M.J. Blehart's Blog, page 100

Pathwalking 211

They don’t have the answers.

Who are they? They are the people who tell you what is normal and not normal. The people who seek out extremes like black vs white, male vs female, rich vs poor and so on. The people who point out flaws, problems, things we should be distrustful of. Anyone who tells you if you do not follow in their same way you’re wrong.

I don’t have the answers.

The best teachers and therapists I have ever encountered were the ones who had questions. Lots and lots of questions. They didn’t provide me with the answers, they led me to find the answers for myself.

You have the answers.

Every one of us is capable of learning. Endlessly, constantly, eternally learning. Every single day we can learn something new, we can discover something we did not know before. On a daily basis we have the opportunity to experience things we’ve never experienced before, and we can choose what to make of what we learn.

Society likes to tell us what is normal. There are forces within our society who want to dictate that norm more than others. They will tell you they have your answers, but the truth is that they don’t.

Nobody but you have the answers.

How can I learn if I alone have the answers? Because you are asking the right questions. There are nearly no wrong questions to be asked in the process of learning and growing, though often we settle on answers that are convenient or that mesh seamlessly with the current culture.

Are you a fan of Star Wars? I can tell you all day long that if you didn’t enjoy Star Wars – The Force Awakens, something must be wrong with you. I mean, it was awesome! Now, you likely have your own opinion on this topic, and because it’s a pretty subjective topic I don’t have the answer. You do. You may not even be a fan of Star Wars, so you might totally not care.

This is a simple example. What about the much larger examples? What politics do you ascribe to? How, if at all, do you worship God? Are you sexually straight, gay, bisexual or otherwise? Are you a part of a ‘minority’ group? What gender are you?

Like the answer to my Star Wars question, these questions only you can answer. They can’t tell you what your answer is, though they certainly will try. They might tell you, “You have to be a white, male, heterosexual, Christian if you want to get anywhere in our society”. So what if you are not? Are you wrong?

In more cases than we often analyze, these questions are not matters of right and wrong. Right and wrong are abstracts that get attached to things and are often just point of view. Yes, there are things that are uncool and unacceptable because they involve the maltreatment of others. But right and wrong, good and evil, all of these extremes get loosely tossed around and things as such get mislabeled.

They will tell you that group ‘x’ is deviant. Organization ‘q’ is evil. They want to spoon feed you answers to how our society works because they prefer you NOT ask questions. Asking questions more readily leads to knowledge. Knowledge is power. They want to hoard as much of the power as they can to themselves.

They don’t have the answers – you do. You CAN learn from them, but you have to figure out for yourself if that information is worthwhile, or if it’s a steaming pile of crap. If you neglect to even ask the questions, how do you expect to find answers?

Which is how, I believe, we have gotten to where our society is today. We do not ask enough questions, and we readily accept “answers” at face value. But do we know the facts? Did we inquire about the why, how, what, who, where and so-forth?

Let me state that faith is not a bad thing. Why am I bringing that up? Because we need to have faith in things we can’t always see or touch. It’s a much larger world than the physical we experience daily. However, blind faith is not where answers lie. Too many people today accept at face value evidentially lacking information rather than asking questions to get at knowledge. I have no problem believing in things you cannot see, but when you only get your answers from a void of information I wonder if your questions are satisfying.

I don’t have the answers for anyone but myself. I do not write about Pathwalking in order to convince you to follow me or to do as I do. My path is not yours. But I do hope that in writing this and sharing my own journey, you might consider that you have your own journey, and that you are the only person who can ask the questions and get the answers.

They don’t have the answers. You have the answers, you just need to ask the right questions. That is how we empower ourselves, and when we empower ourselves we can create the lives we want. Asking questions is the only way to get answers, so it’s imperative we ask questions regularly in order to learn, to grow, and to develop.

What questions do you seek answers to?

 

GOAL LOG – Week 1:

Diet: I have been tracking what I am eating daily. Thus far I am finding that in doing so I am thinking twice before eating certain things I have opted to avoid.

Exercise: I fenced one day, hit the gym twice last week as intended. Additionally there was walking.

Writing: Only wrote two days. I need to pick that up.

 

This is the two-hundred eleventh entry in my series. These weekly posts are ideas and my personal experiences in walking along the path of life.  I share this journey as part of my personal desire to make a difference in this world along the way.

Thank you for joining me.  Feel free to re-blog and share.

The first year of Pathwalking, including some expanded ideas, is available in print and for your Kindle.

Positivity: What you carry with you

What do you carry with you?

When you wake up in the morning, do you begin feeling renewed? Do you start out your day looking forward to what’s coming, or dreading what’s ahead?

We all carry different weights on our shoulders. We all have things we have to do, whether we are fans of them or no. The important part is what we choose to make of these weights.

Challenges or burdens? Problems or opportunities? Matters or issues? They’re going to be there no matter what we do, the question becomes how do we approach them?

We all have the power to choose. Do we carry around negativity or positivity with us? There are challenges that we face daily, but we have the option of choosing to face them as insurmountable or approachable. We are empowered to choose.

It is far too easy to just let them go. Go with it. Don’t choose, be carried by what we face during the day and whom we encounter and all we experience. Read about that death and carry the sadness and anger. Read about the moron politician and carry around the disappointment and rage. Read about the pain and suffering around the globe and carry around the feelings of helplessness and despair.

We get to choose. Of course we will find things that create negative feelings. It is perfectly normal to feel sad at a loss, anger at blatant selfishness, despair at oppression. The difference is feeling them, and carrying them around.

We are all really really good at holding onto things. Often we hold onto things long after they serve us. We need to feel negative emotions to appreciate the positive ones. That’s just the way it is. Human nature, welcome to it. What we do not need to do is to carry it around like an epic set of matched luggage.

Feel it. Experience it. But then let it go. Why carry around something that does not serve you or your greater good? When we leave our homes to go to work or school or just out, we leave stuff behind all the time. This is not really any different, we get to choose what we carry with us emotionally.

This is a matter of empowerment. We forget just how much of this is truly ours to choose, and we get too caught up in moments. I am sad at the loss, I am angry with the selfish self-righteousness, I feel bad for all those people being oppressed out there. I acknowledge how this makes me feel, but I need to choose for my own day, for my own actions to come to not carry that with me. If I do, it will color all I have to in my day, and while it may come up again throughout the day, I can pick it up and then put it back down again. I don’t need to carry it with me.

Feel the feels, but try to only carry around with you those which empower you and build positivity.

Finding positivity is not hard, it just requires action. Knowing that you can choose what to carry with you, you decide to carry along what you need. When we make that choice and don’t carry those negative things with us through the day we empower ourselves. When we feel empowered, we often spread that feeling to others around us, and as such can build more positive feelings. We can use the positive feelings this generates to dissolve negative feelings. When we take away negative feelings, we open up space to let in positive feelings, and that is something we can be grateful for. Gratitude leads to happiness. Happiness is the ultimate positive attitude. Positive attitude begets positive energy, and that is always a good thing.

 

This is the one hundred second entry of my Positivity series.  It is my hope these weekly messages might help spread positive energies for everyone.  Feel free to share, re-blog and spread the positivity.

Pathwalking 210

Welcome to the new year!

So, as promised, I have begun to keep a goal log.

What is a goal log? That’s really good question. This is my take on the answer.

I went looking to find if there was some sort of an app for my phone that would handle this task as I foresaw it. Certainly I found a couple options, but nothing quite spoke to me. Also – I didn’t care to pay for an app at this time.

SO – ok, I’m clever. I will start my own log. I begin with the idea of an Excel spreadsheet. But, no, not as portable as I’d like. But a Google sheet – that’ll do the trick.

So begins my goal log. I am working daily to keep a log of three specific things, which are the goals I want to set for myself for this new year. More than just a broad action, I have taken three specific actions.

In the past one of the reasons I have not gone for specifics was because I have discipline issues. I get an idea, and I start out great – but in time I start to let it go, it begins to wear thin and then often it gets dropped.

Sound familiar? This is why resolutions by themselves usually fail. They are lacking action to begin with, so how can you stick to them when they are not even set-up to be acted upon? This is why for a lot of us diets fail, exercise plans fail, and other notions we start with but lack proper discipline for tend to fall by the wayside.

I am determined to work through this. Hence my Goal Log. I put down in my log the three goals I have set for myself this year, and I am writing out what I have done in my efforts to follow them.

As much as I have chosen goals that are more specific than in years past, they are still, relatively speaking, broad. Why? Because I would rather leave wiggle room than be so specific that the odds of success are lowered.

My three goals for this year: Write or edit five days a week. Exercise multiple days of the week. Be mindful of my diet.

There are specific ideas within my goals. For example – I tend to get distracted, and thus I don’t write or do any editing for several days. Not the blog – neither Pathwalking nor Positivity are counted in that definition of writing. I am talking about fiction. I have novels to share with the world. It’s a lot easier to do that when they are presentable.

At the end of 2014 I self-published my first fantasy novel, Seeker. At the close of 2015, I followed it up with its sequel, Finder. Yes, this is in part shameless self-promotion – but they are NOT by any stretch of the imagination the end of writing projects.

The Source Chronicles is planned as a series of 5 books. Seeker and Finder are 1 and 2. The third in the series, Harbinger, is done – but completely unedited. The fourth, Guardians, is underway, but needs to be finished.

I have two other novels, one edited by me the other not yet, that are done. I have another thus-far-stand-alone sci-fi epic I am writing. How will they be done? I need to write or edit five days a week.

SO – one goal. Next goal – exercise multiple days of the week. To start with, I want to do two days a week at the gym, one day a week fencing. In time I want to expand that, and to see what other exercise I might be incorporating in my routine. Am I walking more? Am I doing any other activities that I can count towards my exercise goals?

Last of my goals – Be mindful of my diet. I am not setting out some bold plan here, I am paying attention to what I am putting into my system. Simply jotting down all the food I eat, so I can see if I am being ridiculous, see if there are patterns. I am not counting calories, I am not focusing on any specific denial or portion control, I am being mindful of what I am eating so that I can see on a regular basis what I do.

Do I overindulge? Did I go to town on some specific food? Was my entire diet for the day just carbs? Am I eating balanced meals or am I simply feasting on everything I can find and eat? This is what my goal log will tell me.

The discipline involved to begin with is maintaining my log. I need to write out the food, the exercise, the writing project that got my attention. Then I will share it here, because that makes me accountable to not just myself, but to my fellow Pathwalkers.

I began my goal log on January 2. Since a week has not been completed I will not be sharing the results yet. So far, so good. I have done a day at the gym and fencing practice. I am tracking what I am eating. I have spent two days on writing and editing projects not related to my blog.

Thank you for continuing on this journey with me. I have no doubt adjustments will be necessary, but I believe that I can follow-through and succeed at walking the Path I most desire.

So far, the new year is off to a good start.

How has your new year begun?

 

This is the two-hundred ninth entry in my series. These weekly posts are ideas and my personal experiences in walking along the path of life.  I share this journey as part of my personal desire to make a difference in this world along the way.

Thank you for joining me.  Feel free to re-blog and share.

The first year of Pathwalking, including some expanded ideas, is available in print and for your Kindle.

Positivity: Run with it

Let it happen, or run with it.

Life is all about choices. We can choose to accept life as it comes, or we can do our best to empower ourselves and take control over it.

When we are inundated by the big pictures of our world, it can be a rather depressing place. So much anger, so much hatred, so very much fear. We are soaked within it, and expected to shake our heads sadly and wonder what, if anything, we can do.

We can choose to empower ourselves, and we can run with it.

All too often we allow ourselves to be products of our environment. We allow random and varied media to tell us what race, color, creed, religion, gender, wealth bracket and other places we belong in. We work because we have to have shelter and food and other essentials, not to mention conveniences like computers and tablets and smartphones.

Still, we have choices. We can choose to let life live us, or we can take control and work on living life for ourselves.

I know a lot of people who had a lousy 2015 for any number of reasons. Rather than simply hoping that 2016 will be better, we need to take control, and we need to make our own way. We can let it happen, or run with it.

I want to run with it. I am taking actions with my life to get to the places I want to be, rather than just sitting back and letting it happen.

This can be challenging. Some days are harder than others. However that doesn’t lessen the choices I can make. It does not lessen my abilities to empower myself.

Being in control and running with it is hugely positive. Why? Because you are taking control and empowering yourself; you have the opportunity to choose whether to aim for the positive or to allow negativity to take charge.

I would much rather be the one figuring out what is right for me than to let anyone else out there do it. I would rather look for the positivity in this world rather than focus on the many negatives that are dominating our media feed. I want to reach the end of each day and not lament what has happened to me, but to celebrate what I have accomplished.

Let it just happen, or run with it. What would you prefer to do when it comes to finding and experiencing positivity?

Finding positivity is not hard, it just requires action. Knowing that you can choose to either let life happen or to run with it, you can choose to take action. When we act on what we want from our lives and we make choices to go forward we empower ourselves. When we feel empowered, we often spread that feeling to others around us, and as such can build more positive feelings. We can use the positive feelings this generates to dissolve negative feelings. When we take away negative feelings, we open up space to let in positive feelings, and that is something we can be grateful for. Gratitude leads to happiness. Happiness is the ultimate positive attitude. Positive attitude begets positive energy, and that is always a good thing.

 

This is the one hundred first entry of my Positivity series.  It is my hope these weekly messages might help spread positive energies for everyone.  Feel free to share, re-blog and spread the positivity.

Finder – The Source Chronicles Book II

Seeker – The Source Chronicles Book I was published by my Argent Hedgehog Press in November of 2014.

It is my pleasure to announce – Finder – The Source Chronicles Book II is here!  The sequel to Seeker is live for purchase.

Five thousand years ago, a comet was on a collision course with t’Thera. To stop it from destroying life across the planet, all of the wizards and fully realized sorcerers and sorceresses combined their power to arrest its descent, destroying themselves in the process. With their passing, no wizards would rise again, and no sorcerer would ever claim the strength of those lost in The Falling of The Skies.

The Seeker has endured a number of trials, from which he has emerged stronger. Three years after he took part in pivotal events in the Kingdom of Sharron, he has resumed his quest to resolve the prophecy that drives him. The Seeker knows that his destiny is swiftly coming upon him.

In the nation of Vilcarr, The Seeker encounters the last Order of Sorcerers, as well as new allies and new opponents as he feels his destiny drawing him to find the long lost Source. Whatever it may be, The Seeker knows it will change not only sorcery, but the course of all the world. If Order is to overcome Chaos, The Seeker must succeed in his quest and become the Finder of the Source.

Finder – The Source Chronicles Book II is available for Kindle now.  It will be available on book form and for wider distribution soon!

Thank you for all of your support!  Please share with your fantasy loving friends, and please review on Amazon after you read it!

Finder is suitable for Young Adults age 15 and up.

Pathwalking 209

The coming new year often brings with it reflections on the year that has been.

It is important to acknowledge what has been. Denying the past leads to incredibly dangerous places sometimes, so it is good to be mindful of it.

The other danger is living in the past. Because change can be so scary, there are many people who want what was. They want what they feel nostalgia for, they want that happier, more innocent time. Truth is, that time was never what we recall it as.

Life happens. The world around us changes. Some people go with it, some people resist it, some people try to make it happen. We can choose for ourselves how we want our lives to be, we have that power even when we don’t believe it.

It has now been four years since I began this project. Pathwalking has become for me a key to living the life I desire. Like any such approach there have been ups and downs, bumps along the way, successes and failures. However, since I started to live this way I have felt overall I am in a better place with my life.

There is always room for improvement. There are always new things to try and to learn and to experience. It is also possible that something tried before that did not work could be tried again, if I know what it was that did not work and have adjusted it accordingly.

For a lot of people I know this past year has been chock full of trials and tribulations. On a grand worldwide scale we have climate change and a refugee crisis and terrorists trying to overrun nations and economic woes and so on and so forth. I won’t even begin to get into the American political circus.

On a more personal level a lot of people I know have been dealing with illness, deaths of loved ones, employment and economic woes, and sometimes just issues with friends and loved ones that cause a ton of stress.

The interesting thing to consider about all of this is that it’s always this way. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t have at least some knowledge of what is going on in the world today, or having matters personal that they are dealing with. No matter how you look at it, chances are the past year has been not so different from years before.

You have no idea. You don’t know what I’ve been dealing with. True. I don’t know what everyone else has on their plate, I certainly cannot see life through anyone else’s eyes but my own. What I can see, though, is what has passed by, and what I can learn from that.

I still have multiple paper journals from my past. Once in a great while I will crack one open and read what I was thinking at the time. This can be uncomfortable, because I get a look at how I was thinking and feeling back then, and some of the things I come across are disconcerting.

There are numerous journal entries about how my life was not what I wanted it to be. Dating woes and complications. Job stresses and money issues and flat-out depression. The thing about my past journal entries that I find most striking is how much I wanted to find someone to fix my problems.

Years later I developed this whole notion of Pathwalking. It has evolved as it has gone forward, which is part of the natural order of things. I have learned that certain approaches to walking this path as I would want do not work, while I have made unexpected discoveries along the way.

The core of Pathwalking, though, has never changed. Consciousness creates reality. I am the one who can determine how I feel. I am responsible for my own thoughts, my own feelings and my own actions. I have the power to make my way in this world as I would choose.

I believe that if we empower ourselves more, we empower the people around us more. The grand scale of our society is an interesting paradox. On the one hand there is a push to educate, to learn and grow and change. On the other hand there are forces at work to disempower, overrule and otherwise bend us to their will. Given that choice, I prefer to work to empower myself.

The largest takeaway from the past year for me, which is probably different than yours, has been seeing that I am capable of far more than I frequently acknowledge. I have chosen an unconventional path for my life. What I am doing may not be the “norm” and may not be measurable in a familiar sense, but it is overall making me happy. Yes of course there is room for improvement, there is space to make changes and there are things I desire to accomplish that I have not, but that is part of what makes life so worthwhile.

It is good to reflect on the year that was. Take it in, observe it, give it consideration. However, once you do that it is far more important that you move past it and consider your here-and-now, and what you want ahead. We can learn from the past, but we cannot go back to how it was. For some that’s kind of a scary notion. But that’s how the universe works. We live in a world of constant change, of evolution, and of more ability to empower our lives than we realize.

As this year closes I am enthusiastic for the potential of next year. Specifically, however, my own potential. I cannot fixate on the things I have no control over that I know are coming up, so I instead am going to work to focus on my own life, and the things over which I can and do exert control. Pathwalking will evolve, as I work on my self-discipline and create the goal log I wrote about last week. I know what paths I want to be on, and I will work to make them exceptional.

I hope that as you reflect on the year that has gone by for you that you will be able to see balance of good and bad, and that you will take what lessons you have had and empower yourself for the year that’s coming.

What was your year like? What do you want the New Year to hold for you?

 

This is the two-hundred ninth entry in my series. These weekly posts are ideas and my personal experiences in walking along the path of life.  I share this journey as part of my personal desire to make a difference in this world along the way.

Thank you for joining me.  Feel free to re-blog and share.

The first year of Pathwalking, including some expanded ideas, is available in print and for your Kindle.

Positivity: Action for the New Year

You have the power to take action and change.

As the year draws to a close, instead of making a resolution, take an action to change your life.

A resolution is merely a thought, and maybe an emotion. I resolve to eat healthier. I resolve to go to the gym regularly. I resolve to put more money into savings. Resolution is thought and the feeling it will bring about. Resolution is a step in the right direction, but it lacks motion, it is lacking in necessary action to make it actually happen.

Action is what we need to really change. We can think about and feel change all we want, but the ACTION is often neglected. This is why resolutions are often forgotten or otherwise don’t work as intended.

I resolve to eat healthier. Instead of making a drastic change, take a smaller action. Stop eating cookies or don’t drink soda or something small to start with. You can always build on it.

I resolve to go to the gym regularly. Rather than intend a daily trek, start small. Hit the gym twice a week, at least 20 minutes a session. You can build from there, expand upon the action and make it more.

I resolve to put more money into savings. Start with fifty cents a week. It may not seem like much, but it’s a start. You can increase it as time goes on, but so long as you have a minimum and a date to deposit to savings you have action.

We think grand, we want huge results, but even the grandest notions start small. Little attainable actions are far more powerful than grand soon-neglected resolutions. You have the power to completely control this and effect change as you best want it for yourself.

Small, easy to maintain actions are a huge step towards building greater positivity. When the action is easy to do we feel success more readily. When we feel success we feel more positive. Positivity builds, and the more positive we feel the more we spread to those around us.

I think if we focus on attainable New Years’ Actions rather than grandiose resolutions, we can build far more positivity in our lives, and get more of what we want from the world.

Finding positivity is not hard, it just requires action. Knowing that you have the power to take an action for the new year rather than make a resolution, you can change anything. When we act on change, rather than just think and feel change, we make things happen, we build success and consequently empower ourselves. When we feel empowered, we often spread that feeling to others around us, and as such can build more positive feelings. We can use the positive feelings this generates to dissolve negative feelings. When we take away negative feelings, we open up space to let in positive feelings, and that is something we can be grateful for. Gratitude leads to happiness. Happiness is the ultimate positive attitude. Positive attitude begets positive energy, and that is always a good thing.

 

This is the one hundredth entry of my Positivity series.  It is my hope these weekly messages might help spread positive energies for everyone.  Feel free to share, re-blog and spread the positivity.

New year, new book. Finder – The Source Chronicles Book II

Seeker – The Source Chronicles Book I was published by my Argent Hedgehog Press.  I know a lot of people enjoyed the book, and have been patiently waiting for it’s sequel.

The time has come – Finder – The Source Chronicles Book II is nearly here!  I will be publishing Finder next weekend.  You can start off your new year with a good new read.

From the back cover:

Five thousand years ago, a comet was on a collision course with t’Thera. To stop it from destroying life across the planet, all of the wizards and fully realized sorcerers and sorceresses combined their power to arrest its descent, destroying themselves in the process. With their passing, no wizards would rise again, and no sorcerer would ever claim the strength of those lost in The Falling of The Skies.

The Seeker has endured a number of trials, from which he has emerged stronger. Three years after he took part in pivotal events in the Kingdom of Sharron, he has resumed his quest to resolve the prophecy that drives him. The Seeker knows that his destiny is swiftly coming upon him.

In the nation of Vilcarr, The Seeker encounters the last Order of Sorcerers, as well as new allies and new opponents as he feels his destiny drawing him to find the long lost Source. Whatever it may be, The Seeker knows it will change not only sorcery, but the course of all the world. If Order is to overcome Chaos, The Seeker must succeed in his quest and become the Finder of the Source.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finder – The Source Chronicles Book II will be available on January 2, 2016. Keep watching for more information!

 

Thank you for all of your support!

Pathwalking 208

Discipline for me does not come easily.

I have always had issues with self discipline. Whether it is my diet, my writing and editing time or anything else requiring focus and attention – I have regularly found it challenging to hold to what needs to happen to get where I want to go.

This week I will share with you my plans, and work out with you what actions I need to take in order to create the discipline I need to make them reality. I want to begin the coming New Year with more specific focus and specific goals in addition to my broader goals.

This week marks four years since I began Pathwalking. I believe that during these four years I have made some pretty cool discoveries about myself and whom I wish to be. I hope that as you have been along with me for this ride that you have also made strides in choosing the destiny you are after.

This began as part of my first New Years’ Actions. Rather than create an easy to neglect resolution I prefer to take an action to effect any change with the coming New Year.

Most of my actions over the years have been broad and generalized. It’s a lot easier to hold to something that is vague enough to be open to interpretation. This does not in any way lessen my achievements, but it does reflect upon sensitivities so that I more easily hit the target and accomplish what I want.

This year I am going to take actions that require more discipline to be achieved. These are going to require me to take more direct and specific actions than I have done in the past.

One of the most cliché New Year’s Resolutions people make is to lose weight. Whether it is our health or our vanity that drives us, people want to be in better shape. Nothing wrong with this goal, but more often than not it is approached too broadly, with no plan and no action in place to effect the outcome.

Those of you who know me in real life know I am not a thin man. For the sake of my health and wellbeing I want to get into better shape. Because consciousness creates reality, the first step here is approach. My thought is I want to be healthier, and be in better physical shape. This is not about losing weight, because when that is what you focus on you will be in a constant state of needing to achieve this.

Yes, I know that it might seem hokey, but the truth of this is that this sentiment is very real. I am always in this cycle because I am always in this particular mindset. If I focus on needing to lose weight, I get exactly that – I always need to lose weight. So change of thought – focus on being healthier and in good shape.

Isn’t this just a resolution in disguise? It could be – if I were not attaching very specific actions to this. The first is emotional – I need to feel what it will be like to be in better shape. Buying clothes in smaller sizes, no joint pain in my knees from excess weight, feeling comfortable in my own skin instead of bloated or sluggish.

The second is the specific actions to make this goal attainable. I will stop eating certain foods with the frequency I eat them now. I will think before I eat, and work on more control of my portions. I will get to the gym a minimum of two days a week, and I will fence once or twice a week.

This is where discipline comes in. If I do not discipline myself to do this, I won’t accomplish it. I have to focus on the combination of thought, feeling and action and REALLY pay attention to it all. This is the part that has so frequently escaped me.

What will I do differently this time to maintain my discipline? I have given this a lot of thought, and the conclusion I have reached is this – I need to keep some sort of a daily journal. I need to actively note what I am eating, I need to actively note my gym time and other activities. I must focus my thought, my feelings and my actions and document them.

Ask anyone who knows me – I am terrible at making lists, at writing down what I need to do, at tracking diet and exercise. Why? I have not disciplined myself to do so.

I may ask for your help in this matter. How? By accepting that I will add a new bit to this weekly post. By making myself accountable to YOU, and not just myself, I think I might have the impetus to maintain self-discipline. Pathwalking in its creation got me journaling, without fail, weekly for four years. I think that right there may be the proof that I can take action and achieve goals.

Starting with my first post in 2016 I will be sharing weekly the status of my new goal log. That’s what I will call it.

I do have one more personal action I am taking with the new year. I will write or edit at least five days a week. Not counting Pathwalking or Positivity. I have novels underway, and novels to be edited, and that requires discipline too. This will also be a part of the new goal log.

I do not believe I am striving for unattainable actions. I think the goals I am setting before myself are completely doable. Further, by making myself accountable, mostly to myself but also you, I believe I have the impetus to self-discipline and succeed even greater than I have before.

Thank you for continuing to be my companion as I walk these paths before me. It is my hope that my sharing of my own trials and my own successes and failures will help to show you that you are not alone in desiring to be the master of your own destiny, and that there are always options available to you.

What do you do to keep yourself on track with your own plans?

 

This is the two-hundred eighth entry in my series. These weekly posts are ideas and my personal experiences in walking along the path of life.  I share this journey as part of my personal desire to make a difference in this world along the way.

Thank you for joining me.  Feel free to re-blog and share.

The first year of Pathwalking, including some expanded ideas, is available in print and for your Kindle.

Positivity: You Are Amazing

Who you are is pretty amazing.

It does not matter what job you have or what categories you place yourself into – you are amazing.

Geek, jock, nerd, Gen-Xer, Millenial, man, woman, gay, straight, bi, trans, black, white, tall, short, fat, thin, American, Asian, Christian, Muslim…doesn’t matter, you are amazing.

We live on a planet with a rich diversity of ideas, of cultures, of traditions. We can communicate instantly across the globe with little or no effort. We can experience one another’s differences of opinion and idea and we can learn from one another too.

We get too focused on the negatives of our differences. The extremes, the minority that want to stir trouble and cause us to fear the differences between us. From utterly intangible differences like religion and nationality to the tangibles like skin color and gender a tiny group of very loud people want to divide us. Split us. They want to use the fear and anger over slights and differences to gain power and control that is utterly artificial.

When we begin to see how amazing each and every one of us is, no matter our perceived differences, we can build great things. We can create a world that can be full of hope and opportunity and peace.

The holiday season is an ultimate paradox. Greed and consumerism on one hand, peace love and joy on the other. Show love and affection for everyone around you, but buy all the toys! You have to spend the money to buy the joy, they try to tell us. I disagree.

There is no price in recognizing how amazing everyone is. But the value is incalculable. When we start to see what makes us each unique but similar we should celebrate that and learn from one another.

Fear destroys. The loud minority loves to use fear because it gathers followers who might otherwise be more rational and thoughtful if their base concerns were not being played.

Who we are, each and every one of us, is something to take heart with. Shaming and tearing down generates only negativity. We need to build more positivity in this world and recognize the exceptional aspects of our diversity. Who you are is pretty amazing, and so are those around you, near and far.

Finding positivity is not hard, it just requires action. Knowing that who you are is an amazing person, you can also begin to look for and see the amazing in everyone else out there. When we acknowledge that we are all equal in our capacity to be amazing we empower ourselves. When we feel empowered, we often spread that feeling to others around us, and as such can build more positive feelings. We can use the positive feelings this generates to dissolve negative feelings. When we take away negative feelings, we open up space to let in positive feelings, and that is something we can be grateful for. Gratitude leads to happiness. Happiness is the ultimate positive attitude. Positive attitude begets positive energy, and that is always a good thing.

 

 

This is the ninety-ninth entry of my Positivity series.  It is my hope these weekly messages might help spread positive energies for everyone.  Feel free to share, re-blog and spread the positivity.