Boosting Your Happiness

The moment that I have right now is everything. Margaret Stockley

Have you ever seen or held a crystal up to the light and watched the way that it catches the sunlight? Many colors shine through it, their colorful rays spreading out in a myriad of directions.

In what way does the crystal change?

The answer is it doesn’t.

No matter the amount of light passing through the crystal, the intensity or color of the light, the crystal remains unaffected by what has happened.

Likewise, the part of you that does the observing also remains unchanged by what happens around and to the body.

Developing awareness in all situations, including your own feelings and reactions, enables you to take control of what you think and therefore do.

It’s up to you to determine what kind of reaction,

and ultimately reality, you're going to create.

You are not your thoughts, but they do impact you and others. Thoughts occur in the present moment so choose your present thoughts wisely and you will not be upset with the way that your future turns out.

Boost your happiness and confident outlook by honing your attention on your innermost thoughts and replacing any negative patterns that keep repeating themselves with a positive word or phrase. By making a conscious effort to change those habitual and troublesome thoughts you gain control over your life.

Affirmation

My inner glow is not dulled or discolored by what is happening around me

I am a beacon of pure energy radiating on the world, helping others

by the brightness and power of my light

Are You Living Your Best Self?

"We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark;

the real tragedy of life is when men (and women)

are afraid of the light." Plato

Life is always about choice and the outcome of choosing to live a particular way. The consequence of not living a life following your inner guidelines can lead to a life filled with anguish and unhappiness.

We know we should love our neighbor as we love ourselves, we know we should feel compassion for all living things, and we know we should respect the challenges that we face without judgment, knowing that we are all at different stages on the journey of life and are each of us doing the best that we choose to do. Living a life free from negative thoughts and behavior promotes love, thoughtfulness, and kindness for all things. Living in the light is possible for all.

Common Desires
Deep down, we all share the same common desires to have adequate shelter, food, and freedom from harm. This truth affirms our need to share in our commonality as fellow human beings and thereby work together to create a better society that brings about the internal and external peace that we seek.

Project What You Really Want
Meditation brings your complete attention to the present, to what is happening at this very moment, and helps you choose to behave in the appropriate way that puts into practice all your acquired knowledge.

This stills the soul, the mind, and the body enabling you to be a positive light in our own life and those you come in contact with. Because you are living in the present, you are always aware of the way people behave and of your responses toward them. You learn with intention to monitor your reactions and to project thoughts free from judgment, criticism, and hostility.

When you recognize who are are, and show it, you are on your way to living your best self.

The Choice Is Yours
Developing awareness in all situations, including your own feelings and reactions, enables you to take control of what you think and therefore do. It’s up to you to determine what kind of reaction, and ultimately reality, you're going to create.

Affirmations
You have the wonderful ability to think positively. It is a conscious choice to ensure that your thoughts and subsequent action are doing their best for you and for others. Whether you call it positive thinking or an affirmation, as long as you believe that it is working then it will have the power to make a difference.
Use whichever words best meet your own needs and purpose each day.

Here are a few to begin with:

I choose to be kind

I choose to give love

I choose to be happy

I am surrounded with loving, caring people in my life.

I am loving and accepting of others and this creates lasting relationships for me.

I trust my inner thoughts to lead me in the right path.

Are You In The Best Surroundings For Who You Are?

Are You In The Best Surroundings For Who You Are?

Habits
Neuroscience shows that your past experiences, thoughts, and actions are imprinted on the neurons of your brain.

Fortunately, the brain is pliable, like plastic, and is generally receptive to influences that can lead to change. Physically putting your new thoughts into action strengthens the sensory pathways, which activates energy in the area of the brain responsible for the activity. Then, the brain creates a memory for the experience which further reinforces the pathways and in turn perfects your skill or new habit.
Without awareness, you will unconsciously keep reacting in a specific manner, choosing habit over healthy behavior.

Who Sustains You?
If you want to thrive, rather than survive, your thoughts and actions are only a part of the big picture. You are also defined by who you surround yourself with on a regular basis.
Take a look at your own life.
Who sustains you?
Who provides you with love, laughter, and support?
Who drains you and brings you down?
Who makes you feel glad because you are in their presence?

Questions To Ask
Any decision you make, and the actions you take ultimately reflect back on other people that you interact with, and they in turn with other people. You make your decisions not in isolation, but as part of a two-way process that helps you to discover and confirm the right direction your life will take. Your actions ultimately impact others, demonstrating how inextricably bound together we are. By default, it obliges us to live responsibly and in doing so, create an environment that is conducive to behavior that is creative, not destructive.
Feeling good about yourself comes about by thinking less about yourself, and helping others more.
Ask questions such as:
“What do I need?” and “There is happiness when I…”

Choices
You are defined by the choices that you make. They reveal your innermost values and what you hold up as important.
Negative feelings hinder and prevent you from achieving positive change. Have you unconsciously given permission to downbeat thoughts and allowed them to influence your behavior?
Focusing on the positive things in your life means that you can alter your perspective on life. This has the effect of making you more constructive every day, while others are glad to see you because of your enthusiasm and affirmative action.
Make choices that honor who you truly are and you will create a lifetime of love and happiness.


Optimism
Positive thoughts directed to yourself and others help you to stay focused on what really matters. Mindfulness moments free your mind from preoccupations or any suffering you may have sustained through your life. The result is unconditional acceptance of who you are.

The breath has power not only on a physical level, but on a subtle level too. As you meditate every day, develop positive awareness in rhythm with your deep and steady breath. This will become your normal state of being.

Cultivate a state of optimism in all your thoughts by drawing this understanding to your waking activities.

Positive Affirmations:

Each moment of every day my life is filled with wonder

I choose my thoughts

I have abundant energy to complete all my tasks

I am filled with vitality in body, mind, and spirit

All aspects of my being are filled with love

Are Your Thoughts Creating The Reality That You Want?

The meditative mind reflects peace and clarity.

A 1995 report to the National Institutes of Health on alternative medicine concluded that "More than 30 years of research, as well as the experience of a large and growing number of individuals and health care providers, suggests that meditation and similar forms of relaxation can lead to better health, higher quality of life, and lowered health care costs…"

Fifteen years after that report, multiple aspects of meditation are actively being studied with the results raising further ideas for research as well as finding answers to health and wellbeing problems through the many benefits of meditation. Many of these studies have been highlighted in our previous newsletters.

One of the latest areas of research focuses on gamma waves produced by regular deep meditation. These gamma waves cause the electromagnetic rhythm of neurons to fire very rapidly in synchrony with each other, changing the brain in positive ways.

The thought-process becomes clearer while the ability to be the observer of your thoughts becomes sharper and immediate. What this leads to is a rewiring of the circuitry of the brain, resulting in stress-reduction, calmness, and improved interactions.

Your Powerful Thoughts
A balance between rest and activity enhances productivity because you are able to focus, are more observant, and creativity can flourish. Your mind requires meditative time to stay inspired and alert. The difference between being tired or rested often translates into the difference between being overwhelmed with daily challenges or finding resourceful solutions to them.

No one has control over your thoughts except yourself. Your hope, wishes, even your imagination are all within your own power to direct their energy in one path or another.
Studies show that the mind cannot discern between what it has actually seen and what it is seeing via your imagination.

The mind can be “tricked” into believing a memory that is simply created as though it has actually been experienced.

Use your imagination to generate a reality that is positive, loving, and all that you desire. This is not a make-believe type of imagining, but a means of creating more positivity and constructive actions that in turn generates affirmative thoughts and actions. Gradually, you develop the habit of thinking positively, seeing opportunities rather than obstacles, and being the type of person that people want to be around because they feel good by being in your presence.

You always have a choice about how you are going to react to the world. For example, take a look around you at the room that you are sitting in. What do you notice? Do you pay attention to the fact that it is comfortable and are appreciative of having a home?
Or do you choose to think about the chores that need to be done?

Try to pay attention and catch yourself mid-thought whenever you find that a thought has appeared that does not promote the environment that you want.

Affirmation

Use affirmations either as part of your meditation practice or carry them with you and repeat them throughout the day whenever you catch yourself thinking a negative thought.
Over time, your affirmations will have a positive effect and transform not only your behavior but generate an assuredness of self-worth and contentment.

My thoughts are creating the reality that I want
My imagination creates what I believe
My affirmations are creating habits in keeping with my objectives
I am now achieving my goals

What The Geese Taught Me

“What The Geese Taught Me”

“Next fall, when you see Geese heading South for the Winter, flying along in V formation, you might consider what science has discovered as to why they fly that way:

As each bird flaps its wings, it creates an uplift for the bird immediately following.

By flying in V formation the whole flock adds at least 71% greater flying range than if each bird flew on its own.

People who share a common direction and a sense of community can get where they are going, more quickly and easily, because they are traveling on the thrust of one another.

When a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to go it alone ... and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird in front.

If we have as much sense as a goose, we will stay in formation with those who are headed the same way we are.

When the Head Goose gets tired, it rotates back in the wing and another goose flies point.

It's sensible to take turns doing demanding jobs with people or with geese flying south.

Geese honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.

What do we say when we honk from behind?

Finally...and this is important...when a goose gets sick, or is wounded by gunshots, and falls out of formation, two other geese fall out with that goose and follow it down to lend help and protection. They stay with the fallen goose until it is able to fly, or until it dies; only then do they launch out on their own, or with another formation to catch up with their group.

If we have the sense of a goose, we will stand by each other like that.”
(Author Unknown)