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Self Help

How to Enjoy a Purpose Filled Life

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Flowering kudzu.Image via Wikipedia

Many among us are bewildered with the purpose of life, “What are we here on earth for? Where am I headed? After all these experiences in life, what’s next?”

For most of us who are still searching for answers, the best option is to enjoy the journey. What better way to do this than by living life to its fullest, with zest and vigor, in full throttle. Here’s how:

Whatever you’re doing now, it better be interesting, exciting, and enjoyable. Otherwise, change it. Some might say, “Change, oh no, not change! I’d rather stick to what I’m doing now. Even though it’s boring, it’s good enough.” Well, enough is actually not enough – it’s less than enough. If you let your life pass by without giving change a chance, especially when your life is just “good enough,” you are depriving yourself the good life. Change doesn’t have to be threatening, intimidating, or frightening. Once you allow change to be part of your experience in life, you will find that all those negative notions are actually baseless and unfounded. Change for the better by changing the way you think – from negative to positive, from passive to active, from gloom to bloom. Change the way you think and your outcome in life will change tremendously for the better.

While you are in the process of changing, you are actually taking risks. When you take risks, you also take on challenges and obstacles. Keep in mind that without risks, there will be no change, no progress, no improvement, no excitement, and no purpose in life. So keep your thoughts on the positive side only. Don’t even take a glimpse of the negative. Have you ever seen a product in the supermarket that offers negative values? It’s always plus, plus, plus. Buy one, free one; thirty percent more; more value for your money. If ever you see a negative word like “less fifty percent,” it still means more. The manufacturers of those products are actually taking risks with the ultimate goal of making more.

Take away all those limitations, boundaries, and barricades of life. Go beyond those walls that deprive you of enjoyment in life. Don’t forget to bring along your gear. Your gear should include self-confidence, determination, faith, and enthusiasm, to name a few.

To enjoy life, have more fun under the sun. How to have more fun is all up to you. Keep your attention focused on the bright side of life. Be optimistic and enthusiastic.

When opportunities knock, open the door and let them in. Better yet, grab them in. Opportunities don’t knock everyday. Opportunities are like visitors. We don’t have visitors everyday. When you do, you let them in. The same concept applies to opportunities. Welcome them. Get to know who or what they are. Talk to them. Know more about them. Scrutinize them, and then weigh your options. You don’t call them opportunities for nothing. If they are opportunities in disguise, take off their masks. Each of us is endowed with enough wisdom to find out, determine, and judge which ones are opportunities and which ones are not. Once you have determined that an opportunity is worth your attention, grab it immediately.

Only one thing on earth is permanent, and that thing is change. Everything keeps on changing as time goes by. Even volcanoes, which have been dormant for hundreds of years, change. Since risks are identified with change, everything is at risk most of the time. When you fear taking risks, you are actually in fear most of the time. Instead of being a passenger of change, why not take the driver’s seat to effect change the way you want it to be. Take responsibility in your own actions.

Perhaps the purpose of life is the journey itself. While you are at it, you might as well enjoy and live it to the fullest.

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Spirituality

What Does Spirituality Mean to You?

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Devil's Punchbowl Waterfall, New Zealand may be studied using geostatistics

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The word ‘spirituality’ has a different meaning for different people. I believe that spirituality is something we carry within ourselves. It is expressed, or “outwardly manifested,” by our sense of self and our sense of respect for others.
There is nothing inherently special in being spiritual, being in touch with that higher or inner self. I am not referring to the outward displays of “Spirituality” or the “look at how spiritual I am I can rest in the lotus position for 3 days” brigade. A true connection to the higher being within us IS our natural state.
Objectively, spirituality embraces the theories, practices and social structures that answer the existential questions that arise out of the nature of being human “Who am I?” “What are I?” and “What is my purpose?”

Spirituality is not about converting you to a specific way of thinking. It is about your personal insights and experience, associated with your personal quest to discover your essence or “true identify” and subsequently reach the pinnacle of your being and achieve everything you want from life.

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Meditation

The One Minute Meditation

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Scenes of Inner Taksang, temple hall, built just above the cave where Padmasambhava meditated

Image via Wikipedia

Meditation has a number of very important benefits, both to our minds and our bodies.  With all these important benefits, you would think that everyone would meditate every day.  One of the most frequent reasons people give for not engaging in daily meditation sessions is lack of time.  Many people simply are too busy living their daily lives and making a living, and they feel they do not have the time and energy to devote to meditation.

That is where the one-minute meditation comes in.  As the name implies, the one-minute meditation takes a mere 60 seconds, and even the busiest person can spare that much time.

The one-minute meditation is also one of the easiest to do.  There are no mantras to repeat, no candles to burn, no complicated yoga positions.  The one-minute meditation simply consists of taking three deep breaths.

Try this simple breathing exercise.  Breathe in through your mouth, and then breathe instead through your nose.  When you breathe through your mouth your chest will expand, while nose breathing expands your diaphragm and your abdomen instead.  Breathing through your nose will cause the diaphragm to engage, bringing air much deeper into your lungs.  This means that more oxygen is being delivered to your bloodstream and your organs, and this results in a greater level of relaxation.

That is why breath control is such a fundamental of meditation.  At the extreme end of the spectrum are those religious leaders who can use meditation to slow their breathing almost to the point of imperceptibility.  It is of course not necessary for the average person to take breathing control to this extreme, but learning how to breath properly can help us relax and get more out of even the shortest meditation session.

All you need to do to engage in a successful one-minute meditation is to close your eyes, let your thoughts drift away, and take three slow, deliberate and deep breaths through your nose.  Pay attention to your breathing as you inhale and exhale each breath, and note how much better you feel after having done so.

This meditation exercise will of course not take you into a deep contemplative state of mind, nor will it allow you to commune with your inner child.  The one-minute meditation will, however, allow you to relax and recharge, making it a perfect exercise for whenever you feel stressed out or overwhelmed by the day.  The beauty of the one-minute meditation is that it can be done virtually anywhere – at the office, at home, at lunchtime, or even in your car.  This one-minute recharging session can definitely help you get through a busy and stressful day.

It is a good idea to make this one-minute meditation a regular ritual.  Try doing the one-minute meditation first thing every morning, or right before bedtime.  Performing this simple exercise upon waking can help you charge the batteries and get ready for the day, while doing it at nighttime can relax you and get you ready for a restful night’s sleep.  Making a habit out of something healthy, like the one-minute meditation, is certainly better than making a habit out of something harmful, like alcohol or cigarettes.

The one-minute meditation is perfect for those who feel they do not have time to meditate.  This simple exercise can be used on its own, or combined with other, more sophisticated, meditation techniques.  Try it for a few days.  You may be wondering how you ever got along without it.

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