WORTHY THOUGHTS

[MajestyJo]

TUNE INTO THE INNER CRITIC

"A critic is a legless man who teaches running."
-- Channing Pollock

Are you aware of your inner critic? We all have this voice that tells us we are bad, stupid, clumsy, cowardly.... Although its intent is to help us succeed, the harsh self talk of our critic just serves to drain our energy and lower our morale and immune system.

To defuse the inner critic, we need to recognize when the critic is speaking. We need to know that this voice does not necessarily speak for who we really are. This is an old pattern that may no longer be serving us. We want to open to the possibility that the words are not likely true. We can ask ourselves, "Are these words helpful?"

"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent."
-- Eleanor Roosevelt

"Abilities wither under faultfinding, blossom with encouragement."
-- Donald A. Laird

"Never react emotionally to criticism. Analyze yourself to determine whether it is justified. If it is, correct yourself. Otherwise, go on about your business."
-- Norman Vincent Peale

*** Restart building a new foundation for your life. Clear blocks and transform your life. Discover a whole new way of working with life's challenges.

[MajestyJo]

CHOOSE DIFFERENTLY TODAY

"It is always your next move."
-- Napoleon Hill

The great benefit of heightened awareness is that we have more choice in how we live our lives. At any moment, we can purposefully choose a new experience for ourselves. We can choose to pay attention, breathe more deeply, laugh, rest, play, appreciate, do something different - the possibilities are endless.

Whenever you remember, TAKE YOURSELF OFF AUTO-PILOT and really examine your situation. Take charge and make a choice that will enrich your experience. At the end of the day, reflect on what happened and how you felt when you chose a new line of thought, feeling or action.

"We cannot tell what may happen to us in the strange medley of life. But we can decide what happens in us -- how we can take it, what we do with it -- and that is what really counts in the end."
-- Joseph Fort Newton

"When a defining moment comes along, you can do one of two things. Define the moment, or let the moment define you."
-- Tin Cup (the movie)

And remember: "If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice."
-- Neil Peart

[MajestyJo]

TRUST YOURSELF

"I never know what the next lesson is going to be, because we're not supposed to know; we’re supposed to trust ourselves to discover it."
-- Melody Beattie

How deeply do you trust your own guidance?

Always trust that you know what's best for you. To move forward in your life, gather information from the 'experts,' consider how their advice relates to your situation and then act only on what feels right for you. What does your whole being (mind, body and soul) say 'Yes!' to?

You are the only expert for your own life.

"I trust so much in the power of the heart and the soul; I know that the answer to what we need to do next is in our own hearts. All we have to do is listen, then take that one step further and trust what we hear. We will be taught what we need to learn."
-- Melody Beattie

"Ultimately, we must learn to trust ourselves. When we do this intimately and intelligently, the world opens full of meaning before us. We find that we ourselves are the doorway to a fathomless understanding of the source of life itself. We need only to learn to walk through it."
-- James Thornton

[MajestyJo]

STEP INTO SELF-AWARENESS

"Getting in touch with your true self must be your first priority."
-- Tom Hopkins

Here are some different aspects of self-awareness:

Know yourself - Explore who you are: your defences, your blocks, your talents, your aspirations, etc.

Accept yourself - We are at war with ourselves when we resist or deny certain aspects of who we are. Acknowledge the truth of who you are right now - the positives and the negatives. Only when we own our present reality can we change.

Control yourself - Set clear, conscious intentions and discipline yourself to meet them.

Express yourself - Go to your heart to identify what has meaning and purpose for you. Live your truth. Identify ways you can give back to life and be in service.

We work on each of these aspects all the time. But as our lives go through cycles, we predominantly work on one of them more than the others. Which aspect are you more conscious of lately?

"Our lives improve only when we take chances ... and the first and most difficult risk we can take is to be honest with ourselves."
-- Walter Anderson

"Adventure can be an end in itself. Self-discovery is the secret ingredient that fuels daring."
-- Grace Lichtenstein

[MajestyJo]

PRACTICE DETACHMENT

As our consciousness rises, our perspective becomes more and more impersonal. What does this mean?

It means we are increasingly able to view our lives and the rest of the world with detachment. This does not mean we are cold and uncaring. Rather, we are self- contained. We have well-defined boundaries and we are able to think and act objectively, clearly and responsibly.

When we have learned detachment, we do not get hooked into the thoughts and feelings of others. We are not easily upset or manipulated. We may feel compassion for others but this does not cloud our ability to choose how we think, feel and behave. We also do not need others to behave in any particular way.

"Until we take how we see ourselves (and how we see others) into account, we will be unable to understand how others see and feel about themselves and their world. Unaware, we will project our intentions on their behavior and call ourselves objective."
-- Stephen Covey

Learn how Journaling helps you be more objective and detached.

Access your own inner wisdom by tapping into your subconscious and intuition. Release stress, blocks and negative emotions, and spark imagination and greater vision. Go deeper....

[MajestyJo]

LOOKING FOR SAFETY?

"Security is when everything is settled, when nothing can happen to you; security is the denial of life."
-- Germaine Greer

Our personality likes to be in control. It likes to know how things are and what's going to happen. Underlying this desire for stability and predictability is a deep fear that the world is a dangerous place. The personality fears it will not survive without continually being on guard.

The truth is: we cannot control what happens in life. And under the natural law of attraction, we tend to attract to us what we focus on. EXPLORE SUBSTITUTING TRUST FOR FEAR and the world becomes a gentler, happier place.

"There are no guarantees. From the viewpoint of fear, none are strong enough. From the viewpoint of love, none are necessary."
-- Emmanuel

"One thing we can do is make the choice to view the world in a healthy way. We can choose to see the world as safe with only moments of danger rather than seeing the world as dangerous with only moments of safety."
-- Deepak Chopra

*** Do you feel an urge or calling in you to be or do more? Then honour it and open to more meaning and fulfillment by exploring your life purpose.

[MajestyJo]

WE PROJECT OUR STRENGTHS

"Any situation that you find yourself in, is an outward reflection of your inner state of beingness."
-- El Morya

We have discussed that OUR WORLD MIRRORS WHO WE ARE BACK TO US. When we get upset by something outside of us, our reaction shows us that we have an inner wound to be healed.

Just as we can be unconscious of our wounds, we can also be unconscious of our strengths. If you are really drawn to the positive qualities in another person, you are being invited to own those same qualities in yourself.

"The people we are in relationship with are always a mirror, reflecting our own beliefs, and simultaneously we are mirrors reflecting their beliefs. So relationship is one of the most powerful tools for growth... if we look honestly at our relationships we can see so much about how we have created them."
-- Shakti Gawain

"Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures."
-- Henry Ward Beecher

Watch yourself shift from the self-centered, controlling behaviours of the ego to the power, love and wisdom of the soul

[MajestyJo]

FEEL YOUR EMOTIONS

"The key is to not resist or rebel against emotions or to try to get around them by devising all sorts of tricks; but to accept them directly, as they are."
-- Takahisa Kora

Emotions are energy in motion. They bring us information if we are willing to experience them. Unfortunately, many of us are afraid of the energy of emotions and so we automatically resist them. And when we refuse to experience our emotions, we block them up. They become trapped and that entrapment drains our energy and brings continuing discomfort.

Don't let emotions push you into action or reaction. Just STOP and PAY ATTENTION. Allow them to be and to speak to you. Oncem they are acknowledged, their energy is released.

"Instead of resisting any emotion, the best way to dispel it is to enter it fully, embrace it and see through your resistance."
-- Deepak Chopra

"We have to become more conscious of our feeling-world. By learning to identify the ‘emotional baggage’ and manage our feeling-world reactions, we can view life based on current information instead of being held captive by our past."
-- Doc Childre

"Our feelings are our most genuine paths to knowledge."
-- Audre Lorde

*** Awareness is the key to all change. Begin to trust yourself more deeply as you uncover new dimensions of who you are.

My meditation card before I started posting was "New depths of Creativity.

[MajestyJo]

5 STEPS TO SELF-ACTUALIZATION

"Every human action, whether it has become positive or negative, must depend on motivation."
-- Dalai Lama

Monitoring what motivates me has helped me see how I am growing. I do things for different reasons now than I did 10 years ago. As we pay ongoing attention to our motives, we can see how both our conscious and unconscious attitudes are changing.

Here are some ways that our motives can shift with rising consciousness:

I desire
I want to collect things
I want to know
I want to serve
I want to be
What are your motives as you participate in life?

"There are three kinds of people and three kinds of richness:

people who want to have, to collect
people who want action, work and labor
people who want to be
"The real richness is in be-ness. People can take all that you have, all that you collected. People can stop your labor, or an accident can stop you. When you are, you never lose what you are."
-- Torkom Saraydarian

"You are what you think. You are what you go for. You are what you do!"
-- Bob Richards

"A good intention clothes itself with power."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Our process is clear. First 'know yourself' - your personality and direction in life. Then 'create a plan'. Next 'heal yourself and what holds you back. Then you can expand and 'grow yourself'. Are you ready to commit to changing your life for the better?

[MajestyJo]

WHAT IS YOUR BODY SAYING?

"Many people treat their bodies as if they were rented from Hertz -- something they are using to get around in but nothing they genuinely care about understanding."
-- Chungliang Al Huang

"As we explore the extraordinary interplay of energies between the many aspects of our personality -- our needs, unconscious reactions, repressed emotions, aspirations and fears -- with the functioning of our physical system and its capacity to maintainm itself, we soon realise how very wise the body is. With its intricately detailed systems and operations it portrays infinite intelligence and compassion, constantly giving us the means to understand ourselves further, to confront issues we are not looking at, and to go beyond that which is holding us back."
-- Deb Shapiro

Scan your body with your awareness. Are you experiencing any aches and pains? Any stiffness?

What might your body be trying to tell you about how you are living your life?

"Your body is the ground and metaphor of your life, the expression of your existence. It is your Bible, your encyclopedia, your life story. Everything that happens to you is stored and reflected in your body. In the marriage of flesh and spirit divorce is impossible."
-- Gabrielle Roth

"What is always speaking silently is the body."
-- Norman Brown

[MajestyJo]

LIVE NOW

"How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives."
-- Annie Dillard

We lose the power of the moment because we're so rarely in it. We're reliving the past or speculating about the future. We continue to believe that tomorrow's the day when I'll be more capable, more wealthy, more fit and more loving. Meanwhile, I'm just putting in time, dreaming of better things but not making any concrete move to realize them.

When you find yourself thinking of the future or the past, bring your awareness into the present moment. Really experience how you feel and what's happening around you, without judgment. If we can treasure each moment, our lives will be rich, no matter what we have accomplished.

"Lost, yesterday, somewhere between sunrise and sunset, two golden hours, each set with sixty diamond minutes. No reward is offered for they are gone forever."
-- Horace Mann

"If, before going to bed every night, you will tear a page from the calendar, and remark, 'there goes another day of my life, never to return,' you will become time conscious."
-- A. B. Zu Tavern

*** Awareness is the key to all change. Begin to trust yourself more deeply as you uncover new dimensions of who you are.

[MajestyJo]

EXPLORE YOUR FEARS

"Fear is a question: What are you afraid of, and why? Just as the seed of health is in illness, because illness contains information, our fears are a treasure house of self-knowledge if we explore them."
-- Marilyn Ferguson

In our world of duality, fear and love sit at opposite ends of the continuum. Fear belongs only to the personality because it believes in separation and impermanence. The soul never knows fear because it understands the unity of all.

When fear arises, we can invite our soul to sit with our frightened personality. What soul energies are waiting to be acknowledged? When we bring higher energies into the presence of lower energies, the lower energies are transformed.

"What is needed, rather than running away or controlling or suppressing or any other resistance, is understanding fear; that means, watch it, learn about it, come directly into contact with it. We are to learn about fear, not how to escape from it."
-- Jiddu Krishnamurti

*** Restart building a new foundation for your life. Clear blocks and transform your life.

[MajestyJo]

WHY MEDITATE?

"Meditation brings wisdom; lack of meditation leaves ignorance. Know well what leads you forward and what holds you back, and choose the path that leads to wisdom."
-- Buddha

Meditation is considered an essential practice for those who seek self-knowledge and self-mastery. Why? Basically, meditation brings awareness of how our minds work. Over time, we become watchers, able to detach from the thoughts and emotions that play out in our minds.

With this detachment, we gain the freedom to choose whether or not to act on our thoughts and emotions. We learn to distinguish between objective reality and our mental and emotional dramas.

"Only in quiet waters things mirror themselves undistorted. Only in a quiet mind is adequate perception of the world."
-- Hans Margolius

*** Step by step, progressively learn basic meditation methods to relax, concentrate, focus, reflect, contemplate and illuminate.

[MajestyJo]

WHAT IS YOUR DESTINY?

"The significant business of your life is alive and well, awaiting discovery, within your very soul. You and I were born to come into ourselves as complete and distinctive persons. Accepting this, we build a valuable life."
-- Marsha Sinetar

What is the significant business of your life? What is your purpose? Andrew Schneider says that purpose "is more than just having a direction. It is about one's place in the universe. It is the journey of finding that place and being there and living fully whatever that place is. It is your own unique place that nobody else has, had, or will have."

How would you describe your place in the universe?

"We become powerful in the face of our fears when we have a sense that we make a difference in this world. Affirmations of purpose communicate the truth that we are all meaningful participants in this Universe and that we are worthy of giving and receiving love. Some affirmations of purpose are:

- I know that I count and I act as though I do.
- I spread warmth and love everywhere I go.
- I am a healing force in the Universe."
-- Susan Jeffers

"The grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for."
-- Joseph Addison

*** Do you feel an urge or calling in you to be or do more? Then honour it and open to more meaning and fulfillment by exploring your life purpose. Maybe it is time to do life instead of life doing you!

[MajestyJo]

SUPPORT OTHERS WITH YOUR PRESENCE

"The purpose of therapy is not to remove suffering but TO MOVE THROUGH IT to an enlarged consciousness that can sustain the polarity of painful opposites."
-- James Hollis

How do we support others who are suffering?

When we understand how soul works through us, we begin to see how pain generates the impulse to change. We see that our aim in supporting someone is NOT to get rid of their pain and suffering. Instead, we want to assist them to understand what the pain is trying to teach them -- to find meaning in their distress.

Often, all we need do is be fully present to them. It also helps to be present to our own experience and genuine in our feelings. Living our own truth helps create the space for the other person to live theirs.

"The first duty of love is to listen."
-- Paul Tillich

"With the gift of listening comes the gift of healing."
-- Catherine de Hueck Doherty

Is your spiritual development important to you?