M.J. Blehart's Blog, page 108

Positivity: Freedom

Freedom is a wonderful thing.

Freedom means you and you alone get to choose the life you want. You can work a job of your choosing, have the relationship you want, be with the people you prefer, find and experience life in whatever way makes you happiest.

Many of us take freedom for granted. We get caught up in the day to day things that often feel as though they take away our freedom. We have jobs, other people counting on us for things, times that we have responsibilities that cannot be ignored. We feel enslaved and trapped by those things, and we do not see the freedom that still exists for us.

Here in the United States, we can choose whatever jobs we like, whatever people we want to associate with, where we want to live and who we want to be. There are outside influences and other factors at work that often make those freedoms seem less visible, less possible…but they are here none-the-less.

On this day in particular, Memorial Day, we take the time to stop and reflect and give thanks for all those who gave their lives to protect our freedoms. Freedom is so paramount in our national make-up, and in all reality in all human desire, that people will fight and die to free people from oppression and tyranny and extremism.

We also take for granted that freedom means different things to different people. Even in a land of great freedom people still struggle for equality, they struggle to be allowed to marry the person they would choose, they struggle to be equal in the eyes of all. We neglect that increasing freedoms among ourselves is nothing but a creator of greater positivity, and in truth means greater good for all.

Giving more freedom to more people does not take away the freedom we already have. Equality of pay for women and marriage rights for homosexuals and religious rights for any and all denominations hurts no one. Freedom does not mean excesses and taking freedom away from anyone else, it means even more freedom for all.

On this day when we honor those who gave their lives so that others might be free, let’s think about all the positive things we have, and the positive things we can have for ourselves because of those sacrifices. Let us also acknowledge that more freedom is more positivity, and the world can never have too much positivity within it.

Finding positivity is not hard, it just requires action. Knowing that more freedom for more people means better experiences for all, we can honor those who gave their lives by celebrating and embracing the freedom we have.   By choosing to expand freedom to a greater number of people we not only empower them, but 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 sixty 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.

Pathwalking 177

Pathwalking can be fun.

I am constantly writing about the complexities, the paradoxes, the difficulties and dualities of this process, but recognize that it might be time to point out that this can be fun.

When you make your own choices in life you can choose things that make you feel good. You can make choices for things that you want to do and experience, and that can be a lot of fun.

People spend too much time focusing on things that they do out of sheer necessity. We work jobs that suck most of our days up and spend time with people we’d prefer not to and fight traffic and so on. We allow ourselves to be victims of circumstance and accept that fun will only happen on weekends and in small doses along the way.

Why do we accept that? All of life is a journey, whether you are at work, sitting in traffic, watching a TV show or playing a sport. How come we accept that a lot of that journey must be tedious and sometimes outright unpleasant?

I know that the argument easily made is that we have responsibilities. There are primary and secondary and tertiary needs to be met. We have to work to make money to buy essentials like food and shelter and clothing first. Then we have to work to make money to buy transport and insurances and phones and such. Lastly, when we take care of the primary and secondary responsibilities, we have to work to make money to buy entertainments, fancier cars and phones and jewelry and other toys.

Our culture being what it is, the primary and secondary needs take a lot of focus, and cause us as such to do things that we might not find a lot of fun. We accept that we have to sacrifice freedom and choice and control in the name of the almighty dollar because it’s the responsible thing to do, and as a reward for your sacrifices the tertiary needs can be met.

I have spent most of my life accepting this as fact. I have only in the past couple of years begun to realize that it does not have to be fact. I can choose a better destiny for myself, I can decide that I deserve to have more fun on my journey than that.

My choices have often been met with skepticism on the parts of friends and family. They see me sometimes struggle to make ends meet and question my choices. This in turn causes me to question my choices, and I wonder what I can and should do differently.

The truth is I have been experiencing more inner peace and feeling more joy more often since I began this process. When I started to walk my own path it was freeing, and I began to find more and more that I could explore to further this process and have more fun.

First it is important to acknowledge what I have. I look around me and acknowledge that I am very fortunate, and as such I am grateful for what I have. I am healthy and have insurance, I have computers and an iPhone and a decent car and live in a safe and fairly nice place. I have a wonderful wife and amazing friends and a nutty but loving family and two crazy but affectionate cats. I have a job and a multitude of skills I can and do use. I have a hobby that provides me entertainment.

There are tertiary needs I would choose to fulfill differently, but when I look at what I do have my life is more fun than not. This is, I believe, a direct result of walking my own path. I have made more of my own choices for myself over these past three years, and the result is that the quality of my life is higher and I find more ways to have fun, even in the day-to-day and while doing mundane things.

Life can be more fun than struggle, life can be more action than inaction, more choice than coincidence. When I began to choose paths for myself, I began to grow more aware that I don’t have to be unhappy where I work, and that I have more power to change than I give myself credit for, and that I can choose to listen to and either acknowledge, take heed of or ignore outside influences.

Everybody experiences days that are not fun. Some are the result of things beyond our control. While we have to take responsibility and do things we don’t always find enjoyable, that does not need to dominate our life experiences.

Finding fun in Pathwalking begins with and frankly ends with gratitude. When I don’t just acknowledge the things I have and the people in my life but express my gratitude for them I gain more things to feel gratitude for.   Gratitude helps me to build bigger and better things, and as such allows me to find and have more fun along the way.

The more I realize that these choices, despite paradox and complexity and difficulty and hurdles and so on and so forth are mine to make, I see that I can have fun in making these choices. Sometimes the puzzle or conundrum or other matters along the path are what I want, and lead me to bigger and better things.

Pathwalking can be fun. Most importantly, we deserve to enjoy and have fun as we walk the paths we choose in life. The journey should be as interesting as the destination. We have much to be grateful for, and when we acknowledge this we can more easily find the fun to be had.

What are you grateful for today?

 

This is the one-hundred seventy-seventh entry in my series. These weekly posts are specifically about walking along the path of life, and my personal desire to make a difference in this world along the way. Feel free to re-blog and share.  Thank you for joining me.

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

Positivity: Words Matter

Words matter.

It’s not simply what you say, it’s the thoughts behind the words, it’s the intent behind the words, it’s the feelings that words invoke. Words can make us and break us, they can inspire us or upset us. Words matter.

When the words that you use regularly are negative it probably comes as no surprise that the result of this is more negativity. The dialogue I choose is going to effect the outcome of any conversation, whether internal or external.

There are certain words that are particularly powerful that we often use indiscriminately, but should give more thought to employing. Words such as no. Cannot. Am not. Against. Anti. Dislike. Hate. We get into in depth conversations about things we are against and things we don’t want rather than the things we are for and the things that we do want.

Words matter. When we choose to express ourselves using negativity it fosters more and greater negativity. We have so much more capacity to make our own lives than we take credit for, and we can make far more choices in our approach to the day-to-day than we allow for.

Positivity can be attained by choice of words. When we think before we speak, we can conclude whether or not what we are thinking is already turning positive or negative. Am I thinking about the things I can do or cannot do? Am I examining what I am for or against? Am I using positive words or negative words?

This feels like a lot of work. And to some degree, in especial if this thought process is well ingrained, it is. But the end result, the ability to feel more well because we are thinking and intending with more positivity is completely worth it.

We cannot change everyone around us. People will only change when they choose to do so. What we can do is find our own individual positivity, and we can use that to empower ourselves more. When people around us see that we are more positive and more well, they want to know how to do so for themselves. In this way we can use our words to be generative and build more positivity.

Finding positivity is not hard, it just requires action. Knowing that words matter, we can consider both the words we are thinking and the words we are saying, and whether they are positive or negative.   By choosing to use more positive words in our everyday encounters and with ourselves, we can more thoroughly 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 sixty eighth 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 176

Today is only today.

That means that this day stands entirely on its own. No other day will be like it, for good ill or indifferent.

What does this mean? To me it is a reminder that every day is unique unto itself. It means that today’s successes and today’s failures are only here, now. They only stay with me if I choose to bring them along with me.

Every day presents new challenges, new opportunities, new ideas, new possibilities, new struggles, and a whole host of other new attributes. Every day is a chance to start anew and to approach whatever I have before me from a fresh place.

Without a doubt every new day carries over aspects of the day before, as well as visions of the days to come. I need to work on living in each day for itself, finding the magic that it has to offer, and not letting past matters or future concerns dominate the here and now.

I think we all get so caught up in the past and future that we do not give the attention to the present it deserves. We walk our paths, often recalling past success and failure with an eye to the end goal and ignore where we are today.

We give importance to specific days. Birthdays, holidays, anniversaries and the like. Weekends are empowered to hold longer hours and time for family and friends. The rest of the days, which actually make up the majority are left to just be.

Sometimes letting days just be is a matter of due course. There are days when we struggle for whatever reason to move. We get inadequate sleep, we have a work deadline looming, we have an unresolved argument to contend with and such.

When we have one of those days it can be left behind. When we have a day that does not go as we would want, when we have a day of long work hours and ludicrous people and negativity we can leave it behind. Today is only today, and that means tomorrow will not be the same.

Our unique and linear measure of time is a man-made thing. In North America we largely alter our measure of time with “daylight savings” twice a year. The hours and minutes of a day as we measure them are our own unique construct. They only have meaning because we give them meaning.

Sunrise to sunset is a more natural measure of time. I wake up with the sun and do not go to sleep until well after it has set, and repeat the cycle. My personal measure of a day runs from when I wake up to when I go to sleep (and for longer than to just take a nap).

You may not measure a day in the same way, but the fact remains that today is for today only. Everything that happens today will only happen today. Tomorrow may have similarities, yesterday likely shares aspects of today, but they are still different, and each are unique.

So what? What’s the importance of this? As I walk my paths I often over-analyze where I have been and where I am going to. In looking back to yesterday and forwards to tomorrow today just slips by. Because every day is unique and different from every other day it is up to me to make each day count. It is up to me to make each day special.

I do not need Mothers’ Day or Fathers’ Day to tell my parents I love them. I do not need Secretaries’ Day to show my friends in administrative jobs gratitude. I do not need my own birthday to learn that I am loved. Every day holds these opportunities, every day can be a holiday.

I need to put less store in the “special” days and more power in the everyday. Today will be this day alone, and I can treat it as something full of potential and possibility and face it with excitement…or I can slog through it and let it pass me by and just sort of shuffle along through routines and let life live me.

That sounds exhausting. Why put in that much effort? There are days that it does feel that way. I can’t deny that. However, I believe that like me you probably prefer to feel good not bad. Content not discontent. Positive not negative. As such how we begin, face and work through each day counts, but only if we choose for it to do so. Like all aspects of Pathwalking, this is about choice. Choose to see today for potential and possibility or choose to just let the day unfold around you or even choose to see if for annoyances and unwanted problems. The choice is mine. The choice is yours.

Even when outside forces and circumstances beyond my control impact a day, because today is only today tomorrow with be unique and different. Seldom is an entire day good or bad, and I have the power to allow a negative moment or a positive one linger and color how my day will be.

This actually requires less work than I think. When I begin today if I find myself dreading something at my job or a confrontation with a friend or bills that have to be paid it is up to me to choose to let that dread define my day, or to find something positive to focus on. This is my mind, my emotions and my actions to be taken today and I can choose to make today special, routine, or terrible.

Today is only today. What will your day hold for you?

 

This is the one-hundred seventy-sixth entry in my series. These weekly posts are specifically about walking along the path of life, and my personal desire to make a difference in this world along the way. Feel free to re-blog and share.  Thank you for joining me.

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

Positivity: Because, that’s why

The world needs more positivity. Because, that’s why.

When we all have more positivity in our lives, we all feel better. Feeling good is pretty much the main driving force for everyone for everything.

This whole positivity thing does not need to be complex. It can be insanely simple. Things like dogs and cats, sunshine, interestingly shaped clouds, a cup of coffee, a small child, laughter, the feel of grass or sand between your toes. Find and give thought to the little things that make you feel good, and as such feel more positive.

No one feels good all the time. We suffer colds and allergies, we have bad days where we are low energy, we receive unpleasant news and so forth. The thing is, we can choose to let the bad feelings and negativity linger, or we can make some effort to do something about this.

Life is always about choice. We make choices every single day, some big and some small. We are always creating and recreating ourselves. Sometimes this is simple, easily done and fun. Sometimes this is complicated, seems virtually impossible and is a struggle. There are always choices, and always options.

Every day we make decisions. We decide when to get out of bed, what to wear, what to eat for lunch. Sometimes we let others make decisions for us, and sometimes we decide to not decide.

We have the power. We can choose and decide on positivity or negativity. We have the ability to change how we feel, we can decide if we want to let a bad feeling linger or a good feeling to hang on. Easy or difficult, the choices belong to us.

When we choose to feel good instead of feel bad, when we decide that we prefer life to be positive rather than negative we take control. This will allow us to empower ourselves, and the more of us feel empowered the more we can inspire others around us to empower themselves. More positivity is never a bad thing, no further explanation necessary.

Finding positivity is not hard, it just requires action. Knowing that positivity is our choice, and we can decide if we want to approach life from that place the decision is wholly ours.   By choosing positivity we can work to dissolve negativity, because we all prefer to feel good, and to 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 sixty seventh 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 175

When one path ends, another path begins.

Sometimes it’s hard to see what that next path is going to be, and sometimes that path is not revealed before you realize you are already upon it.

I have written before that we are often on more than one path at a time. One major philosophy I believe is that life is not linear. We are very seldom on the move from point a to point b, we are traveling in ellipsis and circles and zig-zags and all kinds of crazy, often unspecific directions. As such, frequently more than one path is being undertaken at a time.

Most paths are directed, there is an intent for a conclusion to your path. We will see our paths to their finale, although sometimes that is not the end we necessarily intended. But whatever path you are on and whatever ending is reached there will follow another.

Not everything can be planned for in life. There are going to be surprises and unexpected opportunities and even new ideas that will change who you are and where you want to go. As such, no matter what you are doing or where you are going you will always have another path to uncover.

It is not always obvious, of course, where the next path will be. It might feel as though starting the next path is a complex and difficult challenge, and that can be even more frustrating when you conclude the path you are on.

I may reach the end, but certainly Pathwalking is not over. No, in fact I am always discovering and choosing new paths to travel upon.

There are times when the conclusion to the path you are on is not what you expected. From time to time the end of the path winds up being a need to take a wholly new path, at times it is a sudden conclusion catching me off guard, and the goal may simply have been achieved. What comes next? Do I have to find a new path now? What if I can’t think of the next path I should take, and I do not make a choice?

The notion of Pathwalking is to take control. It is to not just let life live me, but to take control and choose the destiny I want. Some paths are complex and convoluted, while others are simple and direct; still others are some unique combination of complexity, insanity, simplicity and calm. No matter the path or the how of its journey, the importance is to make choices.

There are always new choices to be made. There are always options, always opportunities. Certainly there are times this is hard to believe, and I know there have been times I have felt as though my options were limited. We all experience that. There are always choices, there are always possibilities. No ending is ever the end, so long as you draw breath and move through any given day.

One path is over, and perhaps you don’t need to begin another, but instead to simply shift your focus. It is surprisingly easy to lose track of one path while focusing on another, so it may be that you get to a conclusion of one, and find that it is of less import to start anew, and more to simply shift focus upon one you are already along.

It is possible that a detour off your chosen path may close that path and open up a new one for you. It is possible that a break from the path may have that same effect. The important thing is to be open to change, to be ready to close a given path and start upon a new one.

I have concluded one path I was along for some time, and now I am seeing what other paths I am already on can get my focus, and/or if I need to embark upon a new one.

Which leads me to a slight digression. One path I am on now is not wholly my own. I have chosen to share this path with another, and that means that choices on that path will effect us both. There will be choices on that way that I make, choices my partner makes and choices we will make together. No matter how and what we choose along the way, paths will begin and end, and the path we share will change. The key to that change is what control we exert over it together.

That being written, paths are many and diverse, and we should face not only the paths we are on now but the paths to come with excitement. Despite bad days and disappointments and situations we may not have control over, we can always discover new paths, take new chances, and make our own choices.

I know every path I choose has a conclusion. It may be far off, it may be unclear, it may be absolute and it may be certain. No matter how the path ends, the journey will be completed. When that happens, there will be another ahead. Pathwalking is about choice, and choices always exist. We just need to take them on and make them for ourselves.

I am empowered to walk any paths I choose. You have that same power, and the only one who can deny it from you is you. Keep that in mind with every path’s beginning or end. One path may be completed, but there will always be another to be chosen.

Are you choosing your paths, old or new?

 

This is the one-hundred seventy-fifth entry in my series. These weekly posts are specifically about walking along the path of life, and my personal desire to make a difference in this world along the way. Feel free to re-blog and share.  Thank you for joining me.

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

Positivity: Breaking from the Norm

Sometimes you just need to take a break from your regular life to find more Positivity.

While it is possible to discover things to be positive about in my day to day life, there is something to be said for getting away from it all.

Sometimes you do this with a known escape. You choose an activity or a familiar place that is an escape from the everyday, yet still something that makes you feel good.

Sometimes you do something unusual. You try something different, something new. You check out a place you have never been to or do an activity that is different for you.

Whatever I choose, it is something I do that is not my routine, that is not part of my every day activities. It is something that has unknown potential, but can open all sorts of new possibility for Positivity.

It is important that we take the time to step away from our regular routines, that we move outside of our patterns and that we have a chance to experience something other than our day-to-day acts.

This can be scary. Whether the escape I am choosing is heading towards the familiar or the unfamiliar, I am breaking my pattern and deviating from my routines. I may be moving completely off my usual paths, and into a place that while it has great potential for Positivity, can also be a place of uncertainty.

Uncertainty is not necessarily negative. But when faced with uncertainty I have a greater challenge to find and discover positivity. But sometimes the uncertainty is borne of the usual, a product of doing the same things and the day-to-day acts, and that is also a good reason why a break can be so essential.

When I get to take a break, the potential for creating positivity is broader, it is greater and more exciting. I have stepped out of my usual place, moved beyond my regular actions into something different. Different can be very good. Different can expand options for generating Positivity.

Finding positivity is not hard, it just requires action. Knowing that we can take a break from our usual routines, we can use this as an opportunity to find new avenues to Positivity. A break from our regular activities allows us new means to 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 sixty sixth 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 174

I look at the clutter around me, and find that this is my mindset manifest.

I have never been known for keeping my workspace neat. When I had an office or a cubicle it was nearly always strewn about with papers and files and books and stuff.

My desk at home spends maybe a day or two uncluttered. I clear it off, I shift stuff around, things get filed – yet somehow my desk almost appears to spontaneously generate paper and other clutter.

Unfortunately this is my mindset currently. Crowded, cluttered, unclear. I sort-of know what’s amongst all this stuff, and it’s not as thick and unruly as it has been known to get…but it is a mess none-the-less.

I have been working over the past several weeks to hone my focus, to shift my consciousness in order to create a better reality. I know from past experience that this is necessary if I want to create a specific path. Some of what I have found on the paths I am traveling I am ready for, excited about and enjoying. Some, though, I am uncertain about and dreading.

I have often written here about how a negative mindset can create a tone you do not want. Negativity is unavoidable, it surrounds us pretty much daily. How I hold onto that negativity, though, is entirely up to me. Do I see what’s going through my head and plunge into it, or do I see it and work to expel it?

Just to add a little more complexity to all of this, I am not dealing so much with negativity as I am with uncertainty. There are aspects of my path that I am completely sure of, that I have no doubts about the conclusion of. Yet there are other aspects of my path that I am thoroughly unclear about. How can I possibly get from here to there?

All the paths I have been taking have been merged to a single path. My emotional path, my spiritual path and my social path are all together, and I know that where I am going is where I want to be. But my professional path is uncertain, and I am finding that I face it with great trepidation, uncertainty, and even a little fear.

I think the clutter on my desk represents a manifestation of this uncertainty. I see before me what I want to do, and I see several possibilities…but I am unclear how they will come about, and because of that I am finding it difficult to move forward.

I have been going on and on the last couple weeks about manifestation. I believe that I can make what I want in my life manifest if I put my focus on it, if I believe in it thoroughly, and if I give it the necessary energy. This is easier to do in theory than it is in practice.

Why? It is not because there are too many things on my plate that this is difficult. I have the majority of the things I am working on in hand. The things I don’t have under control are driving my dis-ease, and that is why my mind, like my desk, is cluttered and disheveled and disorganized.

How do I alter this? First, I need to get my head back in line. I need to not give focus and attention to all the things around me over which I have no control. I can empower myself, but I cannot change anyone else, and I have no control over how others interacts with me.

The five agreements put forth by Don Miguel Ruiz and Don Jose Ruiz, which I have written about previously, are excellent tools I am not utilizing to their fullest. These simple tools can provide organization amidst the chaos and clutter in my mind. I have recommended these before, and for more intricate detail I suggest you read the Ruiz’s works, but the agreements are: 1) Be Impeccable with your word. 2) Don’t take anything personally. 3) Don’t make assumptions. 4) Always do your best. 5) Be skeptical but learn to listen.

There are a number of things that have been happening in my life that I am taking personally, and there are any number of things upon which I am making assumptions. This does not serve to help me empower myself, and I need to take this into account, rework on my focus and approach the things I can in order to make manifest what I truly want, and to clear up the clutter which has shown up in my life.

I know that this particular Pathwalk is all over the place. See what happens when you work from a cluttered mind? A milestone in my life is just a couple of days away, and when that is complete a lot of the stress and a lot of the outside influences that are weighing on me will be cleared. Until then, I know what I need to focus on, and I know that I can still walk the path I choose.

Is your mind, and subsequently your space cluttered or organize?

 

This is the one-hundred seventy-fourth entry in my series. These weekly posts are specifically about walking along the path of life, and my personal desire to make a difference in this world along the way. Feel free to re-blog and share.  Thank you for joining me.

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

Positivity: Does Negativity Serve Us?

What does negativity get us?

Think about it a moment. Looking at the world as a desolate, distressing, dark and unhappy place feels awful. Focusing on corruption and greed and acts of violence and intolerance and hatred is disturbing. So why do we do it?

You cannot focus on undoing a thing once it has come into being. But that’s exactly what we do. We focus on the things we don’t want, we focus on how to stop them…and yet they persist. We fixate on negativity and continue to draw more to us.

We all get tired. We all get drawn down and overwrought and lose our energy. It is easy to leave behind days of leisure and feel bad to enter into days of toil, and so we complain about it and expect nothing good of it. This is not a good way to feel.

What does negativity get us? More negativity. So we have a chance to make a choice. Do I choose to see the world as a dismal reality, or do I choose instead to seek possibility, see the beauty around me, and see the world for all its potential?

I need to stop trying to undo what is already done, and instead of lamenting terrible things, find new things to support.   Rather than let the negative things have more power, I will work instead to find positive things to give my energies to.

That is why I started this process. This is why every week I share this concept, and work to spread more positivity. This is not about me, this is about all of us. We need collectively to be in a more positive frame of mind if we are going to change the world for the better. Every great and glorious idea started as a small notion. One person conceived of any given invention that improved the world, so one person is still significant to make the world more positive.

Nobody wants to live in negativity. I have never met anyone who truly wants to live in a dreary, dismal, depressed state of being all the time. Negativity breaks us down and destroys potential and possibility. Positivity, however, is a tool for bridging gaps, constructing new ideas and building a better, happier, more equal and empowered world for me, for you, for everyone.

What do you want to see in the world, greater negativity tearing us all asunder, or greater positivity building stronger, happier and healthier lives?

Finding positivity is not hard, it just requires action. Knowing that negativity does not serve us to better the world, we can make better choices for how we approach the challenges we face.   By not feeding negativity, we can choose positive approaches to issues, and thus 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 sixty fifth 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 173

Can I manifest more than one of the things I want in my life at a time?

Can I focus on multiple goals at the same time, and make them all manifest?

Simple answer – yes. Less simple answer – yes, but not without proper focus. Complex answer – yes, but do I really know what I want and can I give it the necessary focus?

For me, focus is difficult. I think I might suffer from ADOS – Attention Deficit Oooooooooooooooooo Shiny! I let myself get distracted, I leap from task to task, my focus is not terribly clear.

On the one hand this makes me an excellent multitasker. I can handle having to shift between matters at my job with ease, I can work between and prioritize multiple goings-on without becoming frustrated. In fact, one of the things I like in any given job is when I am not relegated to one single task, but variable duties.

The trouble is, when I need to give all of my attention to a thing, when I need to be hyper-focused I am less adept. I have to be careful of not letting myself get distracted, I need to really consciously give my attention to the one thing on which I am supposed to be focused.

There are currently three goals I am striving towards in my life. One of them is as good as complete, that one has gotten and continues to get the necessary attention and focus, and that is taken care of. The other two, though, I am less clear on. I have a vague sense of what I want from and for those goals, but I am not seeing those goals in the manner they need to be focused on for their conclusion.

The first goal I see as already done. It has happened. I can see not only the goal, but I can see what will come of it afterwards. I have already shifted the goal in my mind to its conclusion, and I see what that will entail and much else on that same path at this goal’s conclusion.

Yes, this goal has a set end date. I am keeping what it is vague because the point is not the what of this goal, it is the generalization of what I mean by talking about being focused on a goal. It’s not just giving that goal the attention it might need, it is about HOW you give your energy to that goal.

I have said before that to manifest anything in my life requires thought, feeling and intentional actions. One important thing in manifesting is seeing the thing manifest long before it happens. You need in the here-and-now to see your goal as already achieved. You need to see whatever it is you are striving for as done, complete. You need to feel how that will make you feel, and you need to get out of future tense and work in the present tense.

The other two goals I wish to achieve do not have set end dates. But there are benefits that will come of the achievement of them. My biggest problem with any attempt at manifestation is the how. I get caught up in just how the goal can be made manifest.

There is of course valid reasons to be concerned with the how of a thing. While I will state that you can manifest anything you want for your life, there are certain considerations that can’t be ignored. I do not want to use the word limitations because that’s not the stake in this. For example, let’s say I want to be an astronaut. It’s possible. But given I have not studied any science that would lead to my being chosen to go to space, nor joined any military branch that might send me to space, nor purchased a ticket for one of the future commercial space flights…becoming an astronaut is a notion fraught with challenges.

I am not in any way stating we should not dream big. I am not saying we should not aspire to great and grand visions. I am cautioning that manifestation is expectation and energy, and while we have infinite energy we can expend to create anything we can imagine – we also have to be aware if our current actions might be opposite what is needed, or even could sabotage a goal.

Manifestation can in some ways happen in a vacuum, or a sort. This boils down to expectation. If I am checking out at a store I want to find the shortest line. Now if I expect the lines to be long, if I expect to get behind the slow-poke paying in pennies…guess what I will likely manifest? If I am certain I will pick a line that will move smoothly and get me out without difficulty, this is more likely. Also, and I know this first hand – when you change your expectation from negative to positive, you really do find you mind these matters less. I used to joke that my family is cursed when it comes to picking lines – we will ALWAYS pick the worst. I stopped expecting that to be true, I stopped giving it any energy…and it has been a long time since I have experienced this.

I can make an unlimited number of things in my life manifest all at once, but I have to adjust my focus the right way to do so. This means I should be able to see that the conclusion of the goal is logical to who I am and what I need and want for my life. Then, rather than being distracted by the specific and minute details of the how, I need to see these goals as already achieved. I need to feel how their successful arrival will feel, and I need to take intentional actions that will allow them to happen. I know this can be done, I just need to stop distracting myself and remember what I already know.

How many things do you want to make manifest for your life, and how are you focusing on them?

 

This is the one-hundred seventy-third entry in my series. These weekly posts are specifically about walking along the path of life, and my personal desire to make a difference in this world along the way. Feel free to re-blog and share.  Thank you for joining me.

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