Quality Vs. Quantity

ceramics-1189489I was recently inspired by the following excerpt from the book, Art & Fear: Observations On the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking:

The ceramics teacher announced he was dividing his class into two groups. All those on the left side of the studio would be graded solely on the quantity of work they produced, all those on the right graded solely on its quality.

His procedure was simple: on the final day of class he would weigh the work of the “quantity” group: 50 pounds of pots rated an A, 40 pounds a B, and so on. Those being graded on “quality”, however, needed to produce only one pot – albeit a perfect one – to get an A.

Well, come grading time and a curious fact emerged: the works of highest quality were all produced by the group being graded for quantity!

It seems that while the “quantity” group was busily churning out piles of work – and learning from their mistakes – the “quality” group had sat theorizing about perfection, and in the end had little more to show for their efforts than grandiose theories and a pile of dead clay.

What I got from this case study is that striving for quality is important, although it is through trial and error that we reach higher quality. We have to allow ourselves to fail. Producing quantity forces us to experiment, and this in turn leads us to improving and evolving our methodology. It really reflects the old saying, “Practice makes perfect.”

I’m not saying release a bunch of crap haphazardly, but experimenting a lot during the process of production gives you many ideas to potentially incorporate into the final result. It’s all about learning from our mistakes, and not being afraid of failure. It’s the tried and true method.

Let me know what you think in the comments.

In Loving Memory of Dr. Masaru Emoto


Dr. Masaru EmotoDr. Masaru Emoto born July 22, 1943 (age 71) passed away peacefully with his wife by his side in Tokyo, Japan early this morning (October 17th, 2014).

His last word was “Arigato”. (“Thank you” in Japanese).

Since he became ill in Shanghai, he has received so much love and gratitude from his dear friends from all over the world. He was very encouraged and happy to receive your kind messages with love.

He used to say, “Life is LOVE which is a gift from God and parents, and DEATH is gratitude for going to a new dimension”. So now he is in another dimension and continues to look over us warmly with love and gratitude.

Most people first heard of Dr. Emoto in 2004 when the hit movie, “What The Bleep Do We Know?” was released. The documentary is about quantum physics and the power of intention. In the documentary, Dr. Emoto’s findings on the transformative influence of intention is demonstrated:

Dr. Emoto’s book “The Hidden Messages in Water” became a New York Times bestseller. This book illustrates his discovery that crystals formed in frozen water reveal changes when specific, concentrated thoughts are directed toward them. He found that water from clear springs and water that has been exposed to loving intention shows vibrant, intricate, and beautiful snowflake patterns. In contrast, polluted water, or water exposed to negative intent, forms broken, asymmetrical patterns with dull colors.

“The words themselves actually emit a unique vibration that the water is sensing. When water is shown a written word, it receives it as vibration, and expresses the message in a specific form, like a visual code for expressing words. Water exposed to words Thank you formed beautiful geometric crystals, no matter what the language. But water exposed to you fool and other degrading words resulted in obviously broken and deformed crystals. When a complete geometric crystal is formed, water is in alignment with nature and the phenomena we call life. The words gratitude and love form the fundamental principles of the laws of nature and the phenomenon of life.”

– Dr. Masaru Emoto

Thank You Water Crystal

you-fool

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another one of the most famous and controversial experiments Dr. Masaru Emoto conducted was labeling rice and repeating both negative and positive phrases to them daily such as “Thank you” and “You fool” in Japanese with interesting results. The rice that was thanked was shown to ferment, and the rice that was hated turned black. The rice that was ignored simply rotted.

Have you done the rice experiment? Share your results with us in the comments.

We will leave you with just a few of the best Masaru Emoto quotes:

“What we imagine in our minds becomes our world.”

“Existence is vibration. When we separate something into its smallest parts, we always enter a strange world where all that exists is particles and waves. The fact that everything is in a state of vibration also means that everything is creating sound. And as sound is created, there is a master listener to receive the sound: water. Why would crystal formation be affected by music, and why completely different results would be reached depending on the spoken and written words water was exposed to. Water, so sensitive to the unique frequencies emitted by the world, essentially and efficiently mirrors the outside world. Music and spoken words are vibration; they are easily understood and interpreted by just about anyone. Sounds like the chant created by a human voice at a Buddhist funeral create a healing frequency.”

“Water has a memory and carries within it our thoughts and prayers. As you yourself are water, no matter where you are, your prayers will be carried to the rest of the world.”

– Masaru Emoto

Top 10 Brain Health Tips by Dr. Michael S. Trayford

While there are many “Top 10” lists out there, this is a list I have compiled based on years of literature review and firsthand experience in clinical neurological practice.  While no list is ever complete and priorities and orders of importance change with the literature and time; these are, in my opinion, the top 10 ways you can help your brain perform at its maximum potential…in no particular order.  While we offer many advanced applications for boosting brain performance, these are tools that every one of us has at our disposal and can begin to implement immediately.

1) Get plenty of sleep – While there is no definitive number of hours proven to be the best for humans, it is suggested by most experts that a minimum of 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep be observed by most.  Care should be taken to remove any barriers to achieving and maintaining sleep from the bedroom (i.e. TVs, computers, excess light, poor quality/old beds, etc.).  Among other things, memories are formed when we sleep and improved quality and duration of sleep can stave off cognitive decline due to aging.  Click here for a New York Times article on impaired sleep and memory decline.

2) Manage your stress – Stress, namely the long-term continuous stressors many of us face on a day to day basis (e.g. jobs, relationships, traffic, finances, etc.), and the ill-effects it brings on are touted as the root cause of the majority of chronic diseases of our modern society.  There are countless techniques available to us to help us manage stress including meditation, journaling, counseling, prayer, yoga, NLP, Tai Chi, etc., and they all have their distinct advantages with regard to helping our brains perform better.  The majority of the research on stress reduction and the brain has been done in the area of meditation.  Click here for a link to a great book written on meditation and its amazing impact on brain function.

3) Exercise – We all know we should do it and we need to ‘Make the Time’ instead of trying to ‘Find the Time’.  The evidence is irrefutable; exercise makes your brain work better…period!  From increased blood flow carrying oxygen and nutrients to our ‘Greedy Master’, to production of chemicals that help us connect nerve cells and even grow new ones; we all need to exercise.  Click here for a link to my blog post on a phenomenal book that will teach you everything you want to know about this subject.

4) Drink plenty of WATER – Notice the word water is capitalized!  While the occasional naturally flavored drink of your choice is fine, water should be your main source of hydration as it will eliminate intake of sugars, sugar substitutes, artificial flavors/colors, etc. that can all be harmful to your brain.  Our bodies are made up of roughly 60% water content and our brains are even higher at upwards of 70-80%.  General recommendations for intake are currently accepted by many to be 1/2 of your body weight in oz. of water per day (e.g. 140 lbs = 70 oz.).

5) Eat the right kind of fat – Another area where our brain requires more, and the right kind of, raw materials is fat consumption.  Under normal circumstances our bodies are comprised 20-25% fat and our brains approximately 60%.  While I am unable to get into the biochemistry of fats in this limited space, adhering to a few simple rules can help get you off to a good start.  Avoid at all costs processed, man-made fats that fall under the general heading of ‘Trans Fats’.  These are dangerous for our brains and bodies in so many ways, many of which we do not even know yet.  Also, minimizing saturated fat intake is advisable for most (e.g. red meats, butters, etc.).  Poly and monounsaturated fats found in whole food sources (nuts, vegetable oils, greens, etc.) and omega-3 fatty acids found in fish and other whole food sources are desirable for a better brain.  Click here for a recent article on fats and your brain.

6) Learn something new – Exercise for your brain!  Learning new subjects, skills and hobbies can help to preserve and build your brain’s resources to ensure it functions at its highest ability as we move through this journey of life.  Novel stimulation has been shown to enhance brain activity immeasurably; whereas routine, monotonous type behaviors will likely ensure a slow, steady decline in cognitive function over time.  Google ‘Learning and the Brain’ and sift through the 132 million results for some light reading to begin the process of learning and remember…We are NEVER too old to learn!

7)  Eat your fruits and veggies – The benefits of REAL/WHOLE foods in our diets is endless, especially fruits and vegetables.  They are low-calorie and loaded with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, good sugars and fiber; which are all good for our brain.  So many of our foods are far from their original source, so begin to learn (which is also good for your brain) about the dangers of processed and genetically modified foods and you will begin to develop an appreciation for fresh, whole foods that power your brain much more efficiently!

8) Be social – Much to my dismay this tip is often left off of many “Top 10” brain health lists and could quite possibly be one of the most important factors for a brain to be able to survive and thrive!  Numerous studies over the past 100 years have shown how social isolation can cause significant psychological and neurological impairment, and even death in extreme cases.  Social isolation disrupts myelin production, which is critical for nerve signaling and transmission.  Volunteer, join a book club or service organization, take a class, walk the neighborhood and talk to your neighbors…put yourself out there – your brain will thank you!  Click here to read more on social isolation and decreased myelin production.

9) Eliminate bad habits – Drinking, smoking, laziness, poor diet, worry, anger, sedentary behavior, dangerous physical activities, etc…Need I say more?

10) Set goals and move towards them – Our brain’s ‘reward system’ is intimately linked to our older emotional (limbic) brain on one end, and our newer cognitive (cortical) brain on the other.  That said, to help balance and improve function in either of these regions, exercising our reward system is a critical step in the process.  Further, the neurotransmitter dopamine is a key player in this system and it is increased with repetitive utilization of this system (this is the same neurotransmitter in short supply in conditions like Parkinson’s!).  Goals must be realistic and attainable, but also strong enough to stretch our mental capacities for optimal benefit!

~Please enjoy, feel free to comment, share with others; and, most importantly, put these to good use!~

Dr. Michael S. Trayford

The Power of Reframing

Ever hear the saying, “Don’t cry over spilled milk?” It means a lot more than may be initially apparent. Often times, people beat themselves up over insignificant mistakes or shortcomings. Sometimes people have a single seemingly negative experience that causes them to form a limiting belief about themselves or the world which hinders their success.  These people often appear bitter, jaded or insecure. All it takes is a small shift in thinking to transform their lives. One might tell themselves, “I’m so clumsy! I can’t do anything right.” or they can simply clean the mess and have more positive self-talk like, “It’s okay. That milk was probably going sour anyway.”

In each moment, we are perceiving reality through the lens of our senses, and the way we choose to interpret it is completely unique to who we are and what we believe from past experiences. If you’re speaking and some dude walks out of the room, you might take it personally and think, “He must be bored by what I’m saying. I must be boring,” or you can have a more optimistic outlook and think, “He must really have to pee, because what I’m saying is awesome.”

Focus on becoming aware of any negative belief patterns that surface in various situations, and take time to remember the earliest event that triggered you to think that way. Then, you can look for evidence to disprove the negative beliefs. For example, if you think you’re too fat to get a girlfriend, look for examples of fat men who have girlfriends. The more you prove to yourself that your fears are irrational, the easier it will be to switch to a more confident mindset.

Ever since the movie “The Secret” came out, the idea that you create your reality has been spreading like wildfire, and whether you believe in the law of attraction or not, hopefully now you can at least see how you create your experience of reality which dramatically affects your actions and results. If you don’t believe something is possible for you, the motivation to strive for it will be nonexistent. Keep an open mind, and practice seeing things from different perspectives. If someone is feeling upset, see if you can say something that reframes what’s bothering them and shines a more positive light. Find ways of seeing your supposed weaknesses as strengths. If you feel awkward approaching people in social situations, and think you might be viewed as an annoyance, you might reframe it by flipping the script and thinking something like, “I’m awesome, and all these people want me to approach them.”

Joe asked God, “How much is a penny worth in Heaven?”

God replied, “$1 million.”

Joe asked, “How long is a minute in Heaven?”

God said, “1 million years.”

Joe asked for a penny.

God said, “Sure, in a minute.”

“Aaron T. Beck developed cognitive therapy in the 1960s. Beck worked with patients that had been diagnosed with depression, and found that negative thoughts would come into minds of these patients. Beck helped his patients recognize the impact of their negative thoughts, and aided them in shifting their mindset to think more positively—eventually lessening or even getting rid of the patient’s depression. This process was termed cognitive restructuring – the main goal of which was to rethink negative thoughts and turn them into positive thoughts

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_reframing

GoldieBlox Creates Non-stereotypical Games for Girls

“At GoldieBlox, our goal is to get girls building. We’re here to help level the playing field in every sense of the phrase.”

– www.goldieblox.com

A Stanford Engineer, Debbie Sterling, seems to have discovered a big part of the reason why there aren’t as many female engineers, programmers, etc.  Most of the toys designed for girls are pink and stereotypical.  Boys get to play with Legos, trains, and construction toys while girls are stuck with pink princess stuff and Barbies.

Debbie started designing toys to build more spatial awareness among other skills required in today’s workplace.  It seems her ideas break the mould of what society tells us it means to be a woman, and offers young women tools to build a new mental makeup, and become the engineers of the future.

“Broadening children’s interests doesn’t mean girls shouldn’t aspire to be feminine. GoldieBlox, which makes interactive games, uses a cute blonde as its logo. But her blonde isn’t a Barbie who sits around and waits for Ken. It’s a blonde who is building cool things.”

– Business Insider

GoldieBlox even made a video that’s gone viral which is a parody of the Beastie Boys’ song, Girls.

Watch the music video:

The Lyrics:

Girls.
You think you know what we want, girls.
Pink and pretty it’s girls.
Just like the 50’s it’s girls.

You like to buy us pink toys
and everything else is for boys
and you can always get us dolls
and we’ll grow up like them… false.

It’s time to change.
We deserve to see a range.
‘Cause all our toys look just the same
and we would like to use our brains.

We are all more than princess maids.

Girls to build the spaceship,
Girls to code the new app,
Girls to grow up knowing
they can engineer that.

Girls.
That’s all we really need is Girls.
To bring us up to speed it’s Girls.
Our opportunity is Girls.
Don’t underestimate Girls.

 

Top 10 Ways to Increase Motivation

1.  Finding a Purpose and Setting Intention

Studies have shown that having a purpose gives us intrinsic motivation.  As opposed to extrinsic motivation, intrinsic motivation makes one think and behalf more creatively instead of simply going from point A to B with little or no meaning or consideration of the why.  Having a purpose creates the spark of passion that is the fuel of success.

When we set an intention, we give ourselves direction, create a framework or blueprint, and it also sets unseen forces in motion.  It programs our subconscious to recognize new patterns and make new choices.  It also creates a vibrational vacuum that pulls into it the intended result by the Law of Attraction.

“The heart of human excellence often begins to beat when you discover a pursuit that absorbs you, frees you, challenges you, or gives you a sense of meaning, joy, or passion.”

-Terry Orlick

2.  Dreaming Big and Making Wishes

Setting goals is a great way to increase motivation.  Some people have resistance to actually doing it though, so one way to overcome that is by changing the way you think of the process.  We can start by dreaming and visualizing life as we would like it to be.  Making wishes is another way to make goal setting more fun and easy.

Most people have believed that being accountable to others makes you more likely to achieve your goals, although some recent research by psychologists has indicated that telling others about our goals makes us less likely to achieve them, because we feel as though we’ve already done it leading to a decrease in motivation.

Remember to write your goals down.  Once something is in a tangible form instead of only a thought in the mind, it holds space in physical reality, and radiates and attracts like energy.  It’s also good to be reminded of our goals regularly, so having something to look back on for reference is essential.  Another benefit of writing them down is being able to track your progress which leads to my next point.

“In my lifetime, I’ve come to realize that you can’t depend upon other people for what you want. You can’t be scared to go out and get it. You have to dream big, wish hard & chase after your goals, because no one is going to do it for you.”

-Cee Lo Green

3.  Rewarding Yourself for a Job Well Done

We can dream, wish, set goals, and talk about what we’re going to do all we want, but we won’t see much result until we start doing the work required.  When we find ourselves procrastinating doing the work required to achieve our goals, we can simply make a promise to do something fun and reward ourselves once we’ve completed the task at hand.  Whether it be relaxing, eating something delicious, gifting ourselves a present, making more time for our hobbies, or going on adventures.  When we do this, we create extrinsic motivation by finding healthy ways to treat ourselves for accomplishing what we set out to do and being the awesome human beings that we are.  Follow-through is everything.

 

“You get what you reward. Be clear about what you want to get and systematically reward it.”

-Bob Nelson

4.  Facing and Embracing Your Fears

Fear can increase our motivation, although it can also decrease it depending on what we’re afraid of.  Getting in touch with our fears is a great way to release blockages and limiting beliefs that may be holding us back.  Instead of lying to ourselves and denying our fears exist, let’s face them head on, and embrace them with love and understanding.  One way is to make a list of everything we’re afraid of, and get to know and accept ourselves as we are.  Let us not judge our feelings as wrong or something to be gotten rid of.  Everything is there for a reason.  Instead of labeling them as wrong or bad, let’s see the value that they offer, and let them go when they no longer serve us.  The more we learn to know ourselves including our shadows or apparent weaknesses, the more they become our strengths.

“You can only come to the morning through the shadows.”

-J.R.R. Tolkien

5.  Nutrition and Exercise

Proper nourishment and getting regular exercise are key ingredients to happiness.  When we have a clear head from eating nutrient rich/plant based foods, inspiration and motivation will come naturally.  If we’re loaded up with unhealthy fast foods, processed foods, high levels of sugar, and harmful fats then we will feel sluggish and depressed which will affect our motivation.  Getting exercise raises the endorphin levels and produces a natural state of well-being.  From this place, we are more connected to our source, and expressing ourselves creatively and enjoying life to the fullest becomes effortless.

“Physical fitness is not only one of the most important keys to a healthy body, it is the basis of dynamic and creative intellectual activity.”

-John F. Kennedy

6.  Love and Gratitude

Make lists about all the things you love and give thanks for.  The more we stay in a state of love and appreciation, the easier it will be to think positively and keep moving in the right direction throughout our day and life.  It only takes a few negative thoughts in a row to trigger a fight-or-flight response thus pumping our bodies full of stress chemicals.  Stress has be proven to inhibit digestion, sex drive, and other body functions.  The good news is that we can train our minds to break the cycle of negativity.  We can choose not to sweat the small stuff.  The more we stay in the space of love and gratitude, the more we are training not only our minds but also our feelings to respond to the situations in our lives differently.  Being loving and grateful is one of the best things we can do to stay on purpose and increase motivation.

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.”

-Innerspace

7.  Mind Mapping and Vision Boarding

Having your dreams and goals represented visually can help you stay focused on achieving them.

Mind mapping is simply the process of creating branches with nodes that each contain one word or concept.  It works the same way our brains do by association and imagery.  Use colors, curved lines, and images to make your mind map more appealing to the eye.  Mind mapping can be used for many things. It’s a great tool for expanding on your ideas and becoming more organized.

Vision boarding is a similar idea in that it’s a visual representation, although it’s done by gathering images of things we’d like to be, do, or have and creating a collage out of them.  Look at the vision board regularly, and visualize it as already accomplished.  The results can be miraculous.

“Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion.”

-Jack Welch

8.  Writing and Creative Expression

By making a commitment to write out our thoughts even if they’re negative, we allow yourself to vent.  Noticing the patterns that we see can be an invaluable aid in releasing blockages. Sometimes just by writing down our objections, we solve our own problems.  Try making a list of everything negative, and reading it back in the positive.  We don’t have to believe it, but over time it will retrain our minds to avoid going into fight-or-flight response.

Writing about our goals can be very helpful too.  The more clear we get on what they are, the easier it is to move toward them.  If we don’t know what we want then how are we ever going to get it?  Write it down.  Break your larger goals down into smaller steps you can take for the day.  Be as specific as possible, and then let it go.

Creative expression is another way to get in the flow.  Being creative and doing what we love is a big part of following our purpose. We need to make time to do what we enjoy whether it be playing music, preparing food, painting, yoga, or dancing.  Following our passions not only makes us more interesting, but it also makes life more fulfilling.  As the saying goes,

“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.”

-Proverb

9.  Learning New Skills

Sometimes we can feel like we’re just stuck in a routine, the the truth is that we are.  Make time to learn new things.  Without new tools to use in our lives, we are limited to where we’re at. Growing, learning, discovering new information, and improving ourselves, we can gain new insights to achieve our goals and live an inspired life.  Listen to speakers, read books, research online, watch movies, take classes, go out and get real life experience.

“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
-Albert Einstein

10.  Getting Out Into Nature

We weren’t meant to live our lives in little boxes looking at brightly lit screens all the time while putting garbage in our mouths.  Nature is an excellent healer.  By breathing fresh air, putting our bare feet on the earth, walking, running, absorbing sunshine, swimming, and listening to the birds, we can reduce stress and unlock latent potential. Living closely with nature will bring joy, health, creativity, and help us to see the abundance that is all around us.  Sometimes taking a break is the best way to get motivated and inspired.

“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”

-Lao Tzu

Mind Mapping for Motivation and Success

Mind MapA Mind Map is a thinking tool that works much the way our brains do using images and association.  You basically start with a central word and draw branches with related word nodes expanding out indefinitely.  You can add color and images to make it more fun and impactful.

Humans remember by visualization and association, so this is a great tool for programming the sub-conscious mind.  It’s also a great way to set goals which are proven to aid in motivation and success.  Much like a vision board, you can use it as a visual representation of what you’d like to manifest in your life.  This method can help clarify what you want and don’t want, set clear goals, create action steps, and clear limiting beliefs allowing your wishes to come true by the law of attraction, or assisting in achieving your goals by simply bringing clarity and organization.

The idea of creating diagrams connecting ideas with branches and nodes has been around for centuries under various names including thought bubbles, spider diagrams, spidergraphs,  mind webs, and idea sun-bursting.  The term, “Mind Map,” was coined by Tony Buzan.  He says the idea was inspired by Alfred Korzybski’s general semantics.  Tony Buzan recommends using one word per node to keep it more open and free.

You can use colored pencils, magic markers, paint, or Mind Mapping software to create your own.  Find what works for you.  This is a powerful tool for motivation, inspiration, organization and having fun.

iMindMap Basic Mind Mapping: Why Do It?

  • Self Discovery
  • Goal Setting
  • Team Building
  • Organization
  • Brainstorming
  • Manifestation
  • Clarifying
  • Get Ideas Out
  • Development
  • Improving Memory
  • Finding Relations
  • It’s Fun!

 

Beyond Winning the Game of Life

There are a whole list1st Place Gold Metal of reasons why human beings strive and compete to win the game of life.  Throughout history we’ve been conditioned by circumstance to believe that we need to struggle to survive.  We think that if we can accomplish ________ (Fill in the blank) that we will solve our problem, fill the emptiness, have more value, and feel a sense of purpose.

The universe has apparent duality in the physical realm which is important in it’s own way.  Everything is here for a reason, although it’s still impermanent.  Nothing in the material world will last forever.  Everything we experience with our limited senses arises and passes to and from the void as energy.  All that exists physically and beyond the physical makes up the oneness which many know to be God.

When we wake up to the truth of who we are (A physical manifestation of divine intelligence), there is no winning in this world. What we call winning is simply a boosting of our idea of self importance or inflated ego. A person’s class, job, education, talent, financial, and relationship statuses don’t make them any more or less important than anyone else.  When we let go of our attachment to the physical world and embrace the infinite, we have truly won.

Unless we discover a way to achieve eternal life in the physical body, everything that we “Own” will be left behind to reunite with the source energy from which everything emerges.  All things of the self will be of no importance if the body falls away and ascend as spiritual light bodies.  If we feel like we can really possess something or we need to prove anything in this lifetime, we’re missing the point.  Maybe this life is all we get, and there is no afterlife.  Who knows?

I don’t think that the point of life is to acquire more and more stuff that we don’t really need or to feel superior.  It is to evolve our consciousness, transcend the ego, go beyond materialism, and be a creative expression of who we are.  This doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with our jobs, possessions,  friends, family, or even our physical bodies.  We are spiritual beings having a physical experience.  The only thing real that is worth living for is realization.  Beyond the illusion of separation is the eternal self.

 

“By letting it go it all gets done. The world is won by those who let it go. But when you try and try, the world is beyond the winning.”

-Lao Tzu

Going Beyond Limiting Beliefs

Rubix Cube Scrambled

by Jacob Louis

In my experience working full-time as a web development technician, I often get assigned jobs that I simply don’t believe I can accomplish. It just seems too overwhelming and complex, but I don’t give up. I keep working at it with persistence even when I think there’s no way I can possibly complete the project. I get determined to solve the puzzle, and I won’t rest until I do.

Rubix Cube SolvedThat’s when something magic happens, and the impossible becomes possible. Eventually, I get the job done. Somehow, I find a way where I thought there was none. The pieces start to line up, and things start working the way I want them to.

It just goes to show that we’re able to accomplish much more than we give ourselves credit for. When we focus with an unwavering will to reach our goals, we can go beyond limiting beliefs and achieve great success.

“He is able who thinks he is able.”
-Buddha

Attaining Unconditional Peace

Buddhaby Jacob Louis

In the morning, we can make a choice to create our day in our minds and hearts as we’d like it to be, and commit not to let anything stand in the way of our inner happiness. When this commitment is truly made, nothing can stop us. Even when faced with challenges and adversity, there is an ability to handle the situations faster and with more confidence, because we’ve made it our choice to maintain a positive attitude no matter what happens.

Unconditional peace means to be peaceful regardless of the conditions around us. Whether the things that are happening around us are pleasing or not. We have a choice how we will respond. We must learn how to act consciously in the moment instead of reacting based on feelings caused by past trauma. When something seemly negative happens in our lives, we must make a choice to let go and see the blessings. It’s not always easy, but we can start to catch ourselves, and relax in the knowing that this too will pass.

Just think about how much energy it takes to be unhappy. If we can redirect and conduct that same amount of energy in the direction of keeping a healthy outlook, then we will have achieved real unconditional peace. Once we have a clear vision of what we desire, and release all attachment to controlling the situation at hand, it’s much easier to achieve things we never thought possible in our wildest dreams.