The Mind: Our Spirit's Vehicle

Some days words come to me very easily. Other days I am blank. Today is one of those days. So why am I blogging today? I don’t know. Maybe by the end of this I will have a product worth presenting. Maybe something will come of it that will inspire readers. I’m writing to release and express. These are my reflections:

I ask myself often: why? For what purpose am I doing this? Is this progressing me or holding me back? Most of these questions my intuition answers pretty quickly. My intuition I trust, more than my over-thinking mind. We should all trust our intuitions, our inner-most decider. We have a reasoning mind, but at the end of the day the decisions we make are inspired by our intuition, and this gives us the greatest sense of self-satisfaction and happiness.

But when we identify with our minds a different thing happens. Our minds are wired with different thought patterns and pathways. Some pathways are taken more frequently, forming deeper channels, while others are less-traveled on. Our mind is our own unique world, and we can choose where to go. But a danger falls when we begin to lose hold of the decider, our intuition, our heart, who we really are. Following and believing every thought that comes into the head produces instability. Habits are formed, both good and bad, and we become trapped by the limitations of our mind.

Our mind is not who we are but a tool, a vehicle to be used wisely. All our vehicles have certain dents and various mileage put onto them. Some have been in major wrecks, but the purpose is the same: to drive and reach where we couldn’t have gone without it. The major mistake we as westerners make is making the mind our identity. Anyone with any experience living with someone with dementia can tell you of this misconception. Heck, anybody with a baby can tell you the same thing. The Alzheimer's patient and the newborn infant don’t have a mind-identity like we do. But they still exist. They’re still here. Once you dis-identify with mind you don’t die; you experience who you really are: spirit or breath. Here is where peace is found. Here is your liberation, love, and happiness.

We are the director of our mind, the manipulator, and we have the power to alter our brain waves and functions. But are we taking responsibility over this vehicle? Do we even dare to take this responsibility? Because if we do maybe we have no real excuse for living in limitation or unnecessary suffering. Maybe “what we think we become.” Scary but empowering. We defend our mind as our identity, yet our mind was created by the choices of our intuition. We hold onto the belief that we are our mind because we don’t want to lose it. We don't want to end the habits that keep us where we are. We're used to them. We're more comfortable with them. But they will end someday, either during this life or at death. Just like the newborn baby or the Alzheimer's patient, we will exist without it. Point to yourself: where are you pointing? Your head or your heart?

We must think on good things, and when we do wherever our heart’s intention lies, that is where our mind will follow. This is the space where dreams become real.

In the beginning there was God and only God.  There was nothing else.  There were no distinctions, there were no parts; there was only God.  There was nothing to describe, nothing to grasp the mind around. God was simply being. 
    There are many parallels between the vast numbers of creation stories.  The many spiritual and religious traditions describe this period as an unknown fulfillment, a void. The Hindu scriptures define it as a period where there was neither existence nor non-existence.  There was neither the realm of space nor the sky beyond.  There was neither death nor immortality.  There was no day or night.  God only breathed by God’s own impulse.  The Greek creation myth described this period as an empty darkness.  The only thing in this abyss was Nyx, a bird with black wings.  The Australian aborigines told that everything was still, and all the spirits of the earth were asleep, except the great Father of All Spirits.  The Japanese creation myth tells that all elements were mixed together within one germ of life.  A Chinese creation story told that there was nothing in the universe except a formless chaos.  This period was the time before time. Mainstream scientific theory says there was nothing but potential energy.

    Then an action took place...

    Like the pre-existence period, most religious and spiritual traditions have their own story of the first action that happened.  A Christian view is that God was lonely and sought companionship.  As a result, he spoke and created the known world.  Another is that God sought glory which required others to acknowledge Him.  One spiritual tradition tells that God created with the power of heat out of great desire.  The Greek myth tells how Nyx laid a golden egg and for ages sat upon this egg.  Life began to stir in the egg and out of it arose Eros, the god of love, and the split shell became the sky and the Earth.  The Australian aborigines told how the Father of All Spirits awoke the Sun Mother, and as she opened her eyes a warm ray of light spread out towards the sleeping earth.  The Father of All Spirits told the Sun Mother to wake all the sleeping spirits and give them forms.  The Japanese tale described how the germ of life began to mix things around and around until the heavier part sank and the lighter part rose.  A muddy sea that covered the earth was created and from this ocean grew a green shoot.  It grew and grew until it reached the clouds, where there it was transformed into a god.  This god grew lonely and it began to create other gods.  The Chinese story also describes how life came from a cosmic egg, where within the egg the perfectly opposed principles of Yin and Yang were balanced and Pangu emerged from the egg.  The ancient Egyptians described the world emerging from an infinite, lifeless sea called Nu.  Scientific theory states there was a cosmic explosion billions of years ago. All these stories differ in detail but have a common element:  in the beginning there was of one essence, and then an action of creation took place; the first distinction. 

    It is impossible to know something if you don’t know non-something.  It is impossible to know light if you don’t know darkness.  It is impossible to know life unless you know death.  It is impossible to know the great power of Love unless you know fear.

    We were created to know ourselves, and to know is to form a distinction from everything else using thought. Thus we come to know and appreciate the various elements of the Divine Mystery, of God, and fulfill on the intent of creation.  We were created to experience the outreaches of the beauty of this Mystery and be co-creators of its glory. And thus we form distinctions from our first childhood understandings to our deaths, where we reunite with the heart of the Divine Mystery from which we came.

Our mind is the master of distinction. It’s job is to separate the world into parts, recognize this thing from that thing. When the mind dies we re-enter eternal bliss. Then we realize that the greatest distinction of all is there are no distinctions.

I’ve seen the world in a whole new light since dis-identifying with my mind and using it instead as a tool. I hurt, but I don’t suffer like I used to. The freedom I’ve had the last five years is beyond anything I’ve ever experienced in terms of fulfillment. It’s beautiful. I suggest you get on board and experience it for yourself.

Forgiveness is the Key to Peace

I watched a video yesterday titled “Forgiveness: My Burden Was Made Light.“ The video highlighted a man who lost his wife and two kids in a tragic head-on car accident. The person responsible for the accident was a male teenager. Both the offender and the offended were anguished from the catastrophic event, encounters of guilt and despair. The man who lost his wife and kids went through the stages of grief: denial/shock, anger, bargaining, depression, and finally acceptance. Understandable. Heartfelt. Justified. The teen went through great guilt, knowing he was the cause of the travesty and responsible for the heartbreak of many. But what was most remarkable about the story was the man’s willingness to eventually forgive the teenager, and not only to forgive him but to mentor him to rebuild his own life. The video moves one to tears.

When I was a senior in high school one of my most passionate dreams crumbled. I was a one-sport athlete. I played baseball in my younger years, but I found the sport to be slow-moving and boring, so I quit. I also had experienced soccer, swimming, and track-and-field, but my number one passion was basketball. I dedicated my entire high school mindset to basketball, breathed basketball, ate basketball, slept basketball. I had high hopes and dreams of playing college ball and, now jokingly reflecting, the NBA. I was the leading scorer of my freshman and sophomore teams, C-Team and JV respectively. When my junior year came around I expected to start on the varsity squad. Instead I swung between JV and varsity. That was a hit in the chest, but I intended to press hard my senior year, get acknowledged for the sport, and win a college scholarship. When my senior year came along we had a coaching change. I had a good relationship with the incoming coach. I was in his classes, and he respected me as a player. During the summer league I recorded fourteen rebounds with an injured thumb. I was impressing, or so I thought. When the season started I was told I was going to be the seventh guy in the rotation. The coach only played six substantially. The first game I played four minutes and scored five points. The second game I played a little more but didn’t score a point. Discouraged with my role on the team and the broken dreams, I quit just before the third game.

The decision to end my sports aspirations hurt. I developed major resentment towards certain individuals. I held grudges against the players who took the role I thought I deserved. I held grudges against my high school coaches. I held a grudge against God. Why did this happen to me? Why after all this work do I have nothing to show? I went on to play YMCA ball with several other friends in high school, which I enjoyed. I also played intramurals in college, which met my competitive expectations. It took me several years before I was finally able to forgive those I was upset with. Although this is minuscule compared to losing a wife and kids, the same message applies.

Resentment is an malicious disease. It starts in the mind and spreads throughout the body. I remember one time I was so resentful towards an individual that I became overstressed and got shingles all over my chest.

What you think you become.

My resentment replayed over and over in my mind, causing me to experience a great discomfort physically; the mind, body, spirit connection.

Why do so many spiritual teachings insist that we forgive one another?

“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32

“Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” Colossians 3:13

Forgiveness is not only the root of religious faith; it’s the root of inner peace, joy, and love experienced in this life. Oftentimes we wait for that glory day when we’re reunited with the Creator, when all is made right. Needless to say, on that day you won’t be worrying about any of the stuff you’re worrying about now. That’s a great hope, but if it means putting off peace, joy, and love you can experience NOW, it’s a great tragedy to the sanctity of life. The time of union will certainly come and last eternally. The time that doesn’t last for long is now. Feel your breath. Feel your life.

Resentment and bitterness does the mind, body, and spirit no good. It’s an excuse to justify our feeling of victimization, that we have been wronged, the “poor-me” mentality. It's an addiction. Forgiveness, on the other hand, is letting go of past grievances, past resentment and bitterness, and feeling the freedom and peace overtake you that dominoes through the entire mind, body, and spirit. It allows one to experience love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. It’s the transformative decision to learn from the past, go forth in our mission, and reach self-actualization. It’s time to stop making excuses that are holding you back from your full potential, a potential gained through a life of peace, joy, and love. Quit playing the victim, and embrace the life God destined you to live.

Quotes on forgiveness: 

“There is no love without forgiveness, and there is no forgiveness without love.” Bryant H. McGill

“To forgive is the highest, most beautiful form of love. In return, you will receive untold peace and happiness.” Robert Muller

“Always forgive your enemies- nothing annoys them so much.” Oscar Wilde

“To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.” Lewis B. Smedes

“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.” Mahatma Gandhi

“Love is an act of endless forgiveness, a tender look which becomes a habit.” Peter Ustinov

“Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.” Mark Twain

“Holding onto anger, resentment and hurt only gives you tense muscles, a headache and a sore jaw from clenching your teeth. Forgiveness gives you back the laughter and the lightness in your life.” Joan Lunden

“Forgiveness is the final form of love.” Reinhold Niebuhr

“I learned a long time ago that some people would rather die than forgive. It’s a strange truth, but forgiveness is a painful and difficult process. It’s not something that happens overnight. It’s an evolution of the heart.” Sue Monk Kidd

“When you forgive, you in no way change the past- but you sure do change the future.” Bernard Meltzer

“We cannot embrace God’s forgiveness if we are so busy clinging to past wounds and nursing old grudges.” T.D. Jakes

“All major religious traditions carry basically the same message, that is love, compassion and forgiveness; the important thing is they should be part of our daily lives.”
Dalai Lama

Reflection on the last four years

Four years ago a new foundation was laid. The ground was revealed after the old house fell down. Ever since, I’ve been building a new house. After every new experience I lay another brick. I’ve expanded into new and vast territory, pursuits of interests and creativity. While doing so I kept aware the ground, for I knew that was the base of who I was and who I am. The house is being purged of it's cracks and dust. The last year in Mongolia I’ve been observing the various bricks of my foundation, many of which were the same bricks used in the old dwelling, just laid differently. As these bricks have been exposed in certain areas, I’m discovering things about myself I knew not existed. And they’re beautiful discoveries.

Traversing the Testing Grounds of Truth

Socialization builds character.  It’s the testing grounds of the discoveries made in solitude.  What we learn about ourselves individually must go through the collective conscious to see if it proves durable.  If it stands the test, it was a genuine discovery.  If it doesn’t, there are deeper truths to be discovered.  Your character is the manifestation of truths verified.

“Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” 1 John 4:1

Note that this verse tells us to test the spirits, not for the tests to come to us via circumstance.  It’s a proactive command.  I believe this verse applies to more than just spirituality.  It’s a great approach to authenticate any truth.  Truth is enduring.  A truth will stand the tests you give it.  Truth never fails.  A truth that fails the test is no truth at all.  Beliefs lost during testing weren’t that authentic in the first place.  If a truth does fail the test, a greater truth will be revealed.  We should not fear the testing of our truths, as it’s all a process of coming to know our greater selves.  So test everything.

I have a question for you:  are we ever finished working on ourselves?  You can think about this question for a long time.  Or not.  If we are and we’ve reached our peak there’s only one direction to go:  down.  My grandpa used to say that a growing church is a healthy church, but a still church is a dying church.  This applies to our own sanctification, to our individual progression.  In our lives we can choose to either evolve or gradually decline to our end. 

You must test your faith.  You may fear to test what you believe is true.  What if it fails the test?  What if all my beliefs fall apart?  By testing faith you may lose it.  It’s the fear that the ego will lose its validity.  If your truth falls, your identity is going to be damaged to some extent, depending on the truth you were testing.  It sure is scary!  I certainty fear losing what I’ve come to know as the deeper truths about myself.  It’s an ego check. But isn’t it better to come to an authentic truth than hold on to one that’s illusionary and of majority approval?  

“There is no fear in love.  But perfect love casts out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.  The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” 1 John 4:18-19

There is no salvation in conformity.  To be true to yourself in the midst of conventionality is to be a pearl in the vast ocean.  It’s better to reject an idea after challenging it than it is to accept it on blind ignorance.  Don’t be a conformist.  Question everything.  Salvation is not anybody’s duty but your own. 

 

As I continue to write this blog I’m constantly debating with myself whether I should write to get as many people to agree with me as I can.  In the world of the Internet it’s aspiring to get as many followers as possible.  I love when people agree with me.  We all do!  But then I realized if I had this mindset I would be doing the exact opposite of what I preach.  I would be a hypocrite, and to be a hypocrite is a low quality of representation.  I do try to find commonalities at the deepest levels, as we’re all part of the same human species and I believe we all have the same root consciousness.  But there will be those who disagree with even that proclamation.  I will respect their commonality as a truth-seeker.  We’re all seekers of truth.  

As I’ve tested my truths over and over again the deceptive ones have been revealed and tossed, while the profounder ones have been admitted and consecrated.  It has empowered my life substantially, and encourages me to still dig deeper into the light that's within.

Question your beliefs.  Question your authorities.  Question your truths.  Only then will you discover those which are more genuine.

Some Favorite Quotes on Truth

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

Steve Jobs

Even if you are a minority of one, the truth is the truth.

Mahatma Gandhi

In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.

George Orwell

If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end; if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin, and in the end, despair.

C. S. Lewis

The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie, deliberate, contrived and dishonest, but the myth, persistent, persuasive and unrealistic.

John F. Kennedy

All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.

Arthur Schopenhauer

A thing is not necessarily true because a man dies for it.

Oscar Wilde

The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is.

Winston Churchill

You never find yourself until you face the truth.

Pearl Bailey

Never assume the obvious is true.

William Safire

The first reaction to truth is hatred.

Tertullian

Love as a Self-Actualizing Experience: The Future of My Evolution

The last few years I’ve been reluctant to dedicate myself fully to any one relationship.  Commitment scared me.  It still kinda does.  Putting great effort and thought into a relationship and building an attachment to that individual leaves one vulnerable to heartbreak.  Whether it’s a spouse, family member, or friend, all relationships will go through some suffering, usually by death, divorce, or separation.  After experiencing this more than once in my own life, I feared the inevitable destiny that all relationships will end at death, and I didn’t want to go through the suffering again.  If I were just able to un-attach emotionally to all relationships I wouldn’t have to suffer.  Believe me, I got good at it.  I prevented myself from getting over-emotional and suppressed my feelings.  I was indeed able to limit my suffering.  If there was any indication that I was in the midst of suffering, I just left before it escalated.  Flight was my response. 

But I felt hollow.  It’s unfulfilling, doing life this way.  Later I came to understand that through my suffering I learned the greatest lessons in life and ultimately found greater beauty in life itself.  If I prevented myself from ever suffering again through fear I wouldn’t come to deeper truths and the world’s captivating beauty would dim.  Thankfully I’ve been blessed with the desire to know greater truths.  I’m at another breaking point.  I’m encouraged for another major breakthrough, and it may take me putting down the guard I have built up these last few years to come to know it. 

One word that has repeatedly exposed itself to me the last few days is dedication.  This goes on the lines of my latest blog.  Habits are reformed through dedication and hard work, not by merely wishing for change.  The best things are what we’ve worked for, not for what comes easily.  Dedication spats in the face of difficulties.  Dedication loves the combat.  And the most important battleground of dedication: relationships.

There’s a reason Jesus emphasized the love of your neighbor.  Humans are innately relational, common to mammals but distinctive from fish and reptiles.  With the formation of the analytical mind, humans bring relationships and attachment to a level beyond their mammalian counterparts.  Attachment is much greater; so is the suffering.  Our minds are powerful, and they can either be accommodating or abusive to our well-being.  With our human distinction we have a greater chance of suffering, but we also have a greater opportunity to love deeply. 

Although I feel like I’ve advanced the last few years in understanding the deeper aspects of my own self, I’ve lost touch with the virtuous characteristics that defined my rise to this awareness in the first place.  Relationships enabled a greater awareness of myself relative to the world around me and a closer relationship with God.  Jesus said the two greatest commandments were love God and love people.  1 John 4:12 says, “No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another God lives in us and His love is made complete in us.“  It is through love of the fellow man that we come to a greater awareness of God.  It’s through our social interaction with each other that we discover who God is and relatively who we are.  A personal interpretation of the two greatest commandments follows.

1)   Love God.  Personal and mystical experience of God.  By knowing God we know ourselves.  I consider this present Mongolian journey primarily a personal one.  

2)   Love your neighbor.  Social experience of God.  Discovering God in others.  Social interaction, testing of the spirits discovered in personal experiences.  Learning to be an expression of love gained (Love is God).  Where traits of the character are developed and where virtues get stronger.  The nurturing of our species. 

The social experience of God may be progressive or limiting, depending on who we interact with and how we respond to the interaction.  Relationships are the outward expressions of an inward reality.    

Self-actualization is not abandoning your relationships.  It instead takes those relationships and discovers greater truths about oneself and the Divine.  Relationships compliment the self-actualizing experience.  Often they’re formed on the low frequencies of the feeling of incompleteness, and the individual is stuck battling these feelings for most of their life.  It is only overcome by facing it head-on independently.  No one can save you:  only God’s grace can reveal this salvation to you.

Relationships could be abusive and weak, but they could also be empowering.  Relationships could lead to the individual feeling unsatisfied, but relationships could also accelerate the individual towards self-actualization (and God), once the individual knows who they are outside of the relationship.  The question that must be answered before diving into any new relationship is:  Who are you?  One must understand the greatest commandment before delving into the second greatest.

The third commandment Jesus gave is one that the church tends to stress over the first two commandments:  make disciples.  This has been the church’s backbone of survival for years.  Expressing thoughts are the only way of preserving them.  This is a huge difficulty when preserving memories in family history research.  All the memories experienced by our ancestors will be forgotten if they’re not recorded or communicated to the next generations.  Even then they often become diluted.  Most memories have been lost forever.  

We are all disciples of something.  It’s part of our human nature to express ourselves.  Experiences are mostly had knowing we are going to share them with somebody else.  If we weren’t disciples of anything we would fundamentally be fruitless and unproductive.  We would go through life never realizing our great potential.  Have you already reached your maximum potential?  Maybe if you did you wouldn’t be alive.

The question to the reader is this:  What are you being a disciple of?  What message are you broadcasting?  What truth is going to live on in this world after you die?  Don’t fear suffering.  It will inescapably come.  Learn to ride the waves of the storm to the island of paradise.

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” 

1 James 1:2-4

“You don't develop courage by being happy in your relationships everyday. You develop it by surviving difficult times and challenging adversity.” 

Epicurus

“There is no better than adversity. Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance the next time.”   

Malcolm X

“Let me embrace thee, sour adversity, for wise men say it is the wisest course.”   

William Shakespeare

“True friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity, before it is entitled to the appellation.” 

 George Washington

“Life is truly known only to those who suffer, lose, endure adversity and stumble from defeat to defeat.”   

Anais Nin

“Brave men rejoice in adversity, just as brave soldiers triumph in war.”   

Lucius Annaeus Seneca

“God brings men into deep waters, not to drown them, but to cleanse them.”  

 John Aughey

“Bygone troubles are good to tell.”  

Yiddish Proverb

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.  Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”   

1 John 4:7-8 

“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

“’Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?’  Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.’” 

 Matthew 22:36-40

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”   

Romans 8:28

“And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.”   

1 Peter 5:10

"If you're going through hell, keep going."  

Winston Churchill

“We have no right to ask when sorrow comes, "Why did this happen to me?" unless we ask the same question for every moment of happiness that comes our way.”  

Author Unknown

“I know God will not give me anything I can't handle.  I just wish that He didn't trust me so much.”  

Mother Teresa

“We acquire the strength we have overcome.”  

Ralph Waldo Emerson

“If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn't lead anywhere.”  

Frank A. Clark

“The problem is not that there are problems.  The problem is expecting otherwise and thinking that having problems is a problem.”  

Theodore Rubin

“Sometimes in tragedy we find our life's purpose - the eye sheds a tear to find its focus.”  

Robert Brault

“When it is dark enough, you can see the stars.”  

Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors.”  

African Proverb

2014: A Year of New Visions, Habits, and Breakthroughs

2013 witnessed much change.  This was notably true in my life.  I experienced the death of an immediate family member, moved to a foreign country, and began working in an environment that doesn’t speak English and no longer have the immediate comfort of loved ones around.  It seemed like this was a year of little steadiness.  Everything worked on or thought about eventually changed again.  It was a year of adventure but inconsistency.  I believe the New Year will bring more stability and growth.  2012 was the end of an era; 2013 was a year of change; 2014 will be a year of new visions, habits, and breakthroughs. 

New Visions

Plans change. Visions remain.  I remember hearing this quote several years ago while attending a leadership conference in Tacoma.  It was from John Maxwell.

Plans change.  This is one of the greatest lessons learned growing up.  Plans are not guaranteed; expectations are repeatedly met with disappointment.   When I was a senior in high school I intended to go to Northwest University in Kirkland, graduate with a teaching degree, get hired at a public school where I could teach and coach, buy and move into my own house, get married, and have a couple kids before I was 30.  Well, one of those came true.  Plans altered, interests changed, and my ideal plan of my future life continued to be reformed.  Travel wasn’t even on my radar, nor was my interest in family history research, playing in a band, or writing a blog to promote my ideas on Facebook.

Plans change.  Plans are strategies to get to our goals.  These plans often experience detours and alteration.  Emotions also change.  One day we feel inspired about a plan and make significant headway.  The next we feel uncommitted and toss the plan aside.  Plans are amended over and over.

Visions remain.  There is an inner dream that arises during our childhood and finds its place in our subconscious that repeatedly reminds us it’s still there throughout our entire lives.  It’s what Paulo Coelho describes as our Personal Legend.  It’s that little voice inside us connecting us with the purpose of our lives.  These are our visions.  Visions are the features of our calling.

We will feel motivated, inspired, and excited about life’s endless possibilities at times.  Other times we’ll find it hard to get enthused.  Our emotions are inconsistent and unreliable.  If we lean on them we find ourselves unstable and hovering in the habitual inconsistencies of the mind, and the mind is restless.  Yet visions remain with us through both our motivated and apathetic states.  Visions are deeper levels of consciousness deriving from our inner selves.  Visions stand the test of time.

What is your vision?  What is your calling?

New Habits

It is believed to take 21 days to both start and break a habit without missing a day.  That’s almost a month.  The majority of habits are done subconsciously, without us even paying an ounce of attention.  This is what makes them so hard to overcome.

The road to your vision is structured on habits, in mind and in action.  When “The Secret” came out many people were excited about the possibility of creating whatever they wanted for their life.  If they could visualize it, they could create it.  Imagine you are driving along the highway to a Florence and the Machine concert.  You began to visualize a parking spot near the entrance of the amphitheater to be open just for you.  You keep it in your mind and confidently say over and over to yourself with faith that a spot will be open as soon as you drive into the parking lot.

You drive into the parking lot and discover every close parking spot occupied.  In fact, you are directed quite a distance away from the amphitheater.  Your visualization didn’t work.  First responses from strong advocates of the law of attraction would say you didn’t have enough faith.  That’s very similar to the Christian understanding of the “faith of a mustard seed.”  I’m not disapproving it.  In fact I’m a great believer in the law of attraction and strongly believe our thoughts affect our outcome at the quantum level.  But I’m encouraging the religious supporter of “The Secret” to look beyond mere faith to a crucial element of seeing this quantum change happen at the macro level. 

Action.

You cannot get from point A to point B unless you move.  I can’t say enough how important this is for the realization of our dreams.  Consciously thinking and intending for something to happen is great, but it must be followed by action.  I remember talking about traveling internationally with my brother for years and years.  We were so excited and had the vision.  But it took a decision to finally buy the plane tickets one day to see the trip happen, to our pockets despair.  If there’s no action, there’s no momentum to see the fulfillment of that dream.  Thoughts to action; abstract thinking to practicality; “Lala-land” to actualization.  To have a different result we have to change our actions.  We must modify our habits. 

Habits are the footsteps to our visions.  If we expect to see a big change in our reality, a change of habits is required.  The fulfillment of our dreams requires habit change.  Limiting habit change results in a limited spectrum of change.  I say “spectrum” because there’s no telling exactly how our daily lives will turn out in every detail.  External forces play their part.  We must be open to alteration and obstacles.  I also say “spectrum” because habits align with each other vaguely and affect each other.  Your habit of drinking may affect your habit of morning meditation.  Your habit of exercise may affect your habit of sleep.  I remember at an NBC basketball camp during high school hearing a revision of a saying that was quite common: “Practice makes perfect.”  Suppose you’ve been practicing saying a phrase in a different language.  Over and over you’ve been repeating this phrase to yourself and have it nailed down.  You then go out in public and use it in conversation.  The native speakers of the language look at you funny.  What did he just say?  You say it again.  They still don’t understand you.  With the use of hand and facial gestures you communicate to them what you’re trying to say.  Their faces light up and they start to laugh.  Then they say the correct way to say the phrase.  The whole time, after days of practice, you realize you’ve been saying it wrong.  You were practicing, but it wasn’t perfect.  Instead of “practice makes perfect” you really should be saying, “Perfect practice makes perfect.”  How you practice matters just as much as the action of practice.  If you’ve been making few jump shots, you may need to change up your shooting routine.  If you’ve been in a hitting slump, you may need to change how you grip the bat or even the bat itself.  Your habits are your practices.

What are your current practices? 

A little change can lead to big effects.  Time is a valuable resource.  Everyday we’re blessed with 24 new hours to spend.  If we don’t spend it, it will be taken from us regardless.  So why waste it?  If you were given $1,000 to spend in a day and were told the money left over would crumble to dust when the clock strikes 12, would you think twice about spending all of it for something that’ll last a little bit longer?  Imagine if you actually created a time to practice your guitar skills, learn how to cook, work out, or read the classics.  You don’t believe your habits can alter your reality?  Try it.  We cannot expect to change our outcome unless we change our habits.  We are responsible to act, not just imagine. 

Are your current habits progressing you?  Are they limiting you?  Reassess yourself.  Make 2014 a transformative year.  What do you want to fulfill in the New Year?  The choice is yours, and it starts with changing your habits.

New Breakthroughs

You know that feeling you get during those “wow” moments of total bliss?  That’s the feeling you get when experiencing breakthroughs.  Breakthroughs happen when a restriction is removed or surpassed.  Breakthroughs are overcoming an obstacle or stalemate.  Breakthroughs are life-altering.  They feel great.

Breakthroughs are the evidence of our personal advancement.  They are a sign of individual achievement.  They are the assessment of our progress.  What are your visions?  Breakthroughs are a way to evaluate our advancement to these objectives/aspirations. 

They’re also a sign of grace.  Sometimes months and years are spent trying to advance to the next level.  No matter how much effort we seem to put into our aspirations, the breakthrough doesn’t happen.  But then one day it does.  There’s no explaining it; the universe just grants your wish.  Breakthroughs are encouraging and humbling at the same time.

It’s been a while since my last big breakthrough.  It happened in 2010 after a period of great affliction.  Before that, the tragedy of my first death experience in 2008 led to a subsequent breakthrough year in 2009 of international attentiveness and emotional highs.  A great mountain of possibility follows a low valley.  And every breakthrough is greater than the one before it.  Were you traversing a low valley in the year 2013?  I have good news for you:  a mountainous breakthrough is on its way.

A breakthrough unleashes new visions.  These new visions inspire new habits, and these habits will lead to more breakthroughs.  The cycle starts over.  Several years from now the landscape is going to look a whole lot different.  We will be rewarded, but we must persevere.

2014 is where the road ascends.  You’ll be climbing that mountain, and upon each step you’ll see more of the grand world around.  Of course, you have to decide to actually take the steps.  It’s a climb, but it’s a glorious one.

Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another. 

Walter Elliott

Saints are sinners who kept on going. 

Robert Louis Stevenson

If we are facing in the right direction, all we have to do is keep on walking. 

Buddhist Saying

Keep on going, and the chances are that you will stumble on something, perhaps when you are least expecting it.  I never heard of anyone ever stumbling on something sitting down. 

Charles F. Kettering

Never think that God's delays are God's denials.  Hold on; hold fast; hold out.  Patience is genius. 

Georges-Louis Leclerc

Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail. 

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Sometimes you must cross a bridge and other times you need to burn it. But, always keep building one and never lose your faith in life.

Dodinsky,

Vitality shows in not only the ability to persist but the ability to start over. 

F. Scott Fitzgerald

When your dreams turn to dust, vacuum. 

Author Unknown

Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out they've got a second.

William James

Difficult things take a long time, impossible things a little longer.

André A. Jackson

Don't let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use.

Earl Nightingale

Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go.

William Feather

Look at a stone cutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred-and-first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not the last blow that did it, but all that had gone before.

Jacob A. Riis