What does the future hold?
We don't know. It could hold absolutely anything. The future is a blank canvas.
If you think that changing jobs or changing companies is a big deal, think again.
The future doesn't have to be a simple evolution of the present. The future, beginning in this very next moment, could be a dramatic departure from everything before.
The only limits are your thoughts (and maybe some physical requirements if your goal is to play center in the NBA).
What is your dream? What would it take to realize it? What if you started doing those things today?
If you want to stay in your cage, that is an absolutely valid choice. But understand first that you built the cage, and you have the key to the door.
Jeff
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
This is Your Brain on Drugs
When we are in the professional world, we get used to feeling stress. In fact, sometimes we get dependent on stress--even stress that is induced with caffeine or other stimulants--to the point where we can't get things done without it.
Stress creates a bunch of chemical responses in the brain. The fight or flight response brings adrenaline and cortisol. Stress can be great in the short term. It can be great for short term bursts of energy. It can heighten our focus. But it can overwhelm us, too. The lizard brain isn't very creative. And check out this link for the longer term effects of cortisol and stress.
Higher blood pressure, higher body weight, heart attacks, strokes--the list goes on and on and for most of us, it sounds familiar.
What's interesting is that the article also mentions that one way to mitigate the effects is the relaxation response.
And what brings the relaxation response? Meditation, deep breathing, yoga, a walk--simply put, a move from the left hemisphere of the brain to the right hemisphere.
Nature, it turns out, has a reset button. And all we need to do is use it.
Jeff
Stress creates a bunch of chemical responses in the brain. The fight or flight response brings adrenaline and cortisol. Stress can be great in the short term. It can be great for short term bursts of energy. It can heighten our focus. But it can overwhelm us, too. The lizard brain isn't very creative. And check out this link for the longer term effects of cortisol and stress.
Higher blood pressure, higher body weight, heart attacks, strokes--the list goes on and on and for most of us, it sounds familiar.
What's interesting is that the article also mentions that one way to mitigate the effects is the relaxation response.
And what brings the relaxation response? Meditation, deep breathing, yoga, a walk--simply put, a move from the left hemisphere of the brain to the right hemisphere.
Nature, it turns out, has a reset button. And all we need to do is use it.
Jeff
Monday, February 7, 2011
A New Leaf
Radical thought of the day--all this stuff is supposed to be fun!
OK, maybe not "supposed to," but it definitely can be. And a lot more of the time that we usually think.
As I look back at this blog over the last year, so much of my writing seems so serious--sometimes I think I missed the point entirely.
What happens as we go down this path is a bunch of things, and they all have to do with how our minds work.
First, we figure out that all that stuff we're doing to try to make ourselves happy isn't doing the trick.
We see that doing comes from the left hemisphere of the brain, and the left brain is never happy because there is always something left to do! There is always some imagined future and we aren't there yet. But we'll never be there. We're the rat on the wheel and we don't see a way off.
Then, we see that when we experience the world through the right side of the brain, we can be here right now, present, and that experience is utterly blissful. There is no other way it can be. The right side of the brain is simply amazed at the world exactly as it is, and at ourselves exactly as we are.
So the secret of happiness was right here all along, in our own head. And to see that, what do we need to do? In the purest sense, absolutely nothing. But things that take us into the right brain can help us be more clear--that could be meditating, but it could also be a walk in the park, a sunset, or time with your dog. Anything that puts us in the present moment, that takes us out of our list and into our love. Even one deep breath can do it.
It turns out that happiness is right here inside us and all we need to do is let it out.
So if there is nothing we need to do to be happy, then what do we do with our lives?
Anything we want!
All we have to see is that our happiness, our self worth, does not depend on anything outside of us. Happiness and joy are our essential nature. And our fears, just like our hopes and dreams, are just thoughts that come and go. They have nothing to do with the vast consciousness that we are.
What do you want to define you? Hard work, burdens, responsibilities? Or creation and fun and bliss?
In each and every moment, that's our choice.
Jeff
Friday, February 4, 2011
Insight, Action, Fun
Great post by Jonathan Fields.
I find Jonathan inspiring on a number of fronts. One, he is a very successful entrepreneur. Two, like me, he is a recovering lawyer. And three, he never, never stops.
To me, the hidden gem in this post is--
"I could reveal how my meditation creates so much clarity and fresh ideas, I literally can’t bring them all to life (I don’t get writer’s block, I get writer’s logjam)."
So many people emphasize the mind clearing aspects of meditation that one could come away thinking that if you're not able to silence your mind, you have failed. (By the way, no one can silence their mind for more than a few moments, and you certainly don't silence your mind by trying not to think.)
Sure, there are moments of peace in meditation. But there are also moments of turbulence and panic and clarity and energy and inspiration. And as you get to know these moments, you get a much better sense of your true potential. There is an inner genius that resides within all of us, if we would only let it out.
We are here to play, to create, to have fun. So if you are inspired to do something, do it! If you fail, who cares! Have fun!
How do you want to have fun today?
Jeff
I find Jonathan inspiring on a number of fronts. One, he is a very successful entrepreneur. Two, like me, he is a recovering lawyer. And three, he never, never stops.
To me, the hidden gem in this post is--
"I could reveal how my meditation creates so much clarity and fresh ideas, I literally can’t bring them all to life (I don’t get writer’s block, I get writer’s logjam)."
So many people emphasize the mind clearing aspects of meditation that one could come away thinking that if you're not able to silence your mind, you have failed. (By the way, no one can silence their mind for more than a few moments, and you certainly don't silence your mind by trying not to think.)
Sure, there are moments of peace in meditation. But there are also moments of turbulence and panic and clarity and energy and inspiration. And as you get to know these moments, you get a much better sense of your true potential. There is an inner genius that resides within all of us, if we would only let it out.
We are here to play, to create, to have fun. So if you are inspired to do something, do it! If you fail, who cares! Have fun!
How do you want to have fun today?
Jeff
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Seizing the Moment
It can be easy to second guess ourselves. Maybe there is something that you really want to do, but you are hesitant to commit. Or you think, for whatever reason, that now is not the right time.
What do you think the chances are that you will get that done?
Not very good.
Maybe you're afraid you will fail, so you're not willing to commit.
Again, what do you think the chances are that you'll succeed?
Not very good.
To give yourself the best chance to doing anything, you have to maximize the chances that you will fail. You have to be willing to lay it all on the line. To commit that yes, you are going to do this. If you fail, and you very well might, you fail.
But the secret of those who succeed is that they see that failure is just another learning opportunity. Today's failure paves the way for tomorrow's success. In that sense, failure is just a word that gets in the way. Failure is just a concept. And fear of failure is perhaps the biggest excuse we make for not ever starting.
But what about learning? Isn't learning just another word for failure? And learning is something we want to do as much as possible, not something to be avoided at all costs.
So go fail. And learn as much as you can while doing it.
Jeff
What do you think the chances are that you will get that done?
Not very good.
Maybe you're afraid you will fail, so you're not willing to commit.
Again, what do you think the chances are that you'll succeed?
Not very good.
To give yourself the best chance to doing anything, you have to maximize the chances that you will fail. You have to be willing to lay it all on the line. To commit that yes, you are going to do this. If you fail, and you very well might, you fail.
But the secret of those who succeed is that they see that failure is just another learning opportunity. Today's failure paves the way for tomorrow's success. In that sense, failure is just a word that gets in the way. Failure is just a concept. And fear of failure is perhaps the biggest excuse we make for not ever starting.
But what about learning? Isn't learning just another word for failure? And learning is something we want to do as much as possible, not something to be avoided at all costs.
So go fail. And learn as much as you can while doing it.
Jeff
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Marking Time
Today is my birthday. And I find it interesting how we think of some days as different than others, as special somehow. Each new year and birthday bring a lot of this kind of introspection.
We use these days as assessment points. How are we doing? Are we getting to those things on our list? How is my life turning out? Is it a success or a failure?
But of course we are the ones who both set and measure against the standards, even when we don't see that. So, this is more of a test of how we think about ourselves than anything else.
The passing of time itself is just a concept, just one more thought that we use to try to understand our world. Each moment brings us a choice. Do we look off to the imagined future or recreated past? Or do we see the precious beauty of what is right here, right now? There's no right or wrong answer. It isn't helpful to try to punish ourselves into doing more of what we think we should be doing and less of what we thing we should not. All that does is create resistance and suffering.
Instead, moment by moment, we can notice the vastness of what's noticing, and open up to the simple mystery of what is.
Jeff
We use these days as assessment points. How are we doing? Are we getting to those things on our list? How is my life turning out? Is it a success or a failure?
But of course we are the ones who both set and measure against the standards, even when we don't see that. So, this is more of a test of how we think about ourselves than anything else.
The passing of time itself is just a concept, just one more thought that we use to try to understand our world. Each moment brings us a choice. Do we look off to the imagined future or recreated past? Or do we see the precious beauty of what is right here, right now? There's no right or wrong answer. It isn't helpful to try to punish ourselves into doing more of what we think we should be doing and less of what we thing we should not. All that does is create resistance and suffering.
Instead, moment by moment, we can notice the vastness of what's noticing, and open up to the simple mystery of what is.
Jeff
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
The Misunderstanding
It can be easy to look at the nondual path and think it's for slackers. After all, if there's nowhere to go and nothing to do, what's left?
The paradox is this. When we engage on some kind of nondual path, we begin to see the difference between reality and our thoughts. And the truth is that for most of us (including me), that difference is vast indeed.
We create a world with our thoughts that behaves in the way that we would like it to, or perhaps more accurately, in the way that we think we deserve. If we are suffering, it is because, on some level, we think we should be suffering.
When we see instead that life is just happening, that things just are, regardless of our opinion, there is an opening. We see, for example, that all of our efforts to do things so that others would approve of us were a colossal waste of time! What people think of us seldom has anything to do with us.
What we see is that most of the time, what is going on in the world has nothing to do with us, and is none of our business. And we see how much of our energy was spent ruminating on things over which we have absolutely no control.
Instead, we start using all that extra energy to do what we want. But not in the way that we did before. Not with some kind of agenda of needing or pleasing.
We instead create what we are here to create. We do what we must do, regardless of what other people think. Life creates through us, and it does so much more passionately than ever before, without concerns of want or need or even result.
In doing nothing, we do more than we have ever done.
Jeff
The paradox is this. When we engage on some kind of nondual path, we begin to see the difference between reality and our thoughts. And the truth is that for most of us (including me), that difference is vast indeed.
We create a world with our thoughts that behaves in the way that we would like it to, or perhaps more accurately, in the way that we think we deserve. If we are suffering, it is because, on some level, we think we should be suffering.
When we see instead that life is just happening, that things just are, regardless of our opinion, there is an opening. We see, for example, that all of our efforts to do things so that others would approve of us were a colossal waste of time! What people think of us seldom has anything to do with us.
What we see is that most of the time, what is going on in the world has nothing to do with us, and is none of our business. And we see how much of our energy was spent ruminating on things over which we have absolutely no control.
Instead, we start using all that extra energy to do what we want. But not in the way that we did before. Not with some kind of agenda of needing or pleasing.
We instead create what we are here to create. We do what we must do, regardless of what other people think. Life creates through us, and it does so much more passionately than ever before, without concerns of want or need or even result.
In doing nothing, we do more than we have ever done.
Jeff
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