3 Steps to greater happiness

Many people reach out for greater happiness or a deeper sense of fulfilment.  Infinite ways exist to get anywhere and be anything.  Its up to you. Conside these three steps to access:

1) Be aware of your thoughts.  You may underestimate the power of your thoughts.  Being aware is noticing what you think about and beginning to recognize you are not your thoughts.  In fact, they are simply passing ideas you choose to believe or not.  When you focus on something, you come to believe it.  Let thoughts arise and fall away and  they do not control how you feel. 

2) Let go of what you outgrow. You may notice aspects of your life no longer feel right or resonate. As you go through stages of evolution, you lose interest in certain people, places, activities, foods, jobs, behaviours. You may feel the unexplainable urge to cry, change or do something you have never done before. You may be going through a kind of shift in identity, a shift in how and where you live.  Being willing to let go of what you outgrow implies being open and receptive to your feelings and spontaneous impulses.  Listen more closely to the heart.

3) Be happy where you are. When you get right down to it, if you are unable to appreciate something in your life as it is, then you are not going to find happiness elsewhere. The common thread is you. How you feel where you are relates to what is conscious and unconscious.  Your understanding of 'happiness' can make you feel separate from what you want.  Watch what happens as you come to see beliefs as they are.  Allow yourself to feel what you are feeling. As you observe everything as a blessing, joy flows more freely.  Whatever obscures it falls away.

7 Ways to see through lens of Soul

Nothing and everything is unfolding in this same moment.  Wherever you think you are, all that is unfolding gives you opportunities to connect with and embrace reliable soul guidance.  Seeing through the lens of Soul is being aware of the bigger picture or deeper reasons for your choices.  Ponder seven ways to see life as it is through the lens of Soul or Higher awareness:

1) Recognize whatever you perceive arises with its opposite.  Positive and negative thoughts arise together just as opposite words produce each other and merge.  Each points to the other as a lesson to recognize the underlying message that is revealing itself.

2) Move without teaching. Simply be yourself without the intention to do anything. Watch the mind. You can move physically and be still inside.  Every choice you make is being watched. You never know who is watching, or seeing life differently due to what you say or do.  Imagine every step you take is inspiring yourself in another situation.  Be your own student and teacher.

3) Live such that you possess nothing yet appreciate everything.  Possession here implies thoughts of exerting control and attaching.  From the moment you realize what is real cannot be owned, you relax more in life, welcome what comes and appreciate impermanence.

4) Do not glorify heroes.  Come to see everything as a divine reflection and you are awake to true divine nature.  You no longer put people on pedestals or view anyone as better or worse.  Rather, you see everything as different versions of you drawing true essence to the surface.

5) Live in humility.  Ambitions weaken as they lose your attention. Do what you do without the aim of recognition.  Presume nothing.  Be devoted to heartfelt gestures for no reason.

6) Be empty. When you are empty, you are bottomless and you have infinite uses and paths. It means move in peace.When you do not treasure objects, you do not worry they could be stolen or taken away.

7) Respect natural order.  Notice the divine flow.  Allow nature to be the ultimate teacher.  It only ever reflects who you are at the core.  Everything arises from and disappears into silence.

The Best decisions: 10 Ways to make them

Every moment, thoughts are racing through the mind. You may wonder how to know what are the best decisions for you regarding your personal, professional or other areas of your life.  The buck stops here.  That is, its the perfect moment to take responsibility for how you perceive life to be unfolding, rather than blame someone else for what does not feel right inside or what does not appear to be going well.  Consider ten ways to make the best decisions in any situation:

1) Pay closer attention. Everything in life is connected.  Every synchronicity guides you to another when you are open and receptive.  Be alert.  Every encounter and situation is an opportunity.  Rather than ask why me, why now? Know the 'what' guides you to why & how.

2) Listen to the heart.  Call it intuition, call it what you will.  If the urge arises to turn right, to go to a place you have never visited, let it happen.  There is more going on than meets the eye.  Know you do not have to get your head around everything.  Best things cannot be explained.

3) Use Integrity. Being honest is often conditioned out of people. Notice where you fear telling the truth, fear losing pride or not getting someone's approval. Decisions based on fear never feel right. Decisions based on enthusiasm or heartfelt joy use love as a reliable compass.

4) Know your audience.  Recognize you can find a sympathetic or supportive audience for any choice that feels right to you.  People who would not do what you do only distract you from your inner compass.  Nobody actually knows you better than you know yourself. 

5) Identify core value. Notice the value of any given decision or result is purely personal. You establish your needs and imagine what could satisfy them.  Only you can determine how important some situation, state of mind or being is for you.  You are the measurer and the ruler.

6) Be aware of underlying motivation. Every decision you make has a trigger.  Some are more obvious than others.  You may think you are ready for a life change or notice you are in a position to help others. When motivated by love, you are always making the best choice.  

7) Know the power of surrender. You can create goals, design a path to realize them and still wonder what is going wrong.  To know the power of surrender is to feel that every experience is helping you to grow more conscious of what you overlook about your life.

8) Accept many roads exist. Whatever you would like to experience in life, there is more than one way to do it.  The mind limits your view of what is possible. The heart always sees a way.  From the moment you let go of complete control, options present you had not imagined.

9) Who's decision is it? This may seem funny, but its common for people to make decisions for themselves based on what 'somebody else' or 'everyone' thinks is best.  Discover who in your life is influencing you. Why allow this?  Know you have the courage to listen more to yourself.

10) Lose the inner judge. An amazing thing happens as you cease to judge your prospective options.  All of them appear equal.  That is, whether you attend this school or that school, take this job or that job, engage in this activity or that activity, commit more seriously to this relationship or break it off, take this course of treatment or not, lessons are available for you to learn about yourself and feel happy, peaceful and fulfilled.  Get to know how you think and feel.  The revelation that you can do it anywhere, under any conditions itself, transforms your life.

5 Ways to know what feels right

Life presents many situations.  The choices about what to do may seem endless.  People around you offer unsollicited advice and opinions.  Explore in depth five ways to know what feels right;

1) Be aware of the body - everything you detect and do not notice about the body is communicating with you. Be bold, daring.  Ask body parts directly what they wish you to know.

2) Be aware of your thoughts- thought forms come and go.  Dwelling on any mental image gives it life. Read your emotions. What feels right requires no thought. It guides impulsiveness.

3) Be aware of the nature of your relationships -everyone you meet is a pointer to what the heart knows.  Each person is synchronicity taking form, guiding you to see the best choice.

4) Be aware of your chosen environment(s) - every environment emits energy that resonates with your energy or not.  Be aware of attraction or repulsion and underlying reasons.

5) Be aware of the difference between conditioned beliefs & intuition -you are taught what is good, right or best for you. These beliefs differ from unexplainable reasons why you act.

4 questions to live more fully

Take each moment as it comes.  Live openly and honestly with wisdom and compassion. Being fully human is being open to recognizing and realizing innate potential.  Be open to exploring what the external world reveals to you right now. Ponder five questions to live more fully;

1) How can you see the world as it is, rather than through the filters of the mind?

2) How can you base your actions on Reality rather than on desire or fear?

3) How can you live such that you are in-tune with Reality rather than tuned out (& imbalanced)?

4) How can you see Reality for yourself (be awake)  rather than exist in muddy water?