How To Heal Your False Beliefs

Have you found that the same false beliefs keep coming up over and over - even though intellectually you know they aren't true? This is what Betty is struggling with:

"Many times I have identified a false belief through my guidance but I find that almost all the time, I slip back into the old belief- even though my guidance has provided me with the truth. Do you have any suggestions about helping to really integrate the truth? Have you found anything that works for you?"

There are two steps to healing a false belief. The first is what Betty is referring to - going to your Guidance for the truth.

The second step is that you have to consistently treat yourself according to the truth. For example, you discover that your false belief is that you aren't good enough, and then you go to your Guidance for the truth. Your Guidance tells you that you are a beautiful spark of the Divine, so of course you are good enough. But then, if you continue to abandon yourself - by ignoring your feelings by staying focused in your head, or by judging yourself, or by numbing your feelings with addictions, or by making someone else responsible for loving you and making you feel safe and worthy - why would your inner child believe you?

To heal a false belief, you need to consistently treat yourself like you would treat a beautiful spark of the Divine. Only when you do this, and do it over time, will the false belief heal.

Rob asked the following question about false beliefs during one of my courses:

"I have a question about false beliefs of the wounded self. I have identified a couple of debilitating beliefs that actually result in feelings of apathy and despair and since I tend to be a little OCD, they tend to persist. I know in my mind that the beliefs are false but they are still in my subconscious. There is still emotional charge on them. My question is: will just observing them cause them to diminish over time and vanish or do I need to do something additional? Maybe I need to pray for guidance on how to replace the false belief with a true one. Is this something that I should dialogue with my higher self about? I am confused about the mental versus the emotional components of beliefs. Thank you for this great course, it's really amazing and helps me clarify many things."

I told Rob the same thing I told Betty - it's treating ourselves lovingly that heals false beliefs. Healing beliefs is not simply an intellectual process - it takes loving action. Apathy and despair are indications of self-abandonment, so Rob would need to explore how he is abandoning himself, and what action(s) would be loving to himself, in order to begin to heal the false beliefs. The more he treats his inner child as a cherished being, the more the untrue beliefs get healed.

I know this from my personal experience and my experience with thousands of clients. When I now look at lists of false beliefs I used to have, I'm so grateful that I don't have them anymore. It took time and much inner work practice to heal them, but the neural pathways for these beliefs that were housed in my lower brain have been replaced with new neural pathways in my higher brain - pathways based on the truth rather then the lies of the wounded self. It was not only knowing about these beliefs that were not true, but focused loving action that created these strong new neural pathways.

You will find that the more you take loving action on your own behalf, the weaker your false beliefs become.

http://ezinearticles.com/?How-To-Heal-Your-False-Beliefs&id=9216386

Develop Your Passion, Believe in Yourself

1. "Don't wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles, and less than perfect conditions. So what? Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident, and more and more successful." --Mark Victor Hansen

The Courage to Be Content and Discontent

God calls us to two great and divergent poles to access the abundant life: to be content and discontent at the same time.

BEING CONTENT

Abundance as a spiritual concept is an outcome we arrive at through being content with what we have. With all we've been given, possessions and experiences, we're to be content. We count our blessings. Doing this means we have the courage to let go of our covetousness - those things and events we'll never have, and are not supposed to have. To do that we'll need to change some things in our lives, like say no to people, and drop unhealthy ambitions.

Being content, because it necessitates change to embrace surrender, requires courage.

BEING DISCONTENTED

Abundance is also a journey, a destination we never reach. We have glimpses of our contentedness, and these are good and to be enjoyed, but we can't get stuck there, because before too long contentedness becomes discontentedness. We can, however, enlist the courage to agree to remain discontented with where we're at. It's the only way we will continue to grow. It takes courage to refuse to settle.

CONNECTING CONTENTEDNESS AND DISCONTENT

These two divergent poles of demeanour seem on the surface not to complement one another, but together they're a perfect accompaniment, because they're a balance.

Being content is important, but staying content means we must be discontent with where we're at. Staying content will require us to break camp from our ideas that staying in our own safe bubble is even achievable, as it isn't. Life is always changing, and we have to remain mobile, which is the wisdom of humility that assumes nothing.

***

Life is in being content 

with what we have 

whilst being discontent 

with staying as we are.

http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Courage-to-Be-Content-and-Discontent&id=9622824

Believing Dreams Will Come True (By Maria Gemma Hilotin)

Until when will you believe? What if you did everything you could, while believing, and still nothing's happening? What will you do?

A. Let go?

B. Continue believing?

C. Work on something else?

I read somewhere that writing your goals will make it real for you. So, one time in December 2012, I wrote my goals, with a timeline. I felt superman powers that day that I thought by just writing all my very specific goals down (date with events), God will hear it and He will make it come true for me! Yes, like magic!

I believed that.

I believed it truly that every day, I'd look at my list and would excitedly imagine it happening soon! Every morning I'd read my list and I'd pray for it.

Do you know what happened? Two out of the seven items came true! And guess what?! with exact time (month and year) and events!

Was it magic? Was it just perfect timing? Was it pure luck? or Was it because I believed?

What do you think?

But, you know what? to this day I have not let go. I continue to believe that my five other items will come true soon!

I have to tell you though that even if I'd look at my list still, daily, and pray for it, I made sure to leave my concerns, worries and issues in God's hands.

Sister Teresa of Calcutta heard the voice of God while traveling by train, she believed it. She said it was a call within a call that she was to serve the poor in the slums. She asked permission, and even if it took a while for the permission to be granted, she didn't lose hope. She said, it wasn't her will, it's God's will. She continued to believe, and the rest was history.

It is fun to dream! It is fun to look ahead and see the possibilities that are in store for us! It is fun to believe!

As the days passed by in December 2012 and no event was happening, I knew there was nothing I could do if it wasn't time yet. It will never be because I will it, it was all about God's will, all according to His perfect timing.

Friends, there are three important things to think about here:

First, I hope we learn to let go. Not to let go of our dreams, but to let go of worrying, anxiety and self-righteousness. If it is meant to be, God will make all our dreams come true for us. Right?

Second, I hope we will continue to believe in the beauty of our dreams. There will be a lot of times when we feel nothing is happening, but I believe that something within has started to grow, it just hasn't shown in reality yet, but it is coming. It is coming soon!

Third, I hope we won't get fixated that we forget to work on something else! Enjoy life! Show up! Have fun! There is more to life than our dreams! Do something else! Embrace life's other surprises!

I thank God for options and alternatives.

My five items didn't happen as planned. There were a lot of detours, diversions, stopovers, interruptions, challenges, and threats.

But, looking back now, it was beautiful! It was beautiful because it also came with a lot of hope, opportunities, lessons, joy and awesome surprises!

Just like Sister Teresa of Calcutta, let us not lose hope.

If God meant our dreams to come true, it will be in an easy and relaxed manner, in His perfect timing and for the highest good of all.

May all our dreams be blessed.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Believing-Dreams-Will-Come-True&id=9620451

MacGyver Yourself Into Success

In the great wisdom of TV entertainment, the popular 90s series MacGyver is back, re-hauled and re-cast, with fresh young faces, but the point is the same: trouble occurs, MacGyver is (usually reluctantly) called to the rescue, and "MacGyvering" ensues.

Which, for me, is the appeal of the show: what on earth is MacGyver going to duct-tape, chewing-gum, paper-clip together this time to rout the bad guys and save the day? He has a genuine hero's approach to problems-never sulking, walking away or giving up in the face of a problem, always looking for a different approach. In a word, "Can't be done" is always translated into "Gotta be a way."

What a winning approach to life! How many times have you told yourself "Can't be done" and with those fatal words, dashed your dreams, smashed your hopes, given up on a cherished goal? I certainly have, more often than I'd like to admit, and always to my later regret.

Optimists don't do that. Optimists, defined by their hopeful and confident attitude toward the future, run quite literally where others fear to tread. Which is why optimists are often labeled "fools" or "Pollyanna." Forgetting that Pollyanna thrived.

It's truly worth adopting an optimist's hopeful attitude toward the future. Study after study proves that optimists do very well: they live longer, are healthier, more successful, and happier than pessimists. My favorite? They outperform their own talents. Personally, I take that as very good news.

The mistake is thinking that optimists simply rush headlong into any and all ventures. Optimists, instead, look at situations like everyone else, with an eye to what might go wrong, but what's critical, is they also look at what might go right, and chose to lean in that direction.

Take Bill Gates, for example. How easy it would have been, for him, sitting in his garage, to think "Who's gonna want this stuff? Never gonna happen!" and abandon his dream to pursue something tried and true. Like door-to-door encyclopedia salesman. Which, by the way, is now a defunct profession. But he didn't. He chose the optimistic course: maybe, just maybe, someone somewhere would find value in what he had to offer. Or take Elon Musk, or Hillary Clinton. I don't care what your politics are, think of how optimistic you must be to either shoot for the moon, physically, or shoot for the moon, in terms of aiming to be the first woman president.

My dream? Double-pirouettes by age 70. OK, not everybody's dream I grant you, but my small dream, which takes a significant optimistic viewpoint to even consider. What's yours? To write that novel? Create that work of art that thrums in your brain night and day? Travel to that far distant land you've dreamed of? Star in that movie, rock-band, fashion commercial? MacGyver yourself!

The more you refuse to accept that you can't, the more likely you are to succeed. Be bold, be brave, and go for that dream that lives in your heart. I guarantee, it will be worth it.

http://ezinearticles.com/?MacGyver-Yourself-Into-Success&id=9624705

Start With Yourself

What we call our destiny is truly our character and that character can be altered. The knowledge that we are responsible for our actions and attitudes does not need to be discouraging, because it also means that we are free to change this destiny. One is not in bondage to the past, which has shaped our feelings, to race, inheritance, background. All this can be altered if we have the courage to examine how it formed us. We can alter the chemistry provided we have the courage to dissect the elements.” 

― Anaïs Nin

Build an Influential Lifestyle

In today's society there is so much noise that to compete you have to be louder in every aspect of your life. You are competing with social events and other distractions and most importantly what is influencing your decision-making and the barriers that make it hard to reach your full potential. Your goal should be to create an identity for yourself that involves yourself with great leaders, and that channels your expectations and your goals and most importantly your power to control the influential lifestyle you're seeking. It is very important to understand that you can't have everyone as your friend. You must select only a few and I mean only a hand-full of people into your environment.

What you need to accomplish is a ground game to access the necessary information from these groups of people you surround yourself with, and I'm talking about the LEADERS, the SMART, and most SUCCESSFUL, POWERFUL RISK takers that you can find. For there is where you will find many solutions and ideas. Once you discover these leaders in your circle, create firewalls around them by having the greatest relationship with them as possible, this will allow you to break into other markets of great leaders and people in the marketplace.

Example: Find the people who are really influential in the business that you want to start, and let's say you don't have the funds to start the business, which can ordinarily be tough. Find them and connect with them, grab their ATTENTION and don't let GO! You have to pass the gate- keeper, so call them, email them and call them again and email them again and repeat! Sound persistent? You should be a billboard that they can't stop looking at. Remember successful and powerful people who are very influential want to be surrounded by other people who want to be like them. If you are loyal to seeking their attention it will give them a sense of urgency to connect. However you must remember that these powerful and influential people hear a lot of noise so you have to be louder than that noise, and quite frankly that will be your way of life once you build that relationship.

So be LOUD and go out to create a lot of noise and get the ATTENTION that you need to be POWERFUL and INFLUENTIAL to create the lifestyle you need for yourself. And don't doubt yourself! And my question to you is are you going to go out there and be GREAT? And are you going to STAY GREAT! Remember it's all about the connections that have INFLUENCE!

http://ezinearticles.com/?Build-an-Influential-Lifestyle&id=9573676

What Will You March for?

I felt strongly about writing about unity this week. Rising above and standing together is essential right now. If we degrade another fellow human being, we are essentially lowering our own vibration. What we put out we will get back. It will without a doubt show-up in your life or business somewhere. From an energy perspective look at the energy being shared underneath your words. This is what you are giving out and therefore what you will receive back. It involves having a clear and ground perspective first, and seeing the world through that lens, instead of seeing the world first and letting it dictate how we feel. Let's be an active participant in what we are creating.

When you start to feel yourself engaging in gossip, remember this is someone's dad, brother, sister, mom, daughter, etc. Let's have love and compassion for our fellow human beings and focus on the changes WE want to see instead. What would you advise your son or daughter to do if they didn't like what someone said on the playground? Would you invite them to talk about them, yell at them, say mean things, etc. No. You would teach them to rise above, to accept them for who they are and be the person they want to be. To treat others how they want to be treated, right?

The course in miracles talks a lot about attachment. When we're in our ego we're coming from a place of separateness, righteousness, and the need to be right and special. We're attached to outcomes and being in control. We all slip into this on some level. Even the most evolved and enlightened people still slip. Because we're human and have an ego.

But let's step into the best versions of ourselves for a second. Who are we at a core level? How do we treat others from this place and how do we like to be treated? We are all worthy of love and respect. This doesn't mean we condone terrible acts, but we can forgive and rise above.

It's okay to feel.

We are still having a human experience, and it's okay to be angry when others say or do hurtful things. It's okay to feel. It's what you do with those feelings that matters. By just allowing yourself to feel how you do without judgement, you are really allowing and accepting yourself as you are, which in-turn creates more peaceful feelings. What is a healthy way to feel and express heavier feelings? What works for you? Journaling and body scanning are great tools that I have learned along the way, and please reach out if you would like more info. on these.

The more we can focus on what we do want the more we will create it.

What's amazing to me is the women's march has been created in response to some heavier events occurring. When was the last time all of these women came together to support one another? This is massive healing on so many levels and a true blessing in disguise.

Much love to you as you sort through what is heavy in your heart today, and I am wishing you peace and love always.

http://ezinearticles.com/?What-Will-You-March-for?&id=9625581

Peace, Commitment, and Empowerment (By Dawn Shuler )

These three words have come up over and over for me this week, and while they may seem like individual and distinct concepts, they are intertwined with each other as well as to me and my business.

Let's start with peace. 

When I think about my top values, peace or peaceful has never reared its head. It's not that I didn't want to feel peaceful; it's just never felt crucial.

Lately, though, especially in the early morning when I have some me time, I've noticed this wonderful feeling in my body, in my core. I breathe better, bigger, fuller, deeper. I put a name to this feeling, and I found it was "peace."

I realized I had been missing that feeling. Sure, life has been hectic, and there's a lot going on, but I was surprised to realize how important peace was needed.

Onto commitment. 

I'm searching for my next coach, as I believe strongly in the power and even necessity of coaches and mentors. Earlier this week, I had a Discovery Call with a coach. We talked about the various avenues of my business and the possible fitness between me and the potential coach. What he told me is that his company works in 90-day blocks, and that in those 90 days, the coachee commits to a certain outcome or goal.

Now, as a smart business owner and a coach myself, I get the power of commitment. But for some reason, in talking with this coach, the way he said it rang differently for me. That idea of committing to one path or one goal for 90 days... and the idea that perhaps I have not been committing the way I think I have been... it's certainly making me go, "Hmmmm... "

Finally, the big one: empowerment. 

There's a situation my husband Mark and I have been dealing with for the last five months, and it looks as if it's finally winding down. Funny enough, in this winding down and really seeing that the end could be near, I've been spiraling and certainly not at peace. (I told you these concepts were related.)

What I realized, and this was freaking huge, was that because this situation was primarily Mark's situation, I couldn't actively do anything about it. I'm affected greatly by it, but I couldn't make phone calls, take action, etc. because other parties can't deal with me. They can only deal with Mark.

I realized that this was the third time in my life that I have felt powerless: my childhood (one long big time), the explosion of my first marriage, and then this one. I was explaining to Mark how bad this was for me, this feeling of powerlessness. I went over to the Emotional Guidance scale from Abraham-Hicks printed out in the office to show him that it was in the lower half (i.e. "bad") of the chart. Well, it's not only in the "out of the vortex" section of the chart, it's at the very bottom of the chart, along with despair, fear, and grief.

Yikes.

I've been embracing that one of the things I do for my clients and people in my programs was to empower them. I just never knew how necessary empowerment was showing up for me. Actually, it's probably more the lack of empowerment that has thrown me for a loop. No one should feel powerless.

So, how are all these related and what do they mean to you? 

Well, first, they're related for me because they all welled up at the same time. If I'm not feeling empowered, then that's affecting my sense of peace and ability to commit. If I'm feeling powerless, how the heck can I commit to something? On the other hand, if I can take back my power (or at least recognize how this temporary situation made me feel powerless), I will be at more peace. If I continue to choose peace, I'm going to be better able to commit, take action, make choices, and serve the world.

Next, onto you... how do peace, commitment, and empowerment show up in your life? Are you at peace? Do you want to be? Are you committing full out, or just playing it safe? Are there places you feel powerless? Where can you take back your power?

Third, what concepts are showing up for you in your life? What do they mean to you? What messages are they trying to give you? What action do you need to take?

May you be at peace with all you do.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Peace,-Commitment,-and-Empowerment&id=9601722

Make a Choice to Be Happy

An important decision I made was to resist playing the Blame Game. The day I realized that I am in charge of how I will approach problems in my life, that things will turn out better or worse because of me and nobody else, that was the day I knew I would be a happier and healthier person. And that was the day I knew I could truly build a life that matters.” 

― Steve Goodier

What Does the Coming of Tomorrow Mean?

The coming of tomorrow can be just another day or less frequently an unpredictable day. Yet you can have some influence over that to a great extent. How is that? Read on to find out.

For most people coming of tomorrow would mean coming another day of your routine life. But you can change the pattern to some extent because coming of tomorrow does not have to mean always that way.

You can make tomorrow a memorable or victorious day of your life if you plan ahead of time. By preparing and taking actions ahead of time you can make tomorrow a grand day be it a party day, a day to accomplish something great or just simply a day for some family time together. Even little things can bring happiness while monumental stuff will bring triumph.

What is it you desire, you have to take action and plan ahead of time to make tomorrow different. That's the sole secret.

For instance, consider throwing a grand party - you need at least one whole month prior to tomorrow to make the guest list, the shopping list, preparations for ordering food items, arrangements for sitting and decorations for your home and so on. It cannot happen in a single day.

While a family out together depending on how small your children are, it can be organized quickly within a day's notice. You just need to plan whether it's a park to play with your children you will go or to a restaurant to eat out together. Either way, it is easy to plan and organize and yet tomorrow can be a great fun day for you.

On the other hand, if you are trying to accomplish something great, say your PhD Dissertation, well that would take weeks of practice and rehearsal for best results. You have to present your presentation in front of a committee of people and other audience; you need to have your thesis compiled and assembled into a formal proper book and probably you have to burn the soft copy of your thesis on a CD or two. That way you have well planned. Additionally you have to prepare yourself well for giving proper answers to the questions posed by the audience on your dissertation day which happens to be tomorrow. If it all goes well, there you have it - you are conferred upon a PhD degree- something of great triumph.

Sometimes coming of tomorrow may be as unpredictable as losing your job, demise of someone close or simply a bad day. Try to repel the negative energies as much as you can and make it bearable for you. It always will happen once in a blue moon and therefore, you don't have much to take to heart most of the time.

On the other hand, why does it have to be routine work for another tomorrow? Simply because people don't plan to do anything special or do anything to make it special. Next time you think of tomorrow, let your creative juices flow in and plan a great day. Why does it have to be a day of boredom and drudgery? You can make it a beautiful memorable day if you only want it to be so with a burning desire. Think about it next time before tomorrow comes. It's worth giving it time and thought.

http://ezinearticles.com/?What-Does-the-Coming-of-Tomorrow-Mean?&id=9626442

Loving Yourself Fiercely and Relentlessly (By Margaret Paul, Ph.D.)

Gerard sat opposite me at one of my intensives.

"My body hurts and I feel irritated," he complained, in a way that felt like he was handing his hurting inner child to me to soothe and fix.

"Gerard, do you want to know what you are doing and how you are treating yourself that is causing this pain?"

"Yes, of course. I know he wants me to love him, but I don't know how."

I cannot begin to tell you how often I hear this: "I don't know how. I don't know how to love myself." And the underlying question being asked of me is, "Tell me how to love myself. Tell me what to do to take this pain away."

Gerard is clear that the irritation in his body is coming from his self-abandonment, and he wants a formula for how to love himself. He believes that I have the answer for him and is angry with me for not telling him how. I patiently explain the six steps of inner work to him again, but I can see that his eyes glaze over and he doesn't get what I'm talking about.

One of the other participants brilliantly says, "Gerard, it's not about "how", it's about "what" you do that makes the difference.

Another participant states, "I know you are fiercely devoted to your daughters. It's your relentless devotion that makes them feel loved - not whether or not you do it perfectly."

Gerard blinks and a light bulb turns on. His whole being comes alive.

"Are you saying that it's not whether or not I do it right or even know what I'm doing, but that it's about being relentless in wanting to be loving to myself?"

"Yes!!" I state, delighted with his dawning understanding. "You are one of the most relentless people I know when it comes to your physical health. You're deeply devoted to eating well, exercising and reading about health and nutrition. But when it comes to emotional responsibility for your own feelings, you blame others, pull on them, and expect them to love you instead of learning to love yourself. You don't make anyone else, including your doctor, an authority over your physical health, nor do you expect anyone else to feed you well, yet you consistently expect others to take responsibility for your feelings and you are angry at them when they don't."

"So I need to be as relentless with my feelings as I am with my physical health! I can see that my children feel safe, even when my wife and I don't always do it 'right,' because they can feel that we are deeply devoted to their wellbeing. I didn't get this kind of devotion when I was growing up, so I've expected others to do it for me, but it's only when I'm fierce and relentless about WANTING to love myself that my inner child will feel loved."

Yes, yes, yes!

The first step of inner work is getting present with our feelings and fiercely and relentlessly WANTING responsibility for them, rather than wanting to just get rid of pain. It's the fierce and relentless WANTING that makes all the difference.

"Gerard, because your whole being WANTS to be a good daddy, your children feel safe and loved, and your inner little boy will stop feeling angry and irritated when you truly WANT responsibility for your feelings."

Gerard was smiling and so was everyone else.

"How does your body feel now Gerard?" I asked.

"Good!"

Gerard could clearly feel that, even though he hadn't taken any overt loving actions, the inner action of finding the place within him that relentlessly WANTS to love his inner child took away his anger and irritation.

He was ready to be fierce and relentless in learning to love himself, and in treating himself lovingly - just as fierce and relentless as he is in creating excellent physical health.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Loving-Yourself-Fiercely-and-Relentlessly&id=9627399

Pay Attention to Your Inner Friend

“Love yourself. Forgive yourself. Be true to yourself. How you treat yourself sets the standard for how others will treat you.” 

― Steve Maraboli,

Taking 100% Responsibility (By Mandy Buchanan)

A couple of years ago I read Jack Canfield's "Success Principles" book and the first principle he mentioned was taking responsibility. Now at the time I was just busy working through an abusive relationship where a lot of people may have told me "It's not your fault", "you did nothing wrong" and yes there were lots of things I was not responsible for - I was the one being abused not the abuser; but one thing I realized through reading this book is that unless we take responsibility for our lives and our actions, no matter what the circumstances then we will always be the victim and never get where we want to go in life.

Taking Responsibility No Matter What

Now, you may have been through a similar relationship as me, you might even be in it right now and you say "it wasn't my fault he hit me", "it wasn't my fault he tried to kill me", and no these things weren't your fault but you do need to take responsibility for getting into the relationship in the first place, for choosing to stay with them despite the abuse, and you need to take responsibility for getting out of the situation and getting healed. I know, I've been there and today I really am out of it and a happy and healthy person who feels like those things almost happened to somebody else because I chose to take responsibility no matter what and turn my life around. No matter what you are going through you have to take responsibility for your decisions and your actions or inaction or you will forever be the victim.

Taking Responsibility for Your Success

Perhaps you have led a fairly 'normal' life - no abuse, no dramatic negative events but are you still taking responsibility for your success? Beyond taking responsibility for turning around negative circumstances and getting healing we all need to take responsibility for our own success. Our success is based on our actions, inactions, and even our thoughts. We can't blame anyone else if things don't turn out the way we planned. We need to take responsibility for our part in our success. Even when things do go wrong beyond our ability to control we still have the responsibility of choosing how we will react to those events and how we react will often ultimately lead to our success or failure. No matter how many times things go wrong beyond our control we still have the choice to get back up and carry on and refuse to quit.

No matter what point you are at in your life unless you take full responsibility for where you are and where you are going then you will not get there. Today I choose to let go of negative things that happened in my past and I choose to make my life what I want it to be. It is my responsibility just like your life is your responsibility, nobody can do it for you. No matter what you have been through life can still be exactly what you want it to be if you are prepared to take responsibility and make the choices that will get you there.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Taking-100%-Responsibility&id=9628077

Don't Give Up

We've all heard it, the stories of people who persevered despite numerous rejections and failures to ultimately become famous in their field and achieve some amazing results but do we take this lesson to heart? Do we see failure as a reason to quit or as a stepping stone towards success? If it doesn't work out once do we think it never will? I am here to tell you that if you have a dream then don't you dare give up! Yes you may fail, you may fail numerous times but so long as you keep getting back up then failure is not the end and may still turn into success.

Decide What You Really Want

It's no good saying 'don't give up' if it's something you don't really want. If you don't really want it then by all means quit, we can't all do everything but decide what it is that you really want in life and then never, ever give up on that thing that you are passionate about.

Failure Teaches You How Not to Do It

Each time you fail at something you really want to do just see it as a lesson in how not to do it. 'OK, so doing it that way didn't work, what other method can I try?' Consider life an experiment. There may be many ways that don't work but if you keep trying you will eventually find the one way that does work. Just keep a note of what hasn't worked and don't keep trying to do things the same way because if you keep on trying to do things in the same way that you failed before then you will not succeed but try to do it a different way and you will learn from your mistakes.

Be Patient

Sometimes it's not so much the process we are following to achieve the results as it is the timing. Some things are not going to happen immediately. Unfortunately we live in an age where we have gotten used to almost instantaneous results and when things don't work out like that we tend to get impatient and give up. The best things in life however will take time so learn to be patient and realize that everything doesn't have to happen overnight.

Be Teachable

Be teachable and willing to learn. If there are people who have gone through this process before then ask them how they did it and why they think they eventually got it right. Take notes of the lessons they learned along the way and try to avoid the same mistakes they have already made. As Isaac Newton said, "if I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants", learn to stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before and learn the lessons they have learnt so that you can reach further because you won't need to go through the same mistakes. You don't have to do it alone and mentorship is one of the best success principles.

Plenty of people have failed again and again but have gone on to achieve great things with their lives because they didn't give up; they showed patience, persistence and learnt from others. Learn to do the same if you have something you really want to achieve and see failure as your stepping stone to greater things.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Dont-Give-Up&id=9628095

How to Feel As If Life Is on Your Side for Once

The more introverted you are, the more you feel like staying inside and thinking negative. Let me cheer you up by a single comment which goes like this: "You are not what has happened to you - you are what you choose to become." Now how do you feel the Universe is on your side and not otherwise? Read on for highlights.

Get yourself outside of home and start walking around the block. You will see children playing and licking lollipops. You will see guardians alongside them. You will also see couples in love hanging around. You will watch the green trees and the beautiful flowers that have blossomed. When you observe these things, your mind automatically gets the positive trigger and starts thinking a little positive.

Go to the nearest coffee shop and while you sip your coffee, read the novel you have brought with you in the sunny afternoon. Doing this makes you feel good and you hardly think the Universe is out there to get you.

As the sun starts to set, watch the beautiful scenery from a place where you can appreciate it fully. You have taken in all the positive things of your outside world as much as you can. Now time to head back home.

When you go home, continue with your reading for a while. And then stop. Call your favorite friend to cook and have dinner together.

That would be fun. You will be cutting vegetables, meat like beef or chicken and others. You have the light spices ready and so are the saucepans and fry pans. Cook a pot of rice as well. You are going to have a good, healthy dinner. While your friend helps you with the cooking, you laugh and crack jokes. Where is the scope to feel life is acting against you? You feel for once everything is going your way. You relish the dinner with your friend and after a little chitchat together, your friend leaves.

But you plan ahead how you are going to spend the rest of the evening without feeling negative or lonesome. Several good ideas will be:

a) Continue with your novel

b) Tender your garden

c) Write the plot of a stunning story

d) De-clutter your wardrobe

e) Make some phone calls to your dearest ones such as, boyfriend, relatives, parents, siblings and even some charity home to make a donation.

Doing one or more of these five things you will have spent the rest of the evening delightfully as well. Until you retire to bed, do a few minutes' reading on your novel and fall asleep, feeling exhausted and spent out in order to wake up afresh the following morning with full vigor.

Therefore, this is how you take one day at a time and feel the Universe is fully on your side for once, while you do and act everything in your own sweet ways.

http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Feel-As-If-Life-Is-on-Your-Side-for-Once&id=9628980

Our Greatest Source of Strength (By Rosemarie Sumalinog Gonzales)

Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. This is achieved when you go through hardships and decide not to surrender. Even if I find it very difficult to raise my kids financially but I am still very happy because all my hard works and patience paid off. All my efforts are worth it. Kids achieve much in their own little way.

I think it's my personality to overcome things, learn from them and become stronger, both personally and professionally. To be honest, I welcome those hardships no matter how difficult. I like to do challenging tasks because it makes me braver in life. My perception of hardships is completely different from others. I'm not whining and moaning because of the hurdles I have in my life. The hardships that I encountered in the past help me succeed in every endeavor I take because whatever hardships there have been in my life I am still privileged because I am not afraid of what I do. I love my work very much. It is very challenging and mind-breaking but very satisfying since I love to explore the unknown. I love to do qualitative studies through grounded theories and case studies. The feeling is totally different when you know that you are able to formulate a theory out of the many concepts given to you by your subjects.

The reason why I become braver were the past experiences that I had in life. My willingness to compromise for the sake of my kids did no good to me. There was once in my life that I read in my daily horoscope that if I want to succeed, I need to stay away from people who only want my downfall. Life might be so hard but it becomes harder when you are with people eaten by negativity.

Not that I blame others for my wrong decisions. I accept full responsibility to the consequence of my actions.It just happened that when you realized that history keeps on repeating itself, you are not learning at all.

I am really considerate. But sometimes, this trait becomes my weakness instead of my strength because it seems that people are taking advantage of it. There were even times that even if I am hurt, I still forgive because I am hoping that maybe CHANGE is coming.

What a wrong notion! Change begins in ourselves, not in others. We need to infuse life with action. WE HAVE TO MAKE IT HAPPEN!

This article is about how we can turn our hardships into our strength. Positive traits can also be our weakness but it does not mean that we cannot overcome this because life is what we make it.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Our-Greatest-Source-of-Strength&id=9625986

3 Pertinent Ways to Shift Your Limiting Money Beliefs

Beliefs. They are the underlying operating system for how we make our decisions and therefore what we decide to do and not do. They live in our subconscious mind, which does not have the ability to accept nor reject information. Meaning, any time we have an emotional reaction to something, the belief around it is automatically accepted into our subconscious mind unless we are using our conscious mind (which can accept or reject information), to vet what goes in there. Most people don't realize they can do this, and what happens if they don't! So if deep down we don't feel worthy of success, we will see life and make designs form this lens. We must first get clear on what is in there, and then reprogram it with new empowered beliefs if what's in there isn't so great.

My motto is that we need to be of service first and foremost always in our businesses. When we can accept and trust the universe always has our backs, and is going to show-us more and more people and opportunities to serve, we can relax, have fun and be of complete service. We're not worrying about money in this place or where the next client is going to come from. The money is secondary.

However, if we aren't open to receiving money, we will create all kinds of problems for ourselves. For example, when I first started looking at my own money beliefs, I realized deep down I believed rich people were in some way arrogant and selfish. I was sabotaging the success I said I wanted because I had a value conflict - I didn't want to be that type of person.

Here are 3 things you can do now to become aware of your beliefs around money and start shifting them too.

1. What do you believe about money and success? What were you taught by society, your culture and influential people in your life while growing-up?

2. What would you like to believe instead? What is the new empowered belief you would like to have in place for the old? Repeat this over and over and OVER!!!! You will start to reprogram your subconscious mind by creating new experiences that support this new empowered belief i.e. things will start happening in your external world that support this new belief! YAY!

3. Find role models who are at the level you want to be at, who also share the same values as you. This will help you reframe how you are seeing successful people. As Tony Robbins said, money just magnifies who you are already. If you're an a-hole, it will make you a bigger a-hole. If you're kind and loving, you will spread more love and kindness. I totally agree.

Have fun exploring, and get ready for financial abundance!

http://ezinearticles.com/?3-Pertinent-Ways-to-Shift-Your-Limiting-Money-Beliefs&id=9630732

Why You Should Want Others to Respect You

Love is the strongest and most unknown vibrational energy that you will ever need. But alongside this, you also need another important ingredient for your stand and status in the society. What is it? Read on to find out.

All of us have an urge inside us to feel important. And that is when you crave for a little respect from the people around you including your spouse or fiancé.

What would having respect really mean? It means you have a position and status in the society. It also means you are vital and make a difference in the world. Without your presence, your position would be empty and no other human being can ever fill it up.

Respect is all about making others feel important, giving credit to others when they deserve, giving raises and promotions when they have earned them and above all, treating them with dignity and value.

Of course there will be a minority who will not be skilled, speak bad language and bear no courtesies and manners. These people are to be left behind while you go ahead in life. And if you are the boss, simply fire them.

Respect for others means you treat them as your equal and are ready to discuss issues or problems on the same plane. You find that you have much in common and share equivalent values and ethics.

Without people respecting you would mean that you are an outcast, not belonging to the society, rather being kicked by the society. This really happens when you are drunk every night and return home, when you poke your nose too much in others' affairs without letting them have any privacy and when you boss around everywhere, with people loathing it, and not listening to their woes.

With a medley of love and respect, you are so much comfortable in your shoes. You have become successfully the person you have always wanted to be. You enjoy family company and friends and colleagues' company. You respect others just as much as others respect you. Together with all the people you know, you are a mighty force, standing up for each other and nothing could be better and more graceful. You will smile- so will the world smile back at you.

For some mishap or unfortunate chain of events, if you lose your respect, you are bound to go down the bottomless pit. But that is not the end of everything. You can have help and ask for help from genuine people and also pray to Almighty God for amending your mistakes and eventually earn back all the respect you will ever need.

In fact, having respect in the society naturally means you are important, wealthy and a make-a-difference person. And you can have all of that only if you yearn for it bad enough. Gotcha?

http://ezinearticles.com/?Why-You-Should-Want-Others-to-Respect-You&id=9631737

You Are a Unique Individual. Accept it

At bottom every man knows well enough that he is a unique being, only once on this earth; and by no extraordinary chance will such a marvelously picturesque piece of diversity in unity as he is, ever be put together a second time.     ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

Do You Have The Courage to Love Yourself? (By Margaret Paul, Ph.D.)

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear." ~ Ambrose Bierce

I find it sad that it takes courage to love ourselves. But the truth is that our culture has come so far from our natural way of being - which is to love ourselves - that now it does take courage, a lot of courage.

Why? Because many of us have been programmed to believe that being 'selfless' is being good, and that being loving to ourselves is selfish. We've been programmed to believe that if we ignore our own feelings and needs and attend to the feelings and needs of others, then we will be seen as good and we will be loved.

There is so much backward thinking in these statements that I hardly know where to begin to untangle it.

Loving yourself - loving the spark of the Divine within you, your soul that is created in the image of God-that-is-love - is like loving a beloved child. It's about cherishing your intrinsic gifts and sharing them with those you love. When you are truly loving yourself, you would never be selfish because it's very unloving to yourself to be selfish - i.e. to not care about the effect your behavior has on others, to ignore others' feelings and needs, and to expect others to give themselves up for you. Loving yourself is what fills you with love to share with others.

Selflessness is actually the opposite of knowing who you are - knowing the beauty and greatness of your soul essence. Anyone who has been selfless knows that it eventually leads to feeling depleted and depressed, because when you are giving to others without also loving yourself, you end up feeling empty inside. When you give to get love, others generally receive without giving back.

If this is what you've been doing, it takes great courage to focus on loving yourself and letting go of caretaking others to get love. Those to whom you've been giving, in order to get their attention and approval, may become angry at you for what they perceive as you abandoning them. They liked your caretaking and they may not even know how to be with you in supporting your own and others' highest good. So it takes great courage to weather their wrath and perhaps even lose them.

It can be so scary to do this, that only when loving yourself becomes more important to you than your fear of rejection, will you open to learning about what is in your highest good.

This is where I was 32 years ago when Spirit brought us our inner work healing process. I was quite ill and knew that if I continued to abandon myself, I would die. I was terrified of losing those I loved, but even more terrified to get sicker. My desire to be healthy, alive, and manifesting my gifts gave me the courage to begin learning to love myself.

If you are anxious, depressed and lonely, and you have been selfless rather than self-loving, you might consider that being selfless - i.e. abandoning yourself to get love and approval - isn't working. It's now well known that Mother Teresa, the saint of selflessness, was deeply depressed most of her life and sought therapeutic help over and over for her depression. Unfortunately, at that time, none of the therapists understand that the source of her depression was that she was abandoning herself. She didn't abandon herself to get others' love and approval. She abandoned herself because she believed that this is what being loving to others meant, but it left her inner child alone and depressed within.

I hope you let go of your old concepts of selflessness and selfishness and have the courage to learn to love yourself, fill yourself with love, and share your beautiful intrinsic gifts with others.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Do-You-Have-The-Courage-to-Love-Yourself?&id=9633252

What Would You Attempt to Do If You Knew You Couldn't Fail? (By Rosina S Khan)

Do you know what you are good at - your skill set, expertise and competencies? If yes, and if you are at a transition point in your life, it shouldn't be hard to figure out for you what you would like to do if you knew you couldn't fail. Read on for highlights.

As for me, I am not on my regular job as a university faculty member anymore. But I know for sure if I continue my career in that area, I wouldn't fail. I have much experience and expertise so that nothing could go wrong. Yet I have some difficulties which are delaying me to fall back into the rhythm of life.

For the time being, I am writing fiction stories, self-help eBooks, articles, blogs and guides. I am growing my email list so that I can reach my products to a larger audience by participating in giveaway events. I know for sure, writing and being an author is another area I would excel which I wouldn't have known if I hadn't given up my regular job.

You should, like me, have several options in your life if you are desperately in need of a career change. Everything starts with a thought, a plan and a series of actions towards it. While you take daily small actions, your life rejuvenates and you get back the mojo of life.

While you have several options for career changes, you have to pick one and attempt to succeed. You know for sure you couldn't fail in these options. It is just a matter of making a choice.

How do you make a wise choice? Rely on your gut instinct, really feel what speaks to you and additionally weigh out the pros and cons of your option. If the pros are greater, you are good to go. Nothing can stand in your way and no one can stop you. You are going to lead a meaningful life once again and stand up for something important, which makes you an important person.

After you have made your choice wisely, hold someone close accountable for your daily actions. They will point out your mistakes and remind you to stay on the path you have chosen. It's like having a mentor giving you good advice all the time. You can also contact professional coaches and get the required help. Everything should fall together and you should be back on your way up the ladder of success.

http://ezinearticles.com/?What-Would-You-Attempt-to-Do-If-You-Knew-You-Couldnt-Fail?&id=9633450

Freeze Frame (By Vance Larson )

Have you ever stopped and thought what if this were the last time I saw the person in front of me? Through years of meditation I have learned to step into the present moment. By doing this, it makes life so much more meaningful. I like to call this practice Freeze Frame.

By being aware of each moment, we begin to actually appreciate the beauty and meaning of it. How many times over the course of our lives do we miss moments of importance? Through my 3 decades as a mental health professional, I have heard "if only I told them I loved them" (the last time I saw them). This comes up in grief counselling quite a lot. It's similar to the old saying never go to bed angry. The principle is the same. Life does not guarantee us time. You can be present, angry, yet still let someone know that you still love them. Why do we not say it?

Freeze frame. The ability to know that each moment is sacred and that it should be treated as such. In a world full of fast paced thinking, talking and technology, how many of us are missing what is truly important? The person standing in front of us. What would you say or do differently if you knew this was the last time you would see them again? While this is rather a foreign thought for many, (especially for the younger crowd) eventually enough time will pass and every conversation will be your last with a loved one.

I am guilty of this too. But through meditation, and my years of work as a counsellor, I am reminded of it more and more often. When we think Freeze Frame, we actually allow for our communication to be relevant, meaningful and enjoyed. By taking a Zen posture, you are fully committing to the moment. As we do this, we are showing great respect and love for the time shared with another.

Freeze Frame doesn't always have to be about meaningful conversations with a loved one. It sometimes is a vehicle for staying on task. There is a beauty that comes when we slow down. We tend to make less mistakes, thus fewer frustrations.

I remember doing a lecture many years ago at a local hospital on stress. While doing my research I discovered that 7 out of 10 people with a visit to their primary care physician, were due to stress or stress related conditions (I'm sure that number has changed since then). But my thought was, what if we learned to control our stress? Does that mean we could decrease the likelihood of us getting sick? Something to think about.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Freeze-Frame&id=9632253

Fear of Failure Shouldn't Stop You

You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone. Close the door on the past. You don't try to forget the mistakes, but you don't dwell on it. You don't let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space.” - Johnny Cash

Just A Little More

Even though Billy Joel is sixty-seven years of age and has not written a pop song in decades, he still performs at sold-out concerts and has been declared the third biggest selling artist of all time in the United States. During one of his media interviews he was asked about why he has had such a successful career and replied: "When you are competent and you live in an age where there is lots of incompetence it makes you appear extraordinary".

Is it just me or have you noticed that there seems to be less competence in the world today? Often customer service in retail outlets is non-existent or ineffective. It is more and more difficult to find telephone numbers for online companies. Emails are often ignored or replied to with inadequate or inappropriate information.

Recently I wrote an email to a large organization asking "HOW" to perform a specific task. I received a three word reply "Yes you can".

Common sense isn't common anymore and it doesn't make sense to everyone. It's frustrating.

I also find it interesting that sometimes a person is extraordinary in their career but a mess in their personal life - or the other way around. It takes time, effort and focus to develop balance.

But, the good news is that the incompetence and lack of balance in the world today leaves the door open for each of us to adopt Billy Joel's theory and become "extraordinary". It seems almost silly for me to make a list of things that we can do to make our world better but here it is: 

1. Smile and greet others who you meet. There are so many lonely people in the world and even a friendly encounter of a few seconds in length can be a lift for them. 

2. Read messages carefully and reply in a timely and appropriate manner. 

3. Listen when people speak so that you facilitate understanding and connection. 

4. Share your knowledge, blessings and skills with others. 

5. Offer encouragement for those who are struggling or facing a new situation. 

6. Develop your experience so you can provide excellence in your work environment.

7. Protect the environment by picking up rather than spreading waste, conserving water and electricity, as well as recycling. 

8. Take care of your physical and mental health by accessing professional resources so that you are a good example for others. 

9. Feed your brain with positive information that will keep you sharp. 

10. Fulfill your commitments. When you say you will do something - do it! 

11. Embrace honesty. It is far easier to tell the truth than to try to remember lies that you might be tempted to tell. 

12. Choose to be happy. One person with a good attitude can have a powerful impact on others.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Just-A-Little-More&id=9634239

7 Ways Gratitude Is Good for Your Health

Below are 7 ways that gratitude is good for your health:

1. It increases your energy levels

In a 2012 study published in Personality and Individual Differences, grateful people reported that they feel physically healthier, tend to exercise more, take better care of their health, and are more likely to have regular check-ups with the doctor. These results of expressing gratitude cause an increase in energy levels due to the associated vitality. And higher energy levels, presumably, have a positively impact on the longevity of life for those who are grateful.

2. It is good for your heart

Gratitude is good for your heart. For example, a 2015 study found that patients who kept a gratitude journal for 8 weeks showed reductions in circulating levels of several important inflammatory biomarkers, as well as an increase in heart rate, which reduces the risk of a heart attack. In other words, less inflammation and healthier heart rhythms mean better heart health. It is interesting to note that gratitude was found to lower the risk of having another heart attack for patients who became more appreciative of life after having a heart attack.

3. You have a stronger immune system

According to Dr. Robert A. Emmons, "Gratitude works because, as a way of perceiving and interpreting life, it recruits other positive emotions that have direct physical benefits, most likely through the immune system or endocrine system." Researchers at the universities of Utah and Kentucky observed that optimistic, but stressed out law students had more disease-fighting cells in their bodies. Also, stress hormones like cortisol are 23% lower in grateful people and a daily gratitude practice can reduce the effects of aging to the brain.

4. It improves your sleep

Sleep quality is better due to gratitude. In fact, a 2009 study in the Journal of Psychosomatic Research found that participants who wrote down a list of things they were grateful for before going to bed, more often slept better than those who didn't. Another study in 2011 published in Applied Psychology: Health and Well Being confirmed that writing in a gratitude journal improves sleep and causes you to sleep longer. In addition, gratitude has been found to reduce the time required to fall asleep. This means that gratitude can help fight insomnia.

5. It lowers your blood pressure

Dr. Emmons indicates that gratitude can lower blood pressure. This is vital to the prevention of other physical symptoms. Lowering your blood pressure to an acceptable level-120/80 can reduce the risk of stroke, which happens when a blood vessel to the brain bursts or becomes blocked by a clot. High blood pressure can 1) strain the optic nerve and 2) lead to hypertensive retinopathy. Both conditions can dramatically reduce eyesight. As high blood pressure can damage the kidneys and result in kidney failure, lowering blood pressure can boost kidney health.

6. You have better psychological health

Gratitude increases happiness and reduces depression. Being grateful enhances empathy and reduces aggression. Gratitude also reduces stress, improves self-esteem and fosters resilience. All of these benefits of better psychological health are due to expressing gratitude in one's life.

7. You feel less pain

Keeping a gratitude journal has been found to lower the amount of physical pain felt by participants of a study on counting blessings vs. burdens. Dr. Emmons expressed this benefit by various study participants as being "less bothered by aches and pains". Either way, gratitude has a positive effect on the mind and body in general, so the rewards are many, including less pain.

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEBSITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it:

The Thank God Gratitude Journal is the perfect gift and tool to use to dramatically improve your life! Research has proven that gratitude is good for you in several ways. Also, holy scriptures guarantee that God rewards those who are grateful for His blessings. Go to http://www.ThankGodGratitudeJournal.com to receive your free video: "3 Keys to Abundance: How to Use a Gratitude Journal to Dramatically Improve Your Life!

http://ezinearticles.com/?7-Ways-Gratitude-Is-Good-for-Your-Health&id=9583605