Category Archives: Living In The Moment

Acceptance, Attitude, Beliefs, Celebration, Creating The Future, Creator, Decision, Emotions, Energy, Focus, Forgiveness, Getting Over The Past, Gratitude, Habit Formation, Healthy Choices, Intentional Thinking, Living In The Moment, Overcoming Difficulty, Personal Development, Positive Thinking, Responsibility, Self Improvement, Unlimited Power

Stop Living In Pain! Connect The Dots To Feeling Better

Leave a comment

suffer more in imagination than reality

“Have you ever played connect the dots? You know, you start at one dot and follow each until an image emerges. Will you do it with your life? Can you look back and see how each event that stands out in your mind and each decision you made has lead to where you are right now?

At each historic event in your life there may have been many pathways to alternate results. Can you see how your decisions at each point have lead you to where you are today? Can you see that? While it may appear there were any number of possible choices and outcomes can you see that given your decision you are right where you are supposed to be?

I do not mean you were predestined nor do I mean someone other than you is dictating the outcomes. What I mean is given the choices you have had in your life can you, or are you willing to see, looking back, how the decisions you made were stepping stones to the present?

I’ll give you an example. I had someone I deeply loved who broke up with me as a young man. I was horribly crushed. I didn’t want a future without her. Had she not broken up with me I would not have the incredible children I have today.

While it may be true I may have had other children and been happy had we stayed together we did not. What I do have are two children I love and adore and could not be happier as a result. Do I mourn the breakup now? Absolutely not.

I had a car accident that kept me laid up for a long time in a part of the country that wasn’t my home. As a result I eventually met the woman who became the mother of my children. Had I not had the terrible car accident I would never have had these children.

Do you see what I mean? Now, in these examples it appears I am only pointing to events outside my control. Things that happened to me. That is part of it. It is what the universe offered. Events happen. Inside of each I made countless decisions that affected my present at that time and the future outcomes.

For example, I stayed after recovery to have the relationship that lead to my children. Had I chosen to return home and not continue the relationship I would not have my kids. I had to give up certain things in one part of the country to have other things in another part of the country.

One of the points I am trying to make is that each dot leads to another and the entire picture emerges but we don’t see it all at one time. We don’t know the eventual outcome. How we view each dot is important. I could abhor my present and look back and see how each dot has lead to now, and how I might have decided otherwise.

No point crying over spilt milk. Yes, you or I may have decided otherwise at anytime but did not. Get over it is the only thing to do. We can not, nor should we, regret the past. If we can’t change it we should find a better use of our thoughts and our time.

We can use those feelings though to decide to change our present and have a better one. We can determine to have a better future too. This is when past exploration is useful if it leads to a set of wiser choices in the now that we can make.

Otherwise, sifting through the crap in our lives, living hurt and disappointment over and over again is a pointless, devastating use of time. A key to having a happy life is knowing how to use your mind to look for and find what you want. Another key is knowing how to spend your time doing what brings you those results.

Look into the past and recognize choice points. Notice how upheaval events, big boulders, are the stepping stone to now, and without them you would not be who you are today. Whether or not you successfully negotiated those, whether or not you appreciate the outcome they are part of your history.

Therefore, they have helped determine who you are today. For goodness sakes be grateful!!!

Without them, perhaps, everything would be different. However, there is NO without them. They are historically in you past. Examine how those events, no matter how horrible, have contributed to you. You have lived on. Days, weeks, maybe years have passed since that time, those times. Appreciate this!

If you are dragging the boulders with you everywhere you go that is a difficult way to travel. You need to put them down and let them go. You need to examine how, no matter how terrible they may have been and how life crushing they were at the time, those very events are disguised blessings. Appreciate this too!

Inside each were, as there always IS, choice points we face. There are always decisions we have to make. In each decision we made, whether the result was better or worse, is the seed of opportunity for betterment. Find the seeds! They are within the dots!

Whatever we did, however we chose, brought us to right now. If you don’t like where you are right now, maybe you can imagine, whether true or not, a greater force trying to get your attention to make better decisions. My guess, it is not coming from outside you but from within you. YOU are trying to get YOUR attention.

Negative feelings are your way of signaling YOU that you need to make a change. They are telling you you are focused on the wrong things. You are focused on what you do not want. The signal value will get as loud as necessary for you to hear it and change things.

Some people, instead of recognizing the signal and changing what they are doing, live with the negative feelings. Imagine, a messenger shows up at your home and instead of taking the message and acting on it you invite the messenger to live with you. Some people tolerate negative feelings and pain instead of making change that benefits them.

They are simply mistaken. The don’t realize the feelings are there to get their attention The feelings are yelling “HELLO! IS this bad enough yet? HELLO, HELLO? okay well then we’ll ramp them up and see if this get’s you to pay attention. HELLO HELLO!”

On and on it goes as a vicious cycle because the human isn’t aware of why those less than glorious feeling are there. They are there so you DECIDE to change your focus. That is all they truly are! Use them don’t continue to be abused by them. Stop and change what you are paying attention to. Stop paying attention to the negative thoughts and feelings!!! Use the feelings only as a guide, as a messenger!

You can’t change the past but you can use the past to change what you are presently doing so that you get better results. Part of this evolutionary self change means reframing the past as necessary. Look at it and assign different meaning to it.

Assign a more useful and productive meaning to it. Notice how each dot follows the other in some way as a road map to now. Find the good in each disappointment and you are doing something incredibly valuable for yourself! You will transform the past when you find the good. The result will be a better present and future!

You don’t have to live in regret and personal woe. At this moment there is a choice what to do with the past. You can keep hurting or you can decide to live happily and victoriously. Even considering these notions is a choice point for you. What will you do?

I hope you will look at each moment meaningfully and positively and find the good that has come from each disappointment. Sadly, many people miss all the positive, incredible, stepping stones in their life because they only see the boulders.

That is narrow, limited vision and no way to live. One only lives that way because they made looking for what is wrong a habit. You can change that! There is plenty of wonderful events and good too that should not be missed. Habits should serve you you should not serve habits.

Silver lining surround every dark cloud but we have to look for it. We need to find the good. Train your mind to find the good, especially if you have never trained it to do so. If you have not deliberately trained your mind to find the good, to see the positive, to celebrate everything, then you won’t. Make it a habit!

Your mind will run on and on doing whatever it learned to do haphazardly and carrying out the programming given it by others. That is not how you want to live and use your mind. Claim it back and train it to find the strength, the confidence, the happiness and joy that are there that you are missing because you don’t know where or how to look. You can do it!

This moment is an opportunity for you to take control, resolve the past, forgive and let go. It is an opportunity to make the present marvelous and move into the future with confidence, power and joy. It is the opportunity for you to create what you want instead of living as you don’t want.

You always have choices whether you know it or not.  Only, you have to decide. NO decision, to not make one, is actually a decision to do nothing. Waiting is only waiting. Someday never comes, today is all we have. You and I can live it positively, happily with an attitude of gratitude for everything that came before and what we have now.

When we are grateful for everything, truly grateful, there is immense power within you to create and attract anything and everything you want. You become a magnet for blessings, opportunities and advantages. Celebrate everything!

You live with purpose, deliberately using your thoughts and feelings to have fabulous day no matter what crap the world hurls your way. When you are grateful for everything. When you are grateful for every decision you made, regardless of the outcome, you are beginning to take responsibility for you. When you can take 100% responsibility for you is when the miracles begin happening!

Then nothing is left up to chance, nor to anyone else. You are the captain of your life and the master of your fate and the creator of your circumstances. You become more fully alive and dynamically charged. There are no blames, no excuses only celebration and gratitude and this is an incredible way to live.

You can have it all when you decide to take charge. When take responsibility for all your decisions, your thoughts, feelings and actions you are the master of these and your life becomes magical! It is absolutely wonderful. Yes, crap may happen, but life is wonderful.

Won’t you do this now for yourself? “Rex Sikes

Be good and kind to yourself today!

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, Attitude, Beliefs, Creating The Future, Emotions, Expectations, Faith, Focus, Gratitude, Living In The Moment, Persistence, Personal Development, Positive Thinking, Relaxation, Responsibility, Self Improvement, Visualization

Do This: Whenever You Are Frustrated. When It Just Isn’t Happening!

1 Comment

unworry more - most never happens

“Why are you frustrated? You don’t seem to be making headway fast enough? You probably hate it when someone says, ‘relax. Be patient.’ You don’t want patience right, you want your efforts to pay off now! Don’t you?

That, wanting, that desire, that insisting, THAT IS your suffering.

You are trying to push a rope. You are trying to force the process. You are trying to make water boil faster and you just can’t. Instead of relaxing and letting go you are getting hot. You do need to be patient and that makes it all the more difficult, doesn’t it?

You are split. You want it, it isn’t working. You know you shouldn’t feel this way but you do. You go back and forth, you can’t make it hurry and you are in a hurry. You are divided. Bouncing back and forth as if off walls. Guess what? You really CAN’T force it.

You do have to relax and wait. SO you might as well learn how to.

If you don’t know relaxation methods you should. Learn them when you don’t need them or when you do. Just take sometime and learn to relax, let go and enjoy life in spite of everything. Learn the value and importance of taking a break, a vacation from your woes. Listen to relaxation mp3s online or CDs. Take a class.

Go somewhere nice for a few days. Enjoy something. Actually take your mind off it. Meditate, go work out, work in the garden. Walk. But take a well needed, well deserved break. Seek to develop the abilities to accept, to let go, to relax and to be patient.

Those who are truly successful know what they can and can’t control. If they can’t control time then they use their time to feel better. The unsuccessful use their time to feel worse. Which do you want to be?

Go golfing, swimming, camping. Engage in a hobby. Have some fun. Let go. Successful people take out their yacht, their Porsche. They do anything to take a break. They aren’t going to let themselves feel frustrated when there are better feelings to enjoy!

You can be, do and have anything you want in life when you first determine what it is you want. Then you passionately let it consume you and you pursue it with persistence. You don’t quit until you have it.

You can transform yourself into a relaxed, successful person with a winning attitude and winning behaviors by beginning to imagine yourself as that kind of person, if you aren’t already.

Go back through my blog site and read and review my posts on how to become who you want to become. Learn to do what you want to be able to do. Find out how to get whatever it is you what to have.

Patience is your attitude and behavior while you wait. It is what you think and do in the meantime. It defines who you are. Patience means you are waiting for an expected outcome.

Imagine how different people were a couple centuries ago. There was no instant on anything, no high speed internet, no jet travel, no microwaves. Whatever time it took, took the time it took to complete.

People had to wait for water to boil; it took time to build a fire and warm the house. Trips took however long they took by horse, ship, and eventually by rail. To cross the ocean or the country you live in took a long time.  You couldn’t be in too much of a rush if things too weeks and months. My guess is they were qualitatively different than we are today.

For everything there is a season. Farmers planted and harvested in whatever time it took. They grew up used to waiting. Waiting was a big part of life. Mail took a long time. Communication and change was slow. There was no emergency medicine as we know it. No 911 responders.

People had a much different relationship to time. My guess is that they were less in a hurry than modern people because they grew up waiting for many things. Either you got used to it as a life style or you suffered. BUT they also didn’t have any difference to compare it to.

Those who have grown up with instant access, drive-up banking, microwaves, high speed this and that, the media and advertisers’ promise of faster, quicker, overnight, you can have it yesterday magic pills and silver bullets, get frustrated when things take time.

We think everything should be quicker, easier, take no effort, take no time AND be better. Our thoughts determine what we experience. We don’t have the same quality of patience as the people who lived long ago. We need to think the thoughts that serve us better. Our thoughts are what we can control!

That farmer, back then, planted and expected to harvest a crop. Sometimes the weather or conditions changed and crops failed, Sometime they were more bountiful but either way that farmer planted, WAITED and EXPECTED to harvest. It took all the required time it took. He had to do other things in the meantime!

Wait and see meant wait and see.

Patience requires faith. In faith you wait for what you believe will happen, what you know will happen. You wait for what you expect to happen. After all you expect the sun to come up tomorrow. It is a given. You expect the Christmas holiday madness near the end of each year. These are givens!

If you chose to take a pleasure cruise across the seas you expect to get to your destination. You don’t doubt that you will get there, although anything is possible. You have faith that you will arrive when you arrive. So you can relax and enjoy the journey.

When it comes to making our dreams come true and accomplishing our goals patience is required. We plant the seeds, we think about it day and night, we visualize, we affirm, we work our plan and we wait.

How we wait is important.  Either you are patient and expect good things or you are frustrated, tense, hurried and frazzled.

If we are patient we know it is happening. It is coming there is no question about that. It’s a given! The time doesn’t matter because we have put it into motion. We are initiators. We are creators. We make things happen. It will happen, we know it, it is just a matter of when. We have faith.

Yes, that may be tougher today because of our modern conveniences and our relationship to time but patience is still required. It is an attribute or characteristic that serves us well.

We shouldn’t be making excuses and whining and complaining and blaming others or the era we are born into. We should be cultivating winning behaviors and attitudes that make our success and happiness more likely.

You don’t cultivate new thoughts and behaviors thinking and doing the old ones repeatedly. We must change our thoughts and behaviors if we want changes in our lives. We must develop those areas that help us reliably get what we want.

We need to exercise our positivity, our faith, our patience and our persistence. We must commit to excellence.

We must wait expecting the positive outcome. We can’t dig the seeds up and check. We must not let out circumstances convince us that anything but the outcome we want, or better, is on the horizon.

If we give in to worry, doubt, fear, we undo our efforts. We get mixed results. We take a step forward and then backwards. We get caught up. Then we don’t have faith, patience or positive expectations. We are frustrated. You don’t move forward quickly if you undo each forward step you take.

We are looking at the wrong things. We are looking at results we created previously that are presently manifesting while the new results are growing in darkness. Keep your faith no matter what.

In order to get what we want we must remain laser like focused. We must rest assured. We must be convinced. We must know in our heart we have done the necessary work (when we actually have) and now it is only a matter of time. AND we continue to do whatever is necessary; we continue to have faith and wait expectantly.

How do we live in the meantime? We celebrate, we enjoy, we live in the present to the fullest. We delight and are thankful and live with true gratitude. We let every moment fill us. When there are obstacles we overcome them by utilizing our personal resourcefulness.  We have a winning attitude! We know how to relax too.

We live with passion, we live in this moment knowing good things are coming in the future. We know that what we have put in motion and what we keep in motion will be ours soon enough. We know the garden we planted in time will bloom. We nurture it along and enjoy where we are now at. This is a great way to live!” Rex Sikes

Enjoy and have fun today!

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, Decision, Definite Chief Purpose, Flow, Focus, Habit Formation, Happiness, Healthy Choices, Joy, Law Of Attraction, Living In The Moment, Love, Personal Development, Positive Thinking, Relationships, Relaxation, Self Improvement

Do This One Thing To Feel Better And Think Clearer!

Leave a comment

stop sign

“Do you sit home watching television, eating a snack, while on the computer playing a game?  Are you someone who texts while walking or talking to others? Do you try to work while holding a conversation on social media? Hey, we all do it!

Most of us think it makes us more productive to be able to do more than one thing at a time. It doesn’t. Research indicates doing more than one thing at a time tends to stress us out and isn’t good for our physical or mental health.

Too Much Is Too Much

We tend to communicate more poorly when doing multiple things at once. It is activity that may make us feel busy but is not productive behavior. We can be busy but not accomplish much. We are far more productive when we do one task at a time and complete it.

An aspect to the practice of Zen or meditation in general is to learn singularity. To be able to focus and concentrate. When we have purpose and become ‘one with the task’ we are freer.

We learn to control the ‘monkey mind’ which jumps from thought to thought and activity to activity, and slow down to enjoy being in the moment. Slowing down is something most of us need to learn well!

You don’t have to practice Zen or meditation but it is useful and beneficial.  What you can do is simple. Do fewer things at a time. When you eat simply eat and enjoy your food. Slow down.

Focus And Be Healthier

Obviously, we use eating to socialize and the family meal can be an important time. So make it a point to enjoy eating this way when alone at home or in a restaurant. On a subway, while enjoying a snack or meal, focus on the food and enjoy it.

Concentrate on eating and chewing slowly and savoring each bite. Don’t read, don’t look at your phone, don’t converse, don’t watch TV, just eat. Let it nourish you! It may seem difficult at first because we are so accustomed to being distracted. Try it! Just eat.

Don’t eat and drive and for goodness sake do not drive and put your make up on or text. Drive safely! Pay attention to what is going on around you. Don’t eat and walk, text and walk or look at your phone.

Simplify And Become Happier

You can sit on a park bench and listen and observe. Get back in touch with what is happening. When you walk, walk and enjoy simply walking. Just walk. Enjoy being in nature. Notice your surroundings. Get back in touch with what goes on around you.

Turn of the TV or the computer. Put your phone away. Enjoy what is happening in real time without feeling compelled to take a picture of yourself or post it on a FB wall. Stay true to the moment as it unfolds. Live in the moment as completely as you are able.

Enjoy moments for being simple moments. Disconnect from all the distractions and enjoy life as it happens. Doing this will make you happier as well as healthier. It is good for you.

Take a bath or hot tube and just fully enjoy the sensation of relaxing. Relax, unwind and let go. Sip your evening cocktail or beverage and just pay total attention to it. Focus with relaxed awareness. Savor.

Sit, just listen to sounds or music with your eyes closed. Don’t read or do anything else. Just listen. When you read just read without background music or TV or computer noise..

One Thing At A Time, Slowly

In our world it may not be practical to do this all the time. Make it a point of simplifying more of your time. When you can find moments take the moments. The more you do the more you can do.

As you enjoy them you will find more moments to make your own. You will feel better in all ways as you delight in the beauty of a single task. You will think clearer. You will feel better. Simple can be good!

Make the most of the moment by being in it. Be with your partner totally when you can. Be with your children or parents totally whenever you can. Your relationships will be more rewarding for all of you. Limit the distractions, focus, be present. BE with each other.

You will communicate more effectively and honestly. Your attention will be where it should be when you care about yourself and others. Savor the simplicity in singularity. Hey, just keep it simple!” Rex Sikes

Make time for yourself to enjoy this day!

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. Give a gift that keeps on giving!

Beliefs, Focus, Friendship, Happiness, Healthy Choices, Living In The Moment, Personal Development, Responsibility, Self Improvement

A Simple, Easy Way To Treat Your Loved Ones Right

Leave a comment

no excuses - when you really matter

“With technology comes advances. There is no doubt we are better off the more we have invented.  As we advance the same technology can create problems. Nothing is inherently good or evil. A hammer can be used to build or tear down.

Social Media Is Separating Us and Dividing Us

We don’t ‘connect’ as we used to. Instead of calling and speaking we text each other. Often, we group text or we tweet followers and post to friends on social media. It is devoid of human speaking and listening and give and take.  Frequently, we are just posting or reading announcements on walls or watching video without any give and take.

Enter a room anywhere today and you will see people staring at their devices instead of talking together.  Most all of them gazing at their phone are gaming, or texting or reading or watching some media. Human interaction is limited and if there is any at all in that room it is through electronics with someone somewhere else.

This prevalent form of ‘staying connected’ is not meaningful contact. We are not actually talking and listening to or trying to understand anyone anymore. These are not conversations where meaning and understanding are important.

These are written notes littered with abbreviations and emoticons. We don’t hear their voice and their expression we read texts in our voice with our expression. Because we don’t listen or look we assume and misinterpret. Since we don’t actually talk we don’t actually connect.

We think we are more connected through electronics and social media but we may actually be more isolated and less exposed to diverse thinking, cultures and people. A room full of people all on their devices instead of interacting together is not a coming together.

Living Through Your Phone Or Lens Is Not Living

Watching a documentary on an African town is not the same as visiting the town and getting to know and experience the people. We are missing out on actual experiences. We opt to live vicariously rather than to really live. We have become passive observers, shielded behind our mobil devices, rather than participants in life.

Instead of it making us better it lessens our experiences and feelings. It allows us to escape. It preoccupies us. Instead of meeting the new person sitting next to you you retreat into the reliable escape of entertainment.

You game, watch youtube, text someone, read FB to avoid an actual real life encounter with the people right there with you. You are shut off not involved. You are limited and not expanding.

Give It A Rest And Take A Break

Make time for family and friends. Shut off your phones and put them away. Have some real face time with the people you love and care about. PUT THE MOBIL DEVICE AWAY. Your children OR your parents deserve YOU and your uninterrupted time and attention. Don’t deprive them.

Don’t be tempted to answer the call or the text. The person in front of you is more important, most likely, than the person texting in. Most texts and phone calls can wait. Make time for people in your life. Make time for your loved ones! Respect each other!

Respect the other person by giving your undivided attention. Give your complete attention without checking your FB wall. It is rude to be constantly picking up your phone instead of listening and looking at the human with you. It is annoying to others to be conversing with you only to be interrupted by text tones and phone calls. Stop it!

Learn To Live Without Your Phone 

You will survive! Many people, if they forget their phone, panic. STOP IT! It is only a phone. Yes, it is shiny, has bangs and whistles and costs a fortune but it is no where near worth the value of your real friends and family who want to connect with you.

Put it aside. Learn to live without it so you can enjoy it without being addicted to it. If you forget it at home, so what, you will survive. Those feelings of ‘gotta have it’ are the feelings and the stressors you want to eliminate. Relax, it is only a phone. You will survive!

In olden, by gone days, (a few years back) no one had personal devices to stay in touch and for the most part the world went on and on anyway. It is a fallacy to think we need the phone just in case. That is a sense of immediacy and foreboding that is artificial and only causes worry and stress. You don’t need it.

Hug Not Hold

True, once and a while you had to make an important call or you might have missed an important call BUT life went on. There is no reason to be a slave to your electronic device. It is the people that are important not the devices. It is the human you can hug not the gadget you can hold that matters.

Relax. Schedule time to connect. Have a date night with your loved one or friends and turn off your phones. Leave the electronics behind. Make it a point to shut the phone off for half a day or more. You can do it even if it seems as though you can’t.

At the end of your life you won’t say, ‘If I had only spent more time texting and posting to Facebook. If I’d only answered the phone more often.’ I bet you are going to wish for more time with the people you love.

Do not cheat yourself of them of your time and attention. Realize right this instant what is important and who is important in your life right NOW!, Spend the quality time together you and they deserve.” Rex Sikes

Have a wonderful day. Connect with someone in a special way!

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. Give a gift that keeps on giving!

Attitude, Blessings, Curiosity, Emotions, Flow, Focus, Gratitude, Happiness, Joy, Laughter, Living In The Moment, Love, Positive Thoughts, Relaxation, Responsibility, Self Improvement, Smiling, Success

Experience The Incredible Presence And Power Of NOW!

Leave a comment

Present-Moment-GaryZukav-quote

“There is plenty more to discuss about energy, visualization, affirmations and living powerfully. There is much more to talk about making your dreams come true. Life is a process and we are always somewhere in the middle of it. We are in a flux, a flow and if you think about it you are always right where you are.

That seems like a weird thing to say but you are always in the perfect place EVEN when you don’t think so. If you were to take a trip in a canoe you would always be right where you are on the river. What causes us pain or joy is wanting to be elsewhere than where we are at any given instant.

Accept Right Where You Are

If we’d rather be elsewhere we experience discomfort. If we are in a hurry we may be in pain. If we are completely happy and content to be right where we are on the river all is good. We can relax and notice the beauty surrounding us.

We can be alert to anything wonderful or not so wonderful that requires our attention. We can be totally present and that means we can be fully alive right. We can enjoy being where we are fully. The same thing is true about right now!

We Can DelightIn Right Now 

In this instant you and I  are in the right place. If we don’t think we are it is only because we are making a judgement. Actually, it is fairly egotistical to think we might not be, as if we knew better what the right place to be in the moment is.

When we think we know better and criticize ourselves for not being enough, or for the moment not being the right moment we cause our own suffering.

Surrender Is About Giving In To Whatever IS Right Now

Drop into the moment fully. Appreciate NOW for whatever is or isn’t going on. No judgement, just acceptance, allowing, awareness, appreciation, alertness to this moment. Right now! You are alive! Can you feel it?

Don’t think about it just experience it. Let this moment be everything there is and nothing else.

Wherever you are, whatever you are doing NOW is the only time you actually have. Live in the present moment! One can be filled with gratitude right this second. One can feel positive and more alive and feel blissful this very second. This IS good, high, positive energy to be filled with.

Today, Appreciate NOW Whenever You Can.

Bring your awareness to the moment and just experience the pleasantness of now. In that instant it can seem eternal. Take a deep breath and relax into it. Savor the now. Whenever you remember to remember this moment, drop fully into it. It is all awareness.

Celebrate today. Live in gratitude. Be more silent, listen to the world around you. Notice the sounds and the sound of silence. Allow the energy inside you to bubble up and overflow. Accept.

Whenever you notice yourself pushing it or resisting relax and allow. Notice how it feels  when you stop effort-ing or striving and allow, accept, and receive instead. Create a gap, a space, between you and ‘trying’ and just BE for a while.  Find the joy of nothingness.

Let Today Be Filled With Joyous Moments.

Moments pass. If you encounter less than glorious moments let them pass too. Don’t hang on to them. Notice how it feels to let them go when you stop re-living the old, or the painful. Notice what it is like when you stop clutching onto them. Live and let go!

Celebrate and enjoy! Find bliss wherever you are. You are now and this is the only moment you actually have. Dive into this moment. Live in the now, not in the past or the future,.

Live NOW Because NOW Is When You Live!

Today, live, love, laugh and celebrate!” Rex Sikes

May today be incredible for you!

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. Give a gift that keeps on giving!

Act As If, Affirmations, Attitude, Beliefs, Creating The Future, Definite Chief Purpose, Expectations, Focus, Goals, Gratitude, Habit Formation, Happiness, Joy, Laughter, Living In The Moment, Mental Movie Theater, Persistence, Personal Development, Positive Affirmations, Positive Thinking, Positive Thoughts, Rehearsal And Practice, Responsibility, Self Improvement, Self Talk, Smiling, Success, Uncategorized, Unlimited Power, Visualization

The 2 Most Powerful Ingredients For Happiness And Success! PT 2

Leave a comment

live w passion and purpose

“The amount of time one spends devoted to their personal happiness and their personal and professional goals makes a difference in how easily attainable these are. How you spend your time IS a critical factor.

A plant is either growing or dying. It is either feeding or starving. Are you feeding and growing or starving and dying? You can evaluate this each moment of each day. How you spend your time is important!

Continued from previous blog:

How much time you devote to your goal and how good you feel while spending that time are the two critical ingredients.

2. Intensity

Intensity is the kicker that makes it all work better, easier and faster.

FEEL GOOD RIGHT NOW! You want to feel as good as you can feel for as much time as possible. You want your day and night to be spent enjoying the very best feelings you have. You want to feel good right now in your present.

The more time you spend feeling good the quicker you make your goals come true. The more time you feel good the more time you WILL be able to feel good. You get back great returns on your investment when you think and feel positive most of your time.

When you feel great and you are passionate and enthused, when you are eager and are filled with energy, you think clearer and are able to keep going longer. Your intense feelings make you powerful.

Feeling intensely good in the present moment makes everything work better!

Some people may think, ‘Well, if I could feel good I would.’

You need to take charge. You will never think and feel your best if you expect the outer world to make you happy or better. It just doesn’t work that way. The way to get to feel better IS to take control, even when you don’t feel like it, and control your thoughts and feelings.

Learn to do the things that make you feel better. A few things that help in this are to eat right, sleep right, get enough exercise. Eliminate chemicals and additives. Sit, stand and move with more energy. Get a massage. Many suggestions are in previous blog posts.

This is WHY we fill our mind with positive thoughts. It is why we read and listen to inspiring materials. It is why we visualize our goals as completed and feel the feelings of that accomplishment. It is why we monitor our self-talk to insure it is positive. It is why we affirm out loud and passionately who we are and what we are capable of.

It’s not be possible to feel ecstasy or joy all the time but you can spend more time feeling these. This little step helps you feel your best more of the time: Whatever you are feeling in the present moment make it a point to make yourself feel just a little bit better. Nudge yourself in the direction of feeling good.

It is a system of self management. You put yourself in the driver’s seat 100% and take responsibility for whatever happens good or bad. Take responsibility for managing your thoughts and feelings and for steering yourself in the most positive direction.

You don’t have to go from sad to ecstasy that is too big of a jump. Just make yourself feel a little bit better. That starts you on the path to over all well-being. Step by step. You do not have to do it all at once or even in one day. In time you will learn how to feel your best at nearly any time.

Celebrate everything life hands you, even if you don’t know how things will work out. Look to all you are thankful and grateful for. The longer you feel better the better your feel. The more you move yourself  to feel better when you are not the easier it becomes.

The more intense your good feelings are the swifter you bring about change. There is great power in living optimistically and vibrantly!

Do what you can do to make yourself feel a little bit better each day. Whenever you notice you are not feeling great, do what you can to feel better. Take a break, take a walk, get some exercise or some rest. Read something inspirational or chant your affirmations firmly and enthusiastically! Hang around positive people. Smile more!

Bring positive physical energy into your body by moving your body and your mind in positive ways. The more energy you put into it the more you get from it. Life IS vibrant and alive. There is more energy in a empty inch of space than in all the world’s power sources. There is plenty to go around. Energy flows where your attention goes!

You are alive! All your trillions of cells are alive and vibrating.

Too many people feel only okay. They robotically move from day to day doing the same routines, accepting that this is how it is and don’t have much to look forward to. They put all their hope in things outside themselves to rescue them. They live as victims.

Your positive thoughts are extra powerful when combined with the most intense positive good  feelings! The more intense the easier the subconscious mind gets the message. It reproduces that which we give to it through powerful feelings. (Read what I have shared about military training and intensity in previous blogs).

People limit themselves by feeling strong negative emotions about what they want or don’t have. The feel strongly afraid, or hurt or depressed and end up getting back more of the same.

The subconscious only delivers or reproduces strong emotions regardless of whether they are positive or negative. So you want to pay attention to what messages you are sending it. Aim your thoughts and feelings like a laser beam. Don’t be haphazard.

Zest for life is what makes life worth living. Successful people are passionate, intense, people. Their emotions are powerful. You can feel their energy when you are around them. Creative energy is intense. They pursue their dreams with passion and expect to succeed.

People who make money( think, ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ ) are intense. They are not half assed, namby-pamby, wishy washy, ‘oh well, ho hum’ people. The live to their fullest. When you live with passion, when you fill yourself up with positive feelings and energy you become unstoppable. You don’t need to be licentious to enjoy life, however. You become a power house. Feel your power.

How you think determines how you feel and how you feel determines how you think.  Energy flows where attention goes. If you want to feel better think better. If you want to think better put  a spring in your step. Shake up your body, dance, skip, twirl. Stand and move with confidence, energy and liveliness.

The more you feel the good feelings right now the more changes you will readily make. Live with passion. Feel fully. Commit to feeling better than okay. Notice when you aren’t feeling good and take steps to feel better. Even if you only make yourself feel a little bit better you are doing something valuable.

The longer you devote yourself to thinking positive about yourself and your goal while feeling intensely wonderful the quicker and easier your life will change. The more time you spend smiling and feeling happy the better off you will be.

You are either growing or dying. You are either positive or negative. You are either feeling good or you are not. Notice, become aware, and make the positive changes as necessary.

Live as the driver in charge of your life and steer your thoughts and feelings to the most positive and glorious. The more time you spend thinking and feeling wonderful the more wonderful you will be. You get and become what you spend most of your time thinking about.

Take charge of your life and live it fully and completely. After all what else is there? Life is to be enjoyed. Enjoy it. Do it for yourself! You will discover that by taking even small steps in the right direction, though it may seem difficult at first, becomes easier and easier.

Intensity is what super charges your thoughts and your actions. When you feel vibrantly positive and alive you can get through any hardship faster. When you celebrate and feel thankful and aren’t distracted by any circumstances you excel. FEEL GOOD NOW makes all the difference in the world.” Rex Sikes

Grab this day with gusto!

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, Attitude, Beliefs, Creating The Future, Expectations, Focus, Gratitude, Learning, Living In The Moment, Overcoming Difficulty, Persistence, Personal Development, Positive Affirmations, Positive Thinking, Positive Thoughts, Rehearsal And Practice, Relaxation, Self Improvement, Self Talk, Success

Put An End To Performance Anxiety

Leave a comment

align yourself with mentors

“Performance anxiety was on the mind of a friend lately and he asked me how I, as an actor, overcome it. What follows is pretty much my response to his question. I added some audition and performance information at the end of my reply to him to further explore the concept.

‘Worry comes from what we think about and where we place our attention.  The trick is to put your attention where it is useful (on the performance, or on the pitch when pitching your idea) and not on others or in self critique. It is a knack and you get better at it with repeated trial and effort.

Meditation can benefit because it helps one relax, calm thoughts and feel centered. Energy goes where you place your attention. Positive thoughts can help because one learns to steer away from the less than glorious thinking to the useful and productive. It is simple to do and may require effort but it can definitely be mastered by anyone.

ANYONE can reduce stress and anxiety and feel positive and powerful by learning how to place their attention where it needs to be. Just as you learned to play your musical instrument it is a skill you develop. Nothing mysterious about it!

You get good at playing music or a sport or any ability through correct practice. You can readily make the change you want! You WILL have to apply yourself and KEEP with it until you get the changes you want. You can do it.

You will be able to do it! Simply take it bit by bit, step by step and you will surprise yourself. As we learn there is a phase when we have to talk ourself through it as we did when we learned to ride a bike or drive a car (actually any skill). There is a period of time when we are klutzy. Sometimes we do well and other times not so well.  Ultimately, the process streamlines and we become competent riders or drivers.

This occurs because our subconscious through repetition eventually makes it a habit. It becomes a reliable skill and we no longer have to think it or talk ourselves through it. We have acquired the skill. The same is true about getting over anxiety. You practice the new way and as you practice it won’t seem like magic, but as you stick with it, eventually it will work like magic because you develop the new skill set.

You just have to stick with it and get through the difficult or awkward phase. Learning to do this new thing is the same as learning to do anything else. It comes from doing the new thinking and behaving over and over again while making adjustments or corrections. You do it repeatedly. Enough times over a time period and you develop the skill as habit. Since you have learned many things you can learn this too.

You will do well as you move forward. At first, it seems more difficult, sometimes even scarier, than it actually is. Perception is everything. If we think of those who listen to our music, our pitch, or witness our performance as friends, who support us and enjoy what we do, we are much more comfortable. Mind set and attitude, is the key! See what you want in your mind’s eye. Visualize and rehearse inside your mind feeling and performing as you wish to. Create and rehearse that inner reality.

I encourage you to read and re-read my blog because I discuss these very things.  Meanwhile continue to celebrate and enjoy!  AND realize that when you want to change your life you have to make changes in your life. You can’t get different results doing the same things over again. You have to make changes that get you what you want to have.’

That is what I shared. There is much to be said about being realistic and staying in charge even when you are not in control of the outer circumstances. Here is what I mean.

I have had some incredible auditions lately and booked work. I have had some incredible auditions lately and did not book work. I even had one audition that I was mentally prepared for and eager about that I blew completely. I struck completely out and did nothing I had intended to do. That is just how it goes sometime.

In my previous incarnation I would have been preoccupied mostly with the auditions I didn’t book and the one I blew. That is where my focus would have been and it would have brought me down. I would have wallowed for months.

In this incarnation I learn what I can from what I did or did not do, get as much feed back as possible, apply the learning (because otherwise I really haven’t learned anything unless I use it) and move forward. I stop thinking about the fish I didn’t catch and focus on the ones caught and how to improve for the future.

Life is so much better and freer when we are able to let go and forget about what doesn’t work. Learn from it, extract the lessons, and maintain focus on what we do want and intend to create.  Sometimes we strike out.  If you play baseball you strike out more than you hit, and far more times than you get on base or a home run.

That is just how the game works. If you want to play the game you accept it and do not let it get you down. Keep your head up, your chin held high, think the best, feel the best, be grateful and move forward with positive anticipation for making your dreams come true. Never quit.  Adjust and keep moving forward.

This is how we get what we want. It has nothing to do with pie in the sky wishful thinking. It is about developing an unstoppable ‘I can do whatever I set out to do’ attitude. Defeats along the way do not stop us. They teach us and make us stronger and better. So keep going and make your dreams come true.” Rex Sikes

Have an incredible day!

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, Blessings, Curiosity, Expectations, Flow, Get Rich, Gratitude, Habit Formation, Happiness, Healthy Choices, Joy, Law Of Attraction, Living In The Moment, Positive Thinking, Positive Thoughts, Rehearsal And Practice, Smiling, Success

Why ‘Yes, Thank You’ Works Wonders: How Little Things Make An Incredible Difference!

2 Comments

when u r thankful for what u have more comes

“It is so easy to say NO. Many people are closed off to opportunity and living abundantly because they have lived saying ‘No’ for way for too long. We need to LEARN to say ‘YES’ much more. When we do we can thrive. Instead of living the least amount we ought to live the most! It is possible and it is easy to transform your life!

We can live incredibly well. We can make our dreams and goals come true! We can discover more opportunity, good things and receive gifts we never knew might come our way when we know how. Here is the way you can begin to get more of the wonderful things life offers each of us.

Open up to receiving all good things. Anything positive. You get a great parking space, celebrate! You find a penny on the sidewalk pick it up and pocket it. It is yours! If someone offers you something to try, perhaps in a super market, try it. You don’t have to like it. Just accept it. Stop instantly saying ‘No’! Catch yourself and say, ‘Yes!’

The habit you want to develop is to say ‘Yes’ to good things. It doesn’t matter if they are little or big things. These are opportunities to open up and receive. They are opportunities to explore, to expand your horizons and to discover new things. You may be delighted and surprised with what you discover. These are golden moments in each day!

If you pass up the penny or the free item you are saying ‘Nope!’ Learn to say ‘Yes’ to the good things. If you think, ‘well it is only a penny’ you are missing the point. It is money and if money is a concern for you then open your mind up to finding money anywhere and everywhere. Celebrate whenever money comes your way. It could be anything, health, family, job, housing, transportation related. I’m using only using money as the example, yet it applies to many.

‘Yes’ opens the door for more to come your way. ‘No’ immediately shuts that door. You want to include more into your life. So make being open and accepting these gifts a habit. Live becomes so much more fun and a richer experience when you celebrate everything.

Open your mind to opportunity. Someone invites you to lunch and offers to pay for it, ACCEPT it! Be grateful and thank them and accept it. If someone invites you to a party, office or otherwise, or to an event you might not prefer to go to, say YES, Thanks’ and go anyway. Say ‘Yes’ and ‘Thanks’ to the universe!

Open up to allow new and good things into your life. You try new things, you have new experiences, you may be around new people, all of which you might enjoy and which adds value to you. All of these can add delight to you. These new experiences, these new people may be the very thing that helps you move ahead. You won’t ever know unless you say ‘Yes’ to the possibility.

Be open to everything. Don’t be gullible or stupid about this. If it is genuinely healthy and positive and good for you, allow it, accept it. As you open up to receive little things, and you are excited and grateful for each, you make room for more to come your way. AND more WILL come your way. You will be alerted to more and more!

Your subconscious becomes tuned to discovering more delights just for you. You have instructed your subconscious mind what to look for. You have told it that you are open to wonderful things, people and events in your life. You have trained it to go find more. You have brought it into your service in positive and powerful ways.

You enrich yourself and your life experience because you have developed the habit of receiving and being grateful. Your subconscious will continue to find more for you to celebrate and enjoy! You have transformed yourself. This is a great way to live! Enjoy!” Rex Sikes

Discover the magic in this day!

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.

Affirmations, Attitude, Blessings, Gratitude, Habit Formation, Happiness, Joy, Laughter, Law Of Attraction, Living In The Moment, Love, Mental Movie Theater, Positive Affirmations, Positive Thinking, Positive Thoughts, Self Improvement, Smiling, Success, Unlimited Power, Visualization

How To Start Your Day Off Right

2 Comments

invest in yourself

“The new day is opportunity. Buddha is reported to have said, ‘each day you are born again’. The old is gone, the new is now. Begin your day enthusiastically. It makes a great difference! It is important!

Set aside enough time to do things that make you feel wonderful. To enjoy better days and nights it all begins when you arise. Steal an hour to dedicate to your personal development. It’s a great habit to cultivate. You will be amazed at how much betters the days become!

A few things you can do: Yoga, exercise, meditate, walk, enjoy nature. Read or listen to positive motivational materials. Smile all the while you get ready. Laugh for 5 or more minutes. Visualize your goals and dreams already accomplished and enjoy the feelings.

Ask Directed Questions.  Immerse yourself in gratitude and review what you appreciate. Feel your gratefulness! Chant enthusiastically your affirmations. Sing, dance. Fill your mind and being with joy. What you put out there you get more back. Like attracts like.

Do one or more of these. Spend your time in service of you. DO things that make you feel joyful, positive and confident. Set the tone for the rest of the day. As a friend of mine said, ‘a kiss in the evening is great, but you can enjoy a morning kiss the entire day.’

Make a habit of starting your day off right and make you will make the rest of your day incredible. Once you begin this practice all your days will be more fulfilling and enjoyable. I promise! Your best days are ahead of you!” Rex Sikes

Have a fantastic day!

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, Blessings, Creating The Future, Expectations, Focus, Forgiveness, Friendship, Giving Unconditionally, Gratitude, Happiness, Joy, Living In The Moment, Love, Relationships, Smiling, Success

How To Treat Important People In Your Life!

2 Comments

your thoughts become words

“Consider the people in your life. If there is something positive you wanted to tell someone, tell them. Invest in your important people. Invest in your relationships. Realize how fortunate you are to have them in your life. What would life be like without them?

If you need to repair or work out issues between you decide how you can improve the situation so it leaves you both better off. Explore how you can better communicate and spend time together. Forgive those you need to and ask for the forgiveness you need. Better to forgive and forget than poison oneself with a grudge.

Practice the Golden Rule.  It is a powerful way to change yourself. When you seek to first offer the best to others without reserve, without judgement you elevate yourself. What you send out you get back. Hold others in the highest possible esteem and you raise your own. Practice compassion and understanding. Go First!

Help others. Help them in thought and word and deed. Bless, heal and prosper in all that you do. Share it forward and do good things just for the sake of doing good things. Help make others happy, peaceful and successful and you will enjoy the same. Like attracts like. You plant positive seeds when you ‘pay it forward’.

Spend time with and put your family first. Let them know how much you care and that you are lucky to have them. They care about you even if you don’t think they do. Strengthen your ties to these people closest to you. Tell them you love and appreciate them. Actions speak louder than words. Then do the same with your friends.

Take some time to meet new people who can help open new opportunities for you, and you them, whether it is social or business. Whether you meet in a gym, a party, the office or on a bus you never know who you might meet that will impact your life in positive ways or you theirs. Seek people who uplift you and inspire you. Birds of a feather flock together. Find good, positive, caring, successful friends.

Separate yourself or spend less time with those who drain you or bring you down.  Make sure you aren’t just avoiding those who challenge you to be better or offer honest feedback. Sometimes people have important things we should hear and pay attention to.

Cut out those who only take from you and give you nothing in return. Some people are energy vampires who suck energy, emotions, money, time and well being from others. If you can’t avoid certain people, don’t buy into complaining or whining, yours or theirs. Stay positively focused. Concentrate on the good.

Help a stranger. Do something nice. It can be an individual you smile at, share a laugh with, or contribute to in some way. You might open a door for someone or volunteer at a hospital or for a children’s center or a shelter. Giving to and helping others not only benefits them it benefits you. The world is better off when we assist each other.

Surround yourself with your loved and cherished family. Hang out with old and new friends that make you feel incredible. Help them feel incredible, be there for each other. Accept them without judging. Let them be totally who they are without conditions.

Seek the best together and enjoy each other the most. Make every person you keep around someone you choose to keep around. Love them. Add value to them and value them beyond anything else. Realize how lucky you are! Enjoy your important people” Rex Sikes

Today, spend time with someone you love? Have a great day!

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