Less Stress More Calm

There Is No Excuse For Not Living The Dream

Each one of us related to a human who has done miraculous feats. Whether it be building the pyramids, walking on the moon or even living in caves and hunting for meat in the wild. There is no excuse for not living your dream. You can stop spending, eating or whatever stupid habit you have started and believe you can’t stop. 

Just so happens that in this day and age most of us pathetically prefer to wimp out. We don’t even make the first attempt to change our life never mind follow our dreams. We watch television, surf the net, raid the fridge or find a million pitiful distractions to fill some kind of imaginary void in our mundane lives.

I don’t buy it for one second that we can’t make life changes right now. If we as humans had survived in the wilderness all those centuries and performed all those feats, then why can’t we put down that extra piece of fucking pizza? Or not even order it in the first place. People in this day and ages have gotten lazy, undisciplined, whiny and seem to find the most absurd justifications for avoiding success.

There are no excuses. And if you are thinking of one right now then keep living your cookie cutter, depressing life. No one cares.

You can stand up right now and make a pledge to yourself that you will live your dream. You can devote at least thirty minutes a day to plan or execute the life you dream about. There are no excuses. If you have found one then you are a fooling yourself again.

The choice is 100% clear. There are no more excuses.  You have run out.

Do it.   

A Simple Strategy To Start Meditating Right Now

Here is a simple strategy to begin meditating tomorrow morning. Meditation isn’t some mystical journey whereas you are required to become a Zen or Buddhist master. Meditation is simply staying in one place quietly, eventually learning to be in the present moment until it becomes natural. 

Living in the present moment is the beginning to ending the mindless clatter and worries that are constantly bombarding you. Meditation teaches you to ignore self destructive thoughts and become at peace with ones selves, warts and all.

My meditation techniques are based on the practices of Pema Chodron . 

Find a quiet room away from your bedroom. Sit upright, hands on lap, legs crossed and focus on a spot 4 to 5 feet in front of you.  Concentrate on your outer breath as a way of focusing the mind. When a thought arises, label it as “thinking” and go back to concentrating on your outer breath.  Let your thoughts go over and over again by labeling them as thinking. Continue to relax and allow whatever thoughts to arise without labeling them good or bad. Return to your outer breath. 

Try to perform this exercise 15 minutes a day to start. After a while you will notice that you can return to the present moment much easier. This is one of the best ways to reduce the stress caused by over thinking and worrying.

You are the master of your life.   

How To Get Your Ass Seriously Kicked

 

I’ve thought about kicking peoples asses that use my website. I’d change it to give them the option for a good ass kicking. I would see if they are tracking and paying attention to their goals. If they  weren’t? BAM! Ass kicking!

Most people hire life coaches to get their ass kicked. Didn’t follow up on that goal? You guessed it. BOOM! So many people fail at reaching their goals because they don’t have someone ready to boot them in the butt.  I think the ass kicking business would be very lucrative for me. But it would cost a pretty penny (for you my friend) and be time consuming.

Top ten reasons people need a good ass kicking:

•  Constantly dream about making life changes but never lift a finger.
•  Moaning and complaining how the world is against them.
•  Sit in front of the TV or as I call it, “meaningless choices in a box”.
•  Keep talking about their friend’s new stuff.
•  Follow the latest gossip on the celebrities.
•  Allow a stream of insignificant worries to nag them day after day.
•  Stuff their faces thinking that Big Mac will make them feel better.
•  Afraid to leave the safety of their cubicles and venture out in the world.
•  Follow the nice path their parents laid out for them.
•  Believe that the government and other institutions (banking) have their best interests in mind.

Ready to bend over? I am.

My Ultimate Plan For A Happy Life

I have read and accumulated hundreds of self development, philosophy and business books.  My friends and I have discussed how to have a happy life over coffee for hours. I created www.mylifechanges.com, as a tool for people to find their core values and align them with their goals. Now it is high time for me to take the very best of what I have read and practice it. Now it is time to create a solid methodology towards living a happy, hopeful and fulfilled life.       

I take action. I make a plan, show up and take action.  Why bother making a plan and ignoring it? Most people wake up and live an empty endless cycle of work, television, sleep and repeat. They have dreams. They have passions. Yet each precious day passes and they take no action. They complain and whine. It might only take 30 minutes a day to work on a passion. But it means taking that first step. There is no perfect time.  Get off your ass right now and take action.

I practise gratitude. I carry a small rock with me all the time and when I touch it, I feel gratitude for all the good things in my life.  I feel gratitude for the shelter, food, safety, and love in my life. I am grateful for not fighting in a world war. I am grateful when I walk in the forest. I am grateful for each sunrise. Many people only want more. They are never truly happy with what they have.  And then they die. Yet appreciating the good things in life is easy to do.  You can write down what you are grateful today and read it daily. 

I meditate. Mediation clears the struggle and endless chatter from my mind. Meditation enables me to focus on the present moment not only while meditating, but throughout the day.  Sometimes I stop to look at the colour of the sky. I stay still, appreciating that moment in nature. Meditating trains my mind to slow down, empty my chatter and just be in the moment. Why miss so many special moments because of repetitive worries that never amount to anything? Life is an endless changing cycle, never slowing down.  I don’t want to miss any wonderful moments.   

And finally love. What can I say?  Love makes the world go round. Let your love go out to others and it will come back to you.  Try it. 

Think Your Way Into A Happy Life

I’ve shut off most news sources in my life. The television and internet were just blood sucking happiness leeches, filling my mind with unnecessary doom and gloom.  I don’t need that crap in my mind.

Everyone wants to be happy. Sure it’s sounds incredibly corny, but if you think you have a better theory please let me know. Happiness isn’t overrated, it is the primary goal of our lives. There is no better feeling than waking up in the morning and looking forward to the day.  

Of course life isn’t always going to be full of rainbows and lollipops. Problems arise when you start to believe your constant negative thoughts and feelings are facts, but in reality they are not you. They are not facts. They are only struggles in your mind. You CAN let them go. So just let them go.

I avoid people that complain and insist that the world is against them. They have become totally blind to any type of appreciation and would rather wallow in self pity.  Perhaps they will die like this one day, wallowing in self pity.

I chose to listen to inspiring audio books when I drive into work.  I chose to think about how lucky I am to have shelter, food, safety and love in my life. I am hopeful for the future and realize my potential is almost unlimited.  I meditate to cease the struggle of my mind, coming back to the present moment over and over again. I notice the deep blue sky during a sunset.  I stand outside in the quiet of the morning, gazing at the cool shades of the morning sky and listening to the birds.

I chose to be happy.

All You Need Is Love

The very last song played at the end of the move, Across the Universe, is - All You Need Is Love. After a turbulent and disturbing reflection on that era which included the Vietnam War and race riots, what other message was there to deliver? Of course all we need is love. It is a message of such purity and simplicity it’s impossible to overlook.

Where is the love in a today’s society where we are bombarded by constant information, usually infused with consumerism related propaganda? Where is the love in corporations? Where is the love in our pursuit of peace through military means? Do we even bother to talk to our neighbours? Why is it so fucking hard for us to love?  Does it seem like love is becoming a fleeting thing? Love seems to be slipping through our fingers like gains of sand. We are so preoccupied in keeping our heads above water in this materialistic society we don’t even realize what love is anymore.

Think back to a time you cried your heart out because you lost or gained something you loved. Think about that gut wrenching feeling that welled up inside of you.  That was a pure and undiluted form of love. It’s like a white light shining inside all of us.  That is what we have to reach inside of us and yank out. It hurts like hell sometimes and we are terrified by it, but that’s what love is all about. Allowing ourselves to wear that kind of love, for the entire world to see, can leave us raw and bruised. But in the end that is the ultimate emotion to pass on to the world. It frees us. Because as humans – all we need is love.

Love is all we need.