Your Personal Wonderland

Most people have been fascinated by the work of Walt Disney who repeatedly turned the impossible into possible over the years. He not only developed Disneyland and Disneyworld which are clean playgrounds for families but also created many fictional characters in the movies that he produced.

One of my favourites is "Alice in Wonderland". It tells a story of bizarre happenings for a young girl who falls down a rabbit hole. Many of the characters probably resemble some real-life individuals you have met.

1. Alice is a rather naïve but polite young person who is curious and eager to chase a furry white rabbit in her quest for adventure. She is, of course, immature and has an imagination that doesn't match reality. Know anyone like this?
2. The white rabbit is famous for his large pocket watch and frantic singing of the tune that begins "I'm late. I'm late. For a very important date". Many people in society are always claiming that they are late and seem to think that they are so busy and important that this is excusable. The rabbit, however, is fraught with high anxiety because of his tardiness and just can't seem to get it together.
3. The Mad Hatter is mad - not angry but thought disordered. He talks and acts in unusual ways that would not be expected. He celebrates the three hundred sixty-four days that are "unbirthdays", fixes a watch by pouring food on it and removing the springs while through it all he sings and dances in what might be termed a manic high.
4. The Cheshire cat is a bit of a philosopher who also does the unexpected by distorting his body. He can remove his head to stand on it, turn his teeth into piano keys and disappear stripe by strip. His sage advice to Alice is that if you don't know where you are going, then it doesn't matter what direction you choose. A bit of a trickster, I think.
5. The Caterpillar is a drug user who blows smoke rings in the shapes of alphabet letters from his hookah. He doesn't seem to have a care in the world as he sings about vowels and answers questions in a chillaxed fashion.
6. The individual cards from the deck are blamers. They point to each other rather than accepting responsibility and then laugh when others are in trouble.
7. The King of Hearts is an affable little man who seems to always be in the shadow of his wife.
8. The Queen of Hearts is an absolute bully who demonstrates traits of narcissism. She has extremely high expectations for others and is totally unforgiving of the slightest deviation from her instructions. When she isn't pleased, she yells "Off with their heads". Who do you know who, like this Queen, throws temper tantrums and uses aggression to get what they want?

One of the reasons that we can watch and enjoy this Disney's movie is that we recognize character traits of people around us even though they are portrayed in exaggerated form.

If you were asked which of the Alice in Wonderland characters that you most resemble how would you respond?

Are you the naïve and fantasy-chasing Alice, the rabbit who is known for always being late, the mad hatter or drug-using caterpillar? Perhaps you are a trickster like the Cheshire cat or a card who blames others and then laughs at their misfortune. Are you the likable king who takes a backstage role or the abusive Queen?

Who is in your wonderland?

Just wondering...

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Optimism and Thoughtlessness Are Not Synonyms

Ask people what optimism means and you will get a complete array of answers. From the 'glass half full' to 'seeing life through rose-tinted glasses,' or 'hopefulness about the future.' Optimism is one of those abstract and hard-to-define words that everybody thinks they understand. But what does it really mean?

These last few years, optimism has become a field of growing interest among experts, scientists and professionals. Authors like Professor Seligman and his 'relearned optimism' or the many studies proving the relationship between optimism and better health (like those by Julia Boehm and Laura Kubzansky, for example) indicate the level of interest there is for this topic. Many attempts have been made to clearly define this concept, but still different cultures and different fields of study explain it somehow differently, as culture also shapes the way in which the term is understood and interpreted.

Human beings are born optimists

When babies are born, they are always optimists. They expect the world to feed and care for them and for years wake up in the mornings believing that the new day will bring them happiness, adventure and fun. They face each moment like there is no other and enjoy it completely. A child plays and there's nothing else in the world but that game. The child will play the same game many times, and will not give up on it but persevere in the fun without questioning what comes next. Unless something deeply negative happens to alter that worldview, children remain deeply optimistic for quite a few of their first years, until their adults begin to chastise them for it and demand that they 'be more realistic,' or 'get their heads out of the clouds.'

Those same human beings then gradually start losing part of their optimism as life throws hurdles and problems at them and others recommend a less hopeful view on reality. They will start believing what others tell them and adapting their beliefs to their environment. Little by little, their natural optimism will dwindle and be replaced by a more somber worldview.

Lower levels of optimism result in poorer health and shorter life spans

Many of the studies carried out around the world have consistently proven that optimists live longer, happier and more rewarding lives. They've also been proven to be more resourceful and creative. There is an easy explanation to those results.

When pessimists face obstacles, they already believe that chances are they will fail, that things always go wrong, that they will not succeed. By the time they actually need to make the effort, they are so convinced of their failure that a) their effort is not absolute and b) they subconsciously sabotage themselves. As soon as they fail, then, they immediately tell themselves something like, 'see, I knew it was impossible.' That new failure thus reaffirms them once more.

Optimists, on the other hand, face obstacles believing that there always is a way to overcome them. They try to solve the situation one way. They might fail but that doesn't discourage them. They try another method and then another until they finally manage to overcome the problem and find a solution. They study their obstacles and ponder the different approaches to solving them. In their mind, there is no room for failure because they 'know' that they will succeed. Optimists never give up because they are convinced that there always is a way. By never giving up, then, optimists become more and more creative and start accumulating a great range of resources that make it easier to succeed at each attempt. That faith thus, results in them doing much more than pessimists and logically getting better results at the end.

All human beings are found somewhere between the two ends of this optimism-pessimism spectrum. Realism is just a way of describing those who are more in the middle of it. Realists, thus, have less resources than optimists but also fail less than pessimists.

Optimism is not thoughtlessness

Optimism, as just shown, is not just a matter of hope and expectations, but the conviction that good things will happen through a constant search for solutions. The true optimist is a hard-working, resourceful person who devotes a lot of energy and effort to reaching whatever goals are to be reached. A thoughtless person is not a true optimist because pursuing a goal without a plan barely ever leads to reaching it and optimists never give up. If one of the attempts to reach a goal is somehow thoughtless, it will likely fail, in which case the true optimist will think it over and formulate a new alternative, thus becoming the opposite of thoughtless. Thoughtlessness and optimism are therefore mutually exclusive in the longer run.

Optimism yields better results

As a result of the optimist's natural faith and hard-working habits, optimists become much better assets for companies and in general life. They push and drive, inspire and persevere. By not giving up, optimists become natural leaders and motivators.

Optimists rarely suffer from stress or burnout, either, as they don't worry but act. Stress and burnout stem from worry, from rumination and from fear, three attitudes that optimists naturally avoid by their own lookout on life. Consequently, optimists are less often sick or tense and end up developing a greater capacity to concentrate and focus on the task at hand.

Optimism can be recovered and relearned

As human beings grow up and live, society tries to instil a more sober view of life onto them as children and young people, thus slowly draining optimism from them. Without optimism, energy is low, motivation scarce and drive non-existent. That lack of optimism results in extreme personal and professional costs for families, companies and society as a whole. Fortunately, optimism can be relearned and developed. Like everything else in life, there isn't one formula-fits-all method for every human being. Optimism can be killed many different ways, and should therefore be reacquired by applying the right tools and methods, adapted to each person's needs and personal learning strategies.

Underlying subconscious beliefs can lead certain people to adopting a more pessimistic attitude in life. Fear is another trigger, as are pain, guilt or worry. A lot of professionals offer specific stress and burnout solutions to clients and patients but neglect to tackle the underlying problems that caused the original drain of energy and optimism. Only by solving and changing those will the human being truly recover that natural optimism that we are all born with.

If you wish to recover your drive, your motivation, your energy or if you want to help your team or your family to do the same, remember that each human being might have different reasons to feel the way they do and that specific tools and methods might be needed for each of them. Ask the professional you work with to present you with a detailed, personal plan for each person. If they fail to do that, look for a professional who does. Human beings are not robots and their complexity sometimes requires complex solutions. Those exist and can be used, believe me.

Enjoy life... ALL of it,

https://ezinearticles.com/?Optimism-and-Thoughtlessness-Are-Not-Synonyms&id=10018628

How To Be A Hero - Why Do We Love Heroes So Much?

Why do we love Heroes so much? Why do we watch movies and read books and listen to stories of people who overcome difficult situations? Who step into the battlefield and fight valiantly? Who face their fears and display courage, even when the odds are against them?

Why?

Because that's who we all aspire to be.

Joseph Campbell outlined a common story that is followed by heroes from ancient mythological stories through modern day movies. He called it "The Hero's Journey." He believed that, not only are humans drawn to this story, but that we all have the capacity to live it.

Have you heard of Joseph Campbell?

Allow me to introduce you.

Joseph Campbell was a 20th Century mythologist, teacher, and philosopher. He was an influential thought leader and author who wrote many books. As a college student, I had a part-time job working for the Joseph Campbell Foundation, where I was introduced to his ideas.

There is a movie, Finding Joe, that explores Campbell's ideas about the Hero's Journey. I highly recommend it! It features modern day philosophers, spiritual leaders and authors like Deepak Chopra and Ken Robinson as well as musicians, professional athletes, and even my old boss from the Foundation.

The Hero's Journey

In the movie, author Alen Cohen says "We're not separate from the characters we see in our stories and in our novels. They are us. It's one journey."

The hero's journey is defined by a few key elements. First, there is a separation and a call to adventure. The hero embarks on a journey to an unknown or unfamiliar place (physically or emotionally/spiritually). Along the way, he encounters challenges and temptations, and eventually he must face death (either physically or metaphorically). It is by overcoming that experience that they are reborn and transformed. Then they have earned the title of "Hero."

There are whole books written about this, so I am summarizing here. But the point is that the story line is the same, even though the details can be dramatically different.

The Creative And Entrepreneurial Call

There are many different "calls to adventure" that can jump start a hero's journey. And we can experience it repeatedly in a lifetime. In the movie, some of the instigators were physical challenges like a crazy skateboarding trick. Sometimes they are thrust upon you, like a serious medical condition or tragic experience. There can be geographical separation, like moving to a new location, country or culture. Or a different kind of separation, like losing a job or a relationship.

As a Content Creation Coach, I believe that both entrepreneurship and creativity are heroic calls to adventure. They involve taking a risk, entering the unknown.

"The forest represents the darkness, the unknown, the edge of your world. And it takes the courage of a hero to go into that forest. The people in your community don't understand why you want to go into that forest. In fact they're pulling you back, they're asking you 'Why can't you be happy with what you have here?' But there is this urge within the hero to go and explore."

That is how philosopher Brian Johnson describes it in the movie. Sound familiar? I think it sounds a lot like the entrepreneurial calling, or the creative calling. You have a drive within you that you can't ignore. That is what Joseph Campbell would call "Your Bliss."

One of his most famous quotes is "Follow your bliss." I used to mail t-shirts with that quote on it from the Foundation offices.

But following your bliss doesn't mean trying to be happy all the time. Following your bliss means doing the thing that you can't not do. That's where your own journey starts.

The Discouragement Of Heroes

"If this path of the hero's journey is fairly simple in design, why then is it that everybody isn't living it? The answer is that most people on the planet live under a kind of mass hypnosis." - Alen Cohen, Finding Joe

Everywhere we turn, we are seeing messages that actually discourage us from following the hero's journey. In our consumer society, we are led to believe that we should seek comfort, make money so we can enjoy the easy life.

But that's not who we are. In fact, that doesn't really exist. We are called to be more.

Deepak Chopra described it so beautifully in the film by saying, "It's very difficult for someone who's brought up in this environment of instant gratification, with the media, with advertising, with all the promises of instant gratification... You lose contact with this mythical domain that is actually part of your soul. It's part of everyone. It's their passion, their bliss, their unique skills, unique ways of expressing themselves, it's their song, which if they sing, they could do anything."

What is your bliss? What is the next step on your own journey? Have you seen the movie? What did you think? I'd love to hear from you in the comments.

And I'll leave you with one final quote from Joseph Campbell himself...

"I don't believe people are looking for the meaning of life as much as they are looking for the experience of being alive."

https://ezinearticles.com/?How-To-Be-A-Hero---Why-Do-We-Love-Heroes-So-Much?&id=9207833

Message From the Universe: This Is NOT Your Last Crusade

"Of all the wonderful places you'll go, of all the happy times you'll have, and of all the adventures that now call unto you, each will be enhanced and will more quickly come to pass... with your absolute immersion into today's places, times, and adventures.

Don't you just love having so much control?

Tallyho,

The Universe"

Life without any adventures is a boring life. Even the difficult challenges we face daily are an integrated part of what makes who we are today. It is easy to go through life without any hurdles or frustrations, but without them, you will never progress or develop in a stronger and more purposeful individual. You should embrace all the good and the bad that comes into your life but also not let the bad things weigh over your shoulders and create havoc in your life. There is so much to do and enjoy about life and whatever happens, always be grateful that it is not worst than what it is now. Take the time to look around you and be fortunate for what you have. Nothing will come easy and this is why, by working harder and more efficiently, you will start seeing amazing results. The Universe will work on your side if you allow it but without the proper thought process, you might confuse the Universe to what you really want and nothing will come to fruition. In response to this inevitable situation, you might end up feeling a sense of nothing working in your life and abandon ship. Patience is crucial for things to take momentum, just like a snowball rolling down a hill. It will start slowly but once it amasses snow and speed, it gets bigger and more destructive in nature. This is how we all need to tackle life.

Your adventure has just begun. The question is: What are your plans to live through the many adventures life have to offer? If confronted with some obstacles, will you let life bring you down and keep you there permanently or will you get up and hit back like Mike Tyson in a boxing match. If you recall, he was an animal and won most of all his fights. So what are you waiting for? Get yourself back at the gym, go in front of a punching back and start hitting the bag day after day for as long as it takes to built strength and power. Once done, get back home and take 25 minutes daily to do mindful meditation to train your brain to ONLY accept positive thoughts in your life. Once you follow this training religiously, there are no reasons why you shouldn't win every of your fights. A healthy body will render a healthy mind, and vice versa. Never forgo one for the other. They come together in synergy to provide you with a life filled with dreams and prosperity. Put your gloves on, and let's hit the gym.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Message-From-the-Universe:-This-Is-NOT-Your-Last-Crusade&id=9597435

Life's Recalculations (By Gini Cunningham)

My life is pretty outstanding. I have had a marvelous career in education, I am now retired and free to do volunteer work, I have three lovely children (two with terrific spouses), gorgeous grandchildren with a third on the way, and a kind and devoted husband. Then there is the extended family: sisters and their spouses, nieces, nephews, and all the great-nieces and great-nephews as well. I suppose that if I had worked hard to imagine what my life would be at 63 when I was just 16, this would probably be about my vision. I am contented, busy, and appreciated. With all of this, why do I still possess such nervous energy?

This is when life's recalculations come into play. In a calculated life, events would unroll - bing, bing, bing - in sequential and logical order. The joy of paragraph one would exist and flourish with no distractions or veers. Lacking, though, would be the sense of adventure, the excitement of trying something new, exploring somewhere different. I realize that some folks are happy to spend days in safe, quiet spaces surrounded by all of the nice people I have described. I want this, but I also want more. I like variety, shuffle, and exhilaration. I like things even but also roughed up a bit as well. I guess that is one reason that I frequently respond with enthusiasm of spirit but absence of forethought. Example: I received a wedding invitation from family and assumed it meant all of my family and me and so my RSVP reflected that 9 would attend. When I checked the Facebook guest list I saw that only my husband and I were actually included, not the family, and so I had to backtrack and quickly email to change the number of guests. This required some recalculation and a few apologies and a dash of frustration.

My personal recalculations include exercise, fitness, and challenges. I jog and swim but recognize that that is not enough to revitalize my entire body and so I have tossed in biking and yoga. Having been a well-balanced diner for years, 16 months ago I cut out meat and fish. One reason was I decided it was more fat than I needed but the real, psychological reason was I like eyes. Whether on a shrimp or a cow, those little sparkles grabbed my soul and then zapped away my fleshy appetite. I do not mind if others devour these and I prepare them for spouse and family, however I just can't indulge any longer. Recalculating diet and exercise to retain maximum health and efficiency took some thinking.

Another recalculations, one with which I am struggling, is determining what is of the greatest value in life for my volunteer efforts. I work in schools and with Alzheimer's awareness. I love both and am devoted to each, however, I also do not possess control over either. That's an entailment of volunteerism, to do as told, as mandated, as stated, and not to wander off, or at least too far off, the beaten path. This is tough since I am also pretty independent. When I see a wrong I right it; when I note a fallacy I correct it; when I bump into a roadblock I view it as temporary and probably not meant for me and so I find a way around or through or under or over or just bulldoze on and obliterate it. I can hear you thinking, "My, recalculations are a necessity here! ASAP" I agree, I should quit, and I disagree, if I quit, how will it ever get done?

I guess what I really must recalculate are my intentions. If they are good, honest, and out in the open, they should be all right, right? I'll work harder at reading faces and bodily signs and restructure as needed, redesign as is necessary, and recalculate to attain goals and accomplish my life's dreams. This sounds doable. But I will also zip on ahead - I must. This is one area, my drive-and-determination, (check how neatly I combined that idea!), where recalculation is an impossibility.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Lifes-Recalculations&id=9065983

Message From the Universe: The Chameleon Effect

"Wherever you go, there I am. Appearing as the people, places, and circumstances you've most expected to see. Behaving as you most expected them to behave. Crafted as you most expected them to look. And brimming with abundance, adventure, and infinite possibilities, because I know that's exactly what you've been visualizing.

Right?

TBT, 

The Universe"

The Universe is like a chameleon, it changes appearance based on your thoughts and dreams. When your mind creates thoughts, it creates a key to open the doors of your subconscious to allow the Universe to read from it. After this act, it takes time to process the information and transform itself in the things or people you will interact with prior to experiencing what you thought about. When thoughts become things, based on the famous best seller book in 2006, "The Secret", the author failed to discuss in detail the in-between steps needed to get to the thing you want to have in life. So when you work on thinking about the things you want the most, your in between steps are left to the Universe take care of the HOW you will get to these things. There is no guessing or wishing here, you just need to let the path unravel in front of you. Sometimes, the path may not be clear at first, and what is coming in front of you might be disturbing in nature, or even discouraging at times, but you just need to focus on where you want to be and know you will get there, no matter what.

It is imminent that you need to take actions so you can allow the Universe to create the desired path so there isn't much turbulence towards your destination. More you do in actions, and more the Universe will facilitate the how you will get there. Do not let any confusing thoughts coming into your mind during this phase because this is where you will start experiencing hurdles. Focus on what is ahead, and work your hardest to keep yourself ahead. Negativity is not needed during the embryo stage of your thoughts development so make sure to stay away from nay-sayers. You are the pilot of this airplane and you are in control of your aircraft. The horizon is clear, the ILS is set and you are close to reducing speed so you can align the aircraft for landing. You change flaps position so you can alter the lift characteristics of a wing to reduce the speed and to increase the angle of descent for landing. Your landing gear is locked and your landing speed is at 140 knots. You feel the wheels of the back touch ground as well as the front. You reverse the engines to stop the aircraft and you arrived at your destination safely. Good piloting!

http://ezinearticles.com/?Message-From-the-Universe:-The-Chameleon-Effect&id=9562328

If You're Afraid of Failure, You Need to Read This

Why are we so afraid of failure? I mean, I know I've held myself back on account of fear more times than I'd like to admit. But what am I so afraid of? What is the worst thing that can happen if I step out and try something? Take a risk? Begin an adventure?

I don't really like fear. The very first poem I wrote was when I was 13. I wrote it, submitted to the local newspaper in hopes of getting it published, and lo and behold, it was. The poem was titled "What is Fear?" I cannot remember the words, but I generally feared a lot of things back then- even failure.

Fear stifles. It cripples and paralyzes.

But the truth is that "failure" is a noun and it's subjective. When I realized this, I began to see things differently. Why can Mike, the average guy down the street, jump the hurdles of so-called "failure", continuing on with great faith and joy in his endeavors? While Jim, the Harvard grad, sit and cry his eyes out when his business only lasts one year, resolving never to try that again?

Did both fail? Well, yes, if we're defining failure in terms of "things not going as planned". But how can one guy be cool with it, dust himself off, and get back up and try again and the other guy can't?

They view failure differently. We want to look at things when they don't go as planned as "learning opportunities".

Listen, if you get this, it will change your life.

Do you know that the writer, Agatha Christie, received 500 rejections in her life trying to get books published? She could have sunk her head in shame, feeling like a failure, but she didn't. She determined to NOT let a rejection (or hurdles in general) keep her down. She learned from her setbacks and kept her hand to the plow. You know what? She sold a freakin' lot of books!

We see the successful people. Or the happy people. Or the peaceful people. We want what they have, but are we willing to keep the momentum moving forward even when trials come? Even when failures come? Even when all your buddies are laughing at you, mocking you for pursuing your passion?

You're not a failure. There's no right or wrong in the grand scheme of things. Whether it takes you one year to hit your mark or five years, it's alright! Just keep on getting up and doing what you know to do in order to get what you want. If you don't know what to do, ask for some help! There's someone who has done what you want to do. There's probably a lot of people! Get on the phone and reach out. Send an email- whatever you have to do to get the low down.

We're in this together. Life, I mean.

What do you want? Have you given up on account of a perceived failure?

Commit with me to take the word "failure" out of our vocabulary, K?

Let's create a good life, enjoying the journey all along the way.

http://ezinearticles.com/?If-Youre-Afraid-of-Failure,-You-Need-to-Read-This&id=9661326

Is Your Life An Adventure?

Each of us are individuals, with specific likes and dislikes, preferences, attitudes and behaviors. Some seem to pass through this life clinging to their particular comfort zone, and as they become older, often end up narrowing that zone even more and more. Others view life as an endless adventure, constantly seeking out something at least in some ways different, unusual, or at least, new to them. While we often tend to think of innovation in terms of something amazingly new and different, in most cases, the most significant personal innovations involve those minor tweaks or adjustments, that permit us to broaden our comfort zone, and make life a continuing and exciting adventure. Just as organizations and groups must continue to evolve and adjust if they are to remain relevant and/ or sustainable, we as individuals must be willing to continuous try something new, and seek excitement or new knowledge in even the somewhat minor details of our lives and everyday living.

1. Do you try to do something you have not done before, or at least do something in an alternative manner? Are you ready, willing and able to expand your horizon by committing to personally continue to evolve? Have you ever considered the why's of your present and continuous behaviors, and wondered if perhaps you might be missing out on one of life's great and glorious adventures? Personal innovation is generally not about making major or revolutionary changes, but rather involves a commitment to objective introspection!

2. Why do two individuals who are approximately the same age and social status appear to age at often drastically different rates? Of course, there is often a hereditary factor, a diet and exercise/ life style relationship, etc. However, in a large number of cases, it is because of one's commitment to personal innovation. When we proceed through life as a great adventure, everything we do gathers more excitement and exhilaration, and we look optimistically and more happily ahead to tomorrow's great innovation or adventure. On the other hand, when every change or alternative is resisted solely because it's not the way we have always done it, imagine how much that drags someone down and creates a less than optimum attitude!

Becoming and being a personally innovative individual who constantly tries to expand his comfort zone by widening his adventures, and considering alternatives, does not mean being reckless. Rather, it translates to becoming far more complete, innovative and adventurous, and thus making one's days more personally meaningful and exciting!

http://ezinearticles.com/?Is-Your-Life-An-Adventure?&id=8207156

Adventure: 10 Ways to Adventure Daily

Daily Adventure Tips:

1. Ditch Technology.

I know you don't like this one but the truth is you can't be in the moment, enjoying your life, if you're checking your cell phone every 5 seconds to see who 'liked' your post. Let it go. Not only will you feel more relaxed, you'll actually listen and be available to anyone you talk to and you might even want to adventure outdoors for a walk or hike. Don't get crazy now!

2. Talk to Strangers.

Yeah, I know your parents said not to but grow up already. The more people you talk to today, the happier you'll be. Why? Because connecting with others releases happy chemicals that make you feel better. Also, you might have a little laugh, learn something new, or even make a friend that takes you on all kinds of adventures. You never know.

3. Take a New Route to Work.

Don't you ever get tired of the same old drive? Try a new route to work and see what else is around you. You might see a new restaurant you'd like to try, a park you think would be an awesome lunch get-a-way, or even discover that you've been taking the longest route to work for 10 years.

4. Take Your Lunch.

Stop sitting at your desk, gobbling your food down during your lunch break. Get out of that office! Put the work aside and take a breather. In fact, lunch breaks are a great time to meet up with friends, do a little window shopping, or take a walk somewhere new. (Notice the theme of 'new' here? That's what adventure's all about).

5. Start Saying Yes.

At the risk of sounding like a Tony Robbins fanatic, (I do love the guy), start saying YES more often. Maybe you 'think' you don't want to go to that friend's party, meet up for breakfast, or get to know your in-laws, but instead of turning everything down, be more open. You never know what good can come out of saying yes.

6. Get Outside.

This seems obvious but too many people reject the great outdoors. It doesn't have to be anything scary like trekking through bear-laden trails by yourself. (Though, that can be fun). Just walk outside and enjoy the beautiful weather. Take a little walk through the trees, sit on a peer by the water. If you really like to adventure, play woods paintball, go ice climbing, mountain biking, or surf the highest waves you can find! Okay... back to weekday adventure.

7. Dare to Be Silly.

It's okay to stand up on the shopping cart and ride it to your car. No one will arrest you. Dress up for Halloween, sing karaoke, turn up the music and dance with friends. You don't have to be business all the time. You can actually have a little fun, you know.

8. Plan Your Next Adventure

While this doesn't sound too adventurous, you can actually feel amazing looking forward to an adventure.Take the time to think about what you really want to do besides lying on a beach drinking a margarita. If you want to have more adventure, you'll need to create the environment for it. Google, "adventures."

9. Read.

Again, kind of odd, but reading adventure books, stories, and blogs can give you an idea of what you want to do. If you're only going to work, cooking dinner, and then watching Law & Order before bed, you likely won't be inspired to think outside the box to get adventurous.

10. Do Something Alone.

How often do you find yourself doing whatever someone else wants to do? When you take a little time for yourself, you can veer off in whatever direction you like. There are no set plans, no rules, and no one to argue over what to do next. It's great if you have someone that loves to adventure with you but if not, don't let that keep YOU from adding adventure into your own daily life.

So, now that you've seen some simple ways to add a little adventure into your day, what will you do now? How will you wake up tomorrow morning full of enthusiasm and passion about what the day might hold?

http://ezinearticles.com/?Adventure:-10-Ways-to-Adventure-Daily&id=9318398

Raise Your Consciousness

Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage.
- Anais Nin

Courage is the price that Life exacts for granting peace.
- Amelia Earhart

You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, "I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along." You must do the thing you think you cannot do.
- Eleanor Roosevelt

The way out of this vicious cycle is to summon your courage and confront that inner voice. Find a place where you can be alone with pen and paper (or computer and keyboard). Listen to that voice, and face up to what it's telling you, no matter how difficult it is to hear. (The voice is just an abstraction - you may not hear words at all; instead you may see what you should be doing or simply feel it emotionally. But I'll continue to refer to the voice for the sake of example.) This voice may tell you that your marriage has been dead for ten years, and you're refusing to face it because you're afraid of divorce. It may tell you that you're afraid that if you start your own business, you'll probably fail, and that's why you're staying at a job that doesn't challenge you to grow. It may tell you that you've given up trying to lose weight because you've failed at it so many times, and you're addicted to food. It may tell you that the friends you're hanging out with now are incongruent with the person you want to be, and that you need to leave that reference group behind and build a new one. It may tell you that you always wanted to be an actor or writer, but you settled for a sales job because it seemed more safe and secure. It may tell you that you always wanted to help people in need, but you aren't doing so in the way you should. It may tell you that you're wasting your talents.

See if you can reduce that voice to just a single word or two. What is it telling you to do? Leave. Quit. Speak. Write. Dance. Act. Exercise. Sell. Switch. Move on. Let go. Ask. Learn. Forgive. Whatever you get from this, write it down. Perhaps you even have different words for each area of your life.

Now you have to take the difficult step of consciously acknowledging that this is what you really want. It's OK if you don't think it's possible for you. It's OK if you don't see how you could ever have it. But don't deny that you want it. You lower your consciousness when you do that. When you look at your overweight body, admit that you really want to be fit and healthy. When you light up that next cigarette, don't deny that you want to be a nonsmoker. When you meet the potential mate of your dreams, don't deny that you'd love to be in a relationship with that person. When you meet a person who seems to be at total peace with herself, don't deny that you crave that level of inner peace too. Get yourself out of denial. Move instead to a place where you admit, "I really do want this, but I just don't feel I currently have the ability to get it." It's perfectly OK to want something that you don't think you can have. And you're almost certainly wrong in concluding that you can't have it. But first, stop lying to yourself and pretending you don't really want it.

Move From Fear to Action, Even if You Expect to Fail

When a resolute young fellow steps up to the great bully, the world, and takes him boldly by the beard, he is often surprised to find it comes off in his hand, and that it was only tied on to scare away the timid adventurers.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Most of our obstacles would melt away if, instead of cowering before them, we should make up our minds to walk boldly through them.
- Orison Swett Marden

Courage and perseverance have a magical talisman, before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish into air.
- John Quincy Adams

Now that you've acknowledged some things you've been afraid to face, how do you feel? You probably still feel paralyzed against taking action. That's OK. While diving right in and confronting a fear head-on can be very effective, that may require more courage than you feel you can summon right now.

The most important point I want you to learn from this article is that real courage is a mental skill, not an emotional one. Neurologically it means using the thinking neocortex part of your brain to override the emotional limbic impulses. In other words, you use your human intelligence, logic, and independent will to overcome the limitations you've inherited as an emotional mammal.

Now this may make logical sense, but it's far easier said than done. You may logically know you're in no real danger if you get up on a stage and speak in front of 1000 people, but your fear kicks in anyway, and the imaginary threat prevents you from volunteering for anything like this. Or you may know you're in a dead end job, but you can't seem to bring yourself to say the words, "I quit."

Courage, however, doesn't require that you take drastic action in these situations. Courage is a learned mental skill that you must condition, just as weight training strengthens your muscles. You wouldn't go into a gym for the first time and try to lift 300 pounds, so don't think that to be courageous you must tackle your most paralyzing fear right away.

There are two methods I will suggest for building courage. The first approach is analogous to progressive weight training. Start with weights you can lift but which are challenging for you, and then progressively train up to heavier and heavier weights as you grow stronger. So tackle your smallest fears first, and progressively train up to bigger and bigger fears. Training yourself to lift 300 pounds isn't so hard if you've already lifted 290. Similarly, speaking in front of an audience of 1000 people isn't so tough once you've already spoken to 900.

So grab a piece of paper, and write down one of your fears that you'd like to overcome. Then number from one to ten, and write out ten variations of this fear, with number one being the least anxiety-producing and number ten being the most anxiety-producing. This is your fear hierarchy. For example, if you're afraid of asking someone out on a date, then number one on your list might be going out to a public place and smiling at someone you find attractive (very mild fear). Number two might be smiling at ten attractive strangers in a single day. Number ten might be asking out your ideal date in front of all your mutual friends, when you're almost certain you'll be turned down flat and everyone in the room will laugh (extreme fear). Now start by setting a goal to complete number one on your list. Once you've had that success (and success in this case simply means taking action, regardless of the outcome), then move on to number two, and so on, until you're ready to tackle number ten or you just don't feel the fear is limiting you anymore. You may need to adjust the items on your list to make them practical for you to actually experience. And if you ever feel the next step is too big, then break it down into additional gradients. If you can lift 290 pounds but not 300, then try 295 or even 291. Take this process as gradually as you need to, such that the next step is a mild challenge for you but one you feel fairly confident you can complete. And feel free to repeat a past step multiple times if you find it helpful to prepare you for the next step. Pace yourself.

By following this progressive training process, you'll accomplish two things. You'll cease reinforcing the fear/avoidance response that you exhibited in the past. And you'll condition yourself to act more courageously in future situations. So your feelings of fear will diminish at the same time that your expression of courage grows. Neurologically you'll be weakening the limbic control over your actions while strengthening the neocortical control, gradually moving from unconscious mouse-like to conscious human-like behavior.

The second approach to building courage is to acquire additional knowledge and skill within the domain of your fear. Confronting fears head-on can be helpful, but if your fear is largely due to ignorance and lack of skill, then you can usually reduce or eliminate the fear with information and training. For example, if you're afraid to quit your job and start your own business, even though you'd absolutely love to be in business for yourself, then start reading books and taking classes on how to start your own business. Spend an afternoon at your local library researching the subject, or do the research online. Join the local Chamber of Commerce and any relevant trade organizations in your field. Attend conferences. Build connections. Enlist the help of a mentor. Build your skill to the point where you start to feel confident that you could actually succeed, and this knowledge will help you act more boldly and courageously when you're ready. This method is especially effective when a large part of your fear is due to the unknown. Often just reading a book or two on the subject will be enough to dispel the fear so that you're able to take action.

These two methods are my personal favorites, but there are many additional ways to condition yourself to overcome fear, including neuro-linguistic programming, implosion therapy, systematic desensitization, and self-confrontation. You can research them via an online search engine if you wish to learn such methods and increase the number of fear-busting tools in your arsenal. Most of these can be easily self-administered (implosion therapy is the notable exception).

The exact process you use to build courage isn't important. What's important is that you consciously do it. Just as your muscles will atrophy if you don't regularly stress them, your courage will atrophy if you don't consistently challenge yourself to face down your fears. In the absence of this kind of conscious conditioning, you'll automatically become weak in both body and mind. If you aren't regularly exercising your courage, then you are strengthening your fear by default; there is no middle ground. Just as your muscles automatically atrophy from lack of use, so your courage will automatically decay in the absence of conscious conditioning.

Now this may sound overly gloomy, so here's a positive way to look at it. Heavy weights can be a physical burden, but they are helpful tools to build strong muscles. You would not look at a 45-pound dumbbell and say, "Why must you be so heavy?" It is what it is. Heaviness is your thought, not an intrinsic property of the dumbbell itself. Similarly, do not look at the things you fear and say, "Why must you be so scary?" Fear is your reaction, not a property of the object of your anxiety.

Fear is not your enemy. It is a compass pointing you to the areas where you need to grow. So when you encounter a new fear within yourself, celebrate it as an opportunity for growth, just as you would celebrate reaching a new personal best with strength training.

Catch a Glimpse of Your Own Greatness

Everyone has talent. What is rare is the courage to follow the talent to the dark place where it leads.
- Erica Jong

The highest courage is to dare to appear to be what one is.
- John Lancaster Spalding

Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires some of the same courage that a soldier needs. Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

So what do you do with your newly developed courage? Where will it lead you? The answer is that it will permit you to lead a far more fulfilling and meaningful life. You will truly begin living as a daring human being instead of a timid mouse. You will uncover and develop your greatest talents. You will begin living far more consciously and deliberately than you ever have before. Instead of reacting to events, you will proactively manufacture your own events.

Courage is something you can only truly experience alone. It is a private victory, not a public one. Summoning the courage to listen to your innermost desires is nota group activity and does not result from building a consensus with others. Kahlil Gibran writes in The Prophet, "The vision of one man lends not its wings to another man." The purpose of your existence is yours alone to discover. No one on earth has lived through the exact same experiences you have, and no one thinks the exact same thoughts you do.

On the one hand, this is a lonely realization. Whether you live alone or enjoy the deepest intimacy with a loving partner, deep down you must still face the reality that your life is yours alone to live. You can choose to temporarily yield control of your life to others, whether it be to a company, a spouse, or simply to the pressures of daily living, but you can never give away your personal responsibility for the results. Whether you assume direct and conscious control over your life or merely react to events as they happen to you, you and you alone must bear the consequences.

If you commit to following the path of courage, you will ultimately be forced to confront what is perhaps the greatest fear of all - that you are far more powerful and capable than you initially realized, that your ultimate potential is far greater than anything you've experienced in your past, and that with this power comes tremendous responsibility. You may not be able to solve all the woes of this planet, but if you ever do commit yourself 100% to the fulfilment of your true potential, you can significantly impact the lives of many people, and that impact will ripple through the future for generations to come.

What is the difference between you and one of those legendary historical figures who did have such an impact? You both had many of the same fears. You both were born with talents in some areas and weaknesses in others. The only thing stopping you is fear, and the only thing that will get you past it is courage. What you do with your life isn't up to your parents, your boss, or your spouse. It's up to you and you alone.

Catching a glimpse of your own greatness can be one of the most unsettling experiences imaginable. And even more disturbing is the awareness of the tremendous challenges that await you if you accept it. Living consciously is not an easy path, but it is a uniquely human experience, and it requires making the committed decision to permanently let go of that mouse within you. Going after your greatest and most ambitious dreams and experiencing failure and disappointment, running butt up against your most humbling human limitations instead of living with a comfortable padding of potential - these fears are common to us all.

The first few times you encounter such fears, you may quickly retreat back to the illusory security of life as a mouse. But if you keep exercising your courage, you will eventually mature to the point where you can openly accept the challenges and responsibilities of life as a fully conscious human being. Continuing to live as a mouse will simply hold no more interest for you. You will acknowledge within the deepest recesses of your being, I have awakened to this incredible potential within me, and I accept what that will require of me. Whatever it costs me, whatever I must sacrifice to follow this path, bring it on. I'm ready. Even though you will still experience fear, you will recognize it for the illusion it is, and you will know how to use your human courage to face it down, such that fear will no longer have the power to stop you.

Embrace the Daring Adventure

Before you embark on any path ask the question, does this path have a heart? If the answer is no, you will know it and then you must choose another path. The trouble is that nobody asks the question. And when a man finally realizes that he has taken a path without a heart the path is ready to kill him.
- Carlos Castaneda

The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain. Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter's oven? And is not the lute that soothes your spirit, the very wood that was hollowed with knives?
- Kahlil Gibran

Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.
- Dale Carnegie

As you develop a sense of your true purpose in life, you may begin to feel an uneasy disconnect between your current life situation and the one you envision moving towards. These two worlds may seem so different to you that you cannot mentally conceive of how to build a bridge between them. How can you balance the practical reality of taking care of your third-dimensional obligations like earning money to pay your bills and taxes, pleasing your boss, raising your family, and maintaining social relationships with people who can't even relate to what you're experiencing vs. the new vision of yourself you desperately want to move towards? A whole host of new fears may crop up related to this seemingly impossible shift. How will you support yourself? What will become of your relationships? Are you just deluding yourself?

The best advice I can give you here is to forget about trying to build a bridge. Focus instead on independently beginning the process of manifesting the new vision of yourself from scratch, as if it were a totally separate thread in your life. If this creates a temporary incongruence in your life, just do it anyway. For example, suppose you currently work as a divorce attorney, but your courage tells you that you must eventually abandon such adversarial work. You envision yourself passionately teaching couples how to heal their broken relationships. But you can't even fathom yourself as a trial lawyer trying to speak about healthy relationships, and on top of that problem, you can't see any way to make a decent living in this new career, at least not quickly. There's just too big a disconnect between this new vision and practical reality. So instead of trying to bridge this gap, just begin building your new vision completely from scratch in whatever time you have, even if it's only an hour or two each week. Keep doing your regular work as an attorney, but in your spare time, start posting anonymously on relationship message boards to give couples advice on how to heal their relationships. Use the oratory skills you developed as an attorney to begin speaking to small groups about healing relationships. Perhaps create a new web site, and start writing and posting articles about your new passion. You don't have to hide the fact that you're an attorney, but don't worry about bridging these two worlds. Live in paradox. Just start developing the new you, and allow the old one to continue in parallel for a while.

What will happen is that you'll develop skill in your new undertaking, and you'll eventually be able to support yourself from it, even if you can't see how to do so right away. You may not be able to see a way to support yourself in your new vision right now, and that's fine. Just begin it anyway, doing it for free, without any concern of how to turn it into a new full-time career. Patiently wait for clarity; you will eventually find a way to make it work. Then when the time is right, you'll be able to peacefully let go of the old career and focus all your energy on the new one. At some point you'll be able to commit fully to your new self. Your passion for your new work will eventually overwhelm your fear of letting go of your old source of stability. So instead of trying to transform your old career into your new one, just start the process of building your new one, and let your old one gradually fade. Even if you can only invest an hour a week in your new undertaking, you will probably discover that this hour is more fulfilling to you than all the other hours put together, and that passion will drive you to find a way to gradually grow this presence until it fills up most of your days. The most important thing is to begin now by introducing your new vision of yourself to your daily life, even if you can only initially do so in a small way.

No matter how difficult it may seem, make the choice to live consciously. Do not succumb to that half-conscious realm of fear-based thinking, filling your life with distractions to avoid facing what you feel in those silent spaces between your thoughts. Either exercise your human endowment of courage and progressively build the strength to face your deepest, darkest fears to live as the powerful being you truly are, or admit that your fears are too much for you, and embrace life as a mouse. But make this choice consciously and with full awareness of its consequences. If you are going to allow fear to win the battle for your life, then proclaim it the victor and forfeit the match. If you simply avoid living consciously and courageously, then that is equivalent to giving up on life itself, where your continued existence becomes little more than a waiting period before physical death - the nothing as opposed to the daring adventure.

Don't die without embracing the daring adventure your life is meant to be. You may go broke. You may experience failure and rejection repeatedly. You may endure multiple dysfunctional relationships. But these are all milestones along the path of a life lived courageously. They are your private victories, carving a deeper space within you to be filled with an abundance of joy, happiness, and fulfilment. So go ahead and feel the fear - then summon the courage to follow your dreams anyway. That is strength undefeatable.

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