Focus, Pocus

Have you ever had to get on with a task or a job and found you could not concentrate, while an Italian student came up with a wonderful process to help him concentrate on getting a task done. Here is how he did it, and how you may be able to use his idea.

Get a basic timer and then pick a task you want to concentrate on. Remove obvious distractions (like turning off your phone).

The first few times you try this I recommend that you set the timer for 5 minutes, then give the task at hand everything you have. If your mind starts to wander, snap yourself back and remind yourself you need to maintain this level of concentration for just a few more minutes. 

Five minutes may not seem like a great deal of time, but it is when you are trying to focus. After you have trained yourself to focus for five minutes and are comfortable doing this, increase your timer to 10 minutes and work on the task for that amount of time, without losing your concentration. (If 10 minutes is too long, move your timer to 7 minutes.) The idea is to have success at being focused for a short period of time.

When you have mastered the 10-minute concentration time then give yourself a break. Over a period of a week, the idea is to move from a focus time of 5 minutes to a focus time of 30 minutes.

I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how much you get done and how easily you train yourself to become highly and productively focused. As you do this, you are actually training your brain to block out distractions and increase your ability to concentrate for extended periods of time without a timer.

You can do it, what ever it is

"At age 23, Tina Fey was working at a YMCA.
At age 23, Oprah was fired from her first reporting job.
At age 24, Stephen King was working as a janitor and living in a trailer.
At age 27, Vincent Van Gogh failed as a missionary and decided to go to art school.
At age 28, J.K. Rowling was a suicidal single parent living on welfare.
At age 28, Wayne Coyne (from The Flaming Lips) was a fry cook.
At age 30, Harrison Ford was a carpenter.
At age 30, Martha Stewart was a stockbroker.
At age 37, Ang Lee was a stay-at-home-dad working odd jobs.
Julia Child released her first cookbook at age 39, and got her own cooking show at age 51.
Vera Wang failed to make the Olympic figure skating team, didn’t get the Editor-in-Chief position at Vogue, and designed her first dress at age 40.
Stan Lee didn’t release his first big comic book until he was 40.
Alan Rickman gave up his graphic design career to pursue acting at age 42.
Samuel L. Jackson didn’t get his first movie role until he was 46.
Morgan Freeman landed his first MAJOR movie role at age 52.
Kathryn Bigelow only reached international success when she made The Hurt Locker at age 57.
Grandma Moses didn’t begin her painting career until age 76.
Louise Bourgeois didn’t become a famous artist until she was 78.
Whatever your dream is, it is not too late to achieve it. You aren’t a failure because you haven’t found fame and fortune by the age of 21. Hell, it’s okay if you don’t even know what your dream is yet. Even if you’re flipping burgers, waiting tables or answering phones today, you never know where you’ll end up tomorrow.
Never tell yourself you’re too old to make it.
Never tell yourself you missed your chance.
Never tell yourself that you aren’t good enough.
You can do it. Whatever it is."

That someone is you

I know what it's like. I've seen it played out a few zillion times: You're waiting for that magical day when someone makes the connection and recognizes who you really are. 

Maybe they'll first catch the sparkle in your eye. Or perhaps they'll marvel at your insights and the depth of your spirit. Someone who will help you connect the dots, believe in yourself, and make sense of it all. 

Someone who will understand you, approve of you, and unhesitatingly give you a leg up so that life can pluck your ready, ripened self from the branch of magnificence.

Ahhhhhhhhhhh... 

Well, I'm here to tell you,  your wait is over. That someone is you. 

Good thing you rock. Think about it if you want someone to catch the sparkle, and recognize that you have "it"--whatever "it" is, you have to believe in yourself. Simple to say, tough to do, but needed if you want to be the hero in your own play.

There are many ways of convincing yourself that you have it, there are gurus out there that will show you the better path, there are affirmations you can say every day. There are self-help books and people who will tell you how to be in touch with the universe. They are all trying to help, but the only one who can help you is you. Why not give yourself the spotlight, all you have to lose is ....

Find your own truth

Do you know why the zealots and the fanatics fail?

It is because they find it is impossible to spread fear, when you dwell in truth. 

So find your own truth and stand up for what you believe, without fear, and without sadness. Those of us who dwell in the truth, are not afraid, those who dwell in the darkness are afraid and fear spreads like a cancer, until those who know the truth speak up. 

So use the wisdom of your years to speak the truth to stop the cancer of fear that is threatening our society.

If you believe

I do hereby proclaim that today shall be the first day of the most exciting time of your life because...

it's Sunday(!!), and Sundays are ALWAYS awesome! Great things happen on Sundaysin the physical, and magical things happen in spirit too.

Players, circumstances, and facts are all being aligned to brighten and lighten... the rest of your life

Hmmm... wonder what goodies are in store for you today... what surprises...what coincidences and accidents? Something to think about.

Happy Sunday!

Think of it 

Gratitude journal writing is important

 Have you started keeping a gratitude journal. The effect of reflecting on a daily / weekly basis is simply awesome! You have to first write it, to experience it:) 

A few entries 
My grandson is a charmer, his existence in this family has strengthen our family ties closer than before. He reminded me what family warmth is all about. 

I am thankful for a dear friend who gave a surprise visit. For a friend who is willing to go the extra mile to put a smile on me without asking anything in return, it makes me ponder.. Is not just about me all the time.. If pleasant surprises are like adding colors to life, making it memorable and beautiful, am I doing enough to put a smile on others around me as well? 

Points in writing your gratitude journal...

-List down in point form and describe in details how you are grateful and how it affects your life. It can be about yourself, people, surroundings, feelings, experiences and even the things around you. 

-Avoid repeating the same things you are thankful for. This will make writing a challenge and that is how we learn to be more aware of the things we can be thankful for, perhaps on little stuff we never take notice of before.

Instead of comparing with others of what you don't, start appreciating what you got...

Do you meditate?

By means of meditation we can teach our minds to be calm and balanced; within this calmness is a richness and a potential, an inner knowledge which can render our lives boundlessly satisfying and meaningful. While the mind may be what traps us in unhealthy patterns of stress and imbalance, it is also the mind which can free us. Through meditation, we can tap the healing qualities of mind. - Tarthang Tulku...

Do you meditate? I have tried over the years and find that I cannot meditate very well, I find it easy to focus and to get my mind calm and balanced, but I don't seem to get any deeper than that with my meditation. I have friends who use meditation and they swear that it works. I believe them, I just don't know how to stay focused for a long period of time, which I think meditation requires.

I can focus and calm my mind in short five minute stretches and then I drift into listening in my mind to an old song I just heard or a melody plays in my head and I listen to the song play on, I can do that for long periods. I first have to quiet the voices in my head and I sometimes do that by allowing the music that dances around in my head to increase in volume to quiet the voices. After a while, my voices still, and las I listen to the music, I  find this very peaceful.

I attended the last University of Phoenix Vancouver Campus graduation and was given the honor to present the graduates and as people came up I had a chance to shake their hands and congratulate each one on their success. My role, was very simple, it was to meet the student as they came up the stairs, take their name card, and call their name just before they crossed the stage.

It was very pleasant, people were proud of their accomplishments of finishing their degree after years of hard work. One of the students said to me, I 'm a professional football player, and I am more nervous about walking across the stage then when I am playing football.

I thought about what he said. Everyone of the students, is being honoured by friends, family, the university and the faculty for their individual effort. I was careful to make sure that there were no other students on stage before I called the name and then the student could walk across the stage in the limelight. But many of us are not used to the recognition and I think there was some stage fright involved.

Love

Last Words: The Final Journals of William S. Burroughs

"Thinking is not enough. Nothing is. There is no final enough of wisdom, experience — any fucking thing. Only thing can resolve conflict is love, like I felt for Fletch and Ruski, Spooner, and Calico. Pure love.

Love? What is It?

Most natural painkiller what there is.   LOVE."

What are your dreams are shouting at you?

Dreams can inspire and can move you to act. What are your dreams are shouting at you?

One of the big issues many of us have upon retirement is what will we do now, what is the reason for getting up and moving through our day.  So what dreams do we still hold that will allow us to move through and shape our life, our work and our leisure?

Ideas, like opportunities are everywhere but what are important are the ideas and the opportunities that flow from your values and your life story. If the opportunity does not fit our version of our life story we will not see them, if ideas are presented that do not flow from our values we will not act on them.

Here are some ideas but it is important to see the opportunities and ideas listed here as a starting point. Take the list as a starting point for you to dream and to listen to your dreams, so you can reshape and maintain control of life, leisure and work.

Remember, many of these ideas may translate into paid work or self-employment. When I ran my seminars on starting a business, I ran an exercise that forced people to look at niches and opportunities in a different way as many of the participants were looking for career change ideas. I was always surprised by ideas that people come up with–ideas that help fill a void that may have been gone unnoticed for years.

Many of those who signed up for the workshop did so because of a significant birthday or loss or sudden change. The event caused them to ask what have I yet to do in my life. Once they were open to exploring new ways of thinking and doing, the e experiences helped add fullness to their life, helped them complete tasks once begun, helped fill a creative urge, or helped complete a relationship or connection as yet unresolved. 

Think of each point below as a prompt to help you consider  your own version. See what emerges and send me your ideas.

Fall is for playing

My daughter posted a short video of my grandson playing in the leaves that had been raked into a pile. He sat in the middle of the leaves, then started to examine them and throw them into the air. He laughed with delight as the leaves fell on him. 

Mom and Dad were calling his name to get him to look into the camera, but he was too absorbed in the colours, textures and rhythm of the leaves floating to the ground. Each time they landed he threw them up again, laughing.

Fall is a wonderful, and watching Ryder play reminded me of why I love the fall.

A $100 Dollar Bill

I came accross this the oher day and thought I should share it

A $100 Dollar Bill  by Author Unknown

A well known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $100 bill. In the  room of 200, he asked. "Who would like this $100 bill?"

Hands started going up. He said, "I am going to give this $100 to one of you -  but first, let me do this."

He proceeded to crumple the 100 dollar note up. He then asked. "Who still  wants it?" Still the hands were up in the air.

"Well," he replied, "what if I do this?" He dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe.

He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty. "Now, who still wants it?" Still the hands went into the air.

"My friends, you have all learned a very valuable lesson.

No matter what I  did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It  was still worth $100.

Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt  by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way.

We feel as  though we are worthless; but no matter what happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value.

Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you are still priceless to God and to those who love you.

The worth of our lives comes, not in what we do, what we have or who we know, but by...WHO WE ARE.

You are so special in all the world there is only one you -- don't ever forget it.

Remember, you may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person.

Please share this very important message with your friends, family and associates. Especially our youth. Thank you!

Thanksgiving

According to some, the Thanksgiving holiday is a very depressing time of year for some people and I can see how this can be. Thanksgiving is a time when we celebrate the year that has been with friends and family, mostly family. No gifts are exchanged, except for the gift of time and love and gathering together. For those who do not have family close this can be a hard time of year. At Xmas we go out of our way to remember friends and invite them into our home to help us celebrate the birth of Christ. We sometimes do not do this at Thanksgiving we should remember to reach out to all of those who we are close to at this time of the year.

Some of the wonderful people I am thankful for knowing are (in no particular order):
My daughter Danielle, and her guy Adam, they are strong, loving . beautiful, and caring people who work hard and enjoy life to the fullest and new grandson Ryder, I am looking forward to some new vistas and adventures to share with you.
My other daughter Ann-Marie, although we do not see her as often as we would like, she is also a strong, caring and wonderful young lady, who I was blessed to have in my life as her and Danielle grew to be the wonderful women they are today.

My son Joel, who may  be struggling to find his way at this time, is creative, sensitive and thoughtful about life and has a wonderful talent for music, both playng, singing and writing songs that make you think.

My wife Colleen, who is creative, strong willed, determined, carng and thoughtful and who has made me a stronger person by not allowing my weaknesses to overpower me.

My brother Sid and his wife Barb, a very creative photographer,  who although they are more conservative in some aspects of their life then I am, they are more adverturous in others and I love to hear about their adventures bike riding or mountain climbing or stories about their home town.

My brother Bill and his wife Sandra, who have kept me in touch since my youth and who have done the major share of keeping  me in constant communications with life on the island and what my other brothers and their families are up to, and who have almost every year since the 80's allowed the gathering of the clan to be at their place at Xmas.

My brother Ed and his wife Sandy, who through their faith have brought about change in their community, and who, while in China brought two wonderful, cute and talented young ladies as new members of our family.

My brother in Law Tom and his wife Colleen, who have a unique way of looking at life and who have opened their hearts and home to us on more than one occasion

All of my beautiful Nieces (Sandy, Nicole, Jessica and Christyna,  Nicolle) and Nephews (John, Hayden, Christopher, Joe, Cameron, Martin, Travis and Shane, and Mike),who have filled my life with wonder at their accomplisments, skills and love of life.

These are only a few of the people who occupy my thoughts at this time of the year. I am lucky to have such wonderful people in my life and I want to thank them all for making me a better person

Love is (according to some four to eight year olds)

"When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love." Rebecca - age 8


"When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth." Billy - age 4

"Love is what makes you smile when you're tired." Terri - age 4

"Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK." Danny - age 7

"Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss." Emily - age 8

"Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen." Bobby - age 7 (Wow!)

"If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate." Nikka - age 6

("Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday." Noelle - age 7

"Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other

"During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore." Cindy -

"Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken." Elaine - age 5

"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford." Chris - age 7

"I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones." (Now THIS is love!) Lauren - age 4

"When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you." (what an image!) Karen - age 7

"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross." Mark - age 6

"You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget." Jessica - age 8

Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. pon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbour, the little boy said, "Nothing, I just helped him cry."

The Magic of Self-Love

The following is by Aine Belton and is in two parts, part one today and part two tomorrow

Loving yourself is easy when you own your inherent innocence and worth and acknowledge the divinity that you are.

Your essential true self – the you beyond your personality, identity and negative beliefs, is so ineffably beautiful, loving and magnificent, when you awaken to it, self-love is inevitable.

In the light of self-love you come to realize that you are not your darkness, failings or mistakes, and that your negative self-concepts are sourced in misunderstandings about yourself and life.

To not love yourself is to be blind to your true nature and the loving nature of the universe. It is to be caught in the lies of ego and shrouding traps such as guilt, shame, undeserving and self-loathing.

“There is nothing but love, and all else is illusion.” - Dr. John Demartini

When you awaken to your inherent nature, self-love is inevitable.

Forgiving yourself for perceived ‘wrong doings’ and ‘mistakes’ can help you let go of and release more of what you are not so you can open to and embrace more of who you are, and the love at the heart of your being.

It is easy to love what’s beautiful in you, but it’s the ugly parts that need your love the most.

To truly love yourself is to love yourself unconditionally beyond reasons why.

To love yourself because you did a good deed, got a pay rise, secured a new job, are popular, funny, attractive or wealthy, is conditional. Love yourself for who you are, your strengths and weaknesses. And love yourself because you are - that you exist.

The essence of who you are is love itself. You are born of love, returning to love.

There is nothing you need do to win that love and nothing you can do to lose it, for you are loved completely.

States of pain and constriction are symptoms that you are out of alignment with truth - the truth of who you are and the true nature of reality.

Self-love is ultimately self-knowing. It is accepting yourself compassionately in entirety and understanding that you are more than your personality and identity. You are pure spirit.

All that you desire is yours to receive. Love unlocks the door to that receiving. When you awaken to the love that you are abundance reins, and there is a renewed flow of giving and receiving between yourself, others and the universe.

In the wake of love, dreams come true. Wounds heal and the pain of separation lessens.

You become free from ego games and agendas that can otherwise thwart your growth and success and side-track you from the truth.

Fear, loss, worthlessness, loneliness and other constricting states transform in the light of love.

"There is no difficulty that enough love will not conquer; no disease that enough love will not heal; no door that enough love will not open." - Emmet Fox

When you love yourself neediness subsides and you relinquish futile attempts to ‘get love’ from ‘out there’, and the control, manipulation, dependency, sacrifice and struggle that can otherwise ensue.

The ego’s quest to earn love, and to compete, compare and prove your lovability dissolves in the nourishing repose and revitalizing wonder of self-love.

You are the one you have been waiting for; it is your love and the truth of your being that lies wait within.

If you’re not having the kinds of experiences you want in your relationships, the key is to awaken to this infinite supply within, and open to receive this limitless reservoir of self-love and universal love.

Your Higher Self, the eternal transcendent being that you really are, loves you more than you may ever now. It loves you totally and unconditionally.

The cliché ‘No one can love you until you love yourself’, is true in that, until you love yourself you will not be able to wholeheartedly receive love from others. You may be blind or blinkered to that love. You may deny, discount or avoid it. You may be cynical and doubt it. You may push it away or sabotage it. You may feel you do not deserve it. You may even fail to attract it due to blocks around your lovability and corresponding limiting self-beliefs.

In loving yourself you fill up with nectar from within and can radiate and share that sweetness with others and the world. The wondrous vibration of love will exude and attract happy, harmonious, beautiful realities in line with your heart’s desires.

You are source, not subject, of your world.

When you love yourself, the world will love you back.

You judge others less as you judge yourself less. Compassion is a natural by-product of self-love.

In loving yourself you are more connected to your Higher Self – the vast being that you are - and are more open, trusting, loving and happy.

You become less self-conscious and more spontaneous, less self-absorbed and more giving, less of a victim and more of a leader, contributor and inspiration to others.

Your life is graced with flow.

Problems and struggle lessen and ease.

You stop fighting yourself and others and start joining, giving forth, celebrating and having fun!

You revel in the wonder of who you are, the love of the universe, and the love the universe has for you.

The universe is answering

Some people believe in the law of attraction, and beleive that they must do everything in their power to right, and if they do they believe  that the universe is lining it up just right, and the timing will be just exactly right. And if I'm not doing anything wrong.  And I'm doing everything just exactly right then the universe will answer in time. And in thhis perfect timing, a timing that I cannot even quite see yet, this is going to happen. And meanwhile there isn't anything else for me to do.


The Law of Attraction is a huge Law. So next time you find yourself thinking: 'Well, I should write one more affirmation, or I should do one more Virtual Reality. I need to do something. I must be doing something wrong, or what I'm wanting would be,' I say, what you need to do is chill out. What you need to do is relax and accept that you've done your work. You've asked; the Universe is doing its work; it is answering. Your job is to get into this place where you joyfully receive it.

You can't take score about when it's coming or where it's coming, or how it's coming. In other words, you accept,  it is coming and all is well. And as you do that, ahh.

Then, when you really get there, then it doesn't matter how long it takes--but it doesn't take any time, then. If you could say, 'I don't care how long it takes,' you're there! And then it takes no time. But as long as it matters how long it takes, you're not there--and it's going to take a long time. The Universe is anwering, but we have to be in a mind set to accept the answer when we receive it.