Tag Archives: mental-health

And life.

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“You don’t think your way into a new kind of living. You live your way into a new kind of thinking.”
― Henry Nouwen

Though all is contained in one collective space, the mind, heart, body and soul can vie for preeminence over each other or become independent of one another. At least that has been my experience.

The mind has its intnetions in the right place, but yet, if it cannot interconnect with its teammates, there will be little if any change in course. It can generate great ideas and stimulate a new vision, but if the heart doesn’t buy into it and the spirit is not willing, well, you know how the state of the flesh.

Talking oneself out of great beginnings has been one of this author’s highest acheivements. The sensation is akin to rolling oneself out of a deep snow drift. Rev it up, rock it back, rev it up more, rock it back. You get the gist. Laying out vast schematics within your mind as to why things just won’t work the way you wish. Then avoiding the revision that points out the straightest path.

All the while, your heart retains an unfulfilled emptiness, your soul untested and a body stuck in an idle neutral.

Yet, if you overcome the urge to reinvent and rationalize, and to paraphrase, “do it”, then all heck breaks loose. The heart begins to engage and fill with a sense of joy brought on by the actions. Your soul begins to align and see an incumbent purpose in the undertaking. Your body generates an energy and momentum to carry moment and those to come. And your mind, quips, “why didn’t I think of this?”

When all four work in concert, they collaborate not just to maintain but to elevate their game. Rallying to overcome adversity and challenges that may attack a specific aspect of your being by acting as one. Smarter overcomes harder. Joy inundates sorrows. Purpose replaces purposeless. And a new found stamina energizes the entire enterprise.

Thinking about it does have its place. But that may only serve to restrict you to a highly confined area. Living it invites you to an ever sprawling world. Embracing all there is about you. Open to adventure. Learning. Growth. Connection. Purpose.

And life.

Harmony

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“The outer conditions of a person’s life will always be found to be harmoniously related to his inner state…Men do not attract that which they want, but that which they are.”

― James Allen, As a Man Thinketh

So I do find a great deal of validity in the words of Mr. Allen.  

Though he speaks primarily from the first person perspective, there is an element of the Third person in all he says.  He does seem to speak through Him to us  even when he or we do not realize it.  But I digress… 

We are only able to attract what we want, through what we are. 

If we fail from a character sense, make poor choices, lay blame on others, the  world around us and pretend to be something we were never intended to be, we will attract similar beings, situations and reality.  All because we choose to settle.  Assume a convenient path.  What  makes things comfy.  And all that enables us to avoid the truth.  By being that which we are. 

But then again, what about the impact of making good choices despite the push back from your past, others and the expectations of the herd?  Or the effect of accepting responsibility, holding oneself accountable and ignoring the opinion of the masses?  Choosing to accept what you know  to be true about yourself regardless of conventional wisdom?  And pursuing a path not less chosen but never attempted  by you?  Again, being what you are.

If you choose the latter, you WILL attract the forces of affirmation and what it is you wanty.  You will become what you are, because you have fully acknowledged yourself, discerned how you can grow into that being  and see where all of those difficult choices will ultimately take you. 

We can only attract what we see in ourselves.  To that I can attest. 

So hear what the wise old mooses have to share.  

 Lean into  what you know to be your truth regardless of the cost. 

Embrace the challenge. 

Push forward. 

Be all that which you are. 

Then see what comes your way. 

Harmony.

Joy

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With an open heart and mind, plus a  little effort, there is much joy to be found all around you.And for some reason you may have to learn how to find it.  Gain a sense of what it looks like. Sounds like.  Feels like. 

It is beyond fun.  

I  am telling you it lasts way longer than just plain old fun.  

Way longer. 

Mostly because it is like this living, breathing being. Your  partner in  all the things you do, the efforts you make and the commitments you honor.

Now this  may sound dumb, but it can be found in some of the oddest places.  

Like at a practice.  

Working after class with your calc teacher to understand differential equations.  

Struggling to master an adagio.  

Tutoring a youngster to speak English. 

Little things that bring more than just fun.

Something far deeper than happiness. 

So let me ask you this:  

You ever really listen to what it sounds like when you are having a great practice?  

Capture that sensation when you solve a linear partial differential equation on your own? 

Feel the deliberate, meandering nature of a well executed adagio ? 

Or share in the sense of wonderment that comes with reading your first sentence?  

Little things that may not seem like all that much.  

Instants that can dissipate before you know it.  

But moments you can return to over and over and over again. 

As often as you like. 

Once you have been there.  

And know what they look, sound and feel like.  

That living, breathing being. 

Partner in  all the things you do.  The efforts you make. 

And the commitments you honor.

Joy.

(Came across this one from 2015.)

G=R

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Ralph Marston Jr., an inspirational author once said; “Your goals, minus your doubts, equals your reality.”

If you want, you could take this concept, reduce it even further, and transform it into some simple arithmetic. 

G – D = R

With some effort, a personal commitment and a positive attitude, you can solve for “R”.  And being that you are the one to control the factors, you are also the one that can make the difference.  

A dream is a blueprint. 

A fully illustrated and dimensionalized  rendering of your goals. Creating an image that is so vivid, that you can actually live in it, each step along the way.  

Until you make it your reality.    

That image of what you want to do, where you want to go, and what you want to be, becomes the focal point of everything you do along the way to get there. Then all you need to do is make what is going on out here  match with what you see in your head and what you feel in your heart. 

It requires an extraordinary level of vision to be able to “see” that  goal.

Because you can never afford to lose sight of the present; the moment you are in right now.  This is where all the prep work takes place. Discipline learned.  Commitments made.   Attitudes formed. Character revealed.

Yet you also need to develop the skills to check the horizon, to establish your coordinates and to adjust your long term plans if need be.

If it appears that your destination – the goal – is getting closer, then perhaps your work in the present is paying off. You are making progress, you are affecting your reality. 

And once you get to that point, when you get there, it will be like deja vu all over again. You will have already spent months or years in that moment, in that very place Only this time, you get to actually do it.

However, if you look up and find the horizon seems farther away than when you last looked, or is missing altogether, perhaps it is time to regroup.

It can be at this juncture where doubt can make its presence known.  Excuses, rationalization and self pity will begin to take their toll.  A negative attitude can add to the inertia, increasing drag, acting as an anchor.

Self doubt can begin to slowly destroy your spirit, overshadow your confidence, bury your talent, and push you to simply quit.  The voice within you that always said. “I know I can” grows silent.

Self doubt is a choice, and if you allow it to take root it can diminish the value of your goal substantially.  Allow it to grow and get out of control, self doubt will ultimately erase your goal in its entirety, leaving in its wake, a reality marked by unrealized potential, disappointment and pain.

Your choices wield the power to ignore self doubt’s distractions and  eliminate them altogether.

You can choose to refuse doubt.

With vision, a positive attitude, and the ‘want to’ to eliminate self doubt, the equation for success is simpler yet: goals equal reality.

Or:        

G=R

Trading up.

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” My grandfather told me…”to accomplish anything worthwhile, you must pay the price.”  My dad taught me that nothing in life would come easy.  That I would have to work for those things that I wanted.  But work cannot be narrowly defined in only a physical sense.  Work is also a mental, emotional and spiritual endeavor as well. 

As I grew up, I also came to learn and appreciate that achievement, excellence and success is not a matter of destiny, fate, timing or being in the right place at the right time.  For that would mean that we live by chance rather than being guided by intention.  To live solely by chance would negate the value and virtue of our effort and commitment.  Our perseverance and sacrifice.  And ultimately, our purpose.  

I learned that in order to “be” or “become” – you needed to intend to “be” or “become”.  To be purposeful in your thoughts, words and deeds.  I found that to live with intention – and intentionally – is to be guided by purpose. 

There will always be a price to pay if you live with intention.  If you are purposeful in all that you do.  You will have to “give up” to “go up”. You will need to leave some of who and what you “are” behind in order to get to where you want to go.  To become what and who you want to be requires sacrifice.  And this isn’t easy.  

I can assure you that the suffering you encounter along the way  – whether physical, mental, emotional or spiritual in nature – will be temporary.   You are simply giving up comfort, familiarity and the certain in order to press ahead, grow and become what you were intended to be.  

You are “trading up”. And after all, wasn’t that  your intention?  ”                                          

Pastor Ellsworth Freyer