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Posts Tagged ‘perspective’

Change You Can Believe In

Saturday, December 27th, 2008

President-Elect Obama’s theme of change strikes a common chord.  The world and everything in it, whether animate or inanimate, is in a constant state of change.  This is an unarguable fact, the truth.  Physics confirms this.  Just take a look at the world around you and you will see that everything changes and nothing remains static.  The one thing that you can always count on is change.  So why are we so afraid of change?  Why is it so unsettling?

I believe that it has to do with the unknown and our uncertainty with the unknown.  We want and need to be in control, to know what is going to happen.  The paradox in this need is that one can never know what the future holds, not a minute from now or a year from now.  We cannot control the outer world.  Things happen, they always have and they always will.  Just when we think we have it down, something else pops up to challenge us.  It is how we handle what life throws at us that is important.  It is our inner world that we can control which will ultimately elicit the change we want in our outer world.

You want to adjust your perspective on change from one of fear to one of a belief that everything will work out in your best interest.  You need to learn the difference between what you can control and what you cannot and thereby let go of the things that you cannot control and concentrate on those you can.  You do have full control over how you choose to handle the changes that life brings you.  More important, you have full control in being the change that you desire.

What do you want to change in your life this year?  Do you want to be healthier?  Then put all your full attention on that intention.  There is a saying that when you are fully committed to something, the universe will align itself to give you what you want.  I don’t know for a fact whether that is true or not but to live as if it is true would be a welcome change, an empowering perspective. The belief that you can become healthier can only move you in that direction but it must coupled with you taking full responsibility for being healthy.  Responsibility for our intentions is empowerment.

Creating positive change in your life begins with your belief and commitment to what you desire.  What you desire must be of great value to you. Focusing your attention on that change and weaving it into the fabric of every day is the key to success.  Doing whatever needs to b done is mandatory.  If you need help then get it.  Trust me, you don’t have to go it alone.  A prima ballerina will have spent years of practice with instruction and coaching to reach her goal. So too a star athlete.  Access all the tools and skills you can to move you forwards.

A final thought for you to ponder:  What would you regret never having done in your life?  Don’t find yourself heading into the great unknown and wishing you had done this or that. Now is the time to initiate the changes that you want.

I wish you the change that you want in your life this year.  I know that you can access your inner wisdom and strength in order to achieve what it is you want.  I wish you health, happiness and joy in this one precious life of yours.

The Financial Crisis: Uncertainty

Thursday, September 25th, 2008

We have all been shaken by the turmoil rocking the financial world.  It is scary.  We simply don’t  know what will happen next.  The future is uncertain.  But I submit to you that there are some very important life lessons to be gained from this catastrophe that can be used in all areas of our lives.

First off, let’s address worrying about the future or the real issue of the unknown. The stock market has always been a perfect example about attempting to predict the future.  What we have on Wall Street is a bunch of guys attempting to make money based upon what they think will happen in the future. A better word for predict might be guess, although I would grant them the term, educated guess.  There is no way to predict the future…not an hour from now let alone next month or next year. It is not so much the future that worries us but rather the unknown. We live with the unknown everyday.  It is a  condition of life. We can only know the present moment.  Therefore, worrying or being frightened of the future makes little sense since we have no idea, nor any control over what might occur.  What if everything turns out just fine?  Now it becomes a matter of perspective: how we choose to look at life.  Are we looking for everything that might go wrong or everything that might go right?

Second lesson: take responsibility. The blame game is being played full out right now.  Blaming someone else for how we feel or what has happened makes us powerless as we are transferring our personal responsibility for our lives to the person or institution we blame.  Blaming someone else means we cannot make changes or improve the situation.  Look back and claim responsibility. For example, I invested in the market knowing full well that it was a risk and that there was rampant greed on the Street.  I could have  assessed the risks in a more productive fashion. I could have taken the time to track the stocks myself instead of leaving it to my broker.  I could have see the writing on the wall. Now is the time to ensure that we do not repeat these mistakes, that we will learn the lessons and take full responsibility for our lives.

How about understanding the basic nature of life and that is: s–t happens.  To have an expectation that everything will go according to your plan is close to insane.  The universe does not work that way.  Expectations that things will go our way are premeditated disappointments and resentments.  That’s life and we need to accept that fact.

Clean up you mess. The government needs to clean up their mess, Wall Street need to do the same and so do we.  That done, we all need to ensure that we make conscious choices about how we want to invest our money in the future.

How about the issue of control?  Exactly where do we have control and where do we not?  We cannot control the outer world. We cannot control what others choose to do.  Learning the difference between where we have control and where we don’t will lead to a much more centered and content existence.  Trying to control life is like swimming against the current…you get nowhere except highly frustrated, tired, angry and resentful.  We can only control ourselves and how we choose to handle what life throws out way.

There are undoubtedly many more lessons to be gleaned from the crisis on Wall Street and I challenge you to find them so that you not only don’t repeat them but so that you evolve into a wiser human being.