M.J. Blehart's Blog, page 54

It is All a Choice

Everything you focus on, do, and think about is a choice you make.

I used to be a victim of circumstance.

I used to believe that shit happened, and nothing was mine to control. There was a destiny, a fate that I could not escape, and the Universe would continue to mess with me at every step.

It was easy to blame my parents for my relationship failings. That, in turn, allowed me to pass accountability for my constant struggles with my weight onto some event or other. Depression? Yeah, that was why I couldn’t find a job that I was willing to stick with, why I was never settled, and why U2’s I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For was my theme song.

For years, I treated the symptoms but never attacked the underlying disease. When you got right down to it – the choices I made were responsible.

That can be a bitter pill to swallow. Often, it comes with self-recrimination, guilt, and other negative feelings. How could I be so ‘X’ and allow myself to go there? Turns out, that, too, is a choice.

It is all a choice. Everything you do, everything you have done. All of it comes down to what you did and did not – or – do and do not choose.

When I started to see this for what it is, I realized that I could change it. And it’s not hard to do. It’s simply a matter of choosing differently.

There is no quick fix

Okay, let me put this right out there. There is never a quick fix. Period. Even if something that presents itself as a quick fix works – the result will not be lasting.

A great many of those who take power in this world do so by offering a quick fix. They have the solution to make it all better. They will take you back to how it was before – in the rose-colored glasses of your memory.

Because you see, often how things were before are idealized in some way that is not how they truly are or were. Also – change is inevitable. You can only move forward and cannot undo nor redo the past.

This truth is important to remember because the choices you make may not produce immediate results. How long they take is impossible to quantify because depending on the what of the choice – as well as outside circumstances – it simply is what it is.

I, for one, lack patience. This has been my downfall on more than one occasion. I suspect more than once my self-sabotage was the result of this. I got impatient because I saw no results – and then, boom, it all crashed down because I am an excellent saboteur.

This is hard to accept. But quick fixes are not real repairs. To be fair, there are times where you need to apply duct tape to hold it together to get somewhere to make a lasting repair. But it’s important to recognize this – and not rely on the duct tape for too long before truly repairing the problem.

When you recognize and acknowledge this you gain more insight into the nature of choices.

You make more choices than you realize

When the alarm goes off in the morning, you make your first choices. Open your eyes, or not? Hit the snooze, turn off the alarm, or just ignore it? Get up, or roll back over? Pee first, or give the cat her treats?

Every single one of these is a choice. And that’s just within seconds of starting a given day. Stretch that out over the 16 or so hours you are awake and I’m sure you are making thousands of choices a day.

To be fair, a great many of these choices fall into habit and routine. You don’t give them much thought at all – you just perform. That’s not a bad thing, really, because a lot of these choices are simple and easy to make. Others just propel you through the day.

However, choices are cumulative. They pile atop one another and can form habits and beliefs. Habits and beliefs will drive you and all you do on any given day.

Many choices are part of habits, even though you may not recognize them as such. What, how, and when you eat are your dietary habits. When, how, and whether or not you do something physical are your exercise habits. When and how you work are your productivity habits. And so on.

Choices build into habits. And you are making thousands of choices a day. However, while many are by rote and don’t necessarily need a closer inspection – examining certain choices can help you make changes.

Make a choice – then stick to it

The whole cumulative effect aspect of choice is not so new to me. But at the same time, seeing it this way is.

Part of how I’ve come to this realization is by reading more. And that was a choice I made not so long ago.

For a while now, I have been saying I need to read more. I’ve read a lot of articles about how more reading sharpens the mind and improves other aspects of your day to day life. So, I tried for a while to read before bed at night.

That didn’t work for me. I found various distractions that stopped me from choosing to read. Or I got too tired and determined seeking my bed was better than reading.

About two months ago I made a new choice. When I get out of bed, I go to the couch in the living room, sit down, and start reading. At least one chapter of non-fiction and one chapter of fiction. I now look forward to my morning read – also, time for one of my cats to curl up on my lap while I read.

This habit has already paid off. Hence, my clearer understanding of the cumulative effect of choices.

This one has paid-off at a fast rate. Another choice of mine is taking a while, and I am having a harder time sticking to it.

I’ve battled with my weight all my life. Recently, I began the practice of intermittent fasting. Also, about two months or so ago. However – I am not losing weight. Even with some other diet changes, I seem to be at a plateau.

While I’m tempted to give this up – I realize I need to stick to it. It’s not harming me – and I’m not gaining weight. I must practice patience.

Your mindset/headspace/psyche is your choice

It’s easy to allow the outside influences of the world to dominate your headspace. Look at how uncertain and scary the world is right now. The big picture is riddled with uncertainty, fear, and a lot of ugliness. For real – when did people start thinking kindness, empathy, and compassion were bad?

It’s very easy to allow this to impact how you live. Because your subconscious is being constantly bombarded by it all – it will influence your mindset/headspace/psyche. Unless – you choose not to let it do so.

How? By practicing mindfulness. Ask yourself questions to make you aware – here and now – of what you are thinking, how you are feeling, what you are feeling, what you are doing, and your intentions. When you do that you choose.

You, ultimately, have control over what’s going on inside your head. That’s because there is nobody else in there. Even when you allow ideas and practices of others in – that was a choice you made.

Thus, you also choose if you seek the positive or the negative. Expect the best or the worst.
Be proactive or reactive.

The choices are constant and ongoing. But you and I are so very much more powerful than we tend to recognize. Everything you focus on, do, and think about is a choice you make. When you are not happy with how things are going – you can make a new choice.

It doesn’t always look to be the truth. But it is. You choose things every day. So, you can decide – if you are displeased with things – to make a new choice. But remember – quick fixes seldom last, and you need to be patient with yourself.

Which brings me to a final, very important point.

Forgive yourself

Everybody makes poor choices. That’s inevitable. It is human nature to screw it up and get it wrong from time to time.

This can be bad in many ways – but it can also be good. Poor choices show you things you may not otherwise see – and allow for growth and change.

Change is the single constant in the whole Universe. Anything and everything can be changed. But some things will take a whole lot of time.

When you get it wrong – and for all that you fucked up along the way – forgive yourself. You are perfectly imperfect like everyone else. We ALL get it wrong. Everyone does stupid shit, fucks it all up, and makes mistakes. We all make bad choices. Forgive yourself for those you have made – and then make new and better choices.

We tend to be our own harshest critics. Forgiveness is challenging in general – and far harder towards the self. But when you forgive yourself – you open yourself to learning, growing, evolving, and making a better choice next time.

Making a good choice isn’t hard

But it does require mindfulness of your thoughts, feelings, actions, and intent.

Knowing that you make thousands of choices every day, when you are looking to change your life or live better overall, you can choose and alter specific choices to change. When you work with the choices you make, forgive yourself past mistakes, and allow time for the new choices to have their full impact on you and your life. That ultimately empowers you.

When you feel empowered, your mindfulness increases, you become more aware overall, and that can spread to people around you. This can create a feedback loop of awareness and positivity.

You can build more positive feelings and discover further reasons to feel positivity and gratitude. That can be the impetus to improve numerous aspects of your life for the better, help overcome the overwhelming negativity of the current situation, and generate yet more positivity and gratitude.

An attitude of gratitude is an attitude of immense positivity. That positivity can generate even more good energies – and that, like you, is always worthwhile.

This is the three-hundred and fifty-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.

Please visit here to explore all of my published works – both fiction and non-fiction.

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The post It is All a Choice appeared first on The Ramblings of the Titanium Don.

Take Joy in Your Path

Why would you choose a path if it wouldn’t bring you joy?

Why do you do what you do?

That’s a loaded question with different answers, dependent on the “what.” For certain obligations and expectations, the answer is responsibility, to earn money, contribute to society, etc.

But what about goals? Big or small, why do you do what you do to reach an intended goal? The answer, I am guessing, is satisfaction. You seek that sense of achievement, of accomplishment, that feels good and empowers you.

It’s less about happiness and more about that indescribable feeling that comes from completion. You faced the challenge, you beat it, and you succeeded. It makes you feel like you can do anything at all. You feel fulfilled.

When you are working on any given goal you take a path to get there. While there will be obstacles, twists and turns, and challenges on your way – overall, the path itself can provide quite the experience. You can find numerous unexpected stuff along the way.

One of the often-neglected elements of any given path is the journey itself. We get so focused on the goal that the path is a blur. But it doesn’t need to be that way. It can be an awesome experience. It can bring you a lot of joy.

This is a much simpler notion than you may realize.

The simplicity of joy

The word joy tends to evoke a notion of grandiosity. A big, overarching ideal that is out there and hard to reach.

But the reality of joy is far, far simpler. It is found in the everyday. Things that make you feel joyful tend to be readily available.

Remember, joy is a thought. Joyful is the feeling. They can be combined (check out Joyely for more insight into this idea) and used to help you achieve anything.

It’s difficult to get anywhere when you feel down. Hell, some days, depression makes it hard just to get out of bed. But finding things to bring joy into your life are easy.

The primary way to do this is by invoking the senses.

Smell. A cup of coffee, fresh-baked goods, flowers, and so on.Sight. Funny videos online, pictures of loved ones and treasured memories, sunrise, etc.Sound. Laughter, the purr of a cat, inspiring music, a motorcycle’s roar, and similar.Taste. Candy, your favorite food, tea, salt, sugar, etc.Touch. A breeze on your face, the feeling of soft fabric on your skin, hugs, and so on.Extra Sensory. Sitting in meditation, deep breathing, holding a loved one’s hand in silence, etc.

All of these are simple joys. They can be found and felt anywhere at any time. Yet the uncertainty and fear enveloping us via the collective consciousness cause us to forget.

Recognizing how simple finding joy is, it opens you to employ it more often to combat the negativity and bad feelings.

You cannot negate the negatives

This is important because it speaks to the toxic nature of self-help, positivity, empowerment, and likewise.

Negativity will always be. But that’s not a bad thing. Why? Because the Universe is all about balance. Ying and yang, black and white, various other extremes and opposites.

To know the good, you need to know the bad. If you never feel bad how can you feel good?

Too simple? Maybe. Nonetheless, it’s the truth.

Of course, we can rebalance matters to have more positives than negatives. But you can’t neglect, ignore, or disregard them. They’ll be there.

In the words of Thích Nhất Hạnh:

“There is no compassion without suffering.”

A lot of notions of positivity look to eliminate negativity. But you can’t. You can lessen it, turn your focus away from it, and you can work with it. But you cannot eliminate it completely.

Even if Trump loses the upcoming election by an enormous margin – all won’t be instantly well. His cult will cry foul and work in various ways to obstruct and disrupt. It will be an interesting challenge to find a way to break his sway and convince them they can do better. But some will never relent. Their negativity cannot be eliminated.

But there are ways to build alternatives and better. But that cannot be done for anyone else. You can only work for yourself. Yes, that may better others along the way. But you cannot change how anyone else thinks or feels. The only person you have that sort of control over is you.

Hence why realizing you cannot just ignore and negate negatives is so important. You will have bad days. There will be times you are just done. Hopelessness will overtake you. But when you acknowledge this – you can work to change it.

You choose a path to achieve feeling joy

The things that you choose for yourself – intentions, goals, etc. – tend to be meant to bring you joy.

Why else would you decide to take a given path in life?

Writing is my passion. Whatever format I can work in – writing feels incredible. I love to form the words and phrases and share the work I do.

When I get going, I lose track of time. It is an incredible sensation, and, ultimately, feels joyful.

When you are working on your goals or doing things you love to do, the reality is that you’re working in joy. Because it feels good, it empowers you. When you are empowered you become capable of doing almost anything at all you set your mind to.

What you feel is valid

Allow me a moment to address the elephant in the room. Presently, we are living in one of the most chaotic times in history. So many people are in pain because they are uncertain and fearful.

The collective consciousness is being bombarded with this. Between the election, the ongoing pandemic, and other surreal political matters (in the United States at least) fear has become almost tangible.

Recently, I wrote that among your valid feelings, it is okay to not be okay. However, it is also okay to BE okay. You can create good things and experience joy.

It may feel wrong to seek good for yourself. It might feel selfish. But it’s not. If there are not people out there resisting the fear and working to create things in the uncertainty – we all crash down. Just like the fact that you cannot be utterly positive to the exclusion of negativity – neither can you be utterly negative to the exclusion of positivity.

Choosing a path and walking it joyfully – even in the middle of these crazy times – is okay. In fact, it opens you to be a beacon of hope in the middle of the storm. An island in the rough seas.

You do not need to be someone “special” or particularly gifted or whatever. You just need to be the best you that you can be. Recognize that you are empowered to be anything – and that it is okay to pursue what you desire.

Joy is powerful. When you find it you can share it. That, in turn, can assist other people to move out of the bad places they might be – literally and/or figuratively. You don’t need permission to take joy in your path.

Why would you choose a path if it wouldn’t bring you joy?

This is the four-hundred and sixty-second exploration of my Pathwalking philosophy. These weekly essays are ideas for – and my personal experiences with – mindfulness and walking along a chosen path of life to consciously create reality.

I share this journey as part of my desire to make a difference in this world along the way. Additionally, I desire to empower myself and my readers with conscious reality creation.

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

The first year of Pathwalking, including expanded ideas, is availablehere. My additional writing, both fiction and non-fiction, are available here.

Please take a moment to subscribe to my mailing list. Fill in the info and click the submit button below and receive your free eBook. Thank you!

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The post Take Joy in Your Path appeared first on The Ramblings of the Titanium Don.

The Positivity of Impermanence

The impermanence of everything is the key to change for the best.

This has been a difficult year. Lots of people have decided that history is likely to remember 2020 as a dumpster fire.

And let’s face it – that’s not wrong. I don’t need to get into the specifics – again – because I’m sure that the most withdrawn hermit out there is aware. Uncertainty and fear are dominating everything.

Fortunately, this is not how it will be forever. Longer than many of us would like, sure, but not forever. Why? Impermanence.

There is nothing in this world that is utterly and completely permanent. From the tallest mountain to the smallest molecule, all is subject to impermanence.

Mountains rise and fall. Flowers grow, bloom, and die. People are born, grow, and die. There is nothing at all which is permanent and unchanging.

The inability to accept this idea causes a surreal amount of discomfort and has led to strife, numerous conflicts, reactionary movements, and even wars. People are resistant to and afraid of change. They want things to become a certain way – and stay there.

But they won’t. Because they can’t. Impermanence is the truth of the Universe. Change is inevitable.

But this is a good thing. Why? As Buddhist Zen Master Thích Nhất Hạnh says,

“It is because of impermanence that everything is possible.”

Right there on the surface of it, you can see the power of this. Everything is possible because of impermanence.

And it is not a bad thing – unless you choose to believe it to be so.

Examples of change being good

It is easy to lose sight of how change can be good. Particularly in the face of the present uncertainty and fear dominating our society.

Change has brought about tremendous good in the world.

Less than a hundred years ago, polio was a devastating disease. Now, it’s more-or-less extinct because of the vaccine. (Yes, anti-vaxxers – vaccines are good for the human race overall).

A hundred years ago, women couldn’t vote in the United States. Now, not only can they vote – they are holding numerous public offices – and – we are on the verge of seeing the first-ever female vice-president.

Thirty years ago, cellular phones were emerging as a major communications tool. Now, smartphones – which are hundreds of times more powerful – are everywhere.

I know that some people will argue these changes were NOT good. Yet, overall, they have been.

Let’s go with changes that we take for granted, particularly in the first-world. The abundance of electricity to power our lives. Television, radio, and information at our fingertips. Grocery stores stocked with food. Department stores with shelves of clothes, toiletries, small appliances, and other things. It was not-so-long-ago these didn’t exist.

The point is that “the way things have always been” is never a thing. “Always” might be a hundred years, perhaps two-or-three hundred years – but then it changes. Yes, sometimes it changes for the worse – but then it can also be changed for the better.

You have more control over this than you realize.

Your power over impermanence

If you are displeased with your current situation or lot in life – you have all the power to change it.

To be fair, that may take a great deal of work. You might need to do something drastic and/or cause a disruption that may have an impact on other people. But you have the power.

Nothing is permanent. That’s the whole notion of impermanence. But because of this, every bad thing in the world can be changed.

All of history’s greatest villains die at some point. Even people sick and dying can have great, positive, amazing days.

Everything is possible because of this. There is no absolute in the entirety of creation EXCEPT for change. Impermanence is the key to shifting anything and everything.

Why is this so terrifying? Because we live in a fear-based society. This was created by people who were “in power” seeking the best way to stay in power. So, they create any number of things to evoke and exploit fear to disempower everyone else.

This has been the way for as long as human beings have formed societies rather than roving bands of hunter-gatherers. But because of the way our society works, you are not likely to recognize this as part of your own empowerment.

There are numerous amazing people we can name throughout history. Artists, scientists, political leaders, religious leaders, and so on. Names like Einstein, Da Vinci, Roosevelt, the Dalai Lama – virtually everyone is aware of these people.

What have they got that you don’t? They empowered themselves to make use of the impermanence of life to carve out their niche. In other words – nothing more than you, yourself, possess.

Choose your own adventure

As children, we dream big. There is nothing we can’t do.

Then we learn that’s not true. We are taught that we need to be better/smarter/faster/richer than Johnny and Janey. If we don’t measure up, we will be set-up to fail rather than to succeed.

I am not entirely knocking meritocracy here. Some people have skills that others lack. And there should be recognition for exceptionality. But what we don’t need is the messages of lack, scarcity, and insufficiency in possibility.

When you have a deep enough desire and pursue a goal – you CAN achieve it. I don’t mean an out-there, wholly dependent on external factors goal (not that that’s impossible). I mean a based-in-reality, based in possibility goal.

For example – I was introduced to medieval fencing at 19. I fell in love with this sport. The first sport to ever TRULY interest me. I desired deeply to excel in it, and to achieve a specific recognition for that skill.

I had little-to-no sense of balance, was fat and unathletic, and had failed at all the other sports I tired (such as little-league baseball). But I wanted to have skill at this. I desired to be good.

There were several fits and starts on my part. But I persevered. For two years I studied the art of defense with the student-teacher of a living Maestro. I drilled, I pushed, and I worked at it.

While I did not become the ultimate, unstoppable fencer – I became skilled and received the recognition I sought. It took time and effort – but I did it.

I may still be overweight and less-than-athletically ideal – but continue to practice this with ever-developing skill.

If I could do this – you can do this, too.

Decide to use impermanence to your advantage

If you are displeased with any aspect of your life, recognizing its impermanence opens you to change it. You have the power – you just need to exercise it.

This is done via mindfulness. Starting at the surface, you need to work on being consciously aware of your thoughts, feelings, actions, and intentions. Once you gain this conscious awareness, you can go deeper. Now you can better control your mindset/headspace/psyche. With that, you can then alter your beliefs and habits via their impermanence.

All of this empowers you to take control over yourself – the only thing you CAN control. That control then allows you to use the impermanence of life to change. Redirect where you are going, what you are doing – and work to be the best you that you can be.

Important note: this applies to you and you alone. You haven’t any power over anyone else. Impermanent as everyone and everything is – you can only alter your reality. Do no intentional harm to others when you work on changing yourself – but know you may leave some people behind. You cannot live for anyone but you.

Finding the positivity in impermanence isn’t hard

But it does require mindfulness of your thoughts, feelings, actions, and intent.

Knowing that nothing is permanent, you can make use of this if you are displeased with various aspects of your life to change it. When you make use of this, you can see that impermanence can serve you to build positivity for yourself to be the best you that you can be – and that ultimately empowers you.

When you feel empowered, your mindfulness increases, you become more aware overall, and that can spread to people around you. This can create a feedback loop of awareness and positivity.

You can build more positive feelings and discover further reasons to feel positivity and gratitude. That can be the impetus to improve numerous aspects of your life for the better, help overcome the overwhelming negativity of the current situation, and generate yet more positivity and gratitude.

An attitude of gratitude is an attitude of immense positivity. That positivity can generate even more good energies – and that, like you, is always worthwhile.

This is the three-hundred and fifty-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.

Please visit here to explore all of my published works – both fiction and non-fiction.

Please take a moment to sign up for my newsletter. Fill in the info and click the submit button below and receive a free eBook.

Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.Name *FirstLastEmail *PhoneSubmit

The post The Positivity of Impermanence appeared first on The Ramblings of the Titanium Don.

That was Unexpected

But that’s how the path goes sometimes. Expect the unexpected.

The biggest goal I have for my life is to do something that makes the world a better place.

It is my greatest desire to have a positive impact on the world. I hope to help people lead better lives, do more amazing things, and generally experience all the potential and possibilities.

There are two paths of a similar ilk that I am taking along that way. The first is this – writing about my Pathwalking philosophy and sharing my experiences working with positivity, conscious reality creation, and overall mindfulness.

The second is via fiction. I write stories – mostly sci-fi and fantasy – to stir the imagination and get the reader to think. Stories like this opened up my imagination – and that infinitely made my life better and more enjoyable.

Humankind used to have a very animal-like existence. We lived to find food, shelter, and a mate for procreation to perpetuate the species. But as we evolved, we developed a complex, deep ability to consciously create reality. We were no longer living at the whims of the weather, dependent only on local resources and the game we could hunt. It wasn’t long before humans covered the entire globe.

Along the way, people became empowered. However, too many of them – upon gaining empowerment -kept it to themselves. Some became simple rulers over everyone else while others became despots and terrors.

As humans evolved so did our technologies. We could live anywhere on the planet and be connected instantly with one another. But the old models persist – and many of those who are empowered prefer to keep everyone else disempowered.

My goal in life is to help shift that.

Mindfulness for empowerment

Every single one of us has power. You are capable of virtually anything you set your mind to. By-and-large, if you can imagine it you can manifest it.

In the words of Theodor Hertzl,

“If you will it, it is no dream.”

Of course, there are limits. But not so many as most people believe.

For example, if you desire to become a doctor but faint at the sight of blood – chances are that won’t be your path. But your truest, deepest, real desire for how you want your life to be – that is attainable.

Most people do not need to be anything more than content. A life where they feel like they achieve, do good things and make a positive impact on their corner of the world. Most people don’t truly desire fame, fortune, and the trappings therein.

Recognizing this – you can empower yourself to have it.

This requires mindfulness. It begins with being aware of your consciousness and your thoughts, feelings, actions, and intentions – in the present moment. That, in turn, takes you deeper into understanding and knowing your mindset/headspace/psyche. And with that, you can know your core beliefs and habits – and change them if needs be.

When you practice practical mindfulness, you empower yourself. The knowledge it gives you of who you are lets you be more authentic and change as you might desire.

However, it’s important to be open to the unexpected. While you believe mindfully that you are in pursuit of ‘X’ you might discover ‘Z’ instead. ‘Z’ might be way better than ‘X’.

Or – ‘Z’ might be an unexpected emissary or gateway to ‘X’. But it’s imperative that you be open to it.

Leave room for the unexpected

While it is massively important to have a goal and direction for your path, it cannot be utterly rigid. There must be flexibility and wiggle room to allow for alternative routes and potentially better and/or greater outcomes.

Why? Because the Universe is full of surprises.

When I began Pathwalking as my New Years’ Action for 2012, it was meant to be collecting my thoughts for my life and where I desired to go. It evolved into an entire philosophy and means to make the world a better place.

In time I was blogging daily. Now, I was exploring the what, why, and how of mindfulness, conscious reality creation, positivity, and the like. My desire to help others understand and better use this has always been to help people live fuller, more complete, and contented lives.

With the tech we have at our disposal, the old way of the “haves” and “have nots” needn’t be what it is. But the narrative of the collective consciousness tends to be fear-based. That takes a lot of work to change.

Recently, an opportunity I had not expected popped up. Someone I did not know reached out to me because an article I wrote resonated with her. It aligned with her life’s work, and the path she has taken.

Both of us seek to do something to change the world for the better. It’s not a selfish goal – it’s altruistic in striving to wake more people up to their potential and possibility.

That was unexpected. And now I am finding myself exploring a partnership with her.

The Universe provides the unexpected

I was not looking for this opportunity. This was not something I sought out – but at the same time, I have always been open to it.

My knowledge and ability to spread my philosophy are limited. I have only so many connections and not all of them align to push my work to the next level.

This also applies to my work writing fiction. Now that I have reset my goal from “bestselling author” to “sustainable writing sales” it’s much more possible that I can reach this. However, I am still lacking all the resources I need to attain that goal. But I am wide open to receiving them.

This person has come into my life utterly unexpectedly. She is a kindred spirit and our aim – though from a slightly different angle – is the same target. The hearts, minds, and souls of people seeking better, more complete lives.

There is a lie most people accept. That lie is that there is only so much to go around. There are a lack and scarcity of EVERYTHING – tangible and intangible.

But that’s not the truth.

The Universe is abundant. When one resource runs out another can be found to replace it. Material or immaterial, there is more than enough of EVERYTHING to go around.

Additionally, no two people want the same thing. Similar, yes. The same? No. That’s because none of us are the same. Everyone is unique. Why? Because you are the only one inside your head. That’s so very much more powerful than most people realize.

That’s because you are empowered to make your life how you desire it to be. And that can be just about anything you can imagine.

Rolling with change

Finally, the unexpected can be bad. That’s because – except for yourself and your mind – you have control of nothing.

Outside forces and influences can and will impact upon you. They will be agents of chaos that throw you off your path and/or force you to shift your goal.

For example – a star athlete who gets into a car accident and becomes paralyzed. That was unexpected and forces them to change. But it doesn’t mean their life is ruined or destroyed. It just means they must decide to choose a new path.

But being open to the unexpected makes you better able to work with this. Keep in mind, I am not saying you can or should be prepared for any and all eventualities. That way lies madness. But by remaining flexible, you are open to accepting and rolling with changes as you need to.

Change is the only constant in the Universe. Acknowledging that makes it easier to handle the unexpected – good or bad.

You are capable of just about anything at all you can dream of. Don’t let the lies of lack and scarcity hold you back from striving to be, have, and do what you desire for this life.

Last, but not least – you deserve it. You are worthy of an awesome life. Good things are what you deserve. Forgive yourself when you screw it all up – because you will – and know that unless you intend harm and bad things to others you are worthy and deserving of having your desires.

What do you do when faced with the unexpected?

This is the four-hundred and sixty-first exploration of my Pathwalking philosophy. These weekly essays are ideas for – and my personal experiences with – mindfulness and walking along a chosen path of life to consciously create reality.

I share this journey as part of my desire to make a difference in this world along the way. Additionally, I desire to empower myself and my readers with conscious reality creation.

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

The first year of Pathwalking, including expanded ideas, is available here. My additional writing, both fiction and non-fiction, are available here.

Please take a moment to subscribe to my mailing list. Fill in the info and click the submit button below and receive your free eBook. Thank you!

Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.Name *FirstLastEmail *WebsiteSubmit

The post That was Unexpected appeared first on The Ramblings of the Titanium Don.

Time is Yours to Control

You have more power over time than you realize.

Despite the labels we put on time – it is almost entirely made up of individual perceptions.

That’s why an hour doing something dull and unpleasant can seem to stretch on interminably while an hour doing something you enjoy can seem to pass in an instant.

That’s the reality of time. It’s not the seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, and similar specifics we give to it. Time in its most pure form is fluid, formless, and malleable.

Modern society is positively obsessed with time. We keep it, focus on it, argue about it, and allow it to dictate vast swaths of our lives.

The truth, however, is that time is not so rigid. Despite its numerous labels, the reality of it is that it’s yours and mine to control.

When you recognize this, you can work with it and take control over time rather than allowing time to control you.

How does this work? Mindfulness, of course.

Mindfulness and time

The more I explore mindfulness, the more nuanced I realize it to be.

There are three distinct levels of mindfulness. At its deepest depths are our beliefs, habitual behaviors, and all the experiences of our lives that have made us in who we are. Much of this tends to exist on a subconscious level – but it is part of mindfulness because it is, ultimately, you.

The next layer up is your mindset/headspace/psyche. This is the part of mindfulness that is thinking thoughts and feeling feelings ALL THE TIME. It’s how you approach the world overall. You, in your head, mindfully have chosen how you approach life. This is where applied positivity becomes a choice.

To get into these deeper layers, you need to start on the surface. That is present, conscious recognition of your thoughts, feelings, actions, and intentions. Being aware of what you are thinking, how and what you are feeling, the actions you take, and the intentions behind them direct your life.

How does this link mindfulness with time? Your approach to it. Are you always in a hurry? Constantly putting out fires and taking care of emergencies? Or do you allow yourself space to move at your own pace and get and stay ahead of the potential emergencies?

To be fair, outside influences will impact this. However, there is a danger of blaming outside influences when you have your own internal rushing, hurrying, and impatience inside your mindset/headspace/psyche. To quote Lao Tzu:

“Time is a created thing. To say ‘I don’t have time,’ is like saying, ‘I don’t want to.”

It’s all about your perception

Not so long ago, keeping time as we do today wasn’t a thing.

Presently, it is possible to measure time with a precision that boggles the mind. From its smallest measurement (Planck length) to its greatest measurement (supereon) it has been divided, categorized, labeled, and explained.

This is the deepest logic of science. Your perception of time recognizes none of this.

Before this knowledge, the measurement of time mostly involved the rising and setting of the sun and moon and the changing seasons. As the sun rose in the east and set in the west you had a day. The phases of the moon gave you a month. It was a lot simpler.

This is an easier gauge of time to follow. Day and night are obvious. But all the rest of it – which we obsess over – is nonsensical. It’s a matter of how you perceive it.

That’s why some moments feel as if they draw on interminably, others too quickly. Likewise, some moments are over blessedly fast while others can be savored and enjoyed for their slow passing.

It’s all about perception. How you perceive reality ties directly into your perception of time.

As Einstein said,

“Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.”

He also said,

“Time is an illusion.”

In other words, time and your perception of it belong to you alone. Thus, you can change them.

You can take control of this

Via the practice of mindfulness, you have the power to gain control over numerous aspects of time.

How? By being aware.

When you practice mindfulness, the surface elements are the most readily accessible. Right now, in this moment, you can be conscious of your thoughts, feelings, actions, and intentions. That awareness tells you what and who you are in the present. As such, it empowers you to change it.

When you are more aware of yourself you become more aware of your time. How you are using it and what you are doing with it becomes a part of your focus. Are you making good use of it or not?

What a good use of your time is may not be what a good use of mine is. This, like reality itself, is a part of our individual perceptions of life, the Universe, and everything.

If you have a job you love involving internet research, then hours combing the web is time well spent. If, on the other hand, you have a job that’s death-by-a-thousand-paper-cuts boring, hours combing the internet is likely time wasted. Perception of this is wholly individual.

Recognizing this is not easy. A huge part of this comes from the vast, almost surreal amount of outside influences on our lives. So many people and things tell us about how time should be used and spent. There are expectations, notions, and impressions that get based on time, then they get used to determine good, bad, and indifferent.

Further, because other people tend to affect you and your time, they can voluntarily and involuntarily impact what you do with it.

When you recognize the fluidity of time and your perception of it, you can choose its usage.

Controlling time is in your power

You have more power over time than you realize. When you acknowledge that it’s illusionary and based on your perception of it you gain influence and control over it.

As Khalil Gibran said in The Prophet,

“The timeless in you is aware of life’s timelessness. And knows that yesterday is but today’s memory and tomorrow is today’s dream.”

Practicing mindfulness allows you to alter time and your perception of it.

This ties into positivity. How? Because when there are things you must do of necessity that you would rather not, you can decide to approach them from a place of positivity or negativity.

This is why anticipation of a bad time tends to draw it out. It makes you anxious, frustrated, and uncomfortable.

Currently, between COVID-19 and the contentious election – uncertainty dominates virtually all our perceptions.

When you are aware of this you empower yourself to control it. You can alter your perception, your approach, and how it will impact you. There is nothing you can do about anyone else and how they waste your time or interfere with what you are working on doing. But control over yourself and your time – and its usage – belong entirely to you.

Pause. Take a moment to breathe. Align the surface layers of mindfulness with where you are and where you desire to be and go. Time ties into this. When you are mindful of yourself you are more mindful of how you experience and use it.

You can use time or be used by it. What would you prefer? The answer is yours to choose.

Controlling time isn’t hard

But it does require mindfulness of your thoughts, feelings, actions, and intent.

Knowing that you perceive time differently from everyone else, you gain the perspective to take charge of and make use of time how best it suits you. When you take control of your time and don’t allow it to run away or overwhelm you – that ultimately empowers you.

When you feel empowered, your mindfulness increases, you become more aware overall, and that can spread to people around you. This can create a feedback loop of awareness and positivity.

You can build more positive feelings and discover further reasons to feel positivity and gratitude. That can be the impetus to improve numerous aspects of your life for the better, help overcome the overwhelming negativity of the current situation, and generate yet more positivity and gratitude.

An attitude of gratitude is an attitude of immense positivity. That positivity can generate even more good energies – and that, like you, is always worthwhile.

This is the three-hundred and fiftieth 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.

Please visit here to explore all of my published works – both fiction and non-fiction.

Please take a moment to sign up for my newsletter. Fill in the info and click the submit button below and receive a free eBook.

Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.Name *FirstLastEmail *WebsiteSubmit

The post Time is Yours to Control appeared first on The Ramblings of the Titanium Don.

Never Make the Goal Too Rigid

It’s important to have a goal – but it needs to retain flexibility.

You never know what you may get. When you set a goal for yourself you still need to leave the Universe some wiggle room.

What does that mean? It means that having a goal is important. But at the same time, there needs to be room for it to expand beyond your intent.

The Universe is a funny thing. It is made up of abundance and endless possibilities, far beyond our ability to comprehend it.

When you set out to do something – say you intend to make a living as a voice actor – there should be a goal. But the goal needs to be balanced between being vague and too specific.

I want to be a famous voice actor is far too vague. It’s my desire to be the main voice actor for a Disney hit is too specific and rigid. I desire to be a voice actor for film and television sets the goal with enough room for interpretation and unexpected awesomeness.

To be fair, you could get more specific. I want to earn decent money as a voice actor is too vague. It’s my desire to earn a million dollars from voice acting for movies is too specific and rigid. I desire to earn a million dollars from voice acting in film, TV, and any other options that come my way leaves the door open for possibility.

Leaving wiggle room and flexibility opens you to receive what you desire. Or even better.

Never ignore the possibilities

I am striving to make my living as a writer. However, the specific goal I have is mixed with a couple of different potential options.

As I continue to work on my fiction, I desire to earn a living off my published works. To that end, I am putting greater effort into the process and writing more. Currently, I am exploring the possibility of publishing a book every-other-month in 2021. Partially this is saturating the market more thoroughly to offer greater options. In part, this is a reflection of a new and more powerful work ethic on my part.

My nonfiction is ongoing. Daily blogs have led me to a new place where I am partnering with another. This has come from a unique understanding of her project. While the specifics are still being worked out, the potential is astounding. This could open doors I’ve been interested in opening.

I did not go looking for this opportunity. However, I have left myself open to the possibility. Knowing that doing these things wholly on my own can be limiting, I’m open to finding alternate routes.

There are endless possibilities in the Universe. When you limit yourself or set too narrow a goal you close yourself off from them. Sure, I could stick to my first and primary love – fantasy and science fiction. For a long time that was what I most wanted to be known for. I envisioned getting my stories turned into movies and TV shows and becoming a known quantity like Asimov, Zahn, Herbert, Tolkien, Gaiman, etc.

But that is not all I am and all I do. So why not establish myself for my nonfiction work, too? If I can earn my living in this way – I am open to whatever form that takes.

Consciousness creates reality

When I made the best use of this – healing completely from extreme injuries – I left the Universe plenty of wiggle room.

Yes, I had outstanding doctors and therapists helping me heal. But even they couldn’t explain how my healing went as fast as it did. I envisioned that I would recover completely. Despite a severely broken leg repaired via bone graft and fusing two bones together, titanium plates holding together my shattered clavicle, and nerve damage to my primary arm – I knew I would be whole again.

How did this allow for wiggle room? I didn’t focus on the numerous scars it left behind in the idea of total healing. Being fully capable of using my arm again didn’t exclude that there may be some remaining nerve damage. Complete healing meant returning to all the things I could do before the injury. No limitations, no giving up the things I loved.

Walking, fencing, running, typing, and all the things I loved to do. I’d be able to do them again. How I would get there, and specific details were left out.

I have an impressively scarred right leg. There are still numb spots up and down my right arm. Titanium plates are fused with my clavicle. No, I am not how I was completely before the accident – but I am healed to the point where I can do all I could before.

The goal was always healing. I left the how and specifics of just what it would look like when attained open. To the surprise and delight of my primary doctor, my limp was nearly gone and my arm fully functioning the last time I saw him – 21 years ago.

Balance a vague goal with a specific goal

This is a tremendous challenge. But frankly, finding balance in most aspects of life is a challenge.

When my goal was to become a bestselling author, that was too vague and too specific. How so? Because bestselling is at least partially subjective. New York Times bestselling? Amazon best selling? USA Today bestselling? This was also vague because becoming a bestselling author may not earn the income I desire to as a writer.

Further, the goal hinged on me becoming an author when that was largely just a hobby.

Thus, the goal was reevaluated. Now, I’m an author. So, the goal is to earn a sustainable income from writing. Whatever form that takes.

I am perfectly content to work with the nonfiction, fiction, and content writing options. Yet I have still left my goal a little too vague.

Why? Because I haven’t defined a sustainable income.

This part can be a slippery slope. It is a good idea to be specific – but not TOO specific here. Also, you cannot set the goal beyond your perception of reality.

Yes, I would LOVE to earn a million dollars from my writing. That, however, is too specific and vague at the same time. That’s because I cannot see any possibility of that within ANY of my control.

That’s why I use sustainable income as my bar. What does that look like to me? That’s a good question I need to answer. Enough to pay my bills, but also do the things I love to do and be generous in giving gifts and charitable donations. I’d like to earn enough income to not have to worry at all about paying bills or being in debt while saving for my future.

The number needs to be set at no less than ‘$ XX, XXX.00’ or more.

Be mindful of the present and aware of the goal

Working with a goal is a good way to direct your life. It opens you to going somewhere that you desire to go.

But to do that you need to be conscious of the point of origin. Where are you here and now?

Lessons and experiences from the past have brought you to this moment. You would not be where you are or who you are without your past. But the past has passed, and you can only go forward from where you are here and now.

Too many people use the past to envision the future. But the past cannot be repeated, removed, or undone. It has come and gone and all you can do is proceed forward. Setting a goal ahead of yourself gives you a direction – and that is the philosophy of Pathwalking.

The path will produce many unexpected things along the way – and that is why your goal should not be too specific. You may discover on your journey that something you desire changed. Or an option you hadn’t considered shows itself.

But you need to be mindful of the present moment. Mindfulness makes you aware of your conscious self. Then you can use your thoughts, feelings, actions, and intentions to be who you desire to be – and proceed forward.

You are capable of tremendous potential and possibility. It’s important to have a goal – but it needs to retain flexibility. That way you are open to receive not just what you desire – but potentially more and better.

What goals are you working towards today?

This is the four-hundred and sixtieth exploration of my Pathwalking philosophy. These weekly essays are ideas for – and my personal experiences with – mindfulness and walking along a chosen path of life to consciously create reality.

I share this journey as part of my desire to make a difference in this world along the way. Additionally, I desire to empower myself and my readers with conscious reality creation.

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

The first year of Pathwalking, including expanded ideas, is availablehere. My additional writing, both fiction and non-fiction, are available here.

Please take a moment to subscribe to my mailing list. Fill in the info and click the submit button below and receive your free eBook. Thank you!

Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.Name *FirstLastEmail *EmailSubmit

The post Never Make the Goal Too Rigid appeared first on The Ramblings of the Titanium Don.

What Can I Do to Take Control?

This is much easier than you think it is – but – taking control requires some hard work on your self.

What can you control? Honestly, it’s a VERY short list.

To sum up – you.

You have the power to control your appearance – what you wear, how you cut your hair, piercings, tattoos, and so on. Beneath the surface, you can control your thoughts, feelings, actions, and intentions.

Underneath that, you have control over your mindset/headspace/psyche. How you perceive reality is entirely yours to control – but that does take effort.

That’s pretty much it. All the things over which you can exert control.

Doesn’t seem like much, does it? Truth be told, it is.

But first, you need to let go of all the subconscious messages, beliefs, and habits you hold which tell you that you have no control whatsoever.

Releasing the subconscious



Step One: Identify the beliefs and habits

Over your lifetime you have been bombarded with information. That information has been the equivalent of the programming coded into any computer, tablet, or smartphone. And like these – it can be updated or outright replaced.

As children, we are programmed with the beliefs we witness and are taught. This comes from parents, teachers, religious leaders, other family, friends, and so on. Because they are learned as children, they tend to be planted pretty deeply into the subconscious.

These beliefs include things like: money doesn’t grow on trees, love equals hitting or emotionally abusing, food is comforting, someone is always better than you, and so on.

These, over time, create habits. Overeating, overworking, poor relationship actions, always working to outdo others, and so on. Most of these don’t feel like habits – but this is due to their subconscious nature.

Identifying these beliefs and subsequent habits allows them to be reprogrammed, removed, and replaced. How you identify them can be challenging – this might be where therapy is necessary. Meditation is also a way into this level of your psyche.

Just remember, you can’t let go of what you can’t see. Hence, identifying beliefs and habits is imperative.

Identifying these things gives you control of them.

Step two: Identify the outside influences

The upside to the information age is how readily you can learn ANYTHING at all. Information is at your fingertips. The whole world can be virtually explored instantly.

The downside to the information age is how readily false information is available. Hearsay, rumor, gossip, opinion stand nearly equal to investigation, fact, truth, and scientific knowledge. A whole picture of the world can be laid out before you that is utterly divorced from reality – collective or individual.

Spend two minutes on Facebook and you will be inundated with all of this. Good, bad, indifferent, information is poured into your subconscious. Since your subconscious is unfiltered, some of that info gets embedded and becomes a belief.

Borrowing an analogy from my late friend Chuck – you may have the capacity to receive an eyedropper full of info – but then got a bucket’s worth.

As such, it is all too easy to be impacted by these outside influences. They can cause you to yield your control because it feels easier than resisting. Subconsciously, you may accept without even realizing that’s what you have done.

This is why identifying what the outside influences that impact you help you wrest control from them.

Step three: Release and replace

Once you have identified all the bits in your subconscious that have taken control away from you – now you get to replace them.

Or not.

This is where control comes in.

At the base of all that you can control is your ability to control your mindset/headspace/psyche. Once you identify the things you don’t want – usually buried well beneath the surface – you get to deal with them.

This can be done in one or a combination of the following ways:

Reprogram. When you know that a belief or habit is stealing your control, you can alter it. Do you automatically assume the worst in a new situation? Reprogram that so that you either enter neutrally or with a positive approach – assuming the best.Replace. When you have a belief or habit that doesn’t serve you, you can replace it with something else. Do you think you are short and fat? Replace that with thinking you are compact and stocky. It never ceases to amaze me how changing your language can change your mindset.Repair. When you half-believe something, and it’s not entirely unwanted – you can repair it. This tends to apply to skepticism and cynicism. When you constantly need proof – often to an unrealistic extreme – the belief needs to be repaired.

Once you have taken one or any combination of these steps – now you can release it. Release that belief or habit that is not serving you. It’s not necessary to who you are – and steals away some of your control.

Releasing it lets you replace it with a belief or habit that is under your control. Which leads to a complicated, but important fact:

Forgiving yourself is a matter of control

The person who is harshest on me is me. I am my own worst critic. When it comes to judgment, I am the harshest, more unforgiving judge of myself.

This manifests itself into notions and ideas that are the opposite of control. How many of these are familiar to you?

I am a fuck-up.Nothing I do ever goes right.Everyone laughs at me.I suck at relationships.People don’t relate to me well.I’m such a klutz!How will I screw everything up today?

Every one of these statements is disempowering. Thus, they remove all your power. Or in other words, your control.

Forgiving yourself for being imperfect is a huge step in giving yourself control. It is the equivalent of taking the plane off autopilot and doing the flying yourself.

Forgiveness doesn’t come easily. But you have the power to release yourself from loathing, dissatisfaction, and negative thinking.

This is not going to be a one-time thing. That’s because you will get it wrong. You will fuck up, make mistakes, cause other people to feel hurt, and upset yourself along the way. Congratulations, you are a human being. It comes with the territory.

But when you recognize and acknowledge this, it empowers you and opens you to take control over the one thing you CAN control. YOU.

What you can’t control

Finally, let’s clarify what you cannot control.

Simply put – anyone or anything that is not you is not within your control.

This includes things like:

The weatherTrafficFamily, friends, coworkersPoliticsOpinions other than your ownAnimals – even your petsActions other than your own

Recognizing this is surprisingly important to taking control. Why? Because it will allow you to shift your focus inwards.

You cannot control anything outside of yourself. PERIOD.

Let me say that again. No, actually, let me shout that. YOU CANNOT CONTROL ANYTHING OUTSIDE OF YOURSELF.

Recognize and acknowledge this. Because when you do, you can turn your focus inwards towards what you CAN control.

What can I do to take control? Get to know yourself. Explore your mindset/psyche/headspace and perception of reality. Learn what you truly believe and what habits you have. Then, be mindful of your thoughts, feelings, and actions. That will empower you to change.

This is much easier than you think it is – but – taking control requires some hard work on your self. This is not just empowering – it’s amazingly positive. And the world needs more positivity right now.

Taking control isn’t hard

But it does require mindfulness of your thoughts, feelings, actions, and intent.

Knowing that you have the power to learn, alter, and change your beliefs and habits, you can see how that allows you to take control over them – especially if they are not to your liking. When you gain control over these aspects of yourself – the only thing you can truly control – that ultimately empowers you.

When you feel empowered, your mindfulness increases, you become more aware overall, and that can spread to people around you. This can create a feedback loop of awareness and positivity.

You can build more positive feelings and discover further reasons to feel positivity and gratitude. That can be the impetus to improve numerous aspects of your life for the better, help overcome the overwhelming negativity of the current situation, and generate yet more positivity and gratitude.

An attitude of gratitude is an attitude of immense positivity. That positivity can generate even more good energies – and that, like you, is always worthwhile.

This is the three-hundred and forty-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.

Please visit here to explore all of my published works – both fiction and non-fiction.

Please take a moment to sign up for my newsletter. Fill in the info and click the submit button below and receive a free eBook.

Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.Name *FirstLastEmail *NameSubmit

The post What Can I Do to Take Control? appeared first on The Ramblings of the Titanium Don.

What Will Your Today Look Like?

As you progress on a chosen path, today will be unique. You can decide what it looks like for you.

Today is unique. It is the only day of its kind. When today is done it will be gone. Tomorrow is another day.

Some people see this as an endless, pointless slog going on and on. Others see most days as bothersome necessities while looking forward to the weekend or some specific event.

There will be good days and bad days. Some of this is totally outside of your control. You can do nothing about the weather, traffic, other people’s mistakes, idiocy large and small, nor anything else apart from yourself.

Your life is yours. While there are obligations and expectations, you choose how to meet them. You get to decide, every single morning, what today will look like for you.

Today is not yesterday. When it comes upon you, it’s up to you what you will do and how you will handle it. Whatever is on your plate you alone can decide just what to do.

It starts when you wake-up in the morning.

Is waking-up feeling rested a myth?

I find it hard to believe that anybody wakes up, ready and raring to go. Alert, excited, looking forward to the day feeling perfectly rested and content.

I would love to experience that. Even after a technically perfect night of sleep, I tend to wake up groggy. My brain is foggy for a time. Generally, until I start caffeinating myself, it’s like operating at 1/2 to 2/3 capacity.

When diagnosed with sleep apnea, they told me the CPAP would help me sleep better. That, in turn, would allow me to awaken with more pep and feeling better rested.

I am sorry to report that’s not so. It has always taken me time to get going, and still does.

Maybe this is another matter of consciousness creating reality. I expect this to be how it is, so it is.

Nevertheless, I know more people who share this experience with me than those who awaken feeling rested.

However, no matter if you awaken groggy or refreshed, you have a day ahead of you. How do you approach today?

Some of that will be dictated by yesterday. Unfinished business may loom in the background. An unresolved conflict could await you. Ongoing struggles might continue.

This is anxiety-inducing for many people. Anticipation of all the things awaiting you can make you feel frustrated, anxious, uncertain. That, in turn, could dictate how today will go.

When you recognize and acknowledge this, however, you gain perspective. That opens you to see that you can take control over where today is going to go.

Practice mindfulness today

I have said time and again that I need to improve my own practice of this. So, I am going to put this idea forward and strive to practice it myself:

Before you get out of bed in the morning, ask these questions (preferably aloud):

All these questions make you mindful of your conscious mind. That allows you awareness in the now. Awareness here-and-now is how you gain control over your headspace/mindset/psyche.

To get into the depths of your subconscious mind via your conscious mind, you must begin at the surface. That works by getting in touch with your thoughts, feelings, actions, and intentions. The above questions do precisely that.

By starting your day opening yourself to being mindful, you can circumvent the carried-over issues from yesterday. No, you can’t avoid them – nor should you – but you can face them anew. You can face them aware of just what they are

Awareness of your subconscious mind opens you to new approaches, new opportunities, and options you couldn’t have thought about subconsciously.

This is so, so very easy. But it requires work. The effort to be mindful and consciously aware pays off.

Why? Because you cannot be blindsided by your subconscious when you actively seek to know it, recognize it, and acknowledge it.

Turning off the autopilot

I believe that self-sabotage and self-betrayal are rooted in not being mindful or particularly conscious.

For most people, today is made up of routines. Thus, the pattern becomes rote. Get up, go to work, come home, chill a few hours, go to bed. Rinse and repeat tomorrow.

Even weekends gain a routine to them. Run errands, do chores, spend a day doing nothing. A routine none-the-less takes hold.

To be fair, this can be a good thing sometimes. When you are having an awful day, for example, it might be easiest to just go with the routine and get through it.

However, if you desire more self-authority overall, you need to be more in control than on autopilot.

While performing your life by rote, your subconscious mind may be driving. Thus, there are no filters as you absorb your environment, interactions with other people, social media, information, and so on.

Without those filters, things that you take in may bounce off you. But they may also interact with old, long-buried beliefs that you don’t desire to believe – yet still exist in the depths of your subconscious.

Unintended and unwanted subconscious beliefs

For example, the belief that the best moneymakers in the world are doctors, lawyers, and businessmen was embedded in my subconscious mind throughout my childhood. Yet I had ZERO desire to pursue any of these vocations.

I chose to pursue various arts. This activated another long-held, unwanted belief: Making a living in the arts is super-difficult.

Just like everyone, as a functioning adult, I need to earn money to have basics, let alone more advanced necessities. Thus, for a long time, the pursuit of my true dreams was more hobby than a real desire.

When I pursued my dreams only in part, and not with ongoing mindfulness, I struggled. A lot. I managed, along the way, to betray myself and sabotage myself more than once.

Why? Because I did job ‘X’ or worked at company ‘Y’ not because I desired to. I felt that I had to. When it got untenable – for whatever reason, valid or made-up – my subconscious sabotaged me.

In the almost 30 years I have been a working, independent adult I have held a LOT of jobs. There are many similarities between them. But most were only done to participate in the routine of the expected workweek.

There have been jobs, however, more in line with what I desire to do with my time. Over the past couple of years, I have been in far fewer positions where my subconscious would sabotage me. Why? Because I was not discontent or displeased with where I was overall.

When I work mindfully, I can see multiple possibilities. I am aware of and attuned to a lot more potential. That’s not to say there are not still bad days – but overall, I feel more confident in what I am working to do.

Mindfulness is not just for today

Mindfulness is an ongoing practice.

That’s why, at least every morning, the above questions should be asked. But then, throughout the day, I need to continue to ask them. Maybe not all at once – but each along the way, from time to time. Especially if my mind is wandering, my attention is waning, or I am finding myself distracted.

Admittedly, there are times the routine, and living by rote, is useful. I don’t know anybody who wants to visit the DMV, the dentist, or the doctor’s office. But these are not things to be neglected or ignored. So, you do them and get through them as needs be.

But you can choose at any time today to be mindful. You can decide what today is going to look like for you. If you start off expecting a terrible, no-good, awful day – congrats, you will draw that to you.

Take control. Be mindful of your consciousness. Awareness of your thoughts, feelings, actions, and intent gives you control over your life experience. Today may not be perfect – but it can suck a lot less when you are mindful of all that it can be – good, bad, or indifferent.

Today will be unique. No matter what you presently expect, you can practice mindfulness. That will help you to choose what life looks like for you.

What will your today look like?

This is the four-hundred and fifty-ninth exploration of my Pathwalking philosophy. These weekly essays are ideas for – and my personal experiences with – mindfulness and walking along a chosen path of life to consciously create reality.

I share this journey as part of my desire to make a difference in this world along the way. Additionally, I desire to empower myself and my readers with conscious reality creation.

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

The first year of Pathwalking, including expanded ideas, is available here. My additional writing, both fiction and non-fiction, are available here.

Please take a moment to subscribe to my mailing list. Fill in the info and click the submit button below and receive your free eBook. Thank you!

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The post What Will Your Today Look Like? appeared first on The Ramblings of the Titanium Don.

It Depends on Your Perspective

How you see life, the Universe, and everything is a matter of perspective.

All the ways in which you experience life are a matter of perspective.

Take Monday, for example. I know a LOT of people who get to Monday and automatically get negative. This is how they approach work, school, the daily grind, and so on. Monday morning is unwelcome.

That’s one perspective. What if, instead, Monday were to represent new opportunities? How do you approach work when you LOVE what you do?

This is a matter of perspective. Perspective is one of the few things over which you have control.

People love to feel in control over their lives. And yet, often they don’t. That’s because you can do nothing about outside influences.

Unfortunately, you have zero control over how anyone else thinks, feels, and acts. You have no control over the weather, traffic, power outages, internet connectivity, and so on. These are all matters outside of yourself and outside of your control.

What DO you control? On the surface, you control your thoughts, feelings, actions, and intent. Beneath the surface, you can control your mindset/headspace/psyche. All of that combined gives you control of your perspective.

You may find that unrealistic. To quote Einstein:

“Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.”

Why? Because reality is a matter of perspective.

What contributes to perspective?

At its core, your perspective is made up of several things. Your life experiences, environment, beliefs, habits, thoughts, feelings, actions, intentions, and all that. Further, how you react to outside influences will alter your perspective on everything.

Take American politics, for example. Everyone sees the United States from a different perspective. Some of that is based on the region you are from. It is also based on education, religion, income level, skin color, other ethnic backgrounds, gender, and so on.

Politicians, knowing this, use that to create their power bases.

How? Fear. They see the nation from your perspective and manipulate you by playing on your fears. Because this is a fear-based society this is easy to do. That, in turn, further shows you the rightness of your perspective versus the “other” and theirs.

Unfortunately, we need to face an important fact. Many, many people, after formal schooling is done, seek no further learning. The formal schooling system in the United States puts very little emphasis on critical thinking.

That, of course, is by design. Critical thinkers tend not to need a lot of leadership from others.

This is NOT a dig on teachers – it’s the system. The ability to even begin critical thinking doesn’t come until your early twenties when the frontal lobe is fully developed. This is – except for grad students – generally a couple of years after college or vocational training is completed.

Why does this matter? Because the ability for critical thinking opens you to recognize not only your perspective but that of other people. This allows you to consciously seek change.

Making changes

Critical thinking lets you see just WHAT your perspective is. It’s not just that you recognize you have a unique perspective – you also can see what it’s comprised of. This is where someone raised by homophobic parents or racists see for themselves that nothing is wrong with someone who is not straight and other races are equal to your own.

Hence, you can change your perspective. When I was in college in the early 1990s, I relocated from the suburbs of Minneapolis to upstate New York. I majored in Theatre. Hence, I encountered my first homosexuals.

In High School in Minnesota in the 1990s, any homosexuals were closeted or not publicly out. This was not the case in college.

Every year, on National Coming Out Day, there was a huge gathering of people at the Free Speech Rock in the main quad of the school. While I had no issue with gay people, I gave it a wide berth freshman year.

Sophomore year, I didn’t go out of my way to avoid this gathering.

Junior year, I was on the outskirts of it, offering soft support.

Senior year, I was right at the rock, supporting a friend coming out. I cheered and supported everyone who was expressing who they were.

Over those four years, I changed my perspective. Later, I came to realize that knowing what made up my perspective made it easier to make future changes.

Expectation is a matter of perspective

So, when you come into Monday expecting it to suck you set it up to suck. Think today is going to be awful? You’re right, it probably will be.

Why do that to yourself? How has it become so very acceptable to be miserable? When you stop and think about it, it’s truly mind-boggling.

Expectation is a matter of perspective. Hence, when you change your perspective you can change your expectations.

This is why I started to write about Positivity every Monday. My thinking is this: if you can shift your perspective away from all the negativity to positivity, you change what you will expect. That, in turn, will change what you are likely to get.

Of course, you cannot change what happens outside of yourself. There isn’t anything you can do if you get into a car accident on the way to work. Further, you cannot control if you will get laid-off out of the blue, get yelled at, dumped, or otherwise are impacted by the actions of another. Those actions could come from someone you know and like – or a nameless/faceless entity.

As Bob Proctor said,

“What you think about, you bring about.”

Consciousness creates reality. Whether you believe in the Law of Attraction or not, this still tends to be completely true.

Mindfulness for change

The best way to get ahold of your perspective is by practicing mindfulness.

This is not some complex, hooky-spooky concept. This is the simple matter of being conscious and aware, here and now. At this moment.

On the surface, that begins with awareness of your thoughts, feelings, actions, and intent. When you are aware of these immediate, surface matters, you gain insight. That insight will open the door to your subconscious mind, wherein lies your mindset/headspace/psyche and perspective.

Once you know it, you can change it. But to truly learn what it is – you must be conscious of it.

If you perceive the world as going to hell in a handbasket, your overall perspective is most likely negative. So, if you would rather not spend all your time feeling down and convinced nothing matters – you should strive to change your perspective.

One important caveat to this: It only applies to YOU. You haven’t the ability to change the perspective of anyone else. You can show them the door – you can’t open it for them. Trying to force this will cause resentment and, likely, resistance to changing perspective. Or much of anything.

How YOU see life, the Universe, and everything is a matter of perspective. You are empowered to change it. Mindfulness, positivity, and getting to know yourself are the keys to making that happen.

Will you use those keys to unlock the door and seek a new perspective?

Changing your perspective isn’t hard

But it does require mindfulness of your thoughts, feelings, actions, and intent.

Knowing that your perspective of the Universe is unique to you and not set in stone, you can work to change it. When you work to understand the makings of your perspective, and then act on making changes where you desire to change – that ultimately empowers you.

When you feel empowered, your mindfulness increases, you become more aware overall, and that can spread to people around you. This can create a feedback loop of awareness and positivity.

You can build more positive feelings and discover further reasons to feel positivity and gratitude. That can be the impetus to improve numerous aspects of your life for the better, help overcome the overwhelming negativity of the current situation, and generate yet more positivity and gratitude.

An attitude of gratitude is an attitude of immense positivity. That positivity can generate even more good energies – and that, like you, is always worthwhile.

This is the three-hundred and forty-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.

Please visit here to explore all of my published works – both fiction and non-fiction.

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The post It Depends on Your Perspective appeared first on The Ramblings of the Titanium Don.

How Do You Handle Limitations?

Some limitations are real – but many aren’t. Nearly all can be overcome – but not without effort.

Most of the limitations we believe are self-imposed.

When all is said and done, if you truly desire to have something you CAN find or create it. BUT – and this is important – you need to TRULY desire it.

What does that mean? Everyone has skillsets. Some people are adept at all things physical. Other people are adept at all things mental. Most people have a mix of skills both physical and mental.

If you are mostly mental and lacking in the physical – you will have more obstacles to overcome for physical activity. Likewise, if you’re mostly physical and lacking in the mental – you will have more obstacles to overcome for mental activity.

That’s not to say you can’t. But you will need to give it devotion, dedication, and desire if you truly want it.

Some things will limit you. Most, however, are outside of your control. But there are plenty of stories of people who disbelieved in limitations and overcame impossible odds to achieve what they desired.

My struggle to do something physical well

I have been the fat kid all my life. What attempts I made at playing sports in my childhood went poorly. I wasn’t an utter and total lump – but I was not athletic. My strength was largely mental.

At 19, I was introduced to medieval fencing. As a longtime fan of sci-fi and fantasy, the chance to play with a sword, like in The Princess Bride, was extremely appealing.  But it was not going to be easy.

I had terrible balance. My eye-hand coordination was laughable at best. I was heavy and short with t-rex arms. It was going to be an uphill battle for me to exhibit any skill at this whatsoever.

But I really wanted it. Gods did I love fencing. Especially in this format. I mean, we dressed in cool outfits and fought with a weapon in each hand if we wanted to!

I put in a lot of time and effort to learn the basics. Then I relearned them. Then I got hit by a car crossing a street and needed to also relearn how to walk – let alone fencing basics.

The hit-and-run created new limitations. I had to overcome severe nerve damage to my right (dominant) arm. Also, I was expected to walk with a limp for the rest of my life after my right tibia was shattered – then rebuilt via a bone graft. Oh, and I now had titanium plates in my right shoulder.

These would not deter me. I was going to fence again – and I would even get better than I was before.

And I did.

Limitations? I don’t think so

Let’s sum up, shall we? Short, fat, broken, and an uncertain recovery. Lots of people would accept that they had new limitations and move on.

I am too stubborn for that.

Before the hit-and-run, I had been fencing for 8 years. I credit that skill for why my legs were made of almost pure muscle – and never fully atrophied. Additionally, this was why I had any use whatsoever of my left arm. Fencing lefty was a skill I learned – which proved invaluable when my right was disabled.

It took a year for me to recover to 98% of where I was before. That was, I came to learn, impressively fast. This was partially because I had amazing doctors, nurses, and therapists. But also because I refused to accept limitations.

Never walk without a limp again? No, I pushed to make sure that was not the case. Never fully recover the use of my right arm? No thanks, it would be healed.

It will be 21 years since that accident at the end of November. Unless you see the scars, or I tell you this story – you would have no idea I was that badly injured.

On top of all I did to recover – I still desired to not suck at fencing. So, I persevered. Took a new course of study. Put in a lot of work. And it all paid off.

Though never undefeatable nor the very top of the game – I was one of the better fencers. Not to brag, but I think I can easily argue that in my “Kingdom” I was in the top 25 fencers – out of probably 200+ total.

The short, fat, unathletic kid became skilled. Because I accepted no limitations and constantly pushed to improve.

Taking on the things that limit you

Over the years, I have taught a wide number of people to fence. Some of them were far more capable than I, even as I was teaching them. Some were as unimpressive and out-of-shape as I was when I began. I believed that if they desired to be skilled at this game, they could be.

I helped a lot of people push past the limitations they believed that they had. But that’s not always going to be possible.

Public speaking is a matter of confidence, voice control, tonality, reading words without sounding detached or monotone, and improv skills when unscripted. Classic theatre also adds the need to understand and use projection.

I have helped teach people how to do a certain form of public speaking that is mostly theatre. Think of a town-crier from a classic medieval or fantasy film. The difference between projecting your voice and shouting is important – particularly if you don’t want to damage your voice.

Just about anyone can learn to do this. BUT – not everyone can. Or rather, when they do, they’re utterly unengaging.

Some people are unable to read without stumbling, some cannot project or provide sufficient volume, and some people just don’t have the ability to engage the audience. That’s not to say you cannot learn to do this – but you must desire it and put in the time and effort.

If you only half-want something, or you kind of desire to get somewhere – the limitations can and will limit you. Only by having focus and a fierce desire that encompass your mind, body, and soul can you overcome almost any limitations.

Adjustments for limitations

I know a fencer who is bound to a wheelchair. Not only is she a delight as a human-being – but her skill is excellent. She’s a lot of fun to fight against.

I know a public speaker who has overcome a physical inability to project to be heard. He pushed past a limitation to embrace a skill he desired to have.

I do not doubt that there are limitations almost impossible to overcome. However, most limitations are only as limiting as you allow them to be.

The battle to overcome limitations can be exhausting. Sometimes, you may fight the good fight – and determine it’s not worth it. Other matters may take priority – or you could fall in love with another skill and set this one aside.

If there is something you desire, no matter if the limitation is mental or physical – you can push past it. That may be super-challenging, painful on a lot of levels, and difficult. But you alone know what value you place upon it.

You are empowered to find and/or create what you desire your life to look like. While some limitations ARE real, others are self-imposed. There are ways to adjust for any limitation – but you must put the work in for that.

Neither physical nor mental limitations need to stop you. But the work to overcome them can be overwhelming. You get to choose how to address that and where you draw the lines in your mind between possible and impossible – probable and improbable.

Push for more

When I recently realized that, for all my writing, my daily word count was low – I made a choice. I could write more every day. That spurred me to put more energy into my work. The more I write, the better my skills get. As I edit my writing – before and after sending work to professionals – I hone my craft.

I have this skill. I desire to make it my primary source of income. The more I write the more I can publish. That opens me to reach a wider audience and hopefully increasing my sales.

Money is my biggest limitation right now when it comes to investing in advertising, coaching, or hiring someone to help me with marketing. It’s a very real limitation that is difficult to overcome. However, I believe that I can overcome it – and get myself and my work out there.

Unlike physical limits and mental limitations, money is both. Physically it gets you goods and services – and mentally it drives you insane when it is lacking. Still, I believe that I can get past this limitation and make my living via writing. Which would, probably ironically, solve the money issue.

Some limitations are real – but many aren’t. Nearly all can be overcome – but not without effort. Focus. Be mindful of who you are and what you desire. Use thoughts, feelings, actions, and intentions to overcome limitations. Push for more if more is what you desire.

One caveat: Do no harm. Pushing for more and overcoming limitations should cause no harm to any other in the process. Though unintentional harm may result – that is beyond your control. Please be mindful.

So – what limitations have you pushed beyond?

This is the four-hundred and fifty-eighth exploration of my Pathwalking philosophy. These weekly essays are ideas for – and my personal experiences with – mindfulness and walking along a chosen path of life to consciously create reality.

I share this journey as part of my desire to make a difference in this world along the way. Additionally, I desire to empower myself and my readers with conscious reality creation.

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

The first year of Pathwalking, including expanded ideas, is available here. My additional writing, both fiction and non-fiction, are available here.

Please take a moment to subscribe to my mailing list. Fill in the info and click the submit button below and receive your free eBook. Thank you!

Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.Name *FirstLastEmail *NameSubmit

The post How Do You Handle Limitations? appeared first on The Ramblings of the Titanium Don.