What Is Really Good?: acceptance

Showing posts with label acceptance. Show all posts

You Are the DJ

There's really no escaping it. You can play dumb or ignore it, but it doesn't make it any less true. There's always a vibe going on. You always FEEL one way or another. Even when you don't think you feel any particular way at all, that in itself, is feeling a certain way.

There's always a mood. There's always an atmosphere. There's always a tone, a pitch, a FEELING of what life feels like right NOW. Who sets the tone, changes the pitch, sways the mood, and fills the atmosphere? It's all YOU.

Just as the DJ of any party has the ability to either get everyone on their feet and really enjoy themselves or stink up the joint having people ready to curse him out, YOU have the ability to control the vibes you are experiencing right NOW.

The experienced DJ manages to move the crowd by first being aware of the crowd and what they might respond to. He first has to accept the crowd for who they are. Then the music he selects and plays in the arrangement he chooses is in direct response to the way the crowd feels. He adapts from moment to moment. A known paradox: Control is attained through acceptance.

In your life, you are both the crowd and the DJ. The crowd is simply how you feel right NOW. It is the tone of the moment. The DJ is your mind. What does the DJ play? The thoughts, situations, circumstances, visions, memories, calculations, insights, etc. that constantly fill the time line in your mind. Whatever you are "playing" will absolutely and directly affect the way you feel. You set the tone of how you feel. Your crowd always responds to your DJ.

This is a doubled edged power. If you continue to dwell on things that you don't like but can't change, you create suffering and stress for yourself. You also weaken your position in affecting any change. On the other side, if you continue to dwell on all the world's beauty, abundance, and everything you love, you enjoy how life feels right NOW and gain an advantage in making changes you want to see.

Life's a party. Do you want it ruined by playing garbage? Or do you want to hear all your favorites? The choice is yours. The power is yours. The time is NOW. Enjoy yourself.

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Be a Celebrity!

Ever notice how pop culture gushes over celebrities? Notice the way the mainstream media has wet dreams and blankets newspapers and the nightly news every time they hear about some type of celebrity misfortune? Ever wonder why?

The word 'celebrity' comes from 'celebrate'. It literally means to be a celebrated person. The most popular actors, athletes, and music artists are among the most celebrated people in the world!

People celebrate the lives of celebrities because in them, they see a reflection of the part of themselves they would like to celebrate. Anytime you can appreciate the talents of others, you are actually appreciating an aspect of yourself! Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

With the popularity of 'reality TV', we can easily see how the average person can become a celebrity over night. People who would not have been celebrated in the past are getting their claim to fame (even if only for "15 minutes" of it). This can bring about the question, "Why am I not a celebrity?" There's also a good number of people (including myself) who don't really care for fame. But it's more the aspect of celebrating life then fame I'm referring to.

Well, the good news is that you can be a celebrity right this minute! Realizing that all it takes to be one is an attitude of celebrating your life, becoming a celebrity is actually very healing. Eliminating stress and bringing acceptance and joy into your everyday life is simply a matter of changing the way you view yourself and life in general.

Life is meant to be not only lived, but celebrated! You don't need annoying paparazzi and an endless stream of fans to feel the same sense of celebration as your favorite big name. All it takes is your own attention.

So...what are you waiting for? Become a celebrity right now! :-)

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Flexibility Is Adaptability

It is funny how when a lot of people think of something being strong, long lasting, and durable, they often think of something that is solid and rigid. Things like a tank, an elephant, a brick house, etc., are seen in this light. Ironically, true strength and staying power comes with being flexible and being able to adapt to whatever life has to offer.

When you can bend and not break, you may become a master at adapting. This can be seen in the way people and structures may be conditioned to be flexible and therefore successful at adapting to unexpected changes and potential stress. Think about earthquake proof buildings. These are buildings that sway with the turbulence of the very earth they are built on. Think about a master martial artist; able to dodge and avoid any attack. Their very strength comes from their flexibility.

This concept holds true for not only potential physical stress, but also mental. People's ideas of what is right and wrong, good or bad, just and unjust; are like the traditional ideas of physical strength. They are rigid structures easily broken when things do not go as once expected. Morality is relative. It is what helps create the ego identities that are rigid barriers.

The perspective beyond the ego; the Observer; is nothing but flexible. It has no rigid walls that will crumble. Stress or resistance to life situations can not exist with this view. It is beyond shattering. It is shatter proof.

When you stop and look at the fact that nothing can possibly happen without it being allowed to happen by the laws of the universe, you must acknowledge the fact that it all must really be for the best. This is not to say that we can not make changes for the greater good. This is simply to say that we do not have to stress out about what we can not change.

The Serenity prayer articulates this quite perfectly. " God, give me the serenity to accept the things I can not change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." These are words to live by. This is a perspective that enables the person who uses it to be flexible and able to adapt to anything.

For more on this and other concepts, read What Is Really Good? and stay tuned!

Selfless Service

Few have had as much impact upon the American consciousness as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. A minister and passionate advocate for civil rights through non-violent action, he was the closest this country has come to producing a leader with the universal awareness and understanding of Mahatma Gandhi. Both men embodied the wisdom to accept and adapt to the circumstances of their environment to bring about massive changes with in it.

King was a visionary with precision vision and the awareness of Self to find his dreams. The fruition of his vision is still coming to pass as Barack Obama's presidential status is still being digested by many.

A being who, in my opinion, was of a higher state of consciousness, King's philosophies of, "Turn the other cheek," "Love thy enemy," and, "Forgive them, for they know not what they do," did not ring true with me as a child. It was not until I had the shift in my consciousness that I was able to see the ultimate truth and resulting power in this kind of perspective.

Forgiveness is such a powerful way to approach a situation of conflict because it is a form of acceptance. It does not fight the situation but allows you to use the situation to your advantage. It also acknowledges the good intention behind every form of behavior and diffuses what would be a continuing elevation of stress on both sides.

To get more in depth on these concepts, read What Is Really Good? and stay tuned!

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Where're You Looking?

A few years back, my parents were tested by life itself. They were on a road trip to see my sister when a tire on the car blew out at some 70-odd mph on the interstate! The car goes out of control and into the lanes of on coming traffic. Fortunately, both my parents rose to the occasion.

My mother, seeing the situation did very well accept the fact that this could be the end of her life. Though this was a passing thought, she did not give it any extra energy. At the same time she repeated a prayer that put her in the state of mind to actually help shift the chain of events in her favor. She believed that she could get through this and she put her energy toward it.

My father, who was at the wheel, told me he stayed in the moment. He remembered some advice for this situation he learned in a defensive driving course that far transcends driving a car alone. "Whenever you loose control of the vehicle, always look where you want to go." This is exactly what he did! He didn't put his focus on the impending oncoming traffic. He put all of his energy into where he wanted the vehicle to go. He focused on his goal despite any distractions.

The combined focus of both of my parents brought them out of this near fatal incident without a scratch and only having to replace a blown tire on the car! Whoa! What a testimony to the power of your focus and the ability for people to create their realities. Accepting and adapting to what is brings forth greater influence over any outcomes in life.

"Always look where you want to go," is timeless wisdom that applies in every faucet of life. Because, "what you focus on expands," and "what you resist persists," we can easily see how it is our very attention that allows events to unfold as they do.

Whatever the majority of our thought and emotion are moving toward is what will manifest. This is true even when we give most of our thought and emotion to what we don't want. People often do this all the time because they do not yet know "what you focus on expands," and "what you resist persists." As a result they get what they dreaded the most.

Take some time out for yourself. Examine your thoughts and what pushes the buttons on strong emotions with in you. Where are you focused? What are you attracting?

Where're you looking?

Related Posts:
Where're You At?
Why Worry?
Everywhere You Go...There You Are
Perish The Thought
Something Out of Nothing

Criminal Intent

All intent is good intent. What is perceived as criminal always only exists in the mind of the perceiver.

This isn't to say I don't believe in justice. I simply realize that all my ideas of what justice is, are only ideas that color the way I see the world and are all together independent from what is; just as all judgment of an act or event is independent of actually perceiving the act or event.

If you do not intuitively agree, I always encourage people not to take my word for it. Instead, it is better to doubt it at first so that it may be proven. Simply put what I'm saying to the test and use yourself as the test subject.

Think about something you may have done or something that you still may do that you are not too proud of. It doesn't have to be a criminal act. It can just be something that you don't whole-heartedly approve of. Now, you can search within yourself and see what motivates such an act. You may have to do this a few times, each time dissecting the root intentions of the act that you discovered previously. In the end, not matter what, I can guarantee you will come up with one of two root intentions. These are:
1) to obtain or get closer to a feeling of relief/peace/love/abundance/etc.
or 2) to dispel or move further from a feeling of stress/pain/lack/etc.

Seeing this, we can even consolidate the two universal root intentions into one. To move toward a feeling of relief/peace is really the same movement as moving away from a place of stress/pain.

Knowing this, we can look at criminals as people much like we are. The only difference is, in attempting to feel what we all want to feel, they have been misguided. The knowledge and resources that we have available to us has not made itself clear to them yet. The phrase, "Forgive them, For they know not what they do," fits this perfectly.

Is there anyone or any group that you might want to release your negatively charged emotions about? The less of this stress you carry around with you, the better it is for you. Let it go, and you will feel better, attract less of it into your life, and be in a better position to make changes that resonate with you.

Related posts:
It's All Good Intention - I's All God Intention
Selfless Service
That's Gangsta

Vision

A good friend of mine recently sent me an email. The message inside was so good (and quite relevant to the purpose of this blog) that I had to share it with everyone. Check it out:

Change Your Thinking
It will take just 37 seconds to read this and change your thinking..

Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room.

One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs.

His bed was next to the room's only window.

The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back.

The men talked for hours on end.

They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation..

Every afternoon, when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window..

The man in the other bed began to live for those one hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the world outside.

The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake.

Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every color and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance.

As the man by the window described all this in exquisite details, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine this picturesque scene.

One warm afternoon, the man by the window described a parade passing by.

Although the other man could not hear the band - he could see it in his mind's eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words.

Days, weeks and months passed.

One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in his sleep.

She was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take the body away.

As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone..

Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the real world outside.
He strained to slowly turn to look out the window besides the bed.

It faced a blank wall.

The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate who had described such wonderful things outside this window.

The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall.

She said, 'Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you.'

Epilogue:

There is tremendous happiness in making others happy, despite our own situations.

Shared grief is half the sorrow, but happiness when shared, is doubled.

If you want to feel rich, just count all the things you have that money can't buy.

Nuff said. :-)

Related posts:
This Perspective Is Priceless
Eye of the Beholder
The Last Shall Be First
Feel Like a Million Bucks
Something Out Of Nothing

Arm Me With Harmony

(Archive - October 2008)
Living in harmony with the universe is the most powerful "weapon" that there is. To be in tune with the way things are; with the way things work; with the laws that govern our reality; is to put all the power that exists, on your side. It is a major paradox: The more of your life you can accept, the more of your life you can control.

The concept of accepting and adapting to reality is extremely powerful. It is so powerful that there isn't any part of creation that does not practice this concept. Everything that exists follows the rules of universal intelligence. There is no way we can prove things otherwise.

It is literally not possible for something to be that could not be. To clearer illustrate this; there isn't a way for things to happen that contradict the laws that govern what is. If there was a way, they would happen. If they did happen, they simply would be proof that we were not familiar with all the laws to begin with. The very existence of the "anomaly" would be evidence that there is still more that is unknown.

The very act of learning is a way of accepting and adapting. It is becoming more familiar with what is and ultimately using this knowledge to your benefit. This goes for everything; from learning basic survival to learning the true nature of our consciousness. The universal intelligence has illustrated this to us through the way evolution works. Of all the countless plant and animal species around and the varied environment types; the ones that remain are always the most accepting of the conditions they exist in.

Being in harmony is being in a very high mode of adapting. Being in harmony is often described as being "in the zone," being "inspired," or possessing intuition. The only way to achieve this is to be in the present moment.

I was once the type of person who would have rather been armed with firearms. I can now see the bigger picture. I would rather be one with my life experiences. Arm me with harmony!

Every Set Back is a Set Up For a Come Back

(Sept. '08 Archive)
A comeback would really not be possible if there was not a lapse in progress. Don't take my word for it. You already know this. I challenge anyone to find a comeback story or any possible success story that set backs and obstacles did not affect. It was the wide perspective of the people in these stories that allowed them to become successful.

Loss of any kind always presents us with a choice. This is a choice that we are actually always making. It is the choice of how we interpret our experience. It is the choice of whether we accept and adapt to, or resist what is.

To accept your reality is to be at peace and one with it and as a result, able to affect change with in it. It is literally to be in the present moment with the absence of egoic thought.

To resist your reality is to be in denial of it. You see yourself as separate from the situation. You would rather see a different reality and so you are not truly in the present moment. You cause yourself an incredible amount of unnecessary stress. All stress is resistance.

If you look at those who get ahead in life; you will notice that they all were experts at adapting. They knew how to roll with the punches. As a result, they were never shaken from the path to their goals. It is so ironic that many people's idea of being strong is to be immovable. In reality, the more flexible and prone to adapting you are; the stronger you are and the longer you last.

It is the set backs that allow us to see that we are not the story. Sometimes we are able to see we are the consciousness which allows the story to exist. We are not defined by the loss. We are the consciousness which allows us to notice a loss. The rough times often develop character because your true essence gets to shine through whatever has been lost.

Every set back is a set up for a comeback! Don't believe it. You already know it.

The Art of Embracing

Hugs are great. There might not be a person around who would not enjoy a big strong hug from a loved one, close friend, or even a stranger in certain situations.

Embracing someone is a physical manifestation of our intuitive desire to be one with the love with in them. It is as if the part of you and the part of them that is the same, is trying physically to merge back together. To give a good hug feels exactly as good as it does to get a good hug.

We can use this same concept as a tool to make tremendous changes in our lives. I have learned from my own personal experience what it means to embrace an idea, concept, or situation that I would have previously found incredibly hard to deal with, and gain power from it.

A very small example of this: Joe has always hated rainy days. He would always be very moody and short tempered when it rained. This bad attitude would affect his whole day and those who he was around negatively. One day he realizes this, and decides to embrace the wet weather. At first he just told himself that the rain wasn't so bad. After a while he started to believe it. Soon after that he found a healing calm and peace in the sound of raindrops and enjoyed the smell of dampness in the air. Joe then began to love rainy days!

Embracing something is one of the most powerful things a person can do to change their experience of that thing. We can literally take power from what we previously viewed as negative. We can have sunshine on a rainy day. This is the power of acceptance and adaptation.

Embracing something actually takes adapting to a higher level. Like a hug, you willfully become one with what you embrace. In reality you are already one with it, but it is the resistance to it that causes pain and stress. Without the resistance and perceived division, peace and even joy is experienced.

Moving away from the perspective of your personality (i.e. ego identity) and seeing from the vantage point of the totally objective Observer within, it gets so much easier to embrace what is. Embracing is an art, and very beneficial. If you haven't already, give it a try.

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Think Nothing of It

We've all heard the phrase, "Think nothing of it." But if we really look, we may see the great amount of wisdom in this saying. Some people believe thinking nothing will leave a person at a disadvantage. And they would be right to an extent. But to eliminate all the unnecessary thought comes very close to thinking nothing.

To be able to perceive without evaluation
To feel with no opinion
Total acceptance
To allow whatever happens with no resistance
To have no judgment what-so-ever

These are but a few of the ways that the absence of unnecessary thought may bring our awareness to a higher state. It can almost be described as the kind of heightened attention one has when they have no concept as to what is coming next. Paradoxically this heightened sense of awareness allows you to feel what is to come.

We may bring our awareness to an intelligence above thought. We may shift our focus from the identity driven thought process to the intuitive nature of the Self. We may be channels for our Higher Self to act through.

Think nothing of it.

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Laugh at Life - What Is Humour?

When life can be taken very lightly, we can laugh at it. But what allows us to be able to laugh at some things, and get very serious and bent out of shape with other things? In other words, what is humour? And what gives us our sense of humour?

"Humour or humor is the tendency of particular cognitive experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement." The definition alone points to the fact that humour is nothing more than a very high sense of acceptance. You know this from your own experience. If perceiving something alone can give us pleasure and amusement, we must really accept and enjoy the fact that it exists or occurs.

The fact that everyone does not laugh at life in the same way shows us that some people have higher acceptance of some things in life than others. They see things differently. This is why what you think is funny is called a 'sense.' Your perspective is a sense. A sense of humour is purely your perspective. This can be proven in your very own past experience.

There have been times in life when you may have had to go through a 'tough' situation. Later on, the very same situation may be looked back on fondly as humourous. We've all heard the saying, "We'll look back on this and laugh." But if the situation did not change, what changed? Our perspective. Life is all about perspective.

The more space we are able to put around any life situation, the funnier or easy to accept it becomes. By putting space around it, I mean adding perspective or taking a step back. Having an ere of detachment from it relieves any resistance to it. Often we allow ourselves to add this space through the passage of time. It is easier for the ego to become detached over longer periods of time. Since time is an illusion though, we can realize that we will be able to accept and find humour in things immediately if we are detached enough. We can add the space right now if we are not caught in ego perspective.

A sense of humour is a precious thing. The more you enhance this sense, the more enjoyable your perspective (or vice-versa). Life isn't that serious unless the ego is overly involved.

Live, laugh, love. The more we do of one, the more we do of them all. Live it up. Laugh it up. Love it up.

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The Peace Loving Warrior

A warrior of love? A warrior of peace? The concept at first, seems like a contradiction. How could a person who wages war be peace loving? Once you take a look at the answer, you may realize the question is more appropriate as, "How could a person who wages war not be peace loving?"

Peace and love are the only things powerful enough to fuel the intentions of a warrior. A warrior does not do battle for the sake of simply battling. The 'good intention' behind the fight is to experience peace.

If the experience of war is all a warrior desires, that particular warrior must still admit to finding a feeling of peace in the heat of battle. He may not call it 'peace' by name, but it is a feeling described much the same.

Warriors have often been looked upon with great respect as noble and majestic. Perhaps it is their spirit of acceptance and the embracing of tough situations that have given the concept of a warrior this stature. A warrior is a master at adapting to a difficult situation and therefore must be a master of being in the current moment.

In this regard, we can learn from the persistent and yet accepting nature of a great warrior. We can learn to be in the present moment and continue to stay vigilant when it comes to observing our own mind state. We can learn to win moment by moment our consciousness, focus, and experience. We can become masters of our universes.

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Ride The Wave

A person who is totally in the moment; in tune with the movement around them; adapting to the current situation from moment to moment and enjoying the ride to their destination all the while. This can describe a surfer riding a wave. It can also describe anybody in this 'zone.' This is a zone without thoughts from the mind, but full of intelligence. It is pure inspiration and intuition.

The people who reach the most impressive of heights in life, are people who either consciously or unconsciously are able to get into this zone. There is an unspoken understanding of going with the flow, and at the same time channeling the flow to go with you. It is taking things as they are, and using things as they are to your advantage.

It's not exactly, "If you can't beat them, join them ," but it's more like, "embrace them, then there's nothing to beat or join". Ride the wave...don't fight it. Use it. As in the martial art, judo; you may use the weight of the situation in your favor.

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Your Worst Enemy/Your Best Friend

Most people have heard the saying, "I am my own worst enemy." Not only is it true; the truth with in it is monumental. Let's explore why.

A person in an adversarial situation with a dualistic or ego mind perspective might consider their opponent their enemy. This goes for any kind of situation where there would be a winner and a loser. For any kind of situation, from a debate, a friendly game, or any kind of competition, to an all out hand-to-hand combat brawl, a life or death struggle, or a full scale war; if the situation can only have a single person or group as the victor, the vanquished would be considered the enemy. Even a person with this perspective might recognize that any mistakes on their part will give an advantage to their opponent. They might agree that if they are evenly matched with their opponent in every aspect they could be their own worst enemy if they slip up and their opponent does not.

A person with a more holistic view will agree that they can be their own worst enemy, though the depth of reasoning is further. A person recognizing the fact that their own perspective can and will sabotage their own efforts if it is in resistance to circumstances, recognizes the potential for their worst enemy to be something that they created themselves.

Looking at life with the attitude of making it your best friend eliminates all enemies. Whether you perceive the enemy to be external or your own self, an attitude of acceptance and adaptation will turn the situation in your favor. Embracing a situation as a reflection of yourself allows you greater power to change it.

Making Room For More

Loss. It is a hard pill to swallow. As stressful and painful as it can be, it is also a common occurrence for most people. The loss of a clean bill of health, the loss of a specific freedom, the loss of a loved one; the list is as long as there are things to be attached to. Going through life, we are bound to loose some attachment. After all, nothing lasts forever.

Looking at this forceful breaking of an attachment through the eyes of the ego's perspective is where all of the resistance comes from. Resistance to what is, is pain and stress.

Looking at the loss through the eyes of the objective Observer, we can experience this change with acceptance. We can adapt. We actually did not loose anything at all. We have merely dispelled the illusion that what was lost is a part of our true identity. Who we really are is the space and awareness that allows our minds to recognize a loss. We existed before the attachment was made and we will exist after it is gone.

Looking at situations of loss from an even wider and more cosmic view; since we can only have one total experience at a time, we are actually having a space opened in up our field of experience or perception. If we say that your field of experience consists of your entire sensory perception in a given moment, then loosing something actually creates more possibilities. The more space in your life, the more possible ways to fill it. When things get lost or eliminated, it really just makes space for more.

To illustrate; a person can't sleep in more than one bed at a time or live under more than one roof at a time. If a person looses their home to a circumstance or situation; a space has been opened in their lives for something even greater to come along. They must sleep somewhere. Who is to say that they will not acquire better living conditions from the situation? The point is the possibilities become available when that space opens up.

Accept any loss you may suffer from as an opportunity to make room for more.

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The Power of Light/Love

You can take a flashlight or a candle into total darkness and eliminate the darkness wherever you see fit. If you have mirrors, you can eliminate it everywhere.

Can you bring darkness into a room full of light? No. A little darkness can not exist surrounded by light.

In reality it's all love. It's all light. Love is the light. Fear is the darkness. Darkness is a lack of light. Fear is a lack of love.

In terms of how things have been explained in the majority of this blog and the teachings in my book; acceptance and adaptation of what is, is love and light. Resistance to what is, is fear and darkness. Don't let the words or specific terminology get in the way of the understanding that they are pointing to. Words can not express the true experience of the message.

This all goes to show how much more powerful light is than darkness. Love is more powerful than fear. Acceptance is more powerful than resistance. It feels really good to acknowledge this fact.

For more on these concepts, read What Is Really Good? and stay tuned!

You Gotta Laugh!

Ever thought about what laughter really is? What is it that makes us laugh? Why does it feel so good? Why does it have healing qualities? How or what makes it such a universal experience? Well, your in luck. Here's some food for thought.

It has been stated in many philosophies and spiritual teachings that one's experience in life is all dependent on their chosen perspective. Don't take mine or any one else's word for it. Simply look at your own life and you will have no choice but to acknowledge this truth.

To be a little more specific though, a person's perspective can be split into two main groups. The first is acceptance. This has many degrees or levels of intensity to it. Acceptance may range any where from simple contentment to ecstatic bliss. The second group would be resistance. This too has many degrees or levels. Resistance may range from minor irritations and low level background stress to major life and identity threatening, pain and stress. Acceptance of what is leads to adaptability to any situation and the perspective that allows one to be optimistic and feel good if not great. Resistance of what is leads to stress of varying degrees.

So what does all of this have to do with laughter? Laughter is a very high form of acceptance. It is one of the strongest and most evident ways we acknowledge that we are in acceptance of what is. Think about what actually makes us laugh. No matter what your sense of humor is like, people always laugh at what they are willing to accept. Resistance to life situations crumble before the power of laughter.

To illustrate this, think about a good comedian's material. A good comedian can make people laugh at some of the toughest and/or most awkward situations a person can go through. People often say, "It's funny because it's true." When you really look at it, the comedian is making light of a situation that a lot of people would be in resistance to. He or she is literally relieving the stress of resistance and replacing it with a high dose of acceptance. This is why laughter feels so good. When people are in any form of acceptance, they tend to feel good. The higher the form of acceptance, the better you feel. When we laugh at any incident or situation in life, there is a feeling of lightness or levity. We acknowledge what it is and at the same time embrace it with all of its ramifications, consequences, and repercussions. It is your spirit showing how it can really adapt to anything possible.

Being in good spirits of any kind is always good for a person when it comes to their health. It has been continuously proven how stress is the main reason our bodies succumb to sickness. Even the word "disease" points to this fact. 'Dis-ease' is lack of ease, better known as stress. Of course a high dose of acceptance is a major stress reliever and goes far beyond that to the process of healing.

Laughter is such a universal experience because we all have the spark of life known as Consciousness within us. It is what animates each and every one of us. It is the Observer before thought, labeling, and judgment. Therefore, the choice as to how we perceive our experience is universal. It is always a choice of resistance or acceptance. Laughter, among many other perspectives and emotions, does not discriminate.

So have you had a good laugh lately? Sometimes you can have the best laugh just observing your own self and how you might react to some life situations. Attitude and perspective is everything. You gotta laugh. :-D

To get more in depth on a lot of the concepts mentioned here, read What Is Really Good? and stay tuned!

Enjoy Your Day

Have you ever noticed that in order to enjoy anything, you have to be in the present moment? Can you remember a time in your life when you truly enjoyed anything that was not going on in the present? Sure it is possible to not enjoy things that you like because your attention was not fully in the moment, but never the other way around. How can you enjoy something you like without giving your attention to it?

To be in a state of joy is a higher form of acceptance. If a person is in resistance to something, a form of stress is experienced as opposed to joy. The easiest way to be in acceptance as opposed to resistance is to be without ego fueled thoughts. Focusing your attention into the present moment and not anticipating the future or regretting the past literally slows down stressful thinking and can help bring about a state of acceptance. Contentment may be experienced. If there is something you really like going on, joy will be experienced. (See "I Can't Wait")

Stay in the moment and enjoy your day!

For more ways on how to become aware of the present moment, read What Is Really Good? and stay tuned!

Every Little Step...

Life is always in motion. It is always GO time. Even when it seems like we are standing still; the tape is always rolling. This being the case; we are always making progress. We are always taking steps toward our destination.

What is this destination that we all have in common? It is the YES. Every single step; be it a huge one or a little step; is a step closer to the YES of life.

What is this YES? It is acceptance. Acceptance has many levels or intensities to it; but it is always YES. Contentment, peace, satisfaction, love, happiness, joy, laughter, bliss, and ecstasy are a few forms of this acceptance; this YES. This is something that can not be denied and is something that every being in creation is moving toward. It is the good intention behind every action. It is what we all have in common. It is oneness. And it is this YES that we are continuously taking steps toward.

Funny enough; even when we think we are going backwards or taking step away from the YES; we are still moving toward it. Every set back is a set up for a come back. Life is the school of hard knocks and each lesson brings us closer to our destination. Every hard time is a helping hand in shattering the individual egoistic identity so that we may see even more clearly what is real and truly shatter proof. In reality, there is no such thing as a backward step. Every step has it's purpose in bringing us closer to our destination.

For more on this and lots more, read What Is Really Good? and stay tuned!

What Is Really Good?