live instead of exist

...for all my entries below. I changed my goal to yours, so it lists all old entries at once.

I wrote this in my journal recently:

“I now see that my insistence to choose a world I think I can control, a world of order, has become the very choice to throw away the keys that lock me away, where I suffer only because I choose to submit to my ego’s need for survival, its lesser value of myself that would rather have me locked away in the medieval dungeon of yesterdays memories, because it is what I think I know, than face the incredible power of who know I am right now”.

I am not suggesting one does something like throw away the security of one’s job (just yet), but, if you are serious about your goal to live life and not just exist, you have to become aware of the question as to what will bring fulfillment in your life and then, most importantly act on it.

One way of find answers could be to find out what it is that makes you tick: what are the things about yourself that you would really like to express? What is missing from your life? When you get the pointers do research, talk to people, surf the net, read books, save money every month towards your goal. It doesn’t matter what you do, as long as it moves you in the right direction. Whatever you do, don’t fall into the complacency trap. Also, don’t expect the answer to come immediately. Don’t be afraid to ‘think outside the box’, don’t be afraid to dare, to humor your wildest fantasies, to push your envelope, you may just find the stamp that will mail the letter that is meant to be ‘returned to sender’: Ask for guidance and be open to receiving it and the Universe may just happen to send you a symbolic letter that gives you pointers in the right direction. But remember, the Universe won’t do it for you, but it will do it with you. God really does help those who help themselves. Oh, yes, let me not forget to mention, there are no guarantees and on top of that, great things don’t happen without taking risks.

I subscribe to a newsletter from Yehuda Berg. He is a Kabbalahist. Last week’s email, The Extra Mile made a big impression on me, so I am sharing it here:

One of our teachers related a story to me recently about a student of hers who is using all the tools of Kabbalah but is still experiencing major chaos.

This student is facing the reality that her company is downsizing in the coming months and she might lose her job. Her question to the teacher was, basically, “What gives?”

It’s a really good question, and one I know all Kabbalah students face at some point in their journey. Especially in the month of Capricorn. It’s a time when we start to doubt that what we are doing is working. Basically, it’s a time when the you-know-what really starts to stink.

And my answer is: breathe it in.

The tests are coming now because the Light wants us to work harder at finding it. The more we sweat and squirm, the greater the revelation will be.

Keep using the tools and getting comfortable in the uncomfortable zone. You never know how close you are to penetrating the darkness and tapping into the Light. And as experience shows us, the day we give up is usually the day the answers are ready to reveal themselves.

I know this isn’t easy when you’re receiving bad news from the doctor or overwhelmed with other difficult issues in your life. But this is all part of the game we signed up for in the endless world.

The strategy to this game is to accept the junk, really accept it and even be grateful for it. The faster you do, the quicker you’ll reach the Lighter side.

This week, take stock of where your life is at right now. Know that the difficulties are there for a beneficial reason. Remember that the only mile that counts is the extra mile. Oh, and about that student who’s stuck between a rock and a hard place: I told her that in her darkest moment, if she can find a way to give, and to give big, she can expect her life to change in unimaginable ways.

I look forward to hearing about her miracles, and yours as well.

All the best,

Yehuda

If you want to find out more go to http://www.72.com/lks/index.php

I am South African. One of our class acts is Prime Circle. I include their lyrics for ‘Live This Life’. Great inspiration for living life, instead of just existing. Don’t you think?

Haven’t you wondered, haven’t you guessed
Haven’t you dreamed what’s coming round next
Haven’t you foreseen, master plan
All of this hold it in your hand
Deep inside you light a flame don’t you stay
down just get up again
Can’t you hear it, it’s a sign
To live (x4) this life

Now there’s something (x2) that’s changed me
Getting older a little bolder
I can see a new surrounding (ye)

Life’s about perception hope that you can see the proof
If you’re living in a palace or you got no roof
Stop complaining all the time, go now.

Come and go what to say
Make a move stop running away
Live this life, everyday,
Live on now

Time is of the essence, try to keep track
Once it’s gone(x2) it’s never ever coming back
Sometimes hard to handle (ye)

Please forgive me for the times when I just did not see you
I didn’t realise what I had or what I put you through
Feel it coming, ticking, chiming

Come and go what to say
Make a move stop running away
Live this life, everyday
Live on now

To download the song, go here:

http://www.metrolyrics.com/lyrics/1544438458/Prime_Circle/Live_This_Life

No, I said don’t think of a pink elephant.

You see that is the problem with saying to yourself over and over again, don’t feel depressed, don’t smoke, don’t put yourself down…you can’t get rid of that stupid little incessant voice inside your head that seems to want to convince you, you are depressed, a smoker, or that you are worth less. That, I’ve found is the problem with positive thinking, in other words, trying to get rid of negative thoughts by denying them, thinking that in that way they will become positive.

Rather, having an affirmation works better for me. An affirmation that works really well for me is: “I relax and allow life to flow through me; I release all that is unlike love”…this way I have the option, the choice of constantly returning to what it is I want to do, instead of focusing on what I don’t want to do.

This way, instead of focusing on my stress, I focus on relaxing and instead of pondering thoughts that I have failed, I release such a thought by surrendering it to love for myself.

Obviously it is important to have an affirmation that is your own, that has significance and relevance to you. Not easy, I know, but in my experience, a much more effective strategy to live this life by.

In this game called life I can’t change what cards I have been dealt, I have to play my symbolic Poker hand as is. I have to throw away, let go of the cards that have no more value for me and then realize that I will be dealt new cards that offer new possibilities. Cards that one gets rid of are all yesterday cards: regrets, resentments and habitual ways of thinking.

Even then the game is not over, for as I know, it is not always the player with the best cards that wins the game. Sometimes the best choice is to ‘fake it until you make it’. Bluffing is part of the game. Remember that in Poker, bluffing is not lying. For this metaphor, in life one is faced with the reality that one’s current situation is not always conducive to having victory. The best option in these instances is to be something first and then allow the ‘doing’ to follow as a result. Form follows function; mind over matter and being becomes doing. These are all statements of truth that apply.

It works like this: First you decide what state of mind you need for success in any given situation. For instance, to have success in one’s business, one has to ask oneself, “What kind of a person do I need to BE, if I want success?” One answer could be that one needs to be confident. Following the argument, you will have to create a picture of yourself as being confident already. If you act from that state of being your actions will slowly but surely be that of a confident person and success will follow. On the other hand (excuse the pun), trying to do confident things will fail because like the opponent in Poker you will see right through it, if it is not backed by affirmative internal dialogue.

Remember, in life you are both the opponent and yourself. In Chris De Burg’s song Spanish Train he sings of God and the Devil playing poker for his soul. For me this is again a metaphor for the eternal battle between our shadow side and our light, our ego and our highest potential. The Devil and God is within, our consciousness is both these forces and we are waging a bet that we will go one of two ways, to the Victory of our Divinity or to the demise of our humanity.

But now you may ask, if I am both the opponent and myself in the game, how can I bluff myself? How can I pretend to be confident, when I am not?

The truth is that we often bluff ourselves for destructive purposes. We bluff ourselves that we want to be successful when our actions reveal the opposite. This means that what we say is not what we mean. We do not “walk the talk” and that there is no or little congruence between our stated objectives and what is happening in our lives. If we care to look honestly enough at our situation we will see that we are not committed to what we want. For instance, I say I want to achieve success and be confident to achieve it, yet I listen to the voices that tell me I am worth less more than I listen to the voice within that is calling me to my highest potential.

This kind of ‘bluffing’ is subconscious – we are conveniently unaware of our sabotaging behavior and this obviously does not work for us, for we find ourselves again and again failing our objectives.

The kind of ‘bluffing’, the ‘fake until you make it’ approach which I am suggesting however is a conscious decision to reprogram the mind. Once the decision has been made to do this, one must become aware of the voices within. When a negative thought occurs, acknowledge it as a thought, in other words bring it into your awareness and consciously replace it with an affirmation that is positive in nature. For instance a thought like “I am never going to achieve this”, can be replaced by “ I live in the totality of possibilities”.

Affirmations are statements of truth in the present moment of now. Negative thoughts are vested in believes that come from one’s past conditioning, whilst affirmations take us to the only place in time we have power, the NOW and that brings us face to face with choices that collectively, over time, make up our future.

“Wherever you are, be there.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

It is important to remember that one can not, especially when we are still allowing the negative thoughts to be subconscious, avoid having a thought. You are not failing when you have the negative thought. Having them just seems to be the nature of our minds; however one can choose to respond to having such thoughts in a way that does not allow them to sabotage our success.

Viewing your life as a game gives you the opportunity to not take yourself so seriously. In other words, you can stand back and view yourself as a player and hopefully this gives you a perspective that is more objective than being caught so much that you can’t see the wood from the trees.

All that the soul wants is to be at peace and heaven is where thoughts and actions meet the choice of living life to its fullest.