores, and great reputations are meaningless in the eyes of the Lord, because He knows what we really are and that is all that matters.”
- John Wooden

Monday, November 17, 2008

Dreams

“You see things; and you say, 'Why?' But I dream things that never were; and I say, 'Why not?'”
- George Bernard Shaw

As children we all dreamt of becoming something, yet how many of us have lived out those dreams? As we grow up all sorts of outside influences affect our dreams. We are told it's a silly dream, we'll never make a living doing it or no-one in our family has ever done that. I even know some people who can't remember what they dreamt of being as a child, that's how badly they have been influenced.

I use myself as an example. Growing up I wanted to be a game ranger, but when the time came to make that final decision of what path to follow, the advice given to me was that there's no money in being a game ranger. Back then there wasn't, now there is. But it's not about the money, it's about doing what makes you happy. So I followed my second choice, engineering. I really enjoy what I do, but it's not my passion. My passion these days is doing this, sharing my knowledge about how I believe life was originally meant to be. About how to regain the power we were all given at birth.

“Really great people make you feel that you, too, can become great.”
- Mark Twain

As parents we have a huge responsibility, we have to guide another human being through life, and the best way to do it is to encourage them. Encourage our children to be all that they can be, not what we think they should be. One of the saddest things I have seen is a parent trying to make their child live out the dreams the parent never fore filled, regardless of the child's dreams. And as human beings the best thing we can do is to encourage our family and friends to follow their dreams. I have received many encouraging words about the articles I write, sadly, not from family or close friends, but the encouragement inspires me to carry on.

“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.”
- C.S. Lewis

Just because you haven't followed your dream, doesn't mean it's too late. You have the choice to follow your dream part time, make it into a hobby, you never know where it will lead to. So I encourage every one of you to find your passion in life and start taking small steps towards achieving your dream. The first thing you can do is start writing. Write down your dream, and then the steps you believe you need to take to get there. Secondly, find someone you can talk to about your dream, and try to find a positive person, because a negative person will just tell you it can't be done.

“You block your dream when you allow your fear to grow bigger than your faith.”- Mary Manin Morrissey

And thirdly, believe in yourself, you have no idea how much power you have at your command.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Acceptance & change

“Life can either be accepted or changed. If it is not accepted, it must be changed. If it cannot be changed, then it must be accepted.” - Unknown

This is a very difficult concept to grasp, even for me, but thankfully I am finally coming to grips with it. Most of us spend so much time and effort trying to change the things we can't, and when we finally realize how futile it is we're too old to appreciate life to it's fullest.

And what it the one thing we try to change the most? Other people.

I was at a lovely wedding this weekend, and the sermon and speeches all had the same message, acceptance. I believe our divorce rate would be far lower if we all understood this simple concept. If we can't accept the way our partner is before we get married, don't get married. If we go into our marriage thinking we can change something about our partner, we will spend most of our time being miserable. The more we try and change someone, the more they will dig their heels in and resist. Acceptance is the key. If we accept our partner, friends, family, colleagues, etc the way they are, they will be far more open to suggestion.


“Consider how hard it is to change yourself and you'll understand what little chance you have in trying to change others.” - Unknown

Most people go to see psychiatrists hoping to be fixed or have their problems sorted out. Many stop going because it doesn't happen. A psychiatrist can't change you, they can only give you guidance on how to deal with certain situations, change has to come from within.

The bottom line is this. We have no right to change someone else, who are we to think we know what is best for someone else? All we can do is offer guidance. And another thing, people change far easier when they feel safe and secure, so if you feel you can offer guidance to someone, make sure it is in a safe and secure environment.

I wish people would spend half the time and effort they spend on others, on themselves.

“If you don't create change, change will create you.” - Unknown

And one last thing. Never expect something from someone else if you aren't willing to do the same thing yourself.

Below is one of my favorite quotes, and if you really think about it, adopting this attitude can change your life immensely.

"When you change the way you look at things... the things you look at change" - Dr Wayne W. Dyer

Have an awesome week.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Decisions - Part 2

“More than anything else, I believe it's our decisions, not the conditions of our lives, that determine our destiny.” - Anthony Robbins

Two weeks ago I wrote about the importance of making decisions when in the right emotional frame of mind. I can't stress how important this is. Most wrong decisions are made when our emotions are not in sync with our mind. So how do we get into the right frame of mind? A while back I wrote an article on climbing the emotional scale, read it here.

There is also another very important component to decision making, and it is known by many names; 6th sense, hunch, inner voice, gut feel, etc. For the purpose of this article I'm going to call it 'spirit'. How often have we made decisions because something just didn't feel right? Not often enough I believe. That's because most of us have lost touch with our spirit. There is so much noise in our lives at the moment that when our spirit speaks to us we aren't able to hear it.

Last weekend I went for a walk down to the beach and came to a fork in the road. There were no signs indicating which way led where, so how did I decide which one to take? Fortunately the only noise around was the sound of the ocean and the thoughts in my head. So I stilled my mind as best I could, (it is not an easy thing to do, just try it), and took the left fork. Was it the right decision? Well it was for me. Fortunately I had enough time to go back and check where the right fork went, and although it also led to the beach, where it ended up was not nearly as much fun as the left fork.

What point am I trying to make here? I had to make a decision with very little information available to me, both paths led down, so I had to trust my spirit to guide me. Some of you may say I was just lucky, maybe so, but We do make our own luck!

“Make decisions from the heart and use your head to make it work out.” - Sir Girad

What is all this noise that I am talking about? Well it's things that can influence our decision making. Television, radio, magazines, books, people, the list goes on, and too often we make decisions that are influenced by this noise and it ends up being the wrong decision. And then we try to blame this noise, but we are the ones who made the decision, aren't we?

"It's not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are." - Roy Disney

So when making decisions, be very aware of your emotions, and make the decision from a place of peace. Meditate, pray, go for a walk or workout, whatever it takes to get away from the noise. Your ability to make the right decisions will increase immensely.

"Decisions become easier when your will to please God outweighs your will to please the world." - Anso Coetzer

Try and make one decision from a place of peace. I have decided to be grateful for every day! (because I believe every day is a gift from God.)

Have an awesome week.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Expressing gratitude

“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.”
- William Arthur Ward

I don't know how many of you remember me mentioning that I had won a weekend away for myself and my wife? Well, this past weekend was that weekend. And in this weeks article, I just want to express my gratitude. Firstly, thanks to God for blessing us with such an awesome prize and secondly to Misty Mountain Reserve for treating us so well. They really have a stunning place and extremely friendly and helpful staff, if you need a relaxing weekend I highly recommend looking them up. Click here to view their website.

Below are a few photo's of the weekend;



Above - the view from our deck.
Below - my lovely wife in front of our chalet.





Above - my lovely wife relaxing at the pool.
Below - the view from a walk I went on.






Above - sunset from our deck.

I now have one more thing to be incredibly grateful for, we just went for our 20 week scan and Baby Thomas is perfectly healthy. So thanks again to God for entrusting us with a new life, and thanks to my wife for looking after Baby Thomas so well.

Did you know, the more you are grateful for, the more you will receive? It's a law, that if used wisely, will bring happiness and abundance into your life. So what have you got to lose, start being grateful and watch your life change.

Next week I'll continue with more on decisions.

Have an awesome week.

“Gratitude helps you to grow and expand; gratitude brings joy and laughter into your life and into the lives of all those around you.”
- Eileen Caddy

Monday, October 20, 2008

Decisions

“Sometimes it's the smallest decisions that can change your life forever.”
- Keri Russell

We seldom realize the importance of decision making until it's too late, but did you know, we can learn to become great decision makers. And it all starts with understanding our emotions.

Did you know that every single decision we make is emotional, some more than others. And there is research to prove this theory.

Neuroscientist Antonio Damasio studied people who had received brain injuries to the emotional part of their brain, in all other respects they seemed normal - they just lost the ability to feel emotions.
The interesting thing he found was that their ability to make decisions was seriously impaired. They could logically describe what they should be doing, but in practice they found it very difficult to make decisions about where to live, what to eat, etc.

I believe 90% of us make decisions when we are in the wrong emotional state, the other 10%, well they are the successful people in the world. And of that 90% a lot are too scared to make decisions, in case its the wrong one.

“We can try to avoid making choices by doing nothing, but even that is a decision.”
- Gary Collins

I used to think emotional intelligence was just another gimmick, because like most people, I chose to be ignorant, but after doing a bit of reading and research, (deciding to educate myself), I have come to realize it is actually an important life skill.

If we can learn to understand our emotions, we can also learn when to make certain decisions and our lives can only improve.

This is a fascinating topic and one that requires a bit more discussion, so until next week, watch your emotions...

“A wise man makes his own decisions, an ignorant man follows public opinion”
- Chinese Proverb


Sunday, October 12, 2008

The truth about disease?

“Your lifestyle - how you live, eat, emote, and think - determines your health. To prevent disease, you may have to change how you live.”
- Brian Carter

I am so glad I am not the only person on the planet who believes this, unfortunately, very few do, which is why there is so much disease. WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR OUR OWN HEALTH! And if you have any children younger than ten, you are responsible for theirs too! And I don't mean just protecting yourselves and your children from viral infections, I'm talking about the serious diseases as well, the most common one being cancer.

Most people will blame something or someone for their disease, it's far easier than taking responsibility. I don't mean to offend anyone with this article, just educate. But if you are offended, it's probably because I have hit a nerve, sorry about that. Anyway, most people who contract a serious disease will blame genetics, it runs in the family. Maybe it does, but do you know you have the power to change that.

Another big blame is our lifestyle and what we eat. Most of the time we have no idea what we are shoveling into our mouths. I often hear people say, 'What I don't know can't harm me'. How naive! The next time you bite into a juicy fruit think about this, unless it's organic, you are eating poison. You washed it, well done, but some of the poison is on the inside, it gets absorbed through the roots of the tree. But it's such a small amount, how much fruit will you consume in your lifetime? And the next time you turn on the tap, be wary, be very wary. You have no idea where that water comes from and if it has been treated correctly.

So what can we do about all this? Firstly, open your mind, because what I'm about to tell you will challenge your thinking. Secondly, open your mind, and thirdly, open your mind. Yes, it's that important.

Your body is a very finely tuned instrument which is constantly giving you feedback. So when you get ill, your body is trying to tell you something. Even the common cold, is your body telling you there is something wrong. But I am going to focus on the more serious diseases, and the most common one is cancer. Did you know that every single living organism can contract cancer, even plants? So why are us humans, the rulers of planet earth, the ones who are suffering the most? It's because of our ability to think!

I watched a DVD some time ago, 'You Can Heal Your Life' by Louise Hay, and in it a woman who was suffering from cancer did some research into finding out what all those who were cured had in common. Her findings weren't what you would expect, all these people changed the way they thought, changed their attitude towards life, and changed their diet.

I also read the book 'You Can Heal Your Life' by Louise Hay, and according to her findings, the most common cause of disease are anger and resentment. And this can be towards others and yourself. And the sad thing is, most of us are so used to living with anger and resentment we aren't even aware of it.

When you talk about other people, are you saying nice things or bad things? Bad things = anger & resentment.
When you talk about your life, is it good or bad? Bad = anger & resentment.
When things don't go as planned, can you see any good in the situation? No = anger & resentment.
Can you let go of the past, something you have no control over? No = anger & resentment.
Can you forgive, something God does for you all the time? No = anger & resentment.

The list goes on, but you should get the idea by now.

Unfortunately some people are past the point of any help, but I am so grateful I have learned that I have control over my own health. And I must say, it is a scary responsibility to have, but the scariest part is that soon my wife and I will be responsible for our child's health as well. You see, until the age of about ten, your child is unaware of the power of it's thoughts and attitude, it's all your responsibility!

And if after all this you are still unsure of your powers, there is a new book out, and I can't wait to get my hands on it, 'The Biology of Belief' by Dr. Bruce Lipton. Stunning new scientific discoveries about the biochemical effects of the brain's functioning show that all the cells of your body are affected by your thoughts.

At last, some proof, isn't that what we all need? After all, faith is wavering...

“We are the carriers of health and disease - either the divine health of courage and nobility or the demonic diseases of hate and anxiety”
- Joshua Loth Liebman

“The deviation of man from the state in which he was originally placed by nature seems to have proved to him a prolific source of diseases”
- Edward Jenner

“The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease.”
- Thomas Alva Edison

Bring on the homeopaths!!!