Being alone

"I wish Pooh were here. It’s so much more friendly with two."

-- Piglet (A.A. Milne)

Are you willing to be alone?

Ingrid Bacci says, "If you are afraid of being alone, you are dependent on others for your sense of self, and if you are dependent on others, you block your receptivity to inner guidance. Being willing to be alone involves being willing to be different, to have commitments and values that don’t blend with any crowd."

"Man’s loneliness is but his fear of life."

-- Eugene O'Neill

"I celebrate myself, and sing myself."

-- Walt Whitman

How do you define success?

"He who has achieved success has worked well, laughed often and loved much."

-- Elbert Hubbard

"Too often, people focus only on results. But getting results without learning something or without having fun are incomplete. So is having fun without getting the results, or having fun without learning something new to help and empower you in the future. Accomplishment is all three: the result, personal growth and having fun."

-- Peter L. Hirsch

"There are many aspects to success; material wealth is only one component. ...But success also includes good health, energy and enthusiasm for life, fulfilling relationships, creative freedom, emotional and psychological stability, a sense of well-being, and peace of mind."

-- Deepak Chopra

"You don’t have to stay up nights to succeed; you have to stay awake days."

-- Source Unknown

Open your hands

"More than any other part of the body, our hands reveal our inner state."

-- Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov

Today, be aware of how you hold your hands when you’re not actively doing something with them.

With the stress of our daily lives, many of us find our hands typically clenched in fists. This is proof of the tension we hold in our bodies. And ponder this: how can we receive the abundance of life if our hands are not open to receive it?

When you become aware that your hands are closed tight, stretch your fingers and spread them wide in the shape of a starfish. Deep breathing will also help you relax into the moment.

"What is always speaking silently is the body."

-- Norman Brown

Internet challenges

"The central event of the twentieth century is the overthrow of matter. ...The powers of the mind are everywhere ascendant over the brute force of things."

-- George Gilder

Those of us who use the Internet are challenged with spam, viruses and worms. What meaning can we find in these culprits?

It helps to remember that the cause of everything lies in the spiritual realm. And so we might reflect:

- On spam: What unsolicited junk do we allow to enter our minds and distract us from what’s important?
- On viruses: What malicious thoughts and behaviors sabotage our dreams and sap our vitality?
- On worms: How do we allow fear to worm its way into our lives and subvert our highest intentions?

Mass consciousness is a reflection of all of our individual consciousnesses. The inner world creates the outer world. When we clean up our own systems, the external systems will follow suit.

"If each of us sweeps in front of our own steps, the whole world would be clean."

-- Goethe

The push & pull of relationships

"It's surprising how many persons go through life without ever recognizing that their feelings toward other people are largely determined by their feelings toward themselves, and if you're not comfortable within yourself, you can't be comfortable with others."

-- Sydney J. Harris

Relationships are such a challenge because life pulls us in opposite directions at the same time.

Our personality feels the need to be unique and special and so our focus lies on how we are different from others. Differences hold the potential to create conflict.

At the same time, our souls live through connection with others. We are challenged to rise above our personal preferences to discover how we and the other are the same.

Our overall need lies in balancing these two tendencies.

"The purpose of relationships is not happiness, but transformation."

-- Andrew Schneider

Loneliness

Loneliness may seem like your birthright. Relax; focus on the positive sides of life. There is a silent voice that needs your attention. See it, exploit it, absorb it, change it, and use it.

People are different

"...conflict is the primary engine of creativity and innovation. People don't learn by staring into a mirror; people learn by encountering difference."

-- Ronald Heifetz

In his book, ‘Men, Women and Relationships,’ John Gray says, "People are different. Recognizing this fundamental truth is essential for creating positive and loving relationships. In practice, however, ... we demand that the people in our lives feel, think, and behave as we would. And when they react differently we make them wrong or invalidate them; we try to fix them when they really need understanding and nurturing; we try to improve them when instead they need acceptance, appreciation and trust."

We each bring different gifts to this world. We each have different work to do. Our lives are enriched when we can celebrate these differences rather than resent, resist and reject them. As we get more secure in who we are, we get more compassionate toward others.

"Homogeneity makes for healthy milk but anemic friendships. We need relationships that cross culturally imposed lines to enlarge our hearts and expand our vistas."

-- Dan Schmidt