attitude of gratitude

2020 Vision – More Than a Metaphor and Year for All

January 9, 2020 By Zen

Working on Being Clear-sighted for 2020…

What is your 2020 Vision? This year brings a barrage of thoughtful metaphors to mind, right? We generally have some kind of resolution for change in the new year, yet this year may be even more impactful if we apply its wisdom. In looking clearly, we look at our lives in the full spectrum. Who are we and what is important to us? How are we living to example our core values?

Conversations in the small business peer advisory group monthly meetings usually have some mention of core values, both in the company culture and vision of the owner. One salient point always emerges: continuing personal growth. Our behaviors are driven by our core values, whether at play or work and certainly in relationships in life. Sometimes we need help to reflect and remember who we are.

Early in life we are presented with opportunities to learn how to live from watching those around us and trying things on our own. We grow through mistakes, most often, or at least from less desirable results than we’d like to experience. Sometimes we ask for help when things seem to get out of control and we realize that our mirror needs cleaning.

Moving Forward – Intentional 2020 Vision

Intending to begin this year with renewed attention and focus on being productive, I was reminded of the signs, in English, we encountered in the heart of the Yucatan peninsula on a highway carved through the tropical forest. “Observe Your Intentions” and “Observe Your Distractions” were the clear messages for our relationship and life in general. The wisdom for life offers guidance for all of us.

What is surprising is that we already know this as compassionate and loving beings, what we pay attention to grows and we tend to attract more of the same. How and what do you want to attract this year? What is your 2020 Vision? Can you get really clear on what that is? How are you going to accomplish the vision you have for this year and the future? The possibilities can be overwhelming.

How do you, me, we find clarity in what direction to go? Often we confuse the nature of who we are with what we think we should be doing in life. Who we are is tantamount to what we become and the life that we lead; it’s challenges, perceived failures and triumphs are purposeful to our growth. What keeps us from being and then doing the right things?

We hurt inside when our actions or words are misunderstood or we fall short of our intended goals and objectives. We lock up and separate from the world we so much want to enjoy. Whether personal or professional situations, without reflecting for a moment, taking a breath and stepping back to get a little clearer sight, we may react to the pain in a variety of ways that certainly lack compassion and consideration. We’re human. So? Is that an excuse?

Perhaps we feel like life is a kind of managed chaos, where the notion of crisis management seems to permeate our lives in ways we try to avoid. The wisdom from my father still rings true: do the most challenging thing first; the thing you want to avoid and ignore, the one that you fear or stresses you out the most. The choice to do so is one that happy and successful people make time and again, most often with the best choices made after seeking advice from a coach, mentor or trusted confidant.

Rites of Passage and Purposeful Path

One of the Core Values of Coaching is to tell the truth, be honest and transparent. That’s a great 2020 Vision. It may be tough in some situations, regardless of the reason truth has no deception and we never have to confront ourselves in the mirror. Being honest with ourselves is the first step, a clear look in the mirror is often accompanied by the need for change, transforming who we are or were that was less than who we could be. I was, and probably still am, a bit obsessive of truth. I’ve gotten more compassionate with age.

As a teenager, a few months after turning 18, I had prayed to know the ‘truth’ about life, including me and my purpose for being here. It was no doubt part of some rite of passage built into my consciousness and life-stream, I was asked a question that took me to the depths of my being. “Are you willing to die for what you believe in?” The question came as a voice without form, during a meditation, seemingly from deep within me though not my voice.

I would imagine some have been asked that question as well. How do you answer it? First, one has to decide what they believe in on a very basic level, life or death. As one who was brought up in the United Methodist Church, though not fully aligned with the organized church, my first thought was Christ Consciousness. In the nano-seconds of my ‘check-in’ it felt incomplete. Hold on, it wasn’t a denial of it at all. It just felt incomplete, like there was something more.

Perhaps my hesitancy had to do with form, the embodiment that was a vessel of something greater. It was the greater I wanted to know. My next choice was Cosmic Consciousness, which felt complete and fulfilling in comparison. What is that exactly? The formless side of Christ Consciousness, before incarnation and with infinite intelligence. The answer: “Yes,” and my life changed in an instant. I left this world.

Personal Transformation – Trials and Tribulations

It felt like moving upward, even though eyes were closed. Turning to view my physical body laying across my dorm room bed first, then to look in the direction of the movement with an instant arrival in the Light. Over the next 2 minutes and 42 seconds I was taken on a journey few have made, let alone been able to remain somewhat sane afterward.

Two things I became aware of as a result. First, we a flow of consciousness that has no death, no end; second, we each have a purpose in establishing a new order of Unity on Earth that is required for our sustainability.

That may seem totally insane to many, based on our current situation and who manages the media, politics and resources of our world. Can we learn to work together? What is the best 2020 Vision for moving toward sustainability? It starts with you, me and us and includes more than planetary sustainability, it has more to do with personal sustainability.

We need to ask ourselves a question: What do we believe in? Beyond the illusion of separation, which all paths to transcendence reveal, how do we demonstrate the belief in Love, the longing for the result of the joy and happiness we all seek? How might that show up in our business, career, family and our relationships?

Do we argue about the distractions or ascend with better intentions? Choices….

Transforming the Holiday Season

December 20, 2019 By Zen

Are you in process of transforming the holiday season? Moving into the holiday season we bring a storehouse of precious moments from the past year. We tend to cycle through the year’s review and assess our accomplishments and highlights of the year.

What were yours?

For just a moment and a few breaths, remember the most exciting events and how you felt about them. Most likely you’ll have a sense of gratitude that accompanies the sense of accomplishment.

We tend to spend most of our time concentrating on taking care of daily matters, hopefully with a sense of where we are headed and defining at least some of those daily moments as critical in our progress of achieving goals.

Do you notice that when you have a sense of gratitude, the details for your journey toward accomplishment becomes clearer?

If one were to contemplate the process and create a simple understanding of how it works, the notions of attention, intention and action might emerge as key factors. Attention on the goal, intention to perform at peak service and following through on the tasks that become apparent is a pretty simple process.

So how does that help transform the holiday season? Businesses outside of retail tend to slow to a crawl during the holiday season. Nearly everyone has their minds on family gatherings, presents (for and from) and vacations to various places. More than likely there is a lot of downtime and opportunity to ponder what’s next as the year comes to a close.

Some might think about New Year’s resolutions. Consider starting here. Business owners are looking at last year’s results and preparing goals and objectives for the new year. Single folks are probably thinking about how to find that perfect mate or make more money. Families might be starting to plan next year’s travel or upgrades to the home.

Transforming the Holiday Season

There is an inner perspective that, in all respects, emerges with insight, inspiration, investigation and personal identity as a conscious entity in a greater reality. This greater reality is a connected web of life, often driven by the awareness of abundant synchronicity, that is a result of the attention we put on intention and the actions we take in the spirit of ‘acting as if.’

This is where the inner and outer connect, quantum theory proven.

The truth is we are becoming aware of multiple components of a larger reality our belief systems and experience limited for millennia. The industrial age information age and increase in the availability of information catapulted web-connected humans into an accelerated learning curve with a parallel curve in the rise of awareness of inner and outer realities.

Attitude of Gratitude for Everything in Life

October 9, 2019 By Zen

Attitude of Gratitude

During this season we are particularly attuned to the attitude of gratitude toward the people, places and things in our lives. We set aside our thoughts and feelings of what is wrong with our lives and the world for just a moment in time. It allows us to invite a spirit of family and togetherness beyond our normal daily routines.

In my coaching practice I encounter a consistent mindset that focuses on what is not wanted. Folks are dismayed by the events and people in their lives that seem to reflect these undesirable situations on a continual basis.

We often shift this focus, through mindful practice, to that of an attitude of gratitude for those desirable situations that are always present, too.

What does that do for the beneficial evolution of one’s life and/or perspective?

Consider the notions presented by much of the material over the last decade or so regarding the nature of how we attract what we think and feel strongly. Some refer to this as the Law of Attraction, but the concept and philosophy has been around for centuries under different labels.

Just take a moment and reflect, if you would, on how your life has been very different when you experience situations that edify your humanity, your good will and those who example that toward and with you and others.

What did you discover?

Your world of personal and professional relationships is full of desirable and undesirable situations, right? If you could determine a ratio of desirable to undesirable situations, what might it be? Are you satisfied with that? Is it possible to change that ration for the better? Do you want to? When?

Imagine the results of changing your perception just slightly. It’s hard to shift your emotions, how you feel, when the situations have emotional triggers that take you out of the sense of continuity or flow, right? Sometimes we have moments of just observing the situation for what it is, completely removed from our personal emotional state and/or view of the reasons for it happening. That is a very powerful position and full of possibility.

“Possibility of what?”

We can grow in compassion and understanding when we are able to disengage our own emotions and our attachment to the outcome of the situation. It is what it is and it will resolve according to the emotions and perceptions of those in it. Does that make sense? We’ve heard about the notion that when you change your view, your perception, the world changes automatically.

Imagine what an attitude of gratitude for the challenges we face can do for changing perspectives. It frees us from the emotional turmoil often associated with undesirable results. It also allows us to refocus on desirable outcomes and work toward them instead. A lack of communication is often the culprit as well.

Too often we engage situations with unspoken and unfulfilled expectations that affect our internal engine, so to speak. Instead of running efficiently we choke and sputter because our supply of fuel is diminished. So it is with communication. We are often hindered by our fear of rejection or resistance, so we remain quiet and then walk away feeling emotionally damaged. How does that help?

Attitude – Keep It Simple

One simple thing can make all the difference in the world. It may feel scary at worst, but at least uncomfortable, yet we simply must open our mouths and say what is on our mind and/or heart. It might stir others and cause a disruption in the perceived flow of the situation, but the result will take the outcome to a new height in relation-ship building. In effect, you’ve just created another level of transparency.

What happens when people know more about each other and the situation at hand? Can they deal with it more effectively? Does it offer opportunity for achievement beyond the previous constraints?

I would venture to say that, in nearly all situations, there is a sense of gratitude that things were spoken that everyone was feeling but no one was willing to offer for discussion. Sometimes you might need help in shifting your attitude, or finding reasons to reach out to a professional to help.

So, in conclusion I would like to offer and even suggest that when you feel tension in a situation rather than allow it to continue, you might engage an attitude of gratitude for the opportunity to help make things better for everyone. Beyond the resistance or turmoil it may create, temporarily, you’ll garner a deeper respect for yourself and from others. Remember.. Your attitude determines your altitude.