Chance Vs Change

THERE'S ONE CORNER of the universe you can be certain of improving & that's your own self..
Today, I want to share one of my life stories with you..! 🤹

 😎

Just as you rely on your GPS when you're driving to help you get where you are going, we all need help navigating our paths..

And just as every journey begins with a step, my journey began when I asked God for a sign & I received one -  a light lightning strike up in the sky at just that moment I asked for a sign..
And then, when I asked for confirmation, another one striked again..

But what if I hadn’t recognized my sign..?

One thing that helped was that when I saw the lightning in answer to my question, I was alone.. This was in the years before everyone had a cell phone to consume their attention..
I wasn’t distracted by anyone else’s presence, opinion, or tweet, & so I was able to relax & listen to my own inner voice ( I still make enough time for solitude & to listen to my intuition up till date)..

Solitude gives us the quiet space we need to find ourselves, away from outside influences..

Once you create that space for yourself, the next step is to ask for the help you need..
Ask for guidance..
Ask for solutions..

And then listen for a reply.. Really listen..
Let yourself be wide open to your experience & know that the voice is going to be your voice - not your dead ancestors or angels or spirits.. It’s your own authentic voice..

In order to hear, you have to be able to receive, to accept that you’re deserving, you’re worth it.. This is where most of us get in our own way.. When you ask a question & hear the answer, trust it instead of talking yourself out of it..

It isn’t easy to ask for help.. There are many reasons for this.. We may feel that asking for help means we are weak.. We think we should be smart enough & strong enough & decisive enough to solve our own problems or not have problems at all..

But sometimes intelligence & strength & willpower aren’t what we need.. We all have our blind spots, & we can benefit from a different perspective.. We can’t do it alone..

Once you’ve made the decision to ask for help, how do you go about finding it..? There’s no right answer, but I’ll share some of the things I’ve tried; maybe they will work for you, too -

♣️ First, ask trusted friends & family members.. These are people you love & they genuinely reciprocate the love.. They’re more likely to tell it the way it is..

♣️ Be open-minded.. Don’t assume that there is only one path for getting where you want to go.. The guidance you need may come from a therapist, a cab driver, a song on the radio, a mentor, a child, a book, or a website post/blog.. You just need to find the voice that is right for you to put you on the path..

Get Bessern..

I can pretty much guarantee you that if it’s the right answer for you, it will come from more than one place - but every little voice counts..

♣️ Don’t anticipate what it’s going to be & how it’s going to show up, because sometimes our answers come in ways we’d never expect..

But what if you aren’t sure..? What if you can’t decide whether the advice you’re getting is good or bad..?

In a situation like this, I suggest giving yourself a little time to think things over before you make any decision.. Step back & look at the problem as objectively as possible.. For me, this where meditation comes into place..

We live in a time when we tend to look so far ahead into the future that we may lose sight of what’s going on in our lives at the moment.. I know I used to find myself running so far & so fast that I missed an entire year here & there..

All that changed when I began meditating..

Meditation stills the mind from its daily chatter & teaches us how to be in the moment.. It allows us opportunities to breathe & to see our lives with our eyes open, in a calm, peaceful way..
And when we are in that calm, peaceful state, we interact & communicate with others more authentically & precisely..

Research has shown the amazing benefits of meditation on mind & body.. There are lots of different ways to meditate, so if you haven’t found one that feels right for you, keep looking..!

Some of the more commonly known methods include transcendental meditation, prayer, Zen meditation, Taoist, mindfulness, walking meditation etc..
Several of these require your body to remain still, while others allow free movement..

Then there’s my favorite -  meditating to music or energy frequencies.. It transports me into the sweet zone of alpha theta - the portal of infinite possibilities, the state in which I’m able to download the messages available for me..

I had dabbled in it, but I began my deeper journey with meditation when I attended a three-day webinar lecture by the Dalai Lama.. He explained that meditation is something within us; it’s a state of being that we learn.. Eventually we can learn it so well that we become it 24 hours a day..

We want to condition our minds to live in the present moment, not in the past or the future.. He made me understand that meditation doesn’t need to be a strict practice, either - you don’t have to have an altar filled with gifts; you don’t have to sit erect on the floor or in a chair; if you have an itch, by all means scratch it..! Our culture wasn’t meant to practice the way monks do, nor does meditation need to have a religious connotation..

Listening to the Dalai Lama, it was as if a cloud of expectation had been lifted.. I knew that any way I conducted my practice would be acceptable.. It sounded so logical, forgiving, & workable.. This was for me..

I have been calmed & changed by my meditation practice, & it has deepened & given me greater benefits over the years.. Permit me to share with you some of the techniques I’ve learned along the way -

🎿 Give yourself permission to let go of expectation, & understand that meditation doesn’t have to take more than five minutes of your day.. If you can manage one minute, that’s an accomplishment..!

Start by closing your eyes & taking four deep, long breaths, on both the inhale & exhale..

Before you begin your day, sit & plan how you want it to turn out..

At the end of your workday or before you go to bed, reflect on how your day went.. Assess whether it was positive or negative, then ask yourself whether there’s anything you would like to do differently the next day..

As someone who has been meditating for some years now, I can feel every day the way it has changed my life & my sense of well-being.. Meditation for me means allowing myself permission not to think, to be in a quiet space of freedom, to close my eyes for a moment..
And when I reopen them, I’ve recalibrated: I’m different, calmer; my thoughts are clearer than they were before..

Probably we’re all going to feel stress every day.. It’s how we choose to deal with the stress that makes the difference.. Those of us who have embraced meditation have a built-in way of deflecting life’s stresses, leaving us more open to the good stuff..
The key is to give yourself space to notice the world around you.. You'll start to notice things - about yourself, about other people, about your work, about the world, & about where you want to be in it.

I promise you - amazing things can happen when you do..

Remember - Life is about trusting your feelings.. taking chances.. finding happiness.. learning from the past, & realizing that everything changes..!
And our life doesn't not get better by chance, it gets better by change .......

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