The Only Thing

When I was grade school age, I first heard the riddle, "If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" I was (and still am) very logical and scientific about the way I saw things. I thought, "Of course it makes a sound! Duh! What kind of riddle is that? Even if no one's around, the moving air and impact on the earth would make a sound!"

I realized after a shift in perspective how things really work. The production of sound requires 3 things: A source, a medium, and a receiver. The source creates a series of pressure waves. These pressure waves travel through various mediums including water, air, and solids. The receiver collects and converts these pressure waves into electrical impulses. If you remove any of the 3 requirements for sound, there is no sound.

In the vacuum of outer space there is no medium for sound wave travel, therefore, no sound. In the absence of a receiver in the woods, the falling tree only produces a series of pressure waves.

This is an issue many scientists, and people in general overlook. There is no science without an observer, and yet the observer is often left out of equations and theories. Everyday people also overlook the fact that they see the world from their eyes alone. People influence what they see by what they think and how they feel about it.

Everything you can possibly conceive of in all creation and even imagination, all have one thing in common. Even more, this one thing is the only thing that is ever really real to us. It is all we experience and allows us to conceive of, and perceive the world the way we do.

This only thing is consciousness. Without consciousness, nothing would be perceived or experienced. Nothing would exist without attention paid to it. If eyes were never part of our anatomy, light would not exist for us. Consciousness gives birth and meaning to all experience. If something can not be experienced, acknowledged, measured, or otherwise observed, how can it possibly exist to us?

It's the only thing that there really is. If you can really appreciate that, life is sweet!

Related posts:

• Realizing Life
• Sense of Awareness
• Relative Reality
• It Makes Sense
  

Happy Holidays

In my experience, everyday is a holiday.

Any and all gifts can only be enjoyed and appreciated in the present. Even gifts remembered or projected into the future, can only be done so in the present.

The gift and the present are literally inseparable!

Peace to all! Enjoy your holidays!

The Destination Is The Journey

Enjoy the journey.

All too often, we get our sights set on a specific outcome or goal and everything else between now and reaching the desired destination becomes a lot less important.

We all have the ability to take a step back and realize that every single passing moment is as valuable as the next. As a matter of fact, the only moment that ever truly counts is the moment we are experiencing right now. Every other moment is either a memory or an idea projected into the future. In other words, no moment is real except the present.

When we put more importance on a moment in the future, we depreciate the current moment.

Of course this does not mean to wander aimlessly through life with no goals. A sense of purpose can and does add tremendously to our experience. But realizing that the present is just as valuable as the goal (if not more) increases the overall joy and peace we may feel all the time.

We are here. We have arrived. No matter where we are, we are home.

Related posts:

• The End IS the Means
• Enjoy Your Day
• The Art of Embracing
  
• Every Day Is A Good Day
  

Self Appreciation

Self appreciation is a major key to happiness. It is a tremendous part of happiness itself. It can truthfully be said that with out appreciation of your self (your true Self), happiness can not be experienced in any situation.

Referring to the 'Self ' in 'Self Appreciation,' I am referring to the ever present Observer (see 'I' of the Beholder, and The Tape Is Always Rolling). This is the part of you that allows all feelings including happiness, to exist. If not for the space that is the Self, nothing that we feel would have a place to exist. Experience would not have a stage to stand on and walk across. If happiness can not be felt here in the Self, no outside source can supply it. You will not be happy in any "great" situation or set of circumstances unless you are happy with in yourself. Likewise, nothing can get you down if you realize you are the source of happiness.

Referring to 'appreciation', I am referring to the act of being aware of and/or raising the value of something. Appreciation was looked at in a previous post (Life: To Appreciate or Depreciate?) When we appreciate the Self, we become aware of just how precious a gift we truly are.

Self appreciation, self love, self praise, and joy of one's self, are all different ways of describing the same kind of feeling. Celebrating and appreciating the life that you are, is being in a high state of acceptance. Appreciating your self literally raises the value of your life. When you look at it; it raises your value because you are life.

Life: To Appreciate or Depreciate?

It is no coincidence that the word appreciate is used to describe being aware and grateful and also describes increased value in something. Value, if you really look at it, is nothing more than how much you appreciate something.

If you really like and appreciate something, you will pay more for it. How much we are willing to spend on anything is really always decided by how much we appreciate what it is. If you have something that you don't really care about anymore and don't really like, you would pay nothing for it. As a matter of fact, you might pay someone to get rid of it. The item's worth is pretty much negative to you.

This is a really simple and obvious concept; but it is often overlooked. You can appreciate or depreciate anything. You are the one who ultimately makes the decision as to how you accept or resist any possible thing in life. To put it another way; you are free to make life what you want it to be, and not what others or even old ideas of yours say it is.

One thing about appreciation is that it only works because you can feel it. How else would you describe it? It is otherwise intangible. To really feel anything, you must be in the present moment. You can only feel things right now. You can really only appreciate life right now. Even to appreciate a memory, you are doing it in the present. Straying too far from the present moment is how we learn to depreciate life.

Appreciation is a high form of acceptance and adaptation. Appreciate life and you get more to be grateful for as a result. Circumstances and situations maybe indicating a bad outcome; but the person who sees the situation for what it is and not what they are told, is better suited to reach a desired outcome. See what you have and not what you don't have.

Read What Is Really Good? and stay tuned to the blog.
Appreciate ya!