Category Archives: faith

Blogroll, faith, Gratitude, Growing, life, mindfulness, self help, spiritual enlightenment

Life Is Yours For The Taking!

“If you look to others for fulfillment, you will never be truly fulfilled. If your happiness depends on money, you will never be happy with yourself. Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.” -Lao Tzu

That sounds like an amazing way to live life, doesn’t it. How incredible it is that there is nothing lacking and the whole world does belong to us, once we come to that realization. The question is: How do we get to that place of realization? Realization being, not just that it sounds good, but that we believe it and live it.

I believe we get there through GRATITUDE. When we here the word gratitude, we think about being thankful and that is a part of it, but it is much more than just being thankful. Gratitude is the realization that I already have everything I need. There is nothing that needs to be added and nothing that needs to be taken away. The recipe for our blessing, growth and success is complete.

This does not mean that life does not come without challenges. Life is tough, but it’s not impossible. The truth is that the tough challenges are part of the process that moves us from where we are to where we need to be so we can become. The best way to get there is by focusing on what is right over what is wrong, this is when the real magic happens.

I’ve lived life long enough to notice something truly remarkable: Happy people are grateful and grateful people are happy. I’ve notice that happy people come in all shapes and sizes and from all walks of life. I’ve also noticed that happy people still have challenges, struggles and difficulties. So why are they happy? Because, somewhere along the way they learned to be grateful, regardless of the circumstances.

You see, this whole human experience, the good, the bad and the ugly serves a greater purpose than most of us realize. This whole human experience is offering our Spirit the opportunity to grow our soul. This is just one of the many amazing gifts that our Creator gives us that allows us to follow in His footsteps.

My challenge is to practice gratitude everyday of my life and in as many moments as possible, because it is the practice of gratitude that helps me to take advantage of the room for improvement that I have in my life and offers me the opportunity to experience the magic of the Spirit at work on me, in me and through me.

Stop focusing on what you don’t have or what’s not working the way you want it to and instead practice being grateful for what you do have and what is working. You will be amazed at the difference it makes in your life and living…

Blogroll, faith, Growing, life, mindfulness, peace

Enjoy The Game!

If life were a football game, then I would guess I am some where between half-time and third quarter. It’s hard to believe that the first half of my life is over with, gone and cannot be relived, but it is and I have to say: I have learned much and realize more clearly than ever before that there is still so much left for me to learn.

There is a lot that we can understand about life, but then there is also a lot that is a mystery. There are some things we are supposed to figure out and learn from and other things that we just need to allow to unfold at their own pace and pleasure.

I like the idea of just allowing things to unfold, because it takes a lot of self imposed pressure off. I don’t have to try so hard to make things work, I just need to get out of the way, enjoy the journey, watch and learn as life does it’s thing.

Not everything is about toil and hard work, sometimes it’s about working smarter, not harder. Who says we have to understand everything? Why do we feel like we have to explain everything away? Why can’t we just be content with saying: “I don’t know???”

Live life long enough and your expectations will be shattered and you will discover that it everything is still going to be okay, because our expectations are often very unreal anyway. We would do well to practice the art of “ALLOWING”. Allow life to be what life is going to be. Stop trying to manipulate, calculate and subjugate life into what you think it should be and simply learn to enjoy allowing life to be whatever it is going to be.

Learn the joy of sitting back and observing life and it’s beauty as it unfolds like a flower revealing the secrets it has hidden away some where deep inside of itself. Shut up, judge less and listen, really listen and you will be amazed at how your mind will open up and allow your heart to be touched by the mystery of life and living…

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… 🙏🏻