trulythinking.com

Day 38 of 50 ideas in 50 days is The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire by Deepak Chopra. If it’s thanks to my father for introducing me to Chogyam Trungpa and as a result, Pema Chodron then it’s thanks to my mother for introducing me to the work of Deepak Chopra. He is an amazingly talented teacher, healer and writer who has a tremendously straight-forward yet profound writing style and his wisdom shines through his words.

I love Deepak’s idea of ‘living from your soul,’ it’s the place of intuition and creativity, it calls you and directs you to fulfil your purpose. He says, “if we could learn to live from the level of the soul, we would see that the best, most luminous part of ourselves is connected to all the rhythms of the universe. We would truly know ourselves as the miracle makers we are capable of being.” Living from the soul means moving past the limitations of the conscious mind, the fear, the hesitation, the disbelief, because it stops us from living truly and on purpose. Those conscious mind limitations come from a place of conditioning, of being told what is true and accepting it. It is important to trust that part of ourselves that is connected to something greater.

“If we were able to live at the level of the soul all the time, there would be no need for hindsight to appreciate the great truths of life.” It’s quite amazing when you have hindsight about an experience that felt so difficult at the time, yet when looking back, you can see things objectively and understand the lesson from it, how it has made you grow. When living from the soul, it’s possible to appreciate the lesson as it is at the time without getting absorbed in the illusion of what is happening. It’s important to ask yourself, “what is the message here? What’s the significance of this?” A shift in perspective can make such a profound difference in your well being. Deepak says that asking this question is one of the major ways to, “consciously participate in the creation of our lives by understanding the world that is beyond the senses.” In this way, such questions lead to greater knowledge of self and life experiences. As a result, it ensures that you are a participant in the creation of your life and not a result of the conditioning of others.

Day 35 of 50 ideas in 50 days is The Monk Who Sold his Ferrari by Robin Sharma.

I was first introduced to The Monk Who Sold his Ferrari by my friend Ben, who raved about the book and shared the ideas inside. I found that they really resonated with me. Robin writes a story that is similar to The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho) in style and features an attorney (as opposed to a shepherd) who has a health scare and decides to change his life. (Selling his Ferrari and going to the Himalayas) The attorney the shares the nuggets of wisdom with his student, John who tells the story.

Robin talks about investing in yourself and he uses an analogy that I think is wonderful, he says, (paraphrase) that by saying you are too busy to slow down and invest yourself is like saying you are too busy driving to stop for gas. I’ve never heard it said like this before and it’s brilliant. If you don’t stop for gas, then the car will stop and you won’t get to where you want to get to anyway. Lo and behold, that’s what happens to the body eventually, if you don’t rest and nourish yourself properly. He says, “investing in yourself is the best investment you will ever make. It will not only improve your life, it will improve the lives of all those around you.”

So if you don’t think you have the time to exercise, read, meditate, or write a journal then Robin gives another powerful suggestion. Rise with the sun. He says, “those who rise with the sun all have one thing in common. They all have a purpose that fans the flames of their inner potential.” I really agree with this. When you feel that you are on purpose or that you are investing that extra time in your personal growth, it’s really difficult not to rise with the sun. I have found doing this much easier since I moved to a country that has so much sunshine. Just before sunrise, the kookaburras begin their laughing call to start the day and it’s so difficult not to be alerted from your slumber by this. Also, the sun is so bright at sunrise in Queensland that even the strongest blinds don’t block it out. It’s nature’s way of getting us up to greet the day with the rest of the living things. (It’s also the quietest time to do some things on your own – undisturbed.)

I’d like to finish by sharing Robin’s ‘7 Timeless Virtues of Enlightened Living’ with you because I do believe he has everything covered here.

1. Master your mind – choose your thoughts, repeat some empowering mantras and affirmations every day.
2. Follow your purpose – love what you do and live your dream.
3. Practise Kaisen – have consistent and never-ending improvement.
4. Live with discipline – if it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well.
5. Respect your time – focus more time and energy on the things that work and those you love.
6. Selflessly serve others – expect nothing in return.
7. Embrace the present – live in the now, you will be happier, more content and you will fully experience life.

Day 30 of 50 ideas in 50 days is Loving What Is by Byron Katie. Byron has had a phenomenal influence on self-development because of her gentle spirituality, compassionate words and clear thinking. This is a wonderful book, it contains many worthwhile and effective exercises for challenging your mindset from one that is not serving you to one that is infinitely more peaceful. She has a clarity that is refreshing and heartwarming.

Byron wants us to know, “I can find only three kinds of business in the universe, mine, yours and God’s. Much stress comes from mentally living out of our business.” I love this. How much mental anguish do you give yourself because you are trying to control what cannot be controlled? Why do we think we can control an earthquake or somebody else’s behaviour? This is an empowering fact once you realise it and accept things for what they are. She says, “if you want reality to be different from what it is, you might as well teach a cat to bark.”

The problems in our thinking that cause suffering can be turned around once you see them for what they are. “As you inquire into issues…you come to see that every perceived problem ‘out there’ is really nothing more than a misperception within your own thinking.” Byron has a four step inquiry for changing these perceptions.

1.  Ask yourself, is it true?

2. If you are struggling with No. 1 or are unsure, ask yourself, “Can I absolutely know this is true?” You will be pushed to find a yes answer to this one. What can we know for certain, really, other than that nothing is certain?

3.  How do I react when I feel the thought? Do I feel angry, afraid, upset?

4.  Who would I be without the thought? Breathe a sigh of relief – do you think you’d be able to see more of the positive things in this situation?

Then, we turn the thought around, which means, take that thought and make it positive. For example, go from, ‘this job is the worst I have ever done’ to ‘this job is fulfilling and pleasant’ and go through the process again. As a result, you can see things as they are, free from opinions. This is a very powerful process and one that echoes the thought processes of many philosophers and spiritual leaders in search of truth.

Byron Katie says, “nothing ever goes wrong in life…everything happens for me and not to me…until you can see everything in the world as your friend, your work is not done.” Seeing things as challenge and opportunity makes an incredible difference and when you are in this frame of mind, you are the creator of your life and your experiences.

Day 21 of 50 ideas in 50 days is Trust Your Vibes by Sonia Choquette. I have been a fan of Sonia for a long time and Trust Your Vibes is a great book with really interesting subject matter. Our ‘vibes‘ are our sixth sense, our intuition, our gut instinct and the book is full of great ideas about how to tune in to them.

Sonia begins on a very simple but incredibly important point – that in order to be our best and allow our intuition to flow, we need to first take care of ourselves. She says, “amazing things happen when you get enough sleep, eat properly and take it easy. Your nerve endings relax and your spirit, or the sixth-sensory part of you rejuvenates and begins to shine light on your path.” If we are doing too much running around and not nourishing ourselves enough, the only thing we will be aware of is our physical body’s exhaustion trying to communicate to us.

Sonia continues with the idea that the mind also needs nourishment and relaxation for the vibes to flow. She suggests distraction from the flow of negative thoughts of the conscious mind by walking and getting outside. “Whenever you find yourself overly concerned or unable to stop thinking about something, immediately go outside and walk, or better yet, run around the block to disrupt the toxic trance you are in.” I wholeheartedly agree with this. I was thinking so hard yesterday about a band I used to like but whose cd I never bought. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t remember their name. This morning, I woke up, showered and started the day thinking of other things. I opened the window and was immediately struck by the delicious breeze which I proceeded to breathe in deeply. At that moment, the name of the band came into my head! That’s nature and intuition working in harmony!

 It is important to get out and about to create a distraction from the chatter of your conscious mind but if this isn’t possible, the next best thing is to stay still and breathe deeply. This also gives your mind a break and allows unconscious thoughts and intuition easier flow. “When you’re tense, nervous or anxious, your energy gets tangled up and blocked…breathing deeply and regularly not only is the key to remaining calm but also connects us to a higher vibration.”

There are so many wonderful pieces of advice in this book that I found it difficult to choose which to talk about but I most certainly want to finish on a key idea of Sonia’s and that is, laugh a lot!  ”To be intuitive, we must cultivate our sense of humour and look for reasons to laugh everywhere…this week, laugh a lot, look for the humour in things…get over your seriousness and let your hair down.”  This week? Yes, this week and every other week after that. It is part of vitality and longevity and something we should consistently try to cultivate every day.

Day 8 in 50 ideas in 50 days is the wonderful Wayne Dyer with Real Magic. Wayne Dyer is one of my all time favourite writers and I particularly love hearing him speak. I own many of his audio books and seminars on mp3 because of his gentle, peaceful voice and he tells many amazingly powerful stories. In this inspirational work, he lists 7 steps for manifesting what he calls, Real Magic.

1. There is an invisible but knowable life force within you. You can feel it when you are truly connecting with someone or when you are in perfect flow with life, sometimes before something happens.

2. Your thoughts are something you control and they originate within you. The realisation of this is very powerful if you really think about it and it’s worth re-reading this many times. You have the power to change your thoughts and your life.

3. There are no limits. This is all about how we have been conditioned to think. Consider how people thought about the Earth hundreds of years ago, that it revolved around the sun and was flat. New discoveries are made every day, that is science and who knows what may be fact tomorrow.

4. Your life has a purpose. Wayne says, “everything has a purpose, indeed the invisible intelligence that flows through everything in a purposeful fashion is also flowing through you.”

5. You overcome weaknesses by leaving them behind. You are in control, your weaknesses are not in control of you, they are not you.

6. When you examine what you believe to be impossible, you can then change your beliefs. Your beliefs are not set in stone, they do not have to be ‘facts’ about your life. Allow your mindset to change to a truer alignment with your dreams.

7. You can go beyond logic. Reminds us that nothing is impossible and miracles can be achieved. ;D

Wayne’s ideas have a timeless spirituality that is perfect for our time. His words about appreciation of the happiness of others have resonance with many spiritual ideas concerning gratitude and joy. We should not harbour negativity toward the prosperity of others in the form of envy, contempt and jealousy. He says, “rejoice in the prosperity of others…negative inner mindset keeps you from being on purpose. You cannot be fulfilled and envious at the same time.” This is a beautiful quote to end on. It comes from a place of love, keeping your mind and heart open. Always a wonderful thing.

Day 7 of 50 ideas in 50 days is Paulo Coelho. What a treat and a privilege! In the Philosophers Notes, Brian does not focus on one book in particular, rather, on the key ideas throughout this tremendous talent’s work. In this blog post, I would like to direct my attention specifically, to what he says about dealing with fear and other negative states that prevent us from achieving our dreams.

From The Alchemist and concerning the fear of suffering, he writes, “tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself and that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of it’s dreams.” Also, ” there is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.” Two very thought provoking quotes that make me think of not having any regrets in life. It’s important  not to let worry and limiting beliefs get in the way of what is in your heart. So often, the fear and worry of doing something is far greater than anything that actually happens when we do it. Better to focus on your dreams than to get so weighed down by worry and fear that we end up not taking that first step and as a result, we live with regret.

In a similar thread is his idea from, ‘Statutes for the New Millennium.’ He says, “only the following items should be considered to be grave faults: not respecting another’s rights; allowing oneself to be paralysed by fear; feeling guilty; believing that one does not deserve the good or ill that happens in one’s life; being a coward.” What makes all of these grave faults? Quite simply, these mean you approach life from the perspective that you are not in control and you are a victim of circumstance. In his comments, Brian Johnston of Philosopher’s Notes says, “with guilt, when it crops up, politely thank it for it’s presence and then let it be known that you’ve forgiven yourself and have moved on.” This is profound and powerful advice, guilt can be so debilitating and this approach can help put you back in the driver’s seat.

One final point I’d like to make is about a section of ‘Like the Flowing River: Alone on the Road.’ Paulo makes a lovely statement about appreciation in this thought provoking work. He says, “Life is like a great bicycle race, whose aim is to fulfill our personal legend….As we pedal to our goal, we must make a point of asking ourselves, ‘what’s beautiful about today?” It’s important that as you move toward a dream, not to take your senses away from what is happening now. Don’t be so focused on the future that you forget the beauty and wonder in your life today.

It’s little wonder that Paulo Coelho is one of the world’s best selling and most influential authors, there is so much beautiful wisdom within the pages of all his works. He has a profound literary style that is timeless and I am certain, will be read by countless generations to come.