Category Archives: Enlightenment

Blogroll, Enlightenment, Expectation, faith, Mystery, Life,, Uncategorized

The Mystery Of Life!

One of my favorite country songs has a line that says: “A woman is a mystery a man just can’t understand…” I think we can replace the word woman with life and we would be right on target. “Life is a mystery, we just can’t understand!” Here’s the real question we need to answer: Who said we were supposed to understand anyway? Maybe it is our trying to understand that causes most of our problems.

Life is a gift and a gift should be appreciated, enjoyed and most importantly lived. If you really want to live, then let life unfold without making any attempt to try and figure it out. There is another line in a song that says: “Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be!” This is exactly what we need to learn to discipline ourselves to do, to just let it be…

This human life is a divine gift from our Heavenly Creator and Father. Everything is going to stretch out just the way it was designed to. We really don’t have to try so hard to make things work out. What we really need to do, is learn to simply ALLOW.

Not everything is hard work, struggle and toil. Not everything has to be understood and explained by us. It is okay to say: “That’s above my pay grade!” Life is life and life is unfolding just the way is was designed to, regardless of what we do or do not do.

Expectation is often times a very unrealistic enemy that causes us to miss the obvious, while we are distracted by what does not really matter. Live life long enough and I can promise you that your expectations are going to be shattered and when they are, it is a great opportunity to practice the art of allowing by letting go of the way you think it should be and embracing the way it is.

Here are a few ideas to help you practice the art of allowing:

Observe! Open your eyes and really allow yourself to see. See with your physical eyes, not just what you want to see, but the big picture. See with you mental eyes that there is so much more to this life than living and dying. See with your spiritual eyes the unseen wonders and miracles that most everyone tends to miss every moment of every day.

Don’t Judge! This is the hard part, because everything in this world is working to conform us to it’s own shape and anything different is to be thought of as unworthy. How many times have we missed the blessing, because we were distracted by judgement, when we were supposed to be enlightened by freedom?

Listen! There is so much to hear, if we can learn to really listen past the common noise that drowns out the still small voice of our Creator. Did you hear the breeze as it rustled the leaves in the tree? Did you hear the bird singing as it woke up with the sun? Did you hear the laughter and feel it touch you somewhere deep inside that you didn’t even know was there? Listen to hear these things and so much more. God is always speaking blessing, but we have to listen to receive.

Open Your Heart, Mind And Life! To really live life, we are living from three places: The physical, mental and spiritual. Open yourself to learning and growing in all of these areas to experience the totality of all that you have been created for. Life is not a mystery to be understood and explained. Life is a mystery to be experienced and enjoyed… 👣

Blogroll, Enlightenment, intentional, life, mindfulness, personal growth

Five Tips For Living An Intentional Life!

I love life! But if I am totally honest: I have not always loved life. There have been times that I absolutely dreaded it and there have even been times when I just wanted to get off the ride and go home. Somewhere along the way, during the ups, downs, sideways, upside-downs and right-side ups of this life, I learned that the secret to loving life, was not just tolerating it, but actually treating it as the gift that it truly is.

This life is our opportunity to work on our very own masterpiece. If we choose we can add on purpose and intentional brushstrokes everyday that help to make life and living something really special.

If we are not careful, it is very possible to live our lives with no real intention or purpose, just bouncing around helplessly like a little ball getting knocked around in a pinball machine. This is not the life we were created for and the key to living above the fray is INTENTIONALITY. We each have a choice to make: Work on a masterpiece or be a helpless ball tossed around in a meaningless game???

Being intentional requires us to think about what we want and what we are capable of. It requires us to think thought our life and living and make a plan. It is all about taking advantage of the amazing gift of choice. That’s right we have the ability to choose the life we are going to live.

Here are Five Tips For Living An Intentional Life:

1. Decide at the beginning of your day, what this day is going to be about! If you don’t decide someone else will decide for you and trust me, that will not even come close to the kind of day, you would really like to live. Be intentional about what your day is going to be about!

2. Understand that time is a gift that you can’t get back! We each have 24 hours in a day. No one gets anymore and no one gets any less. Most of us waste a lot of time and then feel guilty and regret it later. Be intentional about how you are going to invest your time!

3. Think about your thoughts! The things we think about impact our living in so many different ways and this is why it is important to get rid of negative distractions and pessimistic attitudes. When we change the way we look at things, the things we look at change! Be intentional about what you allow your head to dwell on!

4. Focus on relationships, because we were created to do life together. God did not create us because He needed us. God created us, because He wanted us and He wants us to want each other, because we are better together. Be intentional about your relationships and their care!

5. Begin and end your day with a plan! This is the key to intentional living. Take time at the very beginning of your day to think about and plan for how you want your day to unfold. It will not go exactly as planned, but you will be ready for whatever comes your way. Take time before you go to sleep at night to look back over your day and celebrate the wins and learn from the losses. Be intention about planning your day and you will be amazed at how it opens you up to bless and be blessed.

Blogroll, Enlightenment, faith, God, Gratitude, life, mindfulness

Daily Gifts!

When I was a young boy growing up, I remember the older folks saying: “The older you get the quicker time flies!” I remember it used to seem like it took forever for Christmas to get here. Now that I have lived more than a few years, I have discovered that what the older folks were saying is very much true. I’m not sure why it is this way, but it seems that every year, the days go by faster and quicker than the year before.

I am at the age now that I realize what a precious gift a day is. Once it is spent, we cannot get it back and so I try to get the most out of and enjoy every one I get. At some point in my life, I read some where that every day presents us with three very special gifts. Those gifts are: Time, energy and choice.

Every day presents us with the gift of time. We have 24 hours to rest and sleep, to work and earn; and to serve ourselves and others. We all get the same amount of time in a day, but we each get to make our own choices about what we are going to do with that time. We should be careful to use it wisely, since there is a limited supply.

Every day presents us with the gift of energy. As we get older, we don’t have quiet as much of this as we used to. How many times have you seen a bunch of adults sitting around watching the kids run all over the place and heard someone exclaim: “If I had that much energy, I’d bottle it up and sell it!” If we use our energy wisely, it will reward us in incredible ways.

Everyday presents us with the gift of choice. We choose to stay in bed or get up. We choose what we are going to eat, if we are going to eat at all. We make choices about our choices! When we stop and think about it, what an amazing gift, the gift of choice is. Choose to live the most amazing life possible.

These three gifts are gifts that we way to often, tend to take for granted. I challenge you for whatever days you have left, to take time to think about, appreciate and utilize your daily gifts. Manage your time and get the most out of your moments. Use your energy wisely and protect it’s source. Get what you want out of this life, by choosing your activities carefully, so that you are not wasting the precious gift of time. Life is about more than minutes, it is about moments, so get the most out of everyone you’ve been gifted with… 🙏🏻