Thnking yourself an endorphine rush

You can reduce stress, promote self-healing and make positive life changes by invoking your endorphins.

It's not a case of emptying your mind - that's very difficult to do. It's about filling it with pleasurable thoughts, which in turn will produce a feeling of wellbeing. The endorphins will turn off the stress hormones, adrenaline and cortisol, and have a positive impact on your body chemistry.  Bodel Rikys in The Standard

No matter how *positive* and upbeat you try to be, there are occasions when you may find yourself drifting into negativity, lack of motivation or doubt.  

I know that there are times when I feel emotionally lackluster or dispirited as if I’ve wandered into a gloomy fog and the view ahead is far from clear or enticing. 

Where has my passion gone?  Why am I not feeling as expansive and playful as I would like to feel?  Why don’t I feel inspired?  Where has the Ground of Infinite Possibilities gone?

Have you felt that way too?  And have you found an effective way of dealing with this despondent state of mind?

Perhaps the following will help.

Firstly, remind yourself that this state is only temporary, a passing cloud (not that there is anything wrong with clouds) and that, sooner or later, it’s going to be history.

Now, that can often be all you need to reassure yourself that there is nothing to run away from or be concerned about.  It’s all part of the spectrum of human emotions.

However, there may be occasions when this reminder is not enough to stir those Passion, Play and Purpose hormones in your body.  Sometimes, you do want the shift back into Infinity Consciousness to be more rapid.  After all, you’ve done your share of finite, conditioned, less-than-joyous living.  You really want to get out of this fog quick smart.  

I have found that one of the best ways of doing it is to refocus my mind and one of the most effective techniques I know to do this is to give it something unusual and exciting to think about.  I do this by asking myself some really fun and even frivolous questions.

Now, I must stress that the purpose of doing this is to refocus your mind and therefore your energy and attention to something that is uplifting and invigorating.  

You should not at all feel obliged to follow any of it through.  That would only be adding further stress and pressure on yourself with the result that the fog thickens rather than thins.  So, think of this as a game, something to have fun with.  That’s key.

That said, it’s also important that you get into the spirit of the game.  This is not an intellectual game, it’s more an emotional one.  This is not about coming up with the *best* answer, it’s about coming up with the most fun answer for you.

Now, before you dismiss this as child’s play and a waste of time, let me remind you that every thought and feeling you experience has a biochemical and physiological expression in your mind-body-spirit continuum.  

This is why thinking of something exciting (like the holiday you’re planning or the next encounter with your new friend/partner) makes your heart beat a little faster, your pupils dilate and induces a general feeling of euphoria.  

Yes, your thoughts are the signals your brain responds to by releasing (or inhibiting) those gorgeous, feel-good hormones called endorphins.  So, loosen up and really get into it!

The following are just some of the questions I asked myself the last time I wanted a quick emotional boost.  Try them and see if you don’t have fun too!

 

• What can I do right now, right here, that I’ve never done before, no matter how small, silly or meaningless it may seem?

 You don’t have to actually do it, but it can be even more fun if you do.  For instance, I decided I would kiss my right toe.  Silly?  Sure!  Fun?  You bet.  

First off, it was funny just thinking about it.  Then, it became funnier attempting it especially when I realized I wasn’t as nimble as I thought I was.  But, I decided I really wanted to do it and after a couple of attempts, succeeded.

Now you know why kids can have so much fun so easily J

 

• What would I say to the person I admire or lust after most if he/she were to appear right now?

 How good did this one make me feel!  I actually felt myself blushing (ah yes, the hormones were doing their job alright!)

 

• What would you do if you had in your hands right now all the money you ever wanted?

 Now, I’ve thought about having oodles of money many times before but the image of having it in my hands was a different experience altogether – it felt a lot more real and tangible.  Before I knew it, I was traveling through Europe, taking my kids on a holiday to New York, helping my favorite humanitarian organization build a cottage industry for disadvantaged women in Peru… Fun and immensely satisfying.  Sort of like a rehearsal for the actual events J

 

• Imagine holding the book that you have always wanted to write in your hands right now.  What is its title?  How do you feel?

 Okay, I love writing so it was natural that I’d choose something like this.  But you can substitute *book* and *write* for whatever it is that you feel passionate about. 

Perhaps it’s a business you’ve always longed to have (and yes, that would not fit in your hands but the product you’re selling or the flyer for your business might) or the key to your new home or the ticket to that destination you’ve dreamed of… 

Try to find something tangible that represents that dream or aspiration and that would fit in your hands.  This adds a *realness* to what you imagine and will get those hormones racing J

 

• If a genie appeared before you right now and you could ask it one thing, what would it be?

 I have to say that I had some trouble with this one.  So many things to choose from, which do I pick???  If you like, go through them all, one by one, as I did but make sure you give each one your full attention and energy.  Not only will you have that much more fun, you might also discover how you truly feel about each and how much of a priority it is J

You know, it’s easy to get yourself right back on the Ground of Infinite Possibilities without having to leave your seat.  All you need to do is get into that mental laboratory, think fun by asking yourself some unusual questions feel the instant joy!

Super Easy, Super Fun and Super Fast! 

Is it worth doing it if others are already doing it?

 When I go out on the ice, I just think about my skating. I forget it is a competition.

               Katrina Wilt

Have you ever felt discouraged from pursuing something that you truly love because others are already doing it and you don’t believe you’ve got a snowball’s chance in hell against them?

I’m making some assumptions here.  I’m assuming that:

1. Aside from doing what you love doing, you also love an audience.  People who will appreciate what you do and engage with you.
2. You believe that you may not be as good as these already successful others
3. You believe that there are a limited number of people who would be interested in what you have to offer and the big guns have already claimed them
4. You believe you have to compete and you don’t want to

So, you give up even before you’ve started or you begin with a .  How am I ever going to pull this off???

Let me give you 6 good reasons, heck, make that 6 GREAT reasons why you should go ahead and do what you’re passionate about:

Reason One – Unless you’re using their cookie cutter and working from their heads and with their hands, what you do will be unique to you.  You have something unique to offer whether in style, content, delivery, target audience or all four.  

Reason Two – Unique is what you are and what you’re offering is.  This is your unique contribution to the wondrous and forever unfinished tapestry of life.  Life without your contribution would be life failing to express itself fully.  Do you want to take the blame for that??? J

Reason Three – You can don the competitive persona and all its combative gear but you don’t have to!  In fact, if you believe, as I do, that life is unity, then it makes absolutely no sense to compete.  

Instead, you can express yourself as freely and imaginatively as you will allow yourself, feeling assured that in self-expression, there are no *winners* and *losers*, only those who dare and those who don’t.

Reason Four – The universe is abundant.  Life on Ground Infinity is limitless.  And whilst there may be a limited number of people in the world, there will always be enough of an audience for everyone.  

Have you ever noticed how a street full of restaurants in your local Chinatown can somehow survive?  They’re all offering oriental menus to a somewhat stable number of patrons yet they can all survive.  How is that possible? 

Many of them offer similar dishes on their menu but each restaurant has its own unique appeal.  You might have your favorite and it may be many other people’s favorite too but this does not mean the death of the other restaurants.  This is something I’ve often marveled at. 

It’s the same with cafes and coffee shops.  Just along 50 meters of where I work, there are at least 6 different places that sell coffee and I know that they each have their loyal customers who will sing their respective praises! 

I don’t see the local population in this area growing.  On the contrary, it’s pretty steady.  But there seems to be enough customers to go around so that all of them are surviving and thriving!

Reason Five – When you do what you’re passionate about, the rest of the world cannot help but feel, on some level, the energy of your passion.  Some people will be affected in a way that they are conscious of and that they therefore wish to communicate with you.  These will be your obvious audience, the ones you can see or hear or engage electronically with as I do through my blogs.

There will also be many others who remain invisible, unseen and unfelt (consciously) by you.  But that doesn’t mean they do not exist or that they do not benefit in some intangible way from what you have to offer.

You have to remind yourself that our physical form is not the only form of our being.  We exist beyond our flesh and bones and are in constant communication and interaction with one another. 

Does that seem like *woo woo*, *way out there* kind of stuff?  If so, I suggest you take some time to really ponder the true nature of your being and of all beings.  

Reason Six – This is by far the most obvious one - Because you’re passionate about it, of course!  What is the point of your life if you cannot spend it doing what you want and love?  

To put all or at least some of these into context, let’s look at this blog that I’ve recently started.  If you’ve read my other blog www.thoughtbubbleten.blogspot.com, you’ll have gathered that I’m pretty passionate about blogging.

I love using the medium of writing to explore my thoughts, feelings, beliefs and ideas.  And I love having an audience, people I can engage with to share and explore their ideas and mine.  

I gathered my first few followers (about 6) within a month and then it stayed fairly stable at that number.  Sure, there were days when I felt discouraged but my love for exploring ideas just would not let me stop.  

But, there was another thing that kept me going too.  That was the quality of the comments I was receiving.  There were two or three people who really took the time to share in depth and sometimes our comments could have easily been blog posts in themselves!

When I got discouraged about not having more commenters/followers, I would happily remind myself of the amazing quality of comments I had from the few commenters who consistently showed an interest in what I had to say and sincerely shared their thoughts and experiences.  For me, that’s gold.

I don’t have a ‘rise to stardom’ story to share with you about my blogging.  I currently have 22 followers at www.thoughtbubbleten.blogspot.com and am attracting more commenters.  It’s a passion in progress J

Why did I start this blog?  Because I wanted another venue to reflect more deeply on some of my experiences as I take bigger and bolder steps on Ground Infinity.  I also want to help others take similar steps and sharing my experiences and insights is one way of doing that.

Will you find similar content on other blogs on the web?  You betcha!  But, you’ll never find what I write in my way anywhere else and that makes a difference.  This is me tasting and expressing my slice of life in the infinite tapestry of life.  This is me contributing to the fuller expression of Life. 

Will I have followers here?  People who will engage with my ideas and share their experiences and insights?  I certainly hope so!

So, if you’ve been hesitating about whether or not to do what you truly love doing, do us all a favor – JUST DO IT!  The world will truly be better for it and will rejoice in its own marvelous way at the flow of more passion through it. 

Yep, the world could do with one more passionate soul rolling in the mud and one less frustrated one howling at the moon:)

If you are willing to be wrong, you are willing to fail. Is that what you really want?

Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance and the gospel of envy, its inherent value is the equal sharing of misery 

Winston Churchill

Image from Staley Training

Let me first say that the words, ‘wrong’ and ‘fail’ and the concepts that they commonly reflect are ones which I personally have little time for.  But they are words and concepts that have very powerful meanings for most people and consequently seriously affect their ability to play with passion and experiment freely on Ground Infinity.

What does it mean to be *wrong*?  The concept of *wrong* is based on a belief that certain things shouldn’t happen.  

To me, this is a denial of the reality in Ground Infinity that all things are possible and as such, can and do manifest in some form or other.

I prefer not to live with such a denial.  

I prefer to accept that all things are possible though not always desirable in relation to the goals I have chosen for myself and the outcomes I desire.

Consequently, when things happen that don’t appear to align with my goals, I don’t tend to see them as things that shouldn’t have happened, or things that are *wrong*.

There are no aberrations in life, only events that don’t conform to our expectations and beliefs.  

Is there any value in seeing things this way?  I believe there is.

When I see things as *wrong*, I am quarreling with reality.  What’s the point in that?  

I’d rather see them as things I don’t like or prefer or find useful and refocus my energy and attention on creating what I like, prefer and find useful.

In other words, I don’t have to fight with what I perceive to be *wrong* and channel my energy and attention to them.  In fact, by pouring energy and attention on them, I actually feed them and create more of what I don’t want.

How about *failure*? 

We say we’ve failed when we have not achieved what we set out to achieve.  If that was all failure meant to us, we’d be fine.  However, for most people, failure is a lot more personal.  

It is often experienced as an indictment on our intelligence, our capabilities and even our morality.  In this sense, a failure is closely related to a *wrong*, something that shouldn’t happen.

Which brings me to the point that I set out to make in this post:

If you are willing to be *wrong*, you are willing to *fail*.  

In other words, if you buy into the notion that things shouldn’t have happened (despite the fact that they have and can likely happen again), then every time such a thing happens, you will have failed.

I certainly don’t thrive on a sense of failure that is a personal indictment on my intelligence, capabilities or ethics.  Do you?

On the other hand, I do thrive on the recognition of the fact that I can always experiment with what I have and know and continue to expand on what I have and know and in the process, move further and faster in the direction of my goals.

I find this an infinitely more empowering and joyous way of living my life than whittling it away by being willing to be *wrong* and willing to *fail*.

Does this mean that I am never sorry for things that may have happened which I may have personally contributed to and which may have resulted in someone feeling hurt, for example?  

Well, no, not quite.  I certainly don’t wish anyone any kind of pain and I am always willing to express this sentiment.  

But that is not the same thing as saying that something never should have happened.  It happened.  And given its particular antecedents, it was inevitable. 

So, yes, I am sorry insofar as I do not wish or enjoy the hurt or pain that someone, including myself, experiences.  But I don’t conclude that what happened was *wrong* and that I *failed*.  

I do use the event or incident, however, as a source of learning and deeper understanding and of fine-tuning the way I go about achieving my goals.  

Why you should think and act with Authority

 The wisest have the most authority

Plato

How many times have you thought about attempting something, like writing on a certain topic or in a certain style, and given up because you weren’t convinced you could?  Or taking on a certain project but lacked the confidence?  Or sharing an idea but felt too embarrassed or afraid of how people might respond?

Now you might be wondering what any of this has to do with authority.  Let me explain.

Generally speaking, authority is something we associate with certain powers that someone or something has over others.  To have the authority to grant a person citizenship is one such example.  

Authority also means expertise or mastery of a certain body of knowledge such as someone who is an authority on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in war veterans.

The kind of authority that I’m interested in here is a little different because it is a lot more personal and has to do with authorship.  What do I mean? 

The kind of authority that I’m talking about is the authority of authorship that we can give ourselves over our thoughts, beliefs and actions.

Imagine wanting to write something that you had little knowledge of.  How are you able to think and act with authority in this case?  Would you be fooling yourself by trying to act with authority?

No, not at all.  Not if you see authority as the permission and freedom that you give yourself to be the author of your thoughts and actions.  Once this permission has been given, the doors to information and action open.  

For instance, when I started to write this post, I wasn’t quite sure what I would have to say.  I did have the germ of an idea that I wanted to develop and communicate but that was all.

If I had little or no authority, I would have given up.  I would have decided that I did not know enough about the subject and that there were others far more competent than me who would and have tackled it better.

But because I gave myself permission to be a conscious *author* of my thoughts and ideas, I pushed on.  I became less concerned with how little I knew and more curious about what I did know and how I knew it.

I also did some research – found some quotes, read some articles and consulted the etymology dictionary.  

I made the decision that I did not have to be an authority i.e. an expert on the subject of authority but that I could act with authority i.e. act with the freedom to explore and develop my ideas.  

Here’s what happens when you think and act with authority:

Thinking and Acting with authority opens doors

When you feel you have the authority to do something, you tend to move in the direction of whatever it is you want to do.  Doors open for you, physically, mentally and psychologically giving you access to fresh ideas, resources and creative energy.

When you don’t feel you have authority, you remain stuck behind those doors fearful of moving forward and therefore never making any progress.

Thinking and Acting with authority boosts your confidence

True authority comes without fear.  You’re not afraid to encounter different points of view.  You’re not afraid to admit that you may not have seen or understood certain things.  

Most important of all, you’re not concerned with proving yourself right and someone else wrong.  However, you’re confident enough to state and explain, when necessary and where possible, your point of view.  After all, you are the author-ity of your point of view even if that view is shared by others.

Thinking and Acting with authority makes you responsible

Being the author-ity of your thoughts and actions, you realize that you have to be responsible for them.  You do your best to use your thoughts and actions wisely.  You neither waste them nor abuse them.  And, being the author-ity of your thoughts and actions, you know you can always change, modify or abandon them altogether if they do not serve you well.

Imagine thinking and acting with authority.  Imagine being the conscious author of your thoughts, beliefs and actions for whatever goal or outcome you desire.  How empowering would that be? 

What is my Life Purpose? is not the right question

Whoever has found and has awakened to the self that has entered into this perilous inaccessible place (the body), he is the maker of the universe, for he is the maker of all.  His is the world, indeed, he is the world itself. 

The Principal Upanishads

Life is astonishingly beautiful.  Astonishing because we are unfamiliar with its profound and ever-present beauty.  And beautiful because we have the spirit to see it and feel it in all its forms.  

What would you say is the purpose of life?  Life doesn’t need or have a purpose other than to simply be.  Life is. 

But, it’s *natural* to ask:  What is the purpose of my life?  Or, as is more commonly asked: What is MY life purpose?

We ask that question because we believe that there is some pre-ordained purpose to our lives, somehow held somewhere as a mystery to be revealed to us if we make great effort and find a bit of luck.

So we embark on this journey of trying to discover our *life purpose* and we get anxious and worried and frustrated when we don’t seem to find it.  Or we think we have yet we are not entirely convinced.

We feel cheated by this elusive trick that *life* seems to pull on us.

And we might feel like we have failed especially when we see others who seem to have discovered their life purpose somewhat effortlessly, almost magically even and sometimes, at a very young age.

For us, however, this *life purpose* seems to have a clever way of eluding us, hiding from us, resisting our discovery of it.

BUT….

Could it be that we’re asking the wrong question?  Could it be that instead of asking, ‘What is my life purpose?’, we might instead ask:

What purpose do I wish to put my life to?

When we do that, we effectively remove all the mystery and uncertainty about how we should spend our *life*.  Instead, we find that we have opened a door to an amazing new consciousness – Ground Infinity.

The important thing here is that by asking, ‘What purpose do I wish to put my life to?’, we are taking charge of our life, we start calling the shots, we no longer put our life on hold waiting and hoping for the Illuminating Oracle to finally reveal our purpose to us.

Instead, we take control.  We say, ‘This is what I want to do and this is what I shall do’.  

Yes, we may have said this before.  But we’ve probably said it wondering if indeed we’ve got it right:.  

Have we intuited our life purpose correctly?  Is this really what I *should* be doing?  Is this just a trip I’m on, an extended and  elaborate self-delusion?  

OR…

Why does it seem so hard?  Shouldn’t my life purpose unfold like a dream – easily and magically?

So we embark on what we halfheartedly believe is our *life purpose*, constantly questioning, doubting, reneging, fighting with ourselves and others and feeling confused and unconvinced.

And all this doesn’t really help.  It erodes our *life* or should I say, the quality of our life.  It’s like planting a seed in the ground and constantly digging it up to see if it’s doing what it's supposed be doing!  How can it when we are constantly interfering with it instead of trusting it and nurturing it? 

But plant that seed and feed and nurture it with water and nutrients and the firm, unshakeable belief aka faith that it will do what it’s supposed to do and it will.  You don’t even have to think about that last one because it is so engrained in your belief. It is something you take for granted.

You planted it having a certain vision of what it would grow into and that is what it will grow into.

You wouldn’t plant a celery seed and expect a carrot to grow.  You'd plant a celery seed knowing and expecting without any uncertainty whatsoever that it will grow into a celery.  

Imagine doing the same thing with the purpose you have chosen to put your life to! 

You spend some time thinking about what you would really like to do, what gives you greatest joy (if joy is your priority).  You imagine the outcome of that purpose that you’ve chosen. Then you act.

What does action involve?

How did you plant a seed?  Did you make use of prior knowledge?  Did you have to do a little bit of research to learn what the ideal conditions are for growing celery?  Did you have to prepare the ground?  Find the ideal spot?  Wait for the ideal season?

Yes, all of these seem so simple and straightforward that you wonder if it could be as easy and straightforward when it comes to putting your life to the purpose of your choice.

It is.

Let’s not make it complicated.  Let’s not start quoting from the Book of 101 Reasons Why This Will Not Work or the Gospel of ‘In Reality’, Chapter ‘It's Impossible', Verse "I Can't'

Do you suppose the pioneers and discoverers and inventors of the many things that we take for granted today did that? 

They allowed desire to fashion their dreams and allowed their dreams to guide their action.  They reaped their desire from Ground Infinity and planted their dreams there.  

And that is what we must do to if we wish to live the life of our chosen purpose!  Let's consult the Book of Why Ever Not?  Let's study the Gospel of 'Creator Me', paying close attention to chapters 'I Can', Verse 'I Allow'!