Category Archives: Decision

Act As If, Affirmations, Attitude, Autosuggestion, Decision, Directed Questions™, Focus, Habit Formation, Intentional Thinking, Mental Movie Theater, Mindset, Persistence, Positive Affirmations, Positive Thinking, Self Talk, Visualization

Stop Being A Loser: How To Become A Winner!

1 Comment

What You Think About You Bring About. (1) copy

“What can you do to feel better? What can you do to help make your dreams and desires a reality? Whether it is your career goals, a relationship, purchasing your dream home or having an incredible life there is something you can and must do to get it all working for you.

If you want to have what you want to have, and do what you want to do, it is important that you FIRST be what you want to and need to be. Everything you accomplish and gain comes first and foremost from who you are. It comes from the kind of person you are.

Identity Comes First – Who Before What

If you want happiness you must be a happy person first. That is the rule. If you want success and riches you must be successful and rich in your mind first then worldly riches follow. If you want to have great love and relationships you must love yourself first.

So before anything else you need to work on who you are!

So who are you? What kind of person are you? Are you a happy, positive, productive person? Are you a healthy, wealthy, loving person? Are you invincible and confident? Are you able to learn anything you put your mind to?

What image do you hold of yourself?

Building your positive self image is the most powerful practice you can engage in daily.  Every single day, at least twice and as often as you can, you need to spend time building this powerful self image. You spend time imagining the person you want to be. you go inside your mental movie theater and use your imagination to create the ideal you you always wanted to be.

See yourself as the person who is able to do and have everything you want to do and have. In your mind you ‘be it’ first. Thought precedes action. Then everything else will follow. What you think about you bring about. What you focus on you get. What you think about all day long is what you become.

If you can see it in your head you will one day hold it in your hand. This is why, Einstein said, ‘Imagination is more important than knowledge’.  Create the reality first on the inside and you will have it on the outside. Mind First then Actions Follow!

Everything You Do And Have Stems From Your Self Image

Use your imagination to see who you are. This is much more important than knowing how you do what you do or buy what you want. Use your imagination daily and it will become easier, richer, more vivid and more real.

If at first you only have a vague sense that is okay. It will clear up the more you do it. Stick with it. Spend 20 minutes twice a day if you can. At least. But if you truly can’t then do 5 minutes twice a day. After all, you are worth that much aren’t you? Your ability to visualize gets better the more you exercise it just as developing any muscle.

The important this is to image yourself and feel the feelings of being that self you want to be. Enjoy and celebrate how incredible it feels. Bask in the feelings. The feelings are the key component to your visualization. Your words and what you say about it is too. Use these together to reinforce you you want. Stay positive in all regards.

How do you build it? You build it by visualizing yourself as you want to be. See yourself as having already arrived. In your mind you act as if you are already everything you want to become.

You are already that! In reality it is true – you are already that person – even if you are not living as that person would. That is the real you, the ideal you, the person who is inside you that you need to let out. You ARE already that which you want to become. Claim it!

You affirm daily to yourself and out loud who this person is. You put a guard before your tongue so that your talk to others is only positive, to bless, heal and prosper yourself and them.  Your personal story and descriptions arise from this ‘ideal self’ so don’t go sabotaging your efforts by whining, complaining and blaming.

Ask Directed Questions™ that keep you focused on your ideal self. Ask questions that keep you moving in the direction you are moving towards. Direct your mind. So work on first establishing being the kind of person for whom all this is possible.

The most powerful visualization you can do for yourself is to first begin working on your self image.

Imagination Is More Important Than Knowledge

See you as you want to be. See yourself as whole, not broken. See yourself as complete. See yourself as happy, fulfilled, confident, successful. See yourself learning and continuing to evolve. See yourself smart, wise, experienced.

See yourself as you want to be! As you are meant to be. See yourself as divine, inspired, motivated. See yourself as powerful, positive and compassionate. See yourself as decisive and persistent and able to follow through. See yourself as worthy and deserving of all good things.

See yourself as someone who can learn to do anything you put your mind to. See yourself as someone who can accomplish what you set out to do. See yourself motivated, take charge and in control. See yourself going for it and completing it.

Imagine yourself as someone who is optimistic and expects wonderful things to come your way. See yourself as someone joyful on the journey.

See yourself as one  who listens and who is compassionate and thoughtful of others. See someone who is valuable, abundant and worthy and recognizes that in others too. See someone with much to be happy for and rich in all ways. See someone who is thankful.

Every Day Imagine The Ideal You

See yourself with loving relationships and good connections with friends, family and even strangers. See yourself as loving and kind and compassionate. See yourself as helpful and encouraging to others.

See yourself as someone who can speak confidently and appreciate meeting and being with others. See yourself as someone who likes to explore new places, activities and ideas. See yourself as someone curious and filled with life. See yourself appreciating the tiny miracles of each moment.

Imagine yourself as someone who likes to do new things. Imagine yourself captivated and fascinated by what you discover that is good and new each day. See yourself celebrating and being grateful for everything and everyone in your life

Imagine yourself to be the kind of person who will get up after falling down. See yourself as a person who persists and keeps  your commitments and promises to self and others. See yourself as someone who learns from mistakes and never lets anything get them or keep them down for long. See yourself as someone who is unstoppable and who is able to learn.

Imagine yourself as someone open and flexible. Imagine yourself as one who can and will make whatever you positive things you want to happen, that are good for you and others, happen. You are confident and capable. See yourself as willing to learn how to do whatever is necessary to make your dreams come true by applying yourself and discovering more of your resources.

It Gets Easier And Easier The More You Do It

See yourself as happy and fulfilled. See yourself, not only as worthy and deserving but, as able to enjoy all the wonderful things you want. Imagine yourself as meant to do and have these incredible things because you are the kind of person for whom these things are meant for. You wouldn’t want them if you weren’t meant to have them.

Visualize yourself as you want to be and see yourself as already that. Feel what it feels like to be who and what and how you want to be. Hear what you sound like when you speak out loud and the sound of your own supportive and encouraging self-talk.

See how bright and wonderful the world appears through your eyes. Live it! Feel it fully! Appreciate these wonderful feelings and wrap them around you. Bask in these. Feelings drive the show. From the images we make feelings arise. Use these positive feelings by enjoying and accentuating them.

THIS IS CRITICAL!!!

Imagine everything as if it were real right now. This instant! This is you and your current reality! Do not imagine it being sometime in the future, imagine you are it right now! Don’t delay it for another time. You subconscious doesn’t know when someday is. It is eternally present. It acts now.

Act as if you are already that which you want to become with powerful positive wonderful feelings and your subconscious mind will get the message and respond. This is what is meant by using autosuggestion deliberately to get what we want. This is the conditioning process.

Just as pro athletes condition themselves for success so do the rest of us when we realize how important and valuable it is. Athletes work at it every single day. The provide themselves the right nutrition, the right amount of exercise and rest.

Every pro athlete knows the necessity of having the right mind set to gain the competitive edge. This is what we all must do in everyday life!

Wrap The Positive Feelings Around You 

Everything we do or accomplish arises from who we are. Our self image is important. Our thoughts about ourselves critical. If you want happiness and success to follow you YOU must first be happiness and success. It is the ‘who’ who does and gets what one wants. Your self image is so important to all of your happiness.

That is the way it works. ‘To those who have more shall be given’. Start by making yourself happy, resilient, flexible, successful, blissful and all else will follow. Begin with the best of you! Spend time developing the self image you want. Be like an athlete dedicated to you. Be devoted to being and doing the best for yourself!

IT is a choice. You are not saddled with or a victim of anything that you can’t right now choose to make different. Each second you have a choice to perpetuate an old way or develop and live from a new way. If the old way causes pain and suffering or if it is not working then it is time to chose another way, a new way.

Self Image Development Is Critical To Getting What You Want

Every truly happy and successful person already does this. Either they learned it growing up, lucky them, or later they became aware of the need to consciously choose. You make a decision. It is a deliberate choice. You can make this choice right now for yourself.

Know this. It is very simple. It is easy although it may not always be easy. You have to commit and stick with it when times get tough. That is just the way it is. If you want a radical positive life change than you must invest in yourself, and see it through. Everyone who arrives has to go through this.

There are times when an athlete wants to give up. In order to become the best they need to push through it and continue. They need to apply the training skills they have learned to keep going.

There is no getting a medal if they quit. They use their mental attitude to keep moving forward. That separates those who do and succeed from those who give up and go home.

It takes some time. Just as it takes time to build a house it takes time to build your self image in a positive way. You lay a strong firm foundation and once you do that you can build successsfully on top of it.  Once you begin this process, as you lay the foundation, it will get easier because you have that foundation to support you.

Self Image Development Is Critical To Enjoying What You Want

Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly at first. You get better in time the more you repeat the process correctly. You build positive habits. Anything worth having is worth the effort you put in to gain it. You have to pay the price. It is not for free. You have to labor to get what you want.

As it becomes habit it becomes automatic and reliable. Still, there are times when you deliberately choose to direct it. You drive your car in the same way. It is habitual and unconscious. You should never get behind the wheel when not fully conscious, alert, and sober.

Driving requires your conscious awareness and the unconscious the skills you learned and made habit. It is both. Use your conscious mind to direct your unconscious mind to become who you are destined to be.

You direct your inner movies the same way a movie director does. Put it together how you want it to be. Write your positive story. Your mental screenplay. Direct your mind as a traffic cop does. Be in charge of the flow. Take control of what you accept and reject. Make it how you want it. You are a master chef with all the right ingredients and the skills necessary. Make a marvelous dish!

As you do this you will create the new neural pathways replacing the old limiting ones. You will change to a new mental address just as when you move from one residence to another in actual life. It takes awhile to learn and recall and travel to the new address but once you ‘get it’ you automatically go there and let go of the old one.

Replace The Old With The New Easily

Your new self image will replace the old one of you. The one you did not deliberately choose. It will replace the one you were provided by others. Now you are free to choose to be who you want to be. You are free to choose the kind of person you are. This is incredible freedom and power you have available to you.

Spend time visualizing yourself each day and you will be surprised at how life can change and become more wonderful. You will find new things to delight and appreciate. If you have never spent time there you do not know what you are not noticing. You aren’t aware of what you are missing. Begin changing your life for the better now!

Update And Upgrade Your Self And Celebrate The New You

As you visualize and improve your self-image you will begin to notice your life becomes more enriching. As you place you attention in these new areas you find and learn new things to appreciate. Celebration helps you move forward and feel wonderful.

It all builds on itself. Once you take the small necessary steps you begin to walk a journey that continues to become more and more glorious as you continue forward. You discover more beauty and glory than you could have previously imagined. You negotiate and navigate through troubles easier and more resourcefully.

It is a process. All along the way you continue to move forward. Whether you walk easily into the valley or on the straight-a-way or whether you struggle up a hillside you are moving forward. You create momentum and continue delightfully on the journey.

You are moving forward in the right direction! You are coming into your strength and creative power. You are evolving yourself in a positive direction. You are releasing the person you have always been meant to be. Enjoy the process. Begin now and do not stop. Keep going until it pays off because the pay off is magnificent!” Rex Sikes

Make the day magical!!

NEWS    NEWS     NEWS     NEWS     NEWS     NEWS     NEWS  

NEWS     SOON     NEWS     SOON     NEWS     SOON    NEWS    SOON

I’M GOING TO LAUNCH THE NEW SITE SOON  –  Daily Inspiration And Gratitude’s new home is coming!  A new URL, a new look and feel. All this and new content will be at new site.

Some of you get this blog emailed to you, I don’t know whether that will continue or not. You will be able to subscribe to the blog and my new newsletter.

Please stay with us. I’d hate to lose you or have you miss any blog you want to receive. I’ll let you know when the change is taking place. I might launch and update as we go along.

PS YOU may know someone who could really benefit from hearing this message. Feel free to share this with them via social media or email. Buttons below make it easy for you to do so.

PSS  A great practice is read the posts daily and then go back and re-read from time to time. You will discover things you missed the first few readings. Try it, you will be surprised.

Subscribe and Follow Daily Inspiration and Gratitude!  Visit often. Feel free to comment. If you think others would benefit please share this blog with others.

Act As If, Attitude, Beliefs, Creating The Future, Decision, Expectations, Focus, Getting Over The Past, Habit Formation, Intentional Thinking, Overcoming Difficulty, Persistence, Positive Thinking

Learn What The Greatest Showman Of All Time Discovered That Can Make An Incredible Difference For You!

Leave a comment

horizon solo tree

“Sometimes what is obvious is what we miss noticing the most. We are blind to what stares us right in the face. We simply miss it. We cannot see the forest for the trees. We are oblivious to the elephant in the room. What if what we miss noticing were to make a critical difference in terms of our success and happiness?

If you are a regular reader of my blog, perhaps, you will recall that I wrote how I changed my life. There was a time when I decided to focus my attention on creating what I wanted instead of what I didn’t want. I was, as are many people, perhaps most people, really, really great at creating what I didn’t want.

You may recall that I have pointed out that the goal is not to be 100% positive and never have a negative thought. That wouldn’t be human. Most likely, it wouldn’t be.. The goal is to feel the best and think the best we are able to most of the time. We should spend far more time feeling wonderful than not.

Use Negative Thoughts And Feelings To Clarify What You Want

Negative thoughts and feelings inform us. They become useful in helping us get clear about what we do want. They notify us when we are off track. Frequently, it is because something is negative that a person will make life long changes. Too often, it is because things have gotten so bad there is no other realistic choice to make.

The knack is to not get caught in a negative spiral down but to recognize the signals and make use of them. The art is in not blaming or criticizing oneself (or others) when one thinks, feels or behaves in a less than glorious fashion. If your actions hurt others then you should be responsible, make amends and commit to not doing or hurting them again. The same applies when you hurt yourself.

So it isn’ that we are never negative  but that we use the negativity to become more positive. Life may always present obstacles and challenges. Something that can help you when it gets tough is your own personal metaphor or explanation for what is occurring. For some people this is a god of salvation. For others, it may be another god from another religion.

Use Your Personal Metaphor

It may be that god is within you. It may be the universe, the matrix, the divine mother. It may be anything you call it. I call it your mind set and attitude. I am not writing to have you believe one way or another about who or what runs the show OTHER than you. That is not my place.

What I think may or may not be ultimately the explanation. Still, it works for me. My version may, or may not, work for you. I do think that whatever you believe can work powerfully. Personally, I like scripture from all religions. I even like trite aphorisms and sayings that help us remember to stay on track.

I love simplistic notions such as, ‘when life gives you lemons make lemonade’. It tells you precisely what to do. Yes, it is analogous to how we chose to view things and that there can be a positive action. It is simple and to the point. I like things like Psalm 23 ‘the lord is my shepherd I shall not want…’

Again, I don’t care whether the ‘shepherd’ is a real personal god, or a matrix. I like the mind set behind ‘everything is taken care of, my needs are taken care of, there is plenty, there is calm, there is power, I shall rest and I shall prevail. I believe anything can be a positive and useful reminder.

Use Aphorisms To Guide You

The key, as I see it, is to take control of the muscle between your ears and exercise it positively so that it works on or in your behalf. Your mind, our minds, do whatever they do. They run wild or the run on programming provided by other people, previously, and they do so habitually. Chronically. Whether we like it or not.

All your brain, your subconscious mind can do is say ‘yes’ to whatever orders are given it. Consciously, you can oppose but the subconscious mind runs the show. You know the analogy. The subconscious is the part of the ice berg we never get to see.

The conscious mind is the tip. So the conscious mind can articulate the instructions but the subconscious is the mechanism that carries these out. It will carry out whatever it is programmed to do. Most of our programming involves thoughts and strong emotions.

As a child you got caught doing something and felt bad. You felt negative and people said, ‘you were up to no good’. You personalized this to mean you were no good. You felt guilty, down, and blamed yourself. Since then, you relieve these feelings and thoughts consciously from time to time.

Use Your Brain – Control Your Thinking

They may continue to still influence your thoughts, feelings and behaviors outside of your awareness. These may be part of your self-image. It could also be that you have already resolved it and do not let it influence you. Perhaps, you learned from it and moved on.

It is a simplistic example, yes. Still, sometimes things are that simplistic and sometimes they are more involved.

The point is whatever, or however, or whenever or why ever we have limiting thoughts and beliefs, negative feelings and programming that causes us to think, be, feel or do less than glorious things, we can take charge, take control and change it for the better. We can make lemonade!

We do not have to be a victim to our past circumstances or our past conditioning. We can actually become free of it. In fact, I would argue, we are free of it, we just don’t know that so we act as if we are not. There is the story about Houdini, the world’s greatest showman and most re-known escape artist. Houdini would travel, during the days of vaudeville, to different towns and cities.

Stop Being A Victim

In order to get people to his nightly shows he would do stunts during the noon hour. Sometimes it was his famous suspended straight jacket escape. Other times it was to challenge the local police departments to lock him up inside a jail cell, naked and heavily chained and handcuffed.  He would always escape,

He recounted a time when he was cuffed, chained and imprisoned. Being a master locksmith and lock picker he gained access to his hidden pick and went to work on the locks. Freeing himself from the cuffs and chains he tried the door. Nothing. He could not get the mechanism to turn over. He continued. He tried and he tried!

What normally took minutes, was taking more time. An hour passed and he feverishly worked trying to open the lock. Normally, he was out in minutes, dressed and presenting his ‘miracle’ escape to the police and the press who stood by waiting. Houdini had never previously been defeated. ONE defeat could mean his whole career!

Another half hour passed. He was beginning to panic. His training however, included keeping calm under pressure. More than having a trained body having a trained mind was crucial in his business. He took risks and could not risk having a mind that did not remain calm and methodical in crises situations. He was tired, sweating, nearly defeated.

Exploration Is The Doorway To Adventure

He leaned back against the door for rest, exhausted and it swung open. He stood transfixed. There in front of him was an open door. It had never been locked! In this one time, with all the commotion restraining him in cuffs and chains and the press noting every moment, the police forgot to lock the door. No one noticed the mistake. NOT even Houdini!

He spent over 90 minutes wondering why he could not get the tumblers to turnover. He spent 90 minutes with his career most likely flashing before his eyes. He spent 90 minutes IMPRISONED in a jail cell when he was actually a free man. The fact that the door was not locked was LOST on him. For all practical intents and purposes he was a prisoner.

Had he not accidentally leaned against the door he would have never known. In this case, he walked out. Opened the cell with his clothes got dressed and strolled out having defeated the police as he always had in other cities. He could rightly inform them that this jail cell had been his most challenging ever!

We are already free! Unless we claim it and act on it we will act as a prisoner of our past. The time comes for each of us to open the door on our lives and walk through it a champion. Keep in mind Houdini was trained to escape. He spent years conditioning his mind and body to serve him in harrowing and dangerous times.

Awareness Is The Key To Change

We can do similarly. We can train our minds to serve us to deliver to us the kind of life experience we want. We can condition ourselves to be successful prior to any success or happiness showing up. We can make it through tough times and easy times when we take charge of our thinking process and make it work for us.

There is NO need to live as a prisoner to the past. There is no need to live as a prisoner of circumstances. The past has no actual connection to the present or the future except what we assign to it. We live from stories and scripts we have been told and we tell ourselves.

It is time to do some re-writing. Chose the happy ending first and reverse engineer it. Imagine the life you want to live and live it in your mind. Fill it with happiness, success, positive relationships and possessions; whatever you want. Enjoy the feelings of living as you want to and as you deserve to. Dream big. Enjoy it. Celebrate making it happen!

Spend time dreaming like this each day. Remember, we become what we think about. Thought precedes action. We program our subconscious mind through our thoughts and images accompanied by strong and powerful feelings or emotions. Dream your life and you will someday live your dreams. We get what we focus on.

Stop being distracted by circumstances. Just because things are tough doesn’t mean you can’t have the life you want. Do not let present or past difficulty distract or dissuade you from making your life the way you want it. Commit to it. Train your mind to see the good in everything and everyone. Train your mind to find opportunity and possibility and advantages everywhere you look.

Train your mind to find the positive and think positive thoughts most of the time. Stop blaming or criticizing yourself and others and accept that there will be tough times. You may even feel like giving up sometime. Don’t you dare! Keep going. Stay committed and be flexible. Adjust the plans but keep the dreams. Make lemonade!” Rex Sikes

Be glad this day. Celebrate!

NEWS    NEWS     NEWS     NEWS     NEWS     NEWS     NEWS  

*Horizons photo used with permission of Phil Koch.

NEWS     SOON     NEWS     SOON     NEWS     SOON    NEWS    SOON

I’M GOING TO LAUNCH THE NEW SITE SOON  –  Daily Inspiration And Gratitude’s new home is coming!  A new URL, a new look and feel. All this and new content will be at new site.

Some of you get this blog emailed to you, I don’t know whether that will continue or not. You will be able to subscribe to the blog and my new newsletter.

Please stay with us. I’d hate to lose you or have you miss any blog you want to receive. I’ll let you know when the change is taking place. I might launch and update as we go along.

PS YOU may know someone who could really benefit from hearing this message. Feel free to share this with them via social media or email. Buttons below make it easy for you to do so.

PSS  A great practice is read the posts daily and then go back and re-read from time to time. You will discover things you missed the first few readings. Try it, you will be surprised.

Subscribe and Follow Daily Inspiration and Gratitude!  Visit often. Feel free to comment. If you think others would benefit please share this blog with others.

Creating The Future, Decision, Happiness, Intentional Thinking, Joy, Novelty, Personal Development, Responsibility, Self Improvement, Smiling

Are You Stuck? If What You Are Doing Isn’t Working Do This Instead!

3 Comments

horizons bench in snow red

“Do you ever feel caught up or stuck in a routine? Not much changes from day to day. Certainly, at times there is good news or bad news but after while everything returns pretty much right back to how it was. Do you sometimes wish there was more to your job, career or life?

There is a saying we have usd to encourage people for decades. ‘If what you are doing isn’t working do something else. Do anything else!’ The reason this is important is because we tend to be habitual patterned, chronic thinkers and doers.

Do Anything Else

It has been estimated that 95% of our what we do is on automatic. We are routine in nearly everything. From how we get up to how we go to sleep and everything in between we approach it the same this time as we did last time.

How and what we eat to how we get to school, work or home is the same. We have an order to bathing and dressing. We do the same activities, watch the same shows, listen to the same radio channels. We worry about the same issues. Little changes in actuality.

Whether the percentage is accurate or not it points to the need to spice things up. I’ve always said, ‘Add Novelty to what you do’.  If what you are doing isn’t bringing you joy, happiness or success you want, or the results you get then do anything else. Add novelty.

Does this mean switch jobs? It might. That may or may not be practical and realistic. I prefer to think it means change some aspect of what we are doing for the positive. Change your thoughts about it.

Add In New Enjoyable Behaviors

Change your feelings. Change some aspect that allows you to start enjoying it. Add something in or learn to do something differently that works and that you enjoy. I am not suggesting you throw the baby out with the bath water. I am not suggesting overhaul.

Anything you do, obviously it is important that it is safe, healthy and of positive benefit for you and all others. It should be legal and not cause anyone, yourself included, harm. Be smart and be wise about these things. IT should go without saying…

Another principle is ‘If you always do what you always did you will always get what you always got’. So if most of what we do are the same things from day to day is it any wonder things remain mostly the same? If you love it then no worries. Keep it, delight in it.

Accentuate it if you like. BUT If you don’t enjoy it then this is a clue you need to do something different to get it working better for you. Do something else. DO anything else. There is another saying to keep in mind.

Results Originate Within You As Thoughts

The definition of insanity is ‘doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results’. These saying should remind us that we need variation. We need to learn to think and behave in new ways. We need to add to ourselves so we keep learning and growing or developing.

Many times I have written or quoted the reference number that at least 60% or better of our thoughts today are ones we thought yesterday and the days before that.  That alone indicates we certainly have room for some much needed changes, additions and improvements.

Music is created by sound vibration and silence spaced out. It you played the same note consistently it would not be appealing. In fact, after awhile, you would tune it out. It would become noise or white noise and your brain would eventually ignore it.

In noisy factories, often,  it is too loud for workers to speak or hear at first. After working in this environment for awhile people learn to talk and listen, nearly at conversational level, because the brain reduces or eliminates much of the background din. It no longer notices it because it is the same.

Change Your Thinking And Change Your Life

If we are so patterned and predicable as research suggests we need to begin to do somethings to maximize our potential and enjoy life more. It is sad when people don’t enjoy life as much as they could because they fail to realize and recognize everything there is to enjoy.

Another concept is, ‘Use it or lose it.’ The brain works much the way your biceps do. Exercise grows them. If you do nothing muscles and the brain tends to atrophy. If most of everything is the same most of the time it may be no wonder life is not as exciting and pleasurable as it could be. We need to exercise our BRAINS and Bodies.

There is a theory that the brain even produces calamity and dis-ease in order to have something new to do. It craves novelty and learning. Perhaps, this theory is correct. Perhaps not. As food for thought perhaps we should think and consider what we might do differently.

If what we are doing isn’t getting us what we want to be, do or have in life; If we aren’t experiencing the fullness of life as much as we want; If we are suffering from to much ‘trauma-drama’, things going wrong instead of things going right THEN perhaps we need to consider a change to what we are thinking and doing.

Begin Today Add Novelty

You can begin today. In these many blog pages are tips, suggestions, ideas, principles, practices, approaches and secrets that you can use to make yourself and your life more dynamic and vibrant, positive, powerful and wonderful. Smile more, laugh more that is a good start.

If you are not already using these to create the life you want then it most likely will remain the same until you do. You can practically bet on it staying the same. If you want changes in your life YOU will have to change things up. If you change nothing nothing changes.

Create the life you want and dream about. Stop dreaming about having it and actually have it! Make it happen. Take control of your thoughts and take control of your life. Have fun, have health, wealth and the kind of relationships you desire.

It won’t change without YOU changing it. You need to take charge and take control. You need to make it how you want it to be. Enjoy life, learn new things, do new things, think new thoughts.  Celebrate everything! Use the muscle between your ears to be, do and have anything you want. Make use of it today!” Rex Sikes

It is a new day. How will you enjoy it?

NEWS    NEWS     NEWS     NEWS     NEWS     NEWS     NEWS  

*Horizons photo used with permission of Phil Koch.

NEWS     SOON     NEWS     SOON     NEWS     SOON    NEWS    SOON

I’M GOING TO LAUNCH THE NEW SITE SOON  –  Daily Inspiration And Gratitude’s new home is coming!  A new URL, a new look and feel. All this and new content will be at new site.

Some of you get this blog emailed to you, I don’t know whether that will continue or not. You will be able to subscribe to the blog and my new newsletter.

Please stay with us. I’d hate to lose you or have you miss any blog you want to receive. I’ll let you know when the change is taking place. I might launch and update as we go along.

PS YOU may know someone who could really benefit from hearing this message. Feel free to share this with them via social media or email. Buttons below make it easy for you to do so.

PSS  A great practice is read the posts daily and then go back and re-read from time to time. You will discover things you missed the first few readings. Try it, you will be surprised.

Subscribe and Follow Daily Inspiration and Gratitude!  Visit often. Feel free to comment. If you think others would benefit please share this blog with others.

Attitude, Blessings, Celebration, Decision, Focus, Gratitude, Intentional Thinking, Positive Thinking, Self Talk

How To Be Happier, Healthier & More Successful – A Few Simple Ways!

2 Comments

horizons sun in sky field of lfowers

“Do you want to be happier? Happier people tend to enjoy life more and live longer. They are overall more satisfied. They do better in their careers. Typically, they have greater success and accomplish more things because they are happy. Would you like to as well?

You can! You can be happier and healthier in mind, body and spirit! You can enjoy life more. You can have greater and more fulfilling relationships with family, lovers and friends. All of your world can be much more delightful when you DO what the happiest people do.

How Happy People Live – What Happy People Do

Happy people do not necessarily have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything. They have the ability to look for the silver lining in all circumstances.

They look for the good in all people and circumstances and find it. They focus on the good they find and do not let themselves be distracted by gossip or less than glorious conversation.

They seek to inspire and motivate. They prefer to feel good. They do not get caught up in whining, complaining or blaming. They know life is too short and they are smart enough not to waste their energy.

Happy people know that what you focus on is what you get. They clearly realize that you become what you think about. They keep their thoughts and words and actions positive.

They  think, speak and act only to bless, heal, and prosper. They let others be who they are. They are open and accepting without judgement or discrimination. Happiness knows no boundaries.

Happy People Choose The Best Thoughts, Words And Actions

They understand it is not about what you have or how much you have because everything they touch they turn to gold. They celebrate and appreciate right where they are. The feel blessed!

They live with gratitude for whatever they have and whomever they are with. Whether they have a lot or only a little they are happy. Successful or not they are happy because they know happiness is a choice.

Happy people know that while others may have reasons not to be happy they do not. Truly happy people know that just because circumstances change that is not reason to choose to be unhappy.

The happy people know it comes from within. They understand it is their attitude and what is in their heart that matters the most. They know they can do anything when they think and feel positive.

They understand happiness is not an act or a destination but a process or a journey. They realize that to be happy they must actively choose to be happy. It is up to them. They are responsible. It is what they do actively on the inside that makes the difference.

Happy People Live In The Present

They know to have more in life you must be glad for where you are right now. They know that future moments are based on the way you live and think and act in this moment. They live in the present.

Happy people don’t make excuses when things don’t work out. They do find reasons to be happy. They take responsibility for it and make corrections. They focus on the solutions instead of problems.

They do not live in the past or worry about the future. The live in the present BUT with purpose. They know what they want. They know what their life means. They understand their mission. They have clarified what they want and that they want to be and do.

Happy people tend to live longer because they act younger. They delight in little things.  They stay young because they are willing to express their happiness and their joys. The laugh and celebrate freely!

They remain curious, fascinated and amazed. They know the value of a kind word. They know the power of a smile and of laughter. Because they laugh and smile they look, act, feel and remain younger.

Happy People Know It Comes From Within – Not Without

You too can choose to be happy. You can fill yourself up with good thoughts and feelings. You can read inspired works, listen to motivational audios and surround yourself with positive people.

If you do what happy people already are doing you too can be happy. Happy people don’t waste their time with unhappy thoughts or negative energy. They know that what you think about you bring about.

They live from their positive mindset, their attitude and their heart. The live from the choices they make. They are no different than you or I but they think and behave differently.

That is the critical difference. Adopt the positive thoughts of happy people and make them your own. You too will be more happy. Rain falls on the happy and sad as do bad times.

Happy People Choose To Be Happy

Happy people respond differently than the rest BECAUSE they do not waste their time with negative thoughts or negative energy. They do not major in minor things. They understand what is important and what is better to let go of.

It is one of those unwritten laws that success comes to those who already feel successful. It begins inside your mind and heart. You feel it and believe it then you make it happen.

While a few people do luck into it if you ask the most successful people they will tell you they knew it and felt successful before success arrived. Attitude first!

The same is true with happiness. It doesn’t come to you. You make it happen and fill your life with it. It is active and a choice you make each moment.

You are in charge of your own happiness by getting in charge of your own thinking. Waiting to be happy only keeps it in the distance. You must be happy now. If you can choose to be happy why would you ever choose not to be?

Happy people know this. They understand it is a choice. From this choice their lives have purpose and meaning. They don’t wait to be happy they CHOOSE it for themselves right now. You can too! Choose to be happy!” Rex Sikes

How will you celebrate this new day?

NEWS    NEWS     NEWS     NEWS     NEWS     NEWS     NEWS  

*Horizons photo used with permission of Phil Koch.

NEWS     SOON     NEWS     SOON     NEWS     SOON    NEWS    SOON

I’M GOING TO LAUNCH THE NEW SITE SOON  –  Daily Inspiration And Gratitude’s new home is coming!  A new URL, a new look and feel. All this and new content will be at new site.

Some of you get this blog emailed to you, I don’t know whether that will continue or not. You will be able to subscribe to the blog and my new newsletter.

Please stay with us. I’d hate to lose you or have you miss any blog you want to receive. I’ll let you know when the change is taking place. I might launch and update as we go along.

PS YOU may know someone who could really benefit from hearing this message. Feel free to share this with them via social media or email. Buttons below make it easy for you to do so.

PSS  A great practice is read the posts daily and then go back and re-read from time to time. You will discover things you missed the first few readings. Try it, you will be surprised.

Subscribe and Follow Daily Inspiration and Gratitude!  Visit often. Feel free to comment. If you think others would benefit please share this blog with others.

Acceptance, Affirmations, Autosuggestion, Celebration, Decision, Directed Questions™, Emotions, Focus, Habit Formation, Intentional Thinking, Positive Thinking, Self Talk, Visualization

What To Do When You Are Bothered By Negative Thoughts And Feelings

2 Comments

horizons red sky and field

“Negative thoughts and feelings can be trouble. What to do when you have a negative thought? It can ruin your day. It could interfere with your ability to feel happy and successful, pursue your career and enjoy life overall. Some people try to avoid negative thoughts.

Trying to fight thoughts and feelings usually only exaggerates them and makes them worse. You have probably found that to be true, right? There is a way you can get free from them. Would you like to know how? Keep reading.

Thoughts come and they keep coming. Many are repetitive, habitual, chronic old thoughts that just run on and on. The reason you keep thinking the same thing may be because you never attempted to direct them before.

How To Change The Old Into The New

It is estimated we think over 60,000 thoughts a day. 60 percent or more are the thoughts we routinely think. They are the thoughts from the day before and the day before that. The reason we have these repetitive thoughts is because most people don’t bother to learn HOW TO think better.

We think because we think that is how it has to be. We don’t realize that thinking is a skill and a process as any other. We can be good at it if we want to be or we can accept however we learned to do it. That is a choice each of us can make once we realize we have that choice. It would be nice to be a talented thinker, wouldn’t it?

Just like training a horse it can take some time but you can learn to think in new ways. You can think in new positive ways just as reliably and automatically as the old way. The way you learn to think new thoughts is you choose. You make choices. You decide what to think.

Decide To Become A Talented Thinker

You claim and you regain control. You put yourself in charge and you begin to decide what to think. That is what affirmations,  Directed Questions™ and positive self-talk is all about. You choose the thoughts and images you want to fill your mind with. You choose the best thoughts to think about yourself!

If you are up late at night and watching TV or a movie that you don’t like because it produces horrible thoughts or images what do you do to quit being bothered? Some people say turn it off. That doesn’t work because then you think about the last things you saw over and over.

Instead, you change the channel. You watch something else. You tune to something you enjoy. Soon you will forget about the old horrible show and images because you will be caught up in the new more enjoyable ones. You chose to put your attention elsewhere.

You Are In Charge – Change The Channel

You make positive thinking a reality in the same manner. You switch what you are thinking about. You don’t try to stop thinking negatively because what you resist persists. You don’t try to shut the less than glorious off rather you add in more positive, powerful, enjoyable, glorious thoughts.

You make the new thinking a habit by choosing to  think and affirm the new thoughts over and over repeatedly. You think them and add positive emotion and enthusiasm while you say or shout them out loud to yourself. Think of the intense emotions used in military training or sports training. Make your feelings intensely joyful!

Over time, the new thoughts take hold. You begin to think them more reliably and you begin to believe them. They become a part of you. They begin to come naturally and habitually. The older thoughts you think less and less. Your new thoughts take hold.

You Form Habits By Correct Practice And Spaced Repetition

Just as when you change residence. At first you may find yourself inadvertently traveling back to your former address. In time that will happen less and less as you continue to return to the new home address. Soon enough the new address takes hold and you always go there. You learn to go where you put your attention. It is reliable!

It works the same way you make a pathway in the forest or pasture. You travel the same route again and again until a path is formed. It works the same way in the brain.

You create new neural pathways to travel by choosing the thoughts you want to think and repeating them again and again. The key is to use strong, intense, positive strong emotions while affirming. The emotions are what wires in the thoughts.

Choose Your Thoughts

Choose to think new thoughts.  Become aware when you aren’t. Make a correction by adjusting thoughts that run counter to what you want. Change to a positive channel. You will feel better too.

Apply, correct, apply correct and soon over time you get the knack and develop the new thinking habit. It is not just the words but the feeling you have when saying the words. Once you choose to think better thoughts your feelings improve too! It works both ways.

But What If I Think A Negative Thought?

It is okay. We all do. We are human.

Frequently it means that thought is a signal to get your attention. It is a signal that you need to put your attention on something in order to avoid or resolve a difficulty. The same is the case with less than glorious feeling. It means you are focused in the wrong place.

Perhaps, you are more focused on what you do not want than on what you want. Notice the thought or feeling, acknowledge it and put you attention where you want it to be instead. If the thoughts stop or the feelings change for the better you got the message.

You Have  A Guidance System That Provides Feedback

Once you get the message stop focusing on the message. Apply your positive thinking on making the situation better. If it alerts you to something you do not want FANTASTIC!! Now turn your attention to what you do want and concentrate on making this happen.

Switch the channel. Focus on the positive thoughts you want instead. It may be something triggered old associations. That is okay it may happen from time to time.

If it persists it may be you need to listen to your gut. Something requires your attention. Calm down, relax, and accept it. Listen patiently. Learn to pay attention to your inner guidance. Once you get the message you will experience relief or at least the nagging will cease.

The Goal Is To Feel Good Most Of The Time

The goal is to think positive thoughts and feel better MOST of the time. It doesn’t mean we never have other thoughts. So you chose to and do what you need to do to feel good most of the time. If 60, 70, 80 percent of your time is spent feeling fantastic life will be too!

Negative thoughts can be signals. No worries. Utilize them when you become aware of them. Take it as a signal to put your attention  on what you want to include rather than what you want to avoid or exclude. Sometimes they are extraneous and nothing to be concerned with.

They serve as a signal message or as feedback so you can better move forward. Isn’t that great?  We have an internal guidance system. We have our own inner GPS that can take us to where we want to go. Learn to appreciate it, use it and it will serve you well.

We are fortunate that we have this system of guidance. We are fortunate that we can control and choose what we think when we want to. Do we have to be positive and happy all the time? NO the choice is yours. BUT when one learns the power of choosing how to respond in any situation all of life seems to remarkably improvel

Accepting things as they are is important too. If, for example, one suffers a loss of someone close to them. Grieving is a normal process. Allow it. It is not about trying to avoid or alter it. Let it process. Take your time, be sensitive and when ready move on.

What About Negative Feelings?

To reiterate the same applies to feelings. More often than not it is a signal to get your attention to make a positive change in some way. Again, don’t focus on the negative feeling. Put your focus on what you want.

It may be telling you you are off course or focused on the wrong things. So change what you are paying attention to or what you are focused on. If you then feel better you know you made the right correction.

The bad or less than glorious feeling is feedback. It is a signal you are headed or heading off course and alerting you to get back on track. Celebrate it.

It Is A Signal, Feedback, A Message – Pay Attention

We are so lucky to have this available to us. Learn to use it! AND use it! Pay attention and shift your attention as necessary. Energy flows where you attention goes. What you focus on you get.

Monitoring feelings makes everything easier. You either feel good or great or not so good or bad. The goal is to live life feeling the best you are able most of the time. You want to live with joy and celebrating everything.

When you feel less than glorious you are being notified that something is out of whack and requires your attention. Then move step by step toward feeling the best you can. Do whatever you need to feel better. Choose different thoughts, ask questions, go for a walk, skip, sing, dance. Change the channel! Feel better.

Sometimes feeling a little bit better is enough. It moves you in the right direction. For example, right now you are sitting wherever you are. You want to enjoy yourself in a theme park but right now you don’t feel that wonderful.

Drop By Drop Fills The Tub – Bit By Bit You Will Get There

Take a step toward the theme park you want to be at. You are now one step closer. Step by step you will get closer and closer until finally you are there. As long as you are headed in the correct direction you are making progress.

You may notice the closer you get the more eager anticipation you feel. With each step you can leave the less than glorious feelings behind. You’ll move into better feelings until finally you are there enjoying all there is to enjoy! This is how we nudge ourselves along.

Notice that as the eagerness increases you are thinking different thoughts. You attention is no longer on not having or not being there but on the things that you can’t wait to do while there. You are thinking about the fun so your feelings and thoughts change as a result.

Stop Being Critical – Learn How To Let Go And Accept

Accept wherever you are without being critical of yourself. We think we should be further along and better at it than we are presently. In reality, there is no place to be other than in this moment where you are. You can’t force it. Accept where you are at. Love yourself.

You planted seeds now let them grow without any critical commentary. Have faith, trust the process. Let go and let them grow. They wil blossom soon enough but maybe not in your time frame. Let it go. Relax and allow. Be patient. Everything in its own time.

Don’t add insult to injury by heaping less than glorious commentary on yourself whenever you think, feel or do anything. Learn to let go of that old habit. The ability to let go and accept is part of evolving into a more positive and powerful person.

When you let go and drop negative running commentary you and your mind are free to focus on creating what you wan. You are more able to align your resources to enable you to do that. You aren’t distracted by the comments.  You are singularly focused and this is powerful.

You Are In Charge – Exercise Your Ability To Choose The Best

Free yourself up to be who you are. You are a person who has choices and who can decide. Even if you believe you never have you still  can learn how to take charge. Bit by bit. In life you make countless decisions on what to wear, eat, where to go, what to do, what to watch.

Chose your thoughts. Chose the best thoughts. Make thinking positively and powerfully a habit. Enjoy the finest feelings you can find. Spend more time enjoying thinking better and feeling better. Soon enough it will be a habit and overall your life will transform.

Find things to appreciate about yourself, others and the world. Find the best in each and every moment and circumstances. Put a smile on your face and believe in yourself. YOU can do this. Start now and everything can change in wonderful ways! You can be delighted and surprised!” Rex Sikes

How will you celebrate this new day?

NEWS    NEWS     NEWS     NEWS     NEWS     NEWS     NEWS  

*Horizons photo used with permission of Phil Koch.

NEWS     SOON     NEWS     SOON     NEWS     SOON    NEWS    SOON

I’M GOING TO LAUNCH THE NEW SITE SOON  –  Daily Inspiration And Gratitude’s new home is coming!  A new URL, a new look and feel. All this and new content will be at new site.

Some of you get this blog emailed to you, I don’t know whether that will continue or not. You will be able to subscribe to the blog and my new newsletter.

Please stay with us. I’d hate to lose you or have you miss any blog you want to receive. I’ll let you know when the change is taking place. I might launch and update as we go along.

PS YOU may know someone who could really benefit from hearing this message. Feel free to share this with them via social media or email. Buttons below make it easy for you to do so.

PSS  A great practice is read the posts daily and then go back and re-read from time to time. You will discover things you missed the first few readings. Try it, you will be surprised.

Subscribe and Follow Daily Inspiration and Gratitude!  Visit often. Feel free to comment. If you think others would benefit please share this blog with others.

Attitude, Beliefs, Confidence, Creating The Future, Creator, Decision, Definite Chief Purpose, Expectations, Faith, Focus, Intentional Thinking, Law Of Attraction, Persistence, Responsibility

How To Stop Living Like A Beggar And Start Living Like An Emperor!

Leave a comment

horizons green clouds and grass sun

“Can you imagine the emperors of old. They were in charge. They had the power. They commanded and others obeyed. Can you imagine what it would be like to be an emperor? If you could command it and your words would be carried out. That would be pretty cool, wouldn’t it?

So what is stopping you? Think about that for a moment. What prevents you from living as an emperor? Yes, yes, I know those days are gone. I mean, why don’t you act like the emperor you already are? You do know that’s what you are don’t you?

Who Is In Charge

I mean, either you are in charge of you OR you are not. Either you are the emperor, the controller, the ruler of your own being or you are not. So which is it? Either you command things to happen or you hope they will.

When you hope you are really a beggar. You are hoping someone, something will be kind. You hope and pray things will work out but you don’t really know. All power is outside of you. Others have the power you have to beg to get their scrapes. Is this you? I hope not!

Live Like An Emperor. Stop Living Like A Beggar. Live as a champion. Walk and breath as a winner.

Stop whining, sniveling, begging, hoping, wishing, comparing and complaining. Stop worrying about your career, your relationships, your money, your life.  It isn’t helping anything so give it a rest!

No Whining Stop Worrying

Let’s pretend all this Law Of Attraction quantum physics stuff is true. You are a creator you are one with the universe. You are an aspect of the divine, an expression, a fractal, part of the hologram in which all is contained.

You are responsible for everything. You, your atoms, have been here since the beginning of time. You are one with everything.

This universe is as much yours as you belong to it. SO for goodness stake stop begging and hoping and wishing that you get some good part of it. Demand it and expect it. You create all of it. Create what you want.

Make it happen. You are responsible for all good things. So make sure YOU get some of them for yourself. All the other stuff I write about patience and kindness and going first, allowing and accepting and forgiving still applies. You are a benevolent Emperor!

It Is Your Decision And No One Else’s

It is all part of the whole and the whole is in each part. Stop acting like change comes from outside of you.

Everything necessary for having what you want is already in you. Exercise it! Use it. Claim it. Stop expecting something from the outside to grant your wish.

Grant your own wish! MAKE it happen. After all, that is WHO is making it happen anyway? Speak it into being! Think it into being! Your thoughts create your reality. Create the results you want!

While ancient texts, and new thought leaders and people like Neville and Hill and Wattles and current gurus all proclaim the Law Of Attraction realize YOU are the magnet in your own playground.

Stop creating division and become whole. Be congruent. Become one. Hill emphasized that YOU need to know what you want.  Make it a burning passion and desire. Have faith. Go for it and don’t stop!

Know What You Want And Go For It

Do whatever you have to, in positive ways. Co-operate with others, for the best for everyone, and you will get want you want if you never give up.

He didn’t say it would physically materialize over time.  No one said the atoms would magically assemble in the environment until it physically manifests while you meditate and chant,

Stop comparing and wondering if it will happen. Decide it will happen. Do everything to make it happen. YOU do it. You create it You attract it. Demand it of yourself and stop hoping somehow it will come together if you are just good enough.

MAKE it happen. YOU make it happen. Believe in yourself. When you understand you are responsible you can get out of your own way. Become congruent. Align your desires with your intentions and get what you want.

Stop Comparing Stop Wondering 

Stop the self-sabotage. Stop wondering ‘if’ it will happen. Put an end to the pleading. When you do these things you will stop being a victim and become a victor. You will take charge as you should You should be the person in control. Where there is a will there is a way.

Okay, NOW let’s imagine the LOA is a crock. It is BS. It is a fairy tale and none of it works. The same principles apply. You make it happen. No one else will but you. If you are going to get your goals it will be completely your responsibility.

Stop sniveling and whining and hoping and wishing. Stop doubting and fearing and worrying and comparing. Pull yourself up. Set your attitude right. Get it straight and keep it that way.

Know what you want. Make it a burning desire. Keep working it until you succeed. You will if you never give up. Either way it is up to you.

Attitude Is Everything

Make all your  goals and dreams come true. Go after it the way a champion athlete prepares for the Olympics.

Dedicate yourself. Have the right mind set, get the right coaching you need and train yourself to win. Keep going and don’t quit. No excuses. No reasons. No Blames. Live as an Emperor. Command yourself. Demand of yourself. Expect yourself to follow through. And Do it!” Rex Sikes

Transform today!

NEWS    NEWS     NEWS     NEWS     NEWS     NEWS     NEWS  

*Horizons photo used with permission of Phil Koch.

NEWS     SOON     NEWS     SOON     NEWS     SOON    NEWS    SOON

I’M GOING TO LAUNCH THE NEW SITE SOON  –  Daily Inspiration And Gratitude’s new home is coming!  A new URL, a new look and feel. All this and new content will be at new site.

Some of you get this blog emailed to you, I don’t know whether that will continue or not. You will be able to subscribe to the blog and my new newsletter.

Please stay with us. I’d hate to lose you or have you miss any blog you want to receive. I’ll let you know when the change is taking place. I might launch and update as we go along.

PS YOU may know someone who could really benefit from hearing this message. Feel free to share this with them via social media or email. Buttons below make it easy for you to do so.

PSS  A great practice is read the posts daily and then go back and re-read from time to time. You will discover things you missed the first few readings. Try it, you will be surprised.

Subscribe and Follow Daily Inspiration and Gratitude!  Visit often. Feel free to comment. If you think others would benefit please share this blog with others.

Attitude, Blessings, Celebration, Creating The Future, Decision, Emotions, Energy, Expectations, Focus, Gratitude, Intentional Thinking, Joy, Laughter, Law Of Attraction, Mindset, Positive Thinking, Responsibility, Self Talk, Smiling, Vibrations

How To Determine If You Are A Destroyer Or A Builder & Why It’s Important!

2 Comments

horizon house and sun

“Do you want to know the secrets to happiness and success? There are some. They are hidden in plain sight in most cases. Many people still manage to miss them. Have you? Do you want to know how you can more readily and more easily get ahead and create the career, life and relationships you want?

Is wealth and health important to you? If the answer is yes, pay attention to these concepts and principles. Apply these simple ‘secrets’ and you can dramatically improve the quality of your life. Wouldn’t you like to do that?

Alright, if you have been reading my blog for awhile you know me.

If not, I encourage you to go through and read other posts. Start at the beginning if you like, or pick mix and match. Reading is great.

Re-reading the same material is even better because you will learn new things with each re-visit. WHY? Because you will have changed between the readings. Okay, so you know me:

I like to keep it simple. While there are always shade of gray (I hear at least 50) I’d like to point out there is Black and White. While there is a gradient of temperature it is easier to refer to things as Hot or Cold. Other areas lend themselves to these notions as well.

Up Down; Good Bad; Large Small; Positive Negative: Rich Poor; Happy Sad; Tall Short; Fat Thin we could go on. OOOOOH – there is another one… On OFF.

Choose Positive OR Negative

There are always counter examples and exceptions to each and every rule but let’s keep it simple. Let’s work with Either OR. Is that okay with you? This is just to simplify and keep it simple. So the bottom line is:

You either think Positive Uplifting thoughts OR you think Negative ones.

You will never have a positive thought while focused on the negative. You won’t live a positive uplifting happy ‘I can do anything’ life focused on the negative, ‘I can’t do it, why do bad things always happen to me’ thoughts. It just isn’t going to happen.

If it does IT is extremely rare. (See, right there, I included the counter example right there for those who say… ‘but… but…’)

There are either Positive Uplifting People or there are Negative Downer People. People may be mostly one or the other. We may be either at some times in are life. BUT consider the example in the extreme EITHER OR.

Did you catch that, I included a counter example again for those who feel compelled to think… ‘but … but’.

Which Are You – Builder OR Destroyer

Put another way. There are Builders and there are Destroyers. Builders build, uplift and help others. Destroyers are those who tear down, take apart, criticize and blame.

You are either a Builder or a Destroyer. You are either Positive or you are Negative. Where do you spend most of your time? What do you spend most of your time doing? Who do you spend most of your time around?

DO you spend most of your time thinking about and pursuing what you want? Do you think about who and what you want to include in your life?

Do you consider who you want to be, what you want to do and have?

How much time do you spend happy, celebrating and are grateful for what you already have? How much time do you spend planning a better future?

Alternatively,  do you spend most of your time thinking about what you do not want? Do you focus on what you want to exclude? Are you most concerned with what you are trying to avoid?

Do you spend much time considering reasons why things haven’t worked out or criticizing yourself, others or circumstances? How much and whom do you blame?

Think about it. While there are variations let’s take it to the extreme. Which one are you? Which do you predominantly do? What are you focused on?

Are you a Builder or a Destroyer? Is your self-talk nice or not? Do you build up others or gossip and complain?

Whom Do You Spend Most Time With

There are Builders and Destroyers around you. The Builders, obviously are the uplifting positive people who help support you. They inspire and motivate you with their attitude, energy, thoughts and words.

The Destroyers are busy with negativity. They MAY be well intentioned but at the same time their attitude, energy thoughts and words are negative. They tend to be a downer. They can be discouraging, critical, harsh or blaming.

These people may be family, friends, co-workers, bosses, employees, people you associate with frequently or strangers you may meet from time to time. With whom do you spend most of your time?

Are your spending most of your time fraternizing with Builders or Destroyers?

Don’t be a bummer to the bummer people in your life. Don’t be critical, harsh or negative because you have energy vampires around you. That would be falling to their level. Take the higher road.

Live, love, laugh, celebrate and allow them to be who they are without judgement.

Spend Time With Uplifting People

Attempt to spend more of your time with the uplifting people whenever you are able. Associate with positive energy and positive thinking. Feel it. Surround yourself with Builders as much as possible.

Associate as little as possible with people who drain you and might bring you down.

Fill your mind with positive inspiring reading materials. Listen to motivational audio materials. Turn your car into a positivity classroom. Hang out with positive inspiring people. Attend fun, positive, inspiring learning events like classes, seminars workshops and retreats.

Enjoy community! Enjoy fellowship. Support and encourage each other. Help nurture and be happy for others. Celebrate everyone’s success and happiness. Don’t be envious or jealous. Be truly happy if others succeed before you do.

Go first! Practice the Golden Rule. Add value to others first. Help out. Give of yourself; your time, energy, money, whatever you can give, to make a positive difference for others. You will get back whatever you put out.

Put out the very best.

Spend Time Uplifting Others

Enjoy life moment to moment! Make it a priority. Feel your finest. Let go. Be grateful and be filled with joy as much as you can AS often as you can. Have a wonderful time!

Make each day worth living. Enliven your minutes and those of the people around you.

The more time you spend making others happy the more time you will be happy too. I’m not talking about sacrifice here. I am talking about feeling good and being a positive energy person.

The more time you spend feeling good, obviously the happier life you will have.

Smile a lot! Simply smiling will help change the flow of energy within you. Laugh a lot. Fill yourself with positive energy. Live with enthusiasm and energy. Be simple as a child.

Have fun. Delight yourself!  Focus on these and you will get more of them back.

Let go! Enjoy! Birds of a feather flock together. With the right attitude you will more easily handle any challenges or obstacles that may come your way. With the right attitude more of the people you want and hope for in life will be attracted to you.

Be a light! Be filled with light! Be lite! Delight! You will attract people, events, circumstances, (opportunities and advantages) that can help you and support you. Be radiant and they will come to you!

Birds of a feather flock together. Like attracts like. You get what you focus on!

Be A Beacon And You Will Attract The Best

Ignore the downer people. Don’t be rude. Just don’t get caught in their negativity. Let it go. Do not let those rain on your parade. Do not be bothered. Let it go like water off a ducks back. Instead, keep the faith. Have fun! I mean really have fun!

Be safe! Be wise! AND enjoy life whole-heartedly!

The world is filled with so many marvelous, wonderful, inspiring, and uplifting people. Be sure you are one of them! Find them and join them.

Live hot! Live Up! Live as a Builder! Live with Positive thoughts. Live with positive energy! The more you do this the more will be available to you. You will transform yourself and your life in the most wonderful and incredible ways. Do you want that? Then you know what to do! Begin now.” Rex Sikes

It’s too nice a day to not have a nice day. No matter what the day is like! Enjoy!

NEWS     SOON     NEWS     SOON     NEWS     SOON     NEWS

*Horizons photo used with permission of Phil Koch.

PS YOU may know someone who could really benefit from hearing this message. Feel free to share this with them via social media or email. Buttons below make it easy for you to do so.

PSS  A great practice is read the posts daily and then go back and re-read from time to time. You will discover things you missed the first few readings. Try it, you will be surprised.

Subscribe and Follow Daily Inspiration and Gratitude!  Visit often. Feel free to comment. If you think others would benefit please share this blog with others.

NEWS     SOON     NEWS     SOON     NEWS     SOON     NEWS

COMING VERY SOON –  Daily Inspiration And Gratitude’s new home.  A new URL, a new look and feel. All this and new content will be at new site. Some of you get this blog emailed to you,

I don’t know whether that will continue or not. You will be able to subscribe to the blog and my new newsletter. Please stay with us. I’d hate to lose you or have you miss any blog you want to receive. I’ll let you know when the change is taking place.

Attitude, Decision, Emotions, Energy, Focus, Habit Formation, Intentional Thinking, Living In The Moment, Positive Thinking, Positive Thoughts, Responsibility

How To Become More Aware, Stop Suffering & Start Living!

1 Comment

horizon whispy read clouds

“Do you battle inside yourself? Maybe often? Do you feel conflicted? You want something but feel you shouldn’t have it. You don’t do something but feel you should have. Isn’t that true? Would it be accurate to say, at times, you want to escape the turmoil inside?

You want to rid yourself of certain thoughts or feelings that cause discomfort or pain?

Everyone has some at times. We encounter ourselves. We experience anger when we promise ourselves we wouldn’t get mad. We have regrets we know we should move past or we fear the future when we know we need not. Is this you at times?

I certainly have felt this way.

A Zen Koan: The Warrior And The Master

A great warrior, a Samurai Warrior, approached a Zen Master and asked, ‘Where is the gate to heaven? Where is the gate to hell? Are there any gates? Where do I enter from?’

The warrior was a man of simple understanding. He knew life and death. He understood battle. He did not know or care about philosophy or wanting to learn another way. He simply wanted to avoid hell and go to heaven.

‘Who are you?’ the Master asked.

‘I am a Samurai! I am the leader of the Samurai! The emperor pays respects to me.’

‘You!’ exclaimed the Master. ‘You look like a beggar!’ He laughed.

The Samurai drew his sword to kill the Master.  Just as he drew the Master to him the Master spoke.

‘This is the gate to hell. This anger, this sword, your ego opens the gate to hell.’

The Samurai understood and immediately sheathed his sword.

The Master spoke again, ‘Here opens the gate to heaven’.

Heaven And Hell Are Within You

The mind, your mind, has the capacity for heaven or for hell. Heaven and hell are within us right now. The doors open by the choices we make. What we focus on is what we get. What we entertain and think about most is what we become.

What do you spend most of your time dwelling on? Is it positive and healthy or negative and less than glorious? Which gateway do you find yourself going through most often?

The Warrior was smart enough to recognize this and simple enough to not rationalize. In an instant you can move from heaven to hell or from hell to heaven. Our choice makes the difference. Our decisions govern where we end up. Where do you?

Heaven and hell isn’t a future place at the end of life. It is our moment to moment experience. We choose where we will land. We choose what we experience. We choose the gate we go through EVEN when we are not conscious of making that choice!

Awareness Is The Key To Making The Change

The moment the Samurai became aware that he was reacting to an insult was his opportunity to leave the gate of hell. The insult made him hot and angry. It bruised his ego. He suffered from it. He was prepared to take a life because of it.

The instant he realized the pain put him at the gate of hell he stopped! He put away his sword. He put away his hurt and his anger. He made a choice. He responded differently. He became new!

Thus, opened to him the gate to heaven. He no longer reacted out of habit. He made a change. He became aware that he could decide. He understood! His decision in that moment made all the difference!

Both Gates Are Inside You – Choose 

Choose the one you want to go through. Choose the one you want to spend time in. Where you put your attention is where your energy flows. Make the decision to live positive. It is a powerful choice. Put your awareness there. You become what you think about!

Napoleon Hill stated, ‘Any idea, plan or purpose may be placed in the mind through repetition of thought.’ We can replace old, tired, negative thoughts, feelings and habits with new ones. ANY idea, plan or purpose can be placed in the mind! Make your mind work for you!

Great masters, educators, philosophers, trainers, and texts new and old, have said the same for centuries. We can replace old behaviors with new. We can make new choices that help us live better. We can live from a powerful, positive place of well-being.

Life Is What You Make It Already – What Do You Want It To Be

We can make new habits by repeating the new thoughts and feelings often each day throughout the weeks to come. Awareness is the key that opens us up to recognize which gate we are at. We need not remain a victim to our reactions and prior conditioning.

Whenever we realize which gate we are at we can choose whether or not to go through it. Whichever we choose accept responsibility for the choice and the consequences. Whenever we realize we are at the gate of hell we can choose not to go there. It is up to you!

You may stumble many times. Eventually, you will go there less and less. Through making the choice to stop and not go through the gate of hell you are doing something of great importance.

In the instant you choose to enter the gate of heaven (and do so repeatedly) you will learn the new habit. It will get easier and easier to make better choices. You will become aware more and suffer less.

You can make new and healthier choices. You literally can be, do and have anything you want when you put our mind to work for it in the right way.” Rex Sikes

Live more fully today!

NEWS     SOON     NEWS     SOON     NEWS     SOON     NEWS

*Horizons photo used with permission of Phil Koch.

PS YOU may know someone who could really benefit from hearing this message. Feel free to share this with them via social media or email. Buttons below make it easy for you to do so.

PSS  A great practice is read the posts daily and then go back and re-read from time to time. You will discover things you missed the first few readings. Try it, you will be surprised.

Subscribe and Follow Daily Inspiration and Gratitude!  Visit often. Feel free to comment. If you think others would benefit please share this blog with others.

NEWS     SOON     NEWS     SOON     NEWS     SOON     NEWS

COMING VERY SOON –  Daily Inspiration And Gratitude’s new home.  A new URL, a new look and feel. All this and new content will be at new site. Some of you get this blog emailed to you,

I don’t know whether that will continue or not. You will be able to subscribe to the blog and my new newsletter. Please stay with us. I’d hate to lose you or have you miss any blog you want to receive. I’ll let you know when the change is taking place.

Attitude, Creating The Future, Decision, Focus, Habit Formation, Intentional Thinking, Law Of Attraction, Overcoming Difficulty, Persistence, Personal Development, Positive Thinking, Responsibility, Self Improvement

Get Back Up When You Fall Down! Never Stay Down!

Leave a comment

horizon blue snow orange sky

“Have you ever attempted to change something and faltered? What did you do? Did you keep going until it worked or did you give up? A lot of people give up. They try something and if it doesn’t work they quit.

They try to stop smoking, or diet, or exercise and then they smoke after days, or weeks or months of not smoking and they throw in the towel and go back to smoking. They eat something they shouldn’t and they fall off their diet.

They miss an exercise session and then another and another and soon they aren’t exercising at all.  Some have tried positive thinking or working with the Law Of Attraction (LOA) and then state, ‘I tried, but it didn’t work.’ So they quit.

It Is A Process! It Is Not Binary!

Have you ever done this? I sure have. These people, as I used to, think it has to be all or nothing. Either you are on task or you aren’t. If it is tough and requires too much effort, well, that too may be enough reason to quit. Many don’t want to work that hard for success.

People who give up after a falter need to reframe the meaning of failure or falling off the wagon. Obstacles, mishaps, falling down are all part of moving forward. If you succeeded at all for a little while, thinking right, eating right, exercising, not smoking, biting nails or whatever, then you have had success.

Success will breed more success you just have to let it. If you have had some success you can have more success you just need to stick with it. Take it moment by moment, day by day or step by step. If you fall down it means you get back up, dust yourself off and get doing it again.

The old adage is’get back on the horse.’ I used to have this very problem. I would succeed at something, then ooops, and I thought, ‘well that didn’t work’ and I’d quit. I’d give up. I tried and IT didn’t work. Later, I realized it was fine I didn’t work. In order for IT to work I had to make it work.

Get Back On The Horse

I determined in my own mind that if I screwed up I would still continue. I had come to the awareness that one screw up didn’t mean the whole program didn’t work. It did work! It worked and sometimes I might still make a mistake or a mis-step. I might fall down.

If I quit, fell down, fell off, or whatever, I simply resume. It took becoming aware that we are (I was and I am)  in a process. We aren’t done yet. Nothing is completed. As long as we are moving forward we can move forward past difficulties, issues and those times we screw up or feel like abandoning the program. We can continue!

These awarenesses came first. It’s okay to fall down. Success wan’t ended because of a failure. Success was ongoing as long as I kept going. Once I came to these realizations I decided I was not a quitter. The ONLY time you fail is when you give up, give in or quit.

Failure Only Occurs When You Stop Trying

Failure happens when you stop trying. As long as you are trying you aren’t failing! The only time I failed was when I gave up trying.

As long as I was, and am, someone who continues to attempt it then I am succeeding in some way. If I am succeeding in some way then I remain motivated to continue. Now I refuse to throw out the baby with the bathwater. So keep going. Keep doing! Keep making it happen inch by inch!

Keep in mind, ‘Winners never quit and quitters never win’.  You have to keep going in spite of falling down so that you can make it a new habit. A new habit will form and eventually take over and the hard work will end. You just have to hang in there, and keep doing what you are doing, long enough. Repetition over time is what causes habit to form.

The More We Do The More We Are Able To Do

Some people have the habit of quitting as soon as it gets tough. Some people throw in the towel after one or two attempts that don’t work out. Some quite after slipping up one or more times. If you are one of those, stop it. Stick with it. Keep going. It is a process and you will get there as long as you keep going. You absolutely won’t if you throw in the towel.

Anything worth doing is difficult at first. The more we do the more we can do because we become accustomed to doing. We can’t lift a lot of weight the first time we work out but by working out consistently we can lift more weight. Stay with it. Keep on keeping on. You will win, you will prevail. Keep the faith and make the change!” Rex Sikes

Make your day delightful!

PS YOU may know someone who could really benefit from hearing this message. Feel free to share this with them via social media or email. Buttons below make it easy for you to do so.

PSS  A great practice is read the posts daily and then go back and re-read from time to time. You will discover things you missed the first few readings. Try it, you will be surprised.

Subscribe and Follow Daily Inspiration and Gratitude!  Visit often. Feel free to comment. If you think others would benefit please share this blog with others.

NEWS     SOON     NEWS     SOON     NEWS     SOON     NEWS

*Horizons photo used with permission of Phil Koch.

HEADS UP!!!  COMING VERY SOON –  Daily Inspiration And Gratitude’s new home.  A new URL, a new look and feel. All this and new content will be at new site. Some of you get this blog emailed to you,

I don’t know whether that will continue or not. You will be able to subscribe to the blog and my new newsletter. Please stay with us. I’d hate to lose you or have you miss any blog you want to receive. I’ll let you know when the change is taking place.

Acceptance, Attitude, Blessings, Celebration, Decision, Flow, Focus, Forgiveness, Healthy Choices, Learning, Mindset, Persistence, Positive Thinking, Responsibility

What Should I Do When I Screw Up?

3 Comments

horizon footsteps in snow

“Have you ever let yourself down? You wanted to do one thing but did another? You made some progress in a given area only to fall back into old behaviors? Have you disappointed yourself? Has this ever happened to you?

A coaching client of mine came to me frustrated stating, ‘I struggle to stay positive. Sometimes I am able. Sometimes I succumb to less than glorious thoughts and feelings. I let myself down in my program. I am frustrated and feel bad. Sometimes things are great and sometimes all hell breaks loose. It shouldn’t. I disappoint myself. What to do?’

The following constituted my answer. Happily, by applying these insights this person got over many hurdles and has gone on to accomplish some really fantastic things in career and life.  You can do anything with the right mind set. Remember, all things work together for good!

Forgive yourself

Be gentle, be kind and be accepting. It is okay. All things are possible. You are on a journey. There is no expectation of perfection. Forgive yourself and continue on. When you fall get up.

The only thing that happened was that you fell. Don’t judge it. Don’t be critical because you fell. Be thankful you didn’t get very hurt. If you did nurture yourself and take care to heal.

If when you fell you hurt others. Get up. Own up. Apologize and make amends. Make good. Take responsibility. Look them in the eye and assure them it won’t happen again. Do your best to keep your promise. AND keep your promise!

None of what I am saying is about letting yourself off the hook if you did wrong. It is all about responsibility and taking care not to repeat. There are ways to do this that move you along further more swiftly and there are ways that keep you stuck and repeating mistakes.

I want to help you discover how you can more easily and readily change in the positive ways you desire.

Nothing Is Wrong In Falling Down

Nothing is wrong about failing to do what you hoped to as long as you stay with it. If you quit, if you throw in the towel and give up, then, yes, you failed. You stopped by your own choice.

If you are going to do that then forgive yourself. You made a decision. Accept it, own it, be responsible for your choices. It is entirely okay. That is what you decided. Give yourself some credit.

Do not blame or criticize yourself or others. If later, you decide to try again so be it. If not, so be it. Just accept that you have the power to decide. Decide to live without blame and criticism. Decide to live with love and light and life. Decide to celebrate everything.

Everyone Falls Down Sometime

So what? Get up and go on if that is what you chose to do. As long as you continue to assert yourself, as long as you attempt to continue you are learning and growing. You are a work in progress. Make many mistakes. That is fine. Attempt not to make the same mistakes more than once.

If you make the same one again and again keep working to change it. Realize you have some efforting to do and accept it. Focus on what you want instead of the mistake and gradually you will make it less and less. You need to develop some new habits and new ways.

Aim at what you want. Stop trying to avoid at what you don’t want. When you slip up for self and others do what has already been suggested. Make good. Don’t criticize yourself and move forward.

You are growing and evolving. Accept that wherever you are IS where you are. It is right where you should be given the choices you have made. All systems require correction. Your thermostat changes and corrects for temperature fluctuations. It gets feedback from environment and makes adjustments.

Use Changes As Feedback And Course Correct

So if you make a mistake, or you get off your chosen course you correct it. Don’t judge, correct and move forward. Don’t add insult to injury by criticizing yourself for being human. Being human means getting up and falling down and getting up again. Any negative commentary is unnecessary.

If you find yourself commenting in negative ways stop it when you become aware of it. Don’t go into a recursive loop of criticizing yourself for criticizing yourself. Many people do this and it is unfortunate. Stop blaming it does absolutely nothing of value.

Free yourself of this and go on. Love and accept everything about yourself and stop judging your progress. Don’t try to be further ahead. You will get there when you get there. Accept and continue to move forward. Comparisons can cause pain. There is no need to compare.

Step By Step You Get Closer To Your Destination

Bite by bite you get nearer to completing the meal. Drop by drop the tub is filled. You will get there. Don’t let mistakes, obstacles, challenges or influences bring you down. If they do, accept it and move on when ready. Ease up on yourself.

The sooner you keep going the easier it is. ‘Get back up on that horse!’ and keep on riding. Soon enough you will get the hang of it. We may always make mistakes, so what? We may always have difficulty, so what? Expect the best of yourself. Remain optimistic. Be positive and have faith. You can do it.

Accept That You Are Wonderful

Through it all we can learn to and have an incredible life. We can be filled with light and life and love. We can celebrate all and our joy can know no bounds. As you positively progress, as you become more aware, congratulate yourself for the positive changes.

Acknowledge, validate, celebrate and be thankful. Encouragement in the positive direction will help you move forward faster. Delight and live with more joy. Make this part of your purpose. Have fun.

It is all within each of us, the capacity to discover your true nature, your true power and your true gifts. You will find that you are absolutely worthy and deserving. No need to think otherwise. You are wonderful, accept it and enjoy it!” Rex Sikes

Discover what is good and new about today and have some fun!

PS YOU may know someone who could really benefit from hearing this message. Feel free to share this with them via social media or email. Buttons below make it easy for you to do so.

PSS  A great practice is read the posts daily and then go back and re-read from time to time. You will discover things you missed the first few readings. Try it, you will be surprised.

Subscribe and Follow Daily Inspiration and Gratitude!  Visit often. Feel free to comment. If you think others would benefit please share this blog with others.

NEWS     NEWS     NEWS     NEWS     NEWS     NEWS     NEWS  

*Horizons photo used with permission of Phil Koch.

HEADS UP!!!  COMING VERY SOON –  Daily Inspiration And Gratitude’s new home.  A new URL, a new look and feel. All this and new content will be at new site. Some of you get this blog emailed to you,

I don’t know whether that will continue or not. You will be able to subscribe to the blog and my new newsletter. Please stay with us. I’d hate to lose you or have you miss any blog you want to receive. I’ll let you know when the change is taking place.