Category Archives: Intentional Thinking

The Secret To Maintaining ‘Good Vibrations’ And Creating What You Want!

horizons icy beach yellow sky

“Alright, so the car breaks down and the rent or mortgage is due or overdue. The dryer went out and needs to be fixed as well. Plus, your child just got injured at school.  You work over 40 hours a week and seem to struggle all the time. Things are going from bad to worse.

You think, ‘Why me? How come nothing works out right. What do I have to do to fix this? How can I make more money fast? Now the car and the dryer. I’ll never be able to make ends meet. Everything is always going wrong.’ And you are correct.

You are suffering from a ’60’s case of Haight-Ashbury Bad Vibes. Your focus is on everything that is wrong and going wrong around you. If you keep digging a hole all you get is more dirt. And you are in a hole. You are stuck and will stay stuck unless you switch your thinking.

We Learned How To Be Stuck There Is No Shame In It

Many people are stuck. No one is to blame. That is how most of us live. Most of us grew up with people around us struggling too. We learned how from others. Circumstances can be tough. The world isn’t fair.We may know better but we do what we do out of habit.

The problem is where you put your attention.  Where you put your attention is where energy flows. If your attention and your energy goes into the current situation, the stuck state, and stays there you will get more of what you don’t want.

What you focus on expands. You become what you think about. Thoughts are things. What you think about you bring about. You actually magnify the problem in your mind. You give it energy and that is not what you should be doing. You should withdraw your energy.

‘How’ Doesn’t Help Get You Unstuck

When you try to fix it and solve it you are concentrating on what is wrong and what you don’t want. Your attempts to make it different ‘some how’ help to perpetuate the unwanted situation. Have you ever noticed that ‘bad luck’ seems to follow with more ‘bad luck’?

Things go awry and get worse. You do everything but nothing seems to work. That is because you create more and attract more of the same by what you are doing.  Like thoughts attract like thoughts. Birds of a feather flock together.

If you try to figure out ‘how’ to fix it; doesn’t fix it. You don’t know how. How is the big lie. You and I think if we only knew ‘how’ to make it different it would be different. But, sadly, that is wrong. We can’t make it better from where we currently are.

To break the cycle you must do something that seems counter-intuitive. You must do something that is not easy. It is simple but it requires effort and commitment. If it were easy everyone would have mastered it. You have to switch your thinking.

You Can Learn To Get Unstuck And Change Your Life

Bit by bit you have to move your thinking from your stuck problem state to your wonderful dreams and desires. You inch your way along, trading up your positive thinking. You do whatever you have to to put your attention on something that feels better.

Focus on your pet or your children. Think about something that makes you feel good when when you think about it. Go jogging, take a walk, a  bath, listen to music, read inspirational material, make love, go out for dinner. Immediately, do whatever you must do but put your attention into and onto thinking and feeling better.

Work your way up the ladder of positivity until you feel the most positive. Keep trading up your feelings until you feel the very best. Keep going until you are able to think about your goals and dreams and you feel really marvelous.

This can be difficult for a number of reasons. We will explore more in upcoming blog posts. One reason is because you are caught up emotionally in the bad circumstances. Your emotions are the key to getting free and living the life you want to be living.

Habits Rule Us – If You Want Success You Need Success Habits

To break the ‘bad luck’ cycle you need to take charge of your thinking, and get it under control. You need to take charge of your feelings and emotions. If you want your life to change you must change things in your life. You must change where you put your energy.

You want GOOD VIBES most of the time not the 60’s BAD VIBES. You want to think and feel best most of the time. When you are thinking positive, optimistic thoughts, and feeling good you are ‘vibrating’ good, high energy vibes. You stop vibrating the low, bad, negative energy vibes that are causing your difficulties.

Okay, I am using some metaphysical, hipster language that may turn a few people off but I think get my point. You create more of the same by whatever you think, feel and focus on most. Your current circumstances are a result of your prior thinking. You created it.

To have a new life you must create it first in your thoughts. You bring it about by your feelings. The future life is a result of the thoughts you presently think AND if you think about your dire circumstances your future will remain the same.

You Can Live The Life Of Your Dreams – In Fact You Should

To have a different better future you have to stop thinking about the circumstances, ignore them and think and feel better thoughts. You need to immediately turn your attention away from the negative thoughts and feelings and towards positive thoughts and feelings.

The value in this is that you create the new habit of moving away from the negative, the less than glorious, to the glorious. You condition your mind and feelings. The result is you spend more time thinking and feeling good. Feeling good is the fertile soil where your dreams grow and become reality. (More about this coming up).

When you do this repeatedly over the course of weeks you will build a habit for switching from the less than glorious and the less than productive to the glorious and the productive. You will gain control of your thoughts and emotions and begin transforming your life and circumstance for the better. Easy, no. Possible ABSOLUTELY!” Rex Sikes

Live joyously today!

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Horizon photo used with permission of Phil Koch.

GETTING CLOSER TO THE NEW SITE LAUNCH  – Daily Inspiration And Gratitude’s new URL is coming soon. Inching our way up on getting it up and running. The site will have a new look and feel.

If you get this blog emailed to you,  You will be able to subscribe to the blog and my new newsletter. Stick with me. I’d hate for you to miss anything when it switches.

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Staying Positive And Happy May Not Be Easy But Neither Is The Other Way!

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“Here are some thoughts to entertain and reflect on during your day.

“The brain is a strong as the weakest think.” Eleanor Dean

“Skill to do comes of doing.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

“The more we do the more we can do.” William Hazlitt

“I can’t help it.”  “That’s what we all say when we don’t want to exert ourselves.” Eva Lathbury

“Very little is needed to make a happy life. It is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.” Marcus Aurellius

“If you think you can or can’t do something you are right.” Henry Ford

“Staying positive and happy may not be easy but neither is living the other way.” Rex Sikes

“The common denominator of success — the secret of success of every man who has ever been successful — lies in the fact that he formed the habit of doing things that failures don’t like to do.” Albert E.N. Gray

Remember, what we think about we bring about. Thoughts are things. Our results in the outer world stem from what we first do in the inner world. Stay positive and productive. Fill your mind with the best, celebrate and be grateful. Feel joy and delight. You will transform your life. From within to without!” Rex Sikes

Another wonderful day to enjoy!

If you like this post and it helps you – help others by sharing and re-blogging.

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Horizon photo used with permission of Phil Koch.

GETTING CLOSER TO THE NEW SITE LAUNCH  – Daily Inspiration And Gratitude’s new URL is coming soon. Inching our way up on getting it up and running. The site will have a new look and feel.

If you get this blog emailed to you,  You will be able to subscribe to the blog and my new newsletter. Stick with me. I’d hate for you to miss anything when it switches.

Subscribe and Follow Daily Inspiration and Gratitude! Leave comments. Love your comments and thanks so much!

Working Harder Doesn’t Make You Richer Or Happier BUT THIS DOES!

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“Napoleon Hill in his classic book ‘Think And Grow Rich’ stated the following when it came to the accumulation of wealth. He stated these same ‘money principles’ applied to  fulfilling any goal. Here is what Hill had to say:

‘The steps call for no “hard labor.” They call for no sacrifice. They do not require one to become ridiculous, or credulous. To apply them calls for no great amount of education.

But the successful application of these six steps does call for sufficient imagination to enable one to see, and to understand, that accumulation of money cannot be left to chance, good fortune, and luck.

You Must Get A White Hot Burning Desire

One must realize that all who have accumulated great fortunes, first did a certain amount of dreaming, hoping, wishing, DESIRING, and PLANNING before they acquired money.

You may as well know, right here, that you can never have riches in great quantities, UNLESS you can work yourself into a white heat of DESIRE for money, and actually BELIEVE you will possess it.’

Earlier, just prior to these words he states, ‘Money consciousness’ means that the mind has become so thoroughly saturated with the DESIRE for money, that one can see one’s self already in possession of it.’

See Yourself Already In Possession Of It

There really isn’t much more to add. Hill points out that these principles came from Andrew Carnegie, a self made millionaire, at the time the world’s richest man, and from the study of over 500 hundred of the world’s richest and most successful.

I’d like to re-emphasize a few things. He states it is not about hard work or labor. If hard word and labor made people rich than many janitors, migrant workers and common laborers would be rich. It isn’t working harder it is thinking better that makes the difference.

He named his book THINK and Grow Rich because mindset, attitude, is one of the greatest determining factors for success in attaining any goal. Education was not a pre-requisite. Plenty of drop-outs have attained great wealth and accomplished great things.

Attitude Is Everything

So, in not education or hard work, what did he state was important. Imagination and desire. One had to be able to see the goal as already accomplished. One has to be able to see the good one wants as already theirs. One must believe it is theirs to have and to possess.

Attitude, the unwavering faith that one will succeed no matter what, is crucial. Persistence and planning accompany success. One must never give up if one wants to succeed.

These principles are simple to implement but not necessarily easy. If they were easy everyone would be rich. It requires daily commitment.

Give Up The Standard Excuses Everybody Uses

Too many quit too soon. They fail to realize their dreams when obstacles arise. You must not. You can’t give up and still win. You must persist and prevail. Learn from the obstacles. Adjust your plans, your route, but keep going towards it. Never quit. Commit!

Here is a very important point Napoleon Hill points out, as have other New Thought Leaders, and even ancient texts. You have to know what you want. You have to see the end result. The end result is the Burning Desire. It IS what keeps you motivated and inspired.

You must imagine it as if you already have it. BUT you DO NOT have to know how you got it. Never get hung up on how. The how will take care of itself as you move forward. Once the seed is planted in the mind it begins to grow. It grows in darkness.

Why You Want It Is More Important Than The How 

People use ‘I don’t know what to do’ or ‘I don’t know how’ as an excuse to not act. You don’t have to know ‘how’ but you do have to know what you want. Keep your mind on your burning desire.  Stay focused as Hill prescribes. This is key to getting it. Don’t get distracted.

Your mind will work on it day and night and while you sleep to help you formulate the plans and the hows. That is the brains job. The plan you begin with will not be the plan that takes you across the finish line. Your plans will change. That is okay. Be flexible.

We only know ‘how’ after the fact. Edison didn’t know how to make a light bulb work until it worked. THEN he understood how. The Wright Brothers didn’t know how to fly until after they got airborne. Then they understood.

Hindsight is 20/20

Hindsight IS 20/20. We can see the path only after we arrived and look back. We can look back over our life and see how the decisions we made brought us to where we are today. After the fact we know and understand how, but never before. So don’t use that excuse.

Don’t think you can be lazy and succeed. That isn’t what Hill implies. What he emphasizes is that it is NOT what most people think it is (hard work, education, luck, upbringing, economy, politics, etc.) that determines success. It is not those things.

Most people use those as excuses for why they can’t or haven’t succeeded. Napoleon says the way to riches and success and happiness is clear. He modeled it and studied those who mastered it. Success comes to the prepared mind.  There is  a formula.

Read Think And Grow Rich

Remember, we become what we think about. What we think about expands. What we think about we bring about. Napoleon said, ‘What you can conceive and believe, you can achieve’. Don’t let excuses prevent you from going after what you want.

I leave you with this quote from Napoleon, ‘When you begin to THINK AND GROW RICH, you will observe that riches begin with a state of mind, with definiteness of purpose, with little or no hard work. You, and every other person, ought to be interested in knowing how to acquire that state of mind which will attract riches.’

There Are 6 Steps To Get What You Want

Implement Napoleon Hill’s six steps for attaining your desires. Read and study them in Think And Grow Rich. This book has stood the test of time. Countless lives have been improved from having read this book. I know mine has. Yours can be too! It is powerful!

We could discuss Hills work for decades. It is so deep and layered. Study it! You will be glad you did. See you tomorrow.” Rex Sikes

What a beautiful day to enjoy!

If you like this post and it helps you – help others by sharing and re-blogging.

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Horizon photo used with permission of Phil Koch.

NEW SITE TO LAUNCH SOON – Daily Inspiration And Gratitude’s new URL is coming soon. The site will have a new look and feel.

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

Stick with me. I’d hate for you to miss anything when it switches.

PS 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.

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Do This – Live Well And Enjoy More!

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“What must we do to have the life we want and deserve? How do I get unstuck? How do we manifest what we desire? Does what we do make a difference? What should I do to make everything better?Does the Law Of Attraction actually work?

How do I eliminate bad habits? How do we change our lives? How do I live the good life? So many people ask me questions like this. I know they are on the minds of many more. How do we have a great life? That is what these blog pages are all about.

I hope you are going back through them and reading and re-reading them. Make them a study because thoughts and ideas you missed the first time or second time through will present themselves to you each time. You will learn and discover new things you missed.

Everyday is a gift! We never know how much time we have on this planet. It could all be gone tomorrow. Later today it could be over. We should cherish the time we have.

Cherish the people we love and like. We are here briefly and then gone. Some religions have conditioned people that our reward isn’t here but elsewhere at another time.

Live And Enjoy Now

That is really sad. Much of Christendom and many religions preach this.  That is not what I find when I study the Bible or other ancient texts. I see a garden paradise intended for us. I see that abundance of all good things our birthright. It is right there on the pages.

I don’t care what religion you adhere to there is no reason to suffer here. Our rewards are now! Right now while on earth! Maybe there are elsewhere too but the God of the Bible puts our rewards on earth first. Since you are here and reading this – claim your fabulous earthly life. Claim the promise of prosperity and happiness.

Declare it! Believe you deserve it. Unfortunately, too many people have learned the opposite while growing up. They have been sadly misinformed and mistaken. You need to change your mind! Every day is an opportunity to love and to live fully and abundantly now!

Every moment! Each day is an opportunity to learn more and improve yourself and your circumstances.  We only have so much time here so use it wisely, use it well. Use your time to smile and delight more!  Love more, celebrate more and live more fully.

Let go of the past and anything that holds you back. Give it up.  Drop anything that was yesterday and less than glorious. Learn from it and let go of it. Become free! BE free now. Time is short. Let it go!

Embrace the future and put your back against the past. Don’t let anything hold you back or hold you down. You deserve better!Be grateful now! Be thankful for everything no matter what it was. Let it go and be grateful.

Let Go Of The Old

Celebrate this moment and everything in it. You and I are blessed in more ways than we can ever realize. Begin looking for those ways. Open your eyes. Find and celebrate all the good things around you right now!

Forgive yourself.  Forgive those who may have hurt or harmed you past and present. Let it go. Forgiveness is not an act for them it is an act for you. You are not giving anyone else a free pass you are giving yourself a free pass to move on.

Never be held back by less than glorious circumstances. That is the big lie. You can move beyond it and be free. Heal yourself through forgiveness and gratitude!

Wait patiently and expectantly. Seeds plant grow under cover of darkness. Most of what sees do we never see. We never see how growth occurs we only notice benchmarks in progress. Be patient and know good things come to those who wait.

Don’t give up keep moving forward. There IS a time to harvest. You will discover so many wonderful things if you let go, forgive, celebrate now with gratitude and be patient.

While waiting stay in the present. Stay focused on your blessings right now. Parts of your brain will attempt to get you to think about the past and regret it to protect you from doing that again.

Write A New Story

There is a noble intent to regret and that is to not ever engage in that same behavior or activity again. The brain will also project into the future to protect us by anticipating what might be coming. Worry is noble too in that it is an attempt to prepare.

There is nothing, absolutely nothing, wrong with the brain attempting to prevent the past mistakes or avoid future ones but some people get caught up and miss right now.

Now is where all the blessings are. Right now is where the celebration is. Right now is actually all you have. The past is gone only memories we relive and the future is only a projection, it is not here yet.

The gift is our present. Staying in this moment helps keep us calm and peaceful. Enjoy and delight in this moment. In each moment.Life is meant for you to enjoy! You have a short shot when all is considered. Live it well.

It doesn’t matter so much what you have as it matters who you are. Be the kind of person who savors and enjoys life. Dream big and live large. Have fun, smile and laugh. If you fill each present moment with so much positive enjoyable living you will have lived well! Don’t you think?” Rex Sikes

How wonderfully can you spend today?

If you like this post and it helps you – help others by sharing and re-blogging.

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Horizon photo used with permission of Phil Koch.

NEW SITE TO LAUNCH SOON – Daily Inspiration And Gratitude’s new URL is coming soon. The site will have a new look and feel.

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

Stick with me. I’d hate for you to miss anything when it switches.

PS 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! Leave comments.

Do You Have What It Takes? This Quality Separates The Winner From The Pack

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“One quality often separates the haves from the have nots. The winners from the not winners. Those who are victorious embody this attribute. What is it that divides champions from mere mortals, the successful from the non-success? Persistence!

People who have made great wealth are persistent. Olympic athletes who medal, or those who compete multiple times are persistent. These people don’t quit. They’d rather fight than switch, they would sink with the ship.

They will do anything to not fail and succeed. If you want to cross the finish line you must stay in the race.

Many champion athletes have known great heartbreak, injury and setback but have gone on to face incredible odds and prevail. Countless self made millionaires have built fortunes and lost them only to build them again. They don’t let falling down keep them down. They get up, dust of and move on.

Keep Moving Toward Your Goal Step By Step

These champions in sports, wealth, business, and life do what other people neglect to do. They work every day towards their goal. They relentlessly pursue their major purpose and they develop habits to move them along.

They repeat that which makes them successful. They condition their mind and their being for success. They do whatever it takes.

They let nothing stop them. Mistakes, obstacles, that which appears as defeat does not defeat them. There is no failure in falling down, getting up and going on to cross that finish line. The only ones who fail are those who leave the race early. Winners keep moving forward. Challenges and obstacles are part of playing the game.

Successful people may adjust their plans but never give up their dream. They learn what works and what doesn’t by continuously trying. Sometimes they get lucky but it is because they keep going after it until they discover opportunity and advantage.

Successful people persist in the face of relentless opposition. They don’t let well meaning people discourage them from accomplishing their dreams.

Learn From Obstacles And Challenges

The learn the power of focus and have learned concentration and how to tune out and ignore distractions. They use their time well. Habits rule our lives and they learn success habits that support them in their pursuits.

Our habits can either help us to succeed or be the reason we don’t. We need to insure, as the champions do that we have success habits.

Habits can be changed. If you have some that don’t serve you well this is great news. Habits can be changed through awareness and effort. You need to notice when you aren’t doing what you want to be doing and then do what you want to immediately.

You repeat this process. You are aware of starting to engage in the old habitual behavior and you stop, decide to engage in the new behavior you want to become a habit.

You have to repeat this over and over. There are different estimates on how long it takes for a new behavior to become habit. The range is somewhere between 21 to 90 days.

This is great news! Within a relatively short period of time you and I can learn positive productive habits that can revolutionize our lives!

Play The Game Well And Enjoy Winning

When you get rid of the habits that hold you back and replace them with positive new ones your life will change for the better. It may take some time, yes, but it is worth it.  Whenever you begin to engage in the old habit, stop, decide to engage the new behaviors and praise yourself for noticing the opportunity to change. Don’t be critical or hard on yourself. Instead encourage change.

AS you notice yourself engaging in the new habit celebrate. Celebrate everything. A good habit is formed by engaging in the good habit, the correct behavior, repeatedly over the time period.

As the new habits take hold you will be amazed and delighted with the progress. You too, just like the self-made millionaires can make changes and become unstoppable. You can see yourself over the finish line and make you dreams come true!” Rex Sikes

Smile big live large today. Enjoy everything!

If you like this post and it helps you – help others by sharing and re-blogging.

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Horizon photo used with permission of Phil Koch.

NEW SITE TO LAUNCH SOON – Daily Inspiration And Gratitude’s new URL is coming soon. The site will have a new look and feel.

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

Stick with me. I’d hate for you to miss anything when it switches.

PS 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! Leave comments.

A Critical Secret Necessary For Success

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“In times long past there was a practice that has long been lost. It meant the difference between remaining the same, staying stuck at a certain level of existence, and moving forward into success. It was a way of life that has been lost in modern times. Tiny remnants remain and while that is good news it is true we suffer from the loss of this practice. What is it?

Apprenticeship. The art of being and apprentice or a disciple. From early times on there was a path to mastery whereby the knowledge sought, the skills necessary we learned between a talented master craftsperson and an apprentice.  There was a process of becoming a knight. One did not just declare oneself a knight.

Nor did one declare oneself a master mason, carpenter, educator or anything else. One learned from a master and when the master deemed the student ready to progress then and only then did the student learner move to the next level. We certainly don’t do anything like this today, at least, in my culture.

What we have is beneficial and a tiny remnant of this important educational process. We have mentors. Studies indicate that nearly 94% of successful millionaires attribute their success to having at least one mentor in life or business. They attributed their wealth creation directly to having a mentor.

A mentor is someone who can show them the ropes, who can advise them and tell them what to focus on. A mentor can tell them what to do and what not to do. They share their mistakes and the student benefits from not only their knowledge but their experience. Wisdom comes from experience and nothing can replace that.

Finding a success mentor is a great way to become richer. You want someone who has been where you are and who is doing what you want to be able to do. Their experience should parallel your experience as much as possible. You want someone who has traveled the same road you need to, but before you, so they can show you the way.

Nearly 70% of self made millionaires said having a mentor was critical to their success overall. You want to find a good mentor to help guide you. Along the way you may meet many. Your parents, relatives or family friends could be your first mentors. They might become mentors later once you are older.

Books are good for gaining insight but there are obvious limitations. You do not get any human feedback. Still, you can learn much from books and should read to better yourself. You might find someone in your work, or while attending seminars, or networking. Whomever ends up being your mentor is someone who you respect and trust. You need to know they have your interests in their heart.

Learning and evolving is wonderful and each day you can become more of the you that you want to be. You can dream big, aim high and reach your destination making your dreams come true. A mentor can help you in ways you may not readily be able to help yourself.

Alone, you can still succeed. You will be schooled by hard knocks and learn life lessons by trial and error. NOTHING can ever actually replace  experience. Be glad! What you learn along the way will stay with you. It will become a part of you. Pursue your dreams and do not quit.

You may have to be your own cheering section but persist. When you do you will celebrate the win. You can be, do and have anything you want in life. So go after it. A trusted mentor will bring you great value but don’t let being alone stop you. Go for it. Make it happen!” Rex Sikes

Make today a wonderful one

If you like this post and it helps you – help others by sharing and re-blogging.

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Horizon photo used with permission of Phil Koch.

NEW SITE TO LAUNCH SOON – Daily Inspiration And Gratitude’s new URL is coming soon. The site will have a new look and feel.

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

Stick with me. I’d hate for you to miss anything when it switches.

PS 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! Leave comments.

Stop Wasting Time: Invest Your Time!

horizons tracks and blue sky

“You can never get back? You can lose money and make more again. People have been devastated by losing everything they own and yet they rebuild and purchase more stuff. Loved ones and friends once gone are gone. Cherish them. Still, there is that something else we can never ever get back.

We take it for granted it but once gone it is gone for ever. It never ever gets returned to us. You know what it is.  It is time. Your time! Once spent it is gone forever. Perhaps, the reason why we aren’t more thoughtful, or careful or protective of our time is because there seems to be an abundance of it. Yes, there is. There IS always plenty of time!!! Until there isn’t.

We do not live as if we were actually our last day. IF WE DID you can bet we would have very different days. WE do not treat our loved ones as if it may be the last time we ever saw them BECAUSE if we did we would treat them very much differently. No, we seem to always think there will be plenty of time.

So we watch television. We spend endless hours on social media. We play electronic games or find many different ways to distract us from what is truly important. We may hang out in bars, read graphic novels, scour the internet for another silly animal video. Maybe we just while away the hours in bed.

The point is there are only so many hours in a day and only so many days in one’s life. I don’t believe we should live as though we are being chased, we shouldn’t fear life we should enjoy it. We should enjoy and value our time with family, friends and alone! Often, when people get older they begin to feel like time is running out. Some feel this way even when young. I don’t think that is what we want either.

What we do need to do is learn to invest our time wisely. We ought to put it to good use. We can use our time feeling wonderful, making positive changes, improving our life circumstances. We can evolve ourselves, pursue goals and dreams and make wonderful things happen. We should discover and go after our major purpose in life.

Investments can pay dividends down the road. Time wisely invested in learning to be happier, healthier, more loving and have more loving relationships seems like time well spent. You can learn how to become more confident and live more fully; become financially secure; improve your life and help others improve theirs.

If you realize you don’t actually have all the time in the world perhaps you will spend your time more wisely and productively.

Studies of successful people show that those who have become millionaires watch little TV. Maybe an hour or less a day. They don’t spend much time on the internet. WHY? Because they are busy building their lives. The less wasted time the more time they had available to pursue their dreams.

Use whatever time you have in smart ways. Go for your goals. Invest in yourself! A great use of your time is in celebration and gratitude because you can do it anywhere and everywhere. You can feel happy right now. Be thankful for your blessings in life. Smile and laugh more. Love more. Enjoy the people around you and each moment you have! Celebrate it!” Rex Sikes

Have a brighter day today.

If you like this post and it helps you – help others by sharing and re-blogging.

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Horizon photo used with permission of Phil Koch.

NEW SITE TO LAUNCH SOON – Daily Inspiration And Gratitude’s new URL is coming soon. The site will have a new look and feel.

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

Stick with me. I’d hate for you to miss anything when it switches.

PS 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! Leave comments.

How To Quickly Manifest What You Want

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“People often ask, ‘How do we create or manifest what we want?’ ‘Is there a way to attract to ourselves what we desire?’ They want to know if there are ways and how to work it all the more quickly. Can we reduce the time it takes to make things happen? What must we do?

The quickest way to become what you want to be in life is to say ‘I am’ that which you want to be. Declare it! ‘I am happy’; ‘I am successful’; ‘I am loving’; ‘I am healthy’.  What you think about you bring about. You can declare ‘I have health’; ‘I have wealth’; ‘I have everything I need to be happy and successful’. Affirm it!

‘I Am’ is creation. ‘I have’ is creation. You declare what you want as though you already have it. You imagine the good you desire in life and you affirm it. ‘I am’ is the spoken word you declare. ‘I am’ is the picture you seen in your mind. ‘I am’ is the feeling. Feel it fully!

Picture what you want as thought you already have it and savor the incredible feelings. Feeling are the key. Just repeating things endlessly makes no difference. You must see, say AND feel what it is like to already have that which you desire for the future.

Those feelings are the creative power. See it. Declare it done. Feel it fully. It is all three! It is the combination of all three,  pictures, your word, and feelings, that make your affirmations powerful. “As a man thinks in his heart so he is’.  Affirm what you want.

Declare what you want. Your affirmation is your mantra. Repeat it again and again. What you focus on expands. What you think about all day long you become! When you ‘act as if’ you already have you everything you desire and feel it fully your brain gets the message and works full steam to bring it about.

Then get out of the way and allow yourself to have it. You have to be able to receive without resistance. This is hard for many people. You have to believe it is on its way. If you get distracted and think about how your current circumstances are different from what you want you set up resistance. What you resist persists. Stop it!

If you want a new car declare it. Then accept it is on its way. If you do all the creating but then you keep complaining about the current car you are noticing the lack of the new car. Your focus is on what you don’t like and don’t enjoy.

If you knew you had a new car on order and that is is coming from the dealership you’d be eager for it. Without question. You would also know it was on its way without question. You wouldn’t doubt whether it was going to materialize. You know it is because you ordered it and the dealership is delivering it.

You’d feel great knowing you are the owner of this new car and excited about. If you won the lottery and you this for a fact. You’d be thrilled even though you haven’t received the money yet. You still know the money is yours because you won it. THIS FEELING of having it already is how we create what we want in life.

It is the steadfast focus on what you create and the wonderful feelings of possession that open the floodgates. The easiest way to get what you want is to simply feel the best you can most of the time. Live in celebration and gratitude. Love and enjoy everything. Then your mindset is incredibly positive and powerful.

You feel marvelous. If you feel marvelous most of the day, every day, whether or not you got your dreams everything would still be incredible. The secret is when you feel wonderful most of the time you are creating and inviting good things into your life. When you feel incredible life is incredible! This is the way to live!

To feel wonderful you must think wonderful. AND you must do those positive things that encourage positive feelings. Celebrate and be glad. When feeling down shift yourself out of it. Get yourself to feel at least a little bit better. Make yourself! Move toward delight until eventually you get there. Keep moving step by step. Bit by bit.

Dance, sing, play, laugh, skip, walk, do whatever you do to feel your best AND keep doing it. Enjoy life and everything about it! When you love it all you accept it all. You get out of the way so you can be gifted with all good things. You radiate, vibrate, magnetically attract and create because you are that kind of person. Life is grand!

You want to get the things you want as quick as possible? Stop focusing on lack. Stop being distracted with petty annoyances and daily frustrations that bring you down and tire you out. Live fully. Be alive. Have fun, feel good. Be of good cheer.

Be positive and thankful and everything will come your way most quickly. Live, love, laugh and celebrate everything! Live with passion and with zest and you can have everything you want!” Rex Sikes

Whose day will you brighten today?

If you like this post and it helps you – help others by sharing and re-blogging.

NEWS    SOON  NEWS    SOON  NEWS    SOON  NEWS    SOON

Horizon photo used with permission of Phil Koch.

NEW SITE TO LAUNCH SOON – Daily Inspiration And Gratitude’s new URL is coming soon. The site will have a new look and feel.

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

Stick with me. I’d hate for you to miss anything when it switches.

PS 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! Leave comments.

A Secret I Learned To Keep From Spiraling Down And Out During Tough Times

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“What do you do when things go awry? What do you do when the fan is hit hard? Times can get tough. There are obstacles and challenges. We all go through them. What can you do? How do you apply these principles to make a difference?

I can tell you what I do. I have been challenged recently in some big ways. Years ago it might have meant screeching to a halt or hitting the skids. Today, it is much, much different. It doesn’t mean challenges are less severe it means, sometimes, I handle them better.

I Take Control Of What I Imagine And What I Say To Myself

When I become aware that I am feeling down and out, or thinking negatively or beginning to wonder ‘why in the world am I going through this’ in that instant I realize I have a choice. I can continue to spiral down or to apply what I know works. I’m at a decision point.

When I am wise enough I apply what works. I give up. I accept that I have no clue what is going on. I let go as much as able and I remind myself ‘things always work out for the best for me.’ I know, it sounds trite but it is actually true. Things do work out for the best.

In the long run, that place far away that we can’t see yet, everything does seem to work out well.  I have written before that many times people look back at the ‘worst time’ in their life and state emphatically had it not been for that time they would not have and enjoy where they are right now.

What We Focus On Is What We Get

I know sometimes we have to really search to find the good or the lesson but it is hidden there as a seed. We just have to find it! When times are tough my mantra becomes ‘things always work out for the best’. I think ‘how come I am so lucky, so blessed and fortunate!’

I turn my attention to what I am grateful for and celebrate as much and as enthusiastically as I can. I make it a point to have faith that everything will resolve in a positive way even if I can’t see it or understand it. Somewhere, somehow, good will come of this.

Whether you believe it or not, whether it is accurate or not, really isn’t the point. It allows me to move through it faster and stay more resourceful. It helps me focus on  being productive and consider what I want and not spend time dwelling on what I don’t want.

Times can be very tough for any one of us. This is one of the best ways I know how to get through tough times. I know that every time times are tough I somehow manage better because between those times and during those times I apply these principles I am sharing as best I am able. Whew, did you get that?

Your Mind Is Obedient Once You Learn To Control It

This is one of the reasons I write so much about building positive habits because they will carry you  once established. There is strength in a strong foundation. It is also why I write about loving and praising yourself through difficult times or when mistakes are made. Criticism and self loathing doesn’t help any.

You know what? I don’t know why shit hits the fan. I don’t know why it rains on the rich and the poor or the good and the bad. I don’t! I know what I might believe about it. I know many different philosophic and scientific answers for why but I don’t know that any are true. I don’t think it really matters to know why.

I prefer to think somehow it is to wake us up. Whether by design or intelligence OR NOT, bad things happen and are opportunities to confront our programs and patterns and wake up to them. These events and circumstances challenge us to become aware and go beyond how we routinely react. So we can move into new ways of being.

The World And Her People Hold Mirrors Up For Us To See

While I may not immediately recognize them as such, I reframe the tough times as gifts. Blessings to help me examine myself and become better. The challenge for me is to look inward and not outward for the solution or the cause. I want to learn to respond with awareness not blame or accuse others or events.

Gifts to become more aware. Gifts to become free. Seems sad sometimes that we wake up through loss and tragedy but perhaps there is no other way to get our own attention. If nothing shakes us up we just go on doing what we have been conditioned to. So I think of less than glorious circumstances as a necessary evil.

I may resist them. Fight them. BUT when I surrender to them I always learn something and grow more. It hurts to grow sometimes. There are growing pangs. AND I certainly haven’t all the answers. Actually, I have very few. What I can have is faith in myself.

Turn Resistance Into Assistance

I can have faith that everything always does work out for the best, somehow in the long run. Then I begin to look for the blessing s and opportunities hidden inside these situations. Whether right or wrong I get more done. I don’t feel so bad and I stay on track. It is helpful for me to consider it this way. Attitude is everything.

Life is a series of adjusting to stay on course. Just as when you drive your car down a straight lane. You are always adjusting left and right to stay within the lines. So why should it be any different in anything else. If I get negative I adjust back toward the positive. I feel better. The more I make the adjustments the easier the next adjustment becomes. This is how habits are formed through positive repetition.

So, celebration, gratitude, looking for blessings and finding them in the midst of trouble is a skill we can develop. This too can become a habit. As said before, habits may be difficult to initiate but once formed they are difficult to break and they will carry you. It is good to have positive habits. “everything always works out for the best!'”Rex Sikes

I hope your day today is amazing!

If you like this post and it helps you – help others by sharing and re-blogging.

NEWS    SOON  NEWS    SOON  NEWS    SOON  NEWS    SOON

Horizon photo used with permission of Phil Koch.

NEW SITE TO LAUNCH SOON – Daily Inspiration And Gratitude’s new URL is coming soon. The site will have a new look and feel.

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

Stick with me. I’d hate for you to miss anything when it switches.

PS 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! Leave comments.

What You Do Most Of The Time Determines Your Success

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“Balance is important in much of what we do and how we live our lives. If we want to get ahead, be happier, healthier and more successful in career and life then we have to tip the scales in favor of those. We must do positive productive things repeatedly more often.

What we think and feel and do most of the time runs the show. We can’t be 50/50 and expect to be a champion. We need to give it our all to be a winner. We need to spend most of our time practicing the principles that bring us what we want in life. That’s just the way it is.

80/20 Is A Good Point To Keep In Mind

A coaching client said to me recently, ‘I try to be positive all the time. Life is so much better when I am not negative. It seems hard, however, and I have to know do positive people ever have negative thoughts?’ I answered, ‘I suppose. That depends on the individual.’

Certainly, I can’t answer for all. However, it is a good bet that they do. Given how most of us are raised, even with the best of intentions by the best parents, we have picked up limited thinking from others around us. That is just the way it is. No point complaining or blaming.

There is no use getting upset about the way of the world. That just adds fuel to the fire. The reality is anything and everything is possible. Some people have more and others have less advantages. So what, the opportunity is to make the best with what you have.

The More You Do The More You Can Do

To complain, resent or worry about it doesn’t change it. However, getting upset may be the catalyst for our own personal changes. Sometimes, we end up feeling ‘okay enough of this’ and we resolve to be different. We move forward once we have had enough.

The most positive people I know, who have been my mentors, have had negative thoughts from time to time. By their own admission they did so. They just do not let the negative thoughts run away on them. They do not let negative thoughts rule their lives. Nope, no way!

Once they notice them and recognize them for what they are move on. The steer back to the positive thoughts. They use the negative thoughts or feelings as a signal to make some changes in what they are thinking or doing. They really do understand them as signals.

Today You Are Where Your Thoughts Brought You

They use the ‘less than glorious’ a signal that they have gotten off course. They recognize that an opportunity has presented itself. How soon this occurs for each of them, or each of us, depends on how good we have gotten noticing and shifting back. It is up to us.

Changing our thinking takes awareness and skill. The most positive people I know are positive because they deliberately take charge of their mental processes. What is natural or haphazard for most people they  have learned to make deliberate.

They are in control of. They are in charge. All of us can get down. Time is the great healer. At some point we get over things. Then we feel better again until something else happens and we don’t again. We live like a cork bobbing on the water influenced by outside forces.

Tomorrow You Will Be Where Your Thoughts Take You

The positive people I know don’t allow the outside forces to have much control over their internal state. Sure, from time to time it may. Sometimes, people get dealt a really difficult blow. In general though, the positive people control their thinking and responses.

They have learned by trial and error to develop positive habits that support them. I know no one who claims it happened over night. For every single person  it is a process. It took dedication and deliberate work to make it reliable and automatic. Yes, it can and does!

So when they do have negative thoughts or feelings the positive person is not a victim of them. The positive person examines them only long enough to determine whether there is useful feedback and then moves on. Anyone of us can learn to change our thinking.

You Can’t Escape Your Thoughts

Anyone of us can learn to control our thinking and feelings in positive and powerful ways. The questions is will we? No one has to if they don’t want to but if life is not everything you want it to be or have hoped for there is a way to make it better. Anyone can.

Life can become much more glorious. When you become positive MOST of the time there is a wonderful quality to it that we otherwise seem to miss. The opportunity before each of us is in learning how to make it mostly positive and to live powerfully.

I think learning to take control of our thinking is one of the most profound, glorious and exciting things we can discover and do. I am in awe most every day! When negative thoughts or feelings do arise, and they do, we run they show, our thoughts don’t. You’re in charge!

You Can Control Your Thoughts

For most all of us that is a pretty BIG deal. I don’t even know how to describe it. It is wonderful. As I have been known to say, do it! Do it. And do it step by step. What you discover will amaze you. Drop by drop fills the tub. You will have what you want when you persist.

There does comes a time when automatic positive habits rule the day and less effort is required. You naturally are more positive most of the time. Things get easy and require less attention. I didn’t say no attention but far less. When negativity arises you change it back.

As you make the changes you want life will become more and more incredible. There is no way to put words to it. When each day becomes a celebration and each moment an opportunity to enjoy it more life is good! Live it! Live, love, laugh and enjoy!” Rex Sikes

Make today incredible!

If you like this post and it helps you – help others by sharing and re-blogging.

NEWS    SOON  NEWS    SOON  NEWS    SOON  NEWS    SOON

Horizon photo used with permission of Phil Koch.

NEW SITE TO LAUNCH SOON – Daily Inspiration And Gratitude’s new URL is coming soon. The site will have a new look and feel.

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

Stick with me. I’d hate for you to miss anything when it switches.

PS 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! Leave comments.