Tag: Fall in Love with Life

FALL IN LOVE WITH LIFE BY LAURA

This post could have easily been credited to my mother, or of course Lao Tzu as they both advocate this message. It was my coworker and friend Laura who gave me the answer most recently. When I asked her what she thinks is the key to falling in love with life, her eyes lit up as she recalled a conversation she had with her son recently. As her son watched her become upset and anxious, he informed her that she needed to stop worrying so greatly about the future and focus more on being present. How many of us could use that advice?

It is easy to tell someone not to worry about the future, but how can we do that? If we study the quote above, it makes things crystal clear. Focusing our energy in the past, which cannot be changed, is a waste of our precious energy. Worry about the future, which has not happened and may never happen, is a good deal of wasted energy as well. The more we are worried about the future, the more that should drive us to be present. Why? The only thing we have that can affect the future is the actions we take in the present. If those actions amount to nothing other than sitting on our hands and worrying, we will not have much of an impact at all.

Lowering stress and increasing drive are two great reasons to be present. They are also two ways to love life more. The picture above highlights what I think is the greatest reason to focus on the present. If you are too worried about the past of the future, you often miss both the beauty and the opportunity in the present. Look at the dog fully immersed in what is happening. He is probably enjoying the woods, the man’s company and surely a squirrel or two. The man may not even realize he is in the woods or that the dog is next to him. The closer we come to a calm mind, the better we are positioned to take advantage of all life is offering us in the present. Whether that is a job opportunity or just a squirrel.

Laura, my mother and Lao Tzu are all right. Being present is one great way to fall back in love with your life. There are so many miracles that we miss every day. Simply being alive and able to breathe is a miracle in itself. By transferring our concerns about the future into motivation for the present and insuring we remain fully engaged in that present are two great ways to fall in love with life. How would you answer the question, “What would you tell someone to do if that wanted to fall in love with life?”

FALL IN LOVE WITH LIFE BY JONATHAN

My next book will be filled with tools and strategies to fall in love with your life. It is with this in mind I have been asking others that very question, “What would you say is the key to falling in love with life?” Today, we are going to look at the answer given me by my coworker Jonathan. It has some great points and it just may help you fall in love with your life a little bit more. Come join me in exploring Jonathan’s answer.

To start, this is a two-part answer. The first thing that Jonathan mentioned was that people need to take care of their necessities. When I pressed him as to why he thought this was so important, he told me that unless your food, shelter and clothing are taken care of, it is hard to focus on what gives you joy. Your mind will always be in survival mode. It is true that if you lost your job or your home, meditation would not be the first thing on your mind. We must make sure our basic needs are met.

The second half of his answer was even more profound. He said it was important to spend time and energy on what makes you happy despite what others may think. He used the example of collecting comic books. If people tell you that hobby is “stupid” or “nerdy”, do it anyway. If what you enjoy brings joy to your soul and does not harm anyone else, pursue it. Sacrificing what we really enjoy to impress others, or even to not offend them, leads to resentment and anger. These feelings are not only projected at others, but at ourselves for denying our joy at the judgement of others.

Do what Jonathan advocates. Take actions to make sure the necessities of life are under control. After that do what sparks joy in your heart and do not worry about the opinions of others.

HEY YOU!

Falling in love with life will be the theme of my upcoming fourth book. Do you remember how it feels when you first fall in love with a person? You feel like you are floating on a cloud. Nothing can bother you. Imagine feeling the same way about life!

There are secrets to get this feeling back. It is much like love in a relationship. After a while, we begin to take things for granted. We begin to see the cracks and faults. Sometimes to the detriment of all the good and the magic. That is why children have a much more magical view of life than adults. Life is new. Everything is a miracle. My next book will help you capture that again as an adult.

In the meantime, I would love to hear things and situations that help you fall in love with life. Even if just for a moment.

WISE WORDS FROM BOB 🇯🇲

I think this is one of the great secrets to happiness. Today, let us all look for what we can love in our life. A good portion of people constantly lament many things about their lives. They have to go to work every day. They have aches and pains in their bodies. Their car is acting up again.

If we took a step back and changed our perspective, life may feel a lot different. What if we lost that job? We were unable to find work? Suddenly, that job we dread going to would be a dream come true. Those aches and pains are the wishes of someone who has become paralyzed. What if we did not have a car and had to take transportation everywhere?

I see this a lot with some couples. They constantly complain about each other. I think of all the people I know who have lost their spouse and would give anything to be able to have them back, even for a day.

Gratitude and appreciation can allow us to love the life we live. Next time you are tempted to complain about something or someone, ask yourself what you have to be grateful for. It might take imagining what life would be without that person or thing. We have so much in our life to love  if only we chose to look at our life that way.

MIRACLES ARE EVERYWHERE!😃

A few posts ago we looked at a quote from Albert Einstein. It highlighted the choice between living life as though nothing was a miracle, or living life as though everything was a miracle. Can you really live life as though everything was a miracle? You can and it can be easier than you think!

I believe there are two keys to living your life as though everything was a miracle. The first is to begin to look for them. There are two examples in the pictures above. The first is how the scoop came out of my protein powder. I was on the way to the gym and not really feeling my workout and there appears a smiley face on my scoop from my protein powder! The second was a majestic sunrise on my way to work. Seldom am I feeling it on the way to work. Seeing this wonderful example of natures beauty does give a lift to the spirit!

The second key to living life as though everything was a miracle is to ask yourself “what is the miracle in this?” Again, we get an example of some majestic natural beauty. That would be the love of my life, Margie. When I think of our love and ask myself, “What is the miracle in our love?” There are many answers to choose from. It is a miracle that we found each other. It is a miracle that we made it through many difficult challenges early on before our love even had a chance to grow. It seems like a miracle how we find new ways to make our love grow. Imagine how your view of your relationship might change if you asked yourself, “What is the miracle in my relationship?”

Try doing those two things this month. Look for the Miracles around you. Then pick situations and ask yourself “What is the miracle in this?” You will be surprised how that will change your view of your relationship, your job, and even your time in line at the grocery store. Walking through the park, I saw the miracle of life with this baby duck and its mother. You can live life as though everything was a miracle by doing these two things. Soon you will discover that, indeed, everything is a miracle.

PICK YOUR WHAT?

In my first book, A Happy Life for Busy People, I had a section titled “Pick your posse” which discussed the importance you should place on the people you choose to surround yourself with. I approach it again in my second book with an updated and expanded look. Again, look for that book to arrive February 2019. We are going to give it a fresh look today.

What exactly is a posse? Around the turn of the century a posse was a group of armed men on either side of the law that looked out for and protected each other. Sometime in the 1980s the hip-hop culture used this definition for the people in their ‘crew’ who also had each other’s back. In short, a posse is trusted associates who watch out for each other and share like-minded vision.

I cover the importance of carefully selecting these people in the afore-mentioned two books. Today I would like to discuss another benefit of having a posse. Napoleon Hill, great author and self-improvement guru referred to a posse as a ‘mastermind group’. Loosely defined, that is a group of people with their own unique talents that work together to work on a project or often projects. They pool their own talents with those of others in the group. This helps compensate for weaknesses some members might have.

This seems to all make sense, but there is something far more magical that transpires when a group of people get together to work on a project or common goal. Something else is created. When two people get together and share thoughts and ideas a third person is actually created. That person is the aggregate of the other two people’s thoughts and ideas. By putting their minds together they can accomplish far more that each of them working separately.

Working with positivity and in the field of self-improvement I noticed that those in this field do not work together often enough. It would seem each person is content on developing their own strategy for improving life. It is as if they are leaving the putting the different theories together up to the reader. If two accomplished members of the motivational community were to work together I believe we could discover many more ways in which the average individual could live a more positive and rewarding life.

Recently, I have begun such and undertaking. I joined a Facebook group called Truth for Thought (TFT) This group at its core is about spreading positivity and promoting productivity amongst people who are struggling to find their way. I was happy to share what knowledge I offer to that end on this site with the group as well. I was happily approached by one of the gentleman who run the group, Brian, who asked me to take a more involved role. Currently several of us are setting up a roundtable to discuss our pages and issues that we would feel would be beneficial to highlight. In other words, working together for the good of mankind. We will not only be teachers, but students of each other. Blending all of our knowledge together will most certainly lead to some brand new insights.

I recommend in any endeavor you are working on to form a mastermind group, or more colloquially, a posse, that can help you get there sooner. It doesn’t even have to be anything more formal than a group of friends all committed to the same goal. If Truth for Thought seems like a group you may be interested in, give them a look, as well as my Facebook group Fall in Love with Life for additional motivation and inspiration.