LivingConsciously

If the world seems to be telling you that you took a wrong turn, try to admit it honestly and put yourself on a different track. Sometimes we head off down the wrong path in life, often with the best motives. Maybe there was no way of knowing that it was the wrong

path until you embarked upon the journey. No one can be brilliant at everything, and sometimes you must try things to find out whether it feels right and compatible for you.

There is no shame in admitting it once you realise that things are not working out. It is not about quitting, but taking the courage to then look at different directions in your life.

Take up the challenge to stop scrolling through things on your smartphone for a minute after reading this. With the ever increasing use of modern technology, it is becoming increasingly common to find people of all ages continually being on their smartphones, immersed in VR or playing games.

So, take the one minute stop scrolling challenge now.

Turn down the volume of your smartphone, turn off the screen and put it away.

Use the time to focus your mind on the growing silence which fills the growing void or the seeming gap in time which has opened up.

As you breathe, allow the increasing sense of quietness to pervade every corner of your mind. If other thoughts start to encroach on the quietness, strive to push them aside, giving your mind one true minute of focus and calmness.

Do not be afraid of the quietness or silence, notifications, DMs and other interruptions can wait. Your ability to maintain the focus of your mind is a sign of your inner strength.

Build upon this challenge and do it at least once per day, you will be surprised how much of a difference this simple stop scrolling challenge can make you feel. If you have succeeded in the one minute challenge, try pushing yourself for a greater experience by reaching for a quiet time of 5 or more minutes.

Being fully awake in a metaphysical context entails a heightened awareness of the ongoing processes within your field of consciousness. It involves a mindful recognition of the ebb and flow of thoughts and emotions, empowering you to navigate your mental landscape with clarity and responsiveness.

So instead of unquestioningly succumbing to the whims of your thoughts and emotions, remain vigilant and acknowledge the current state of your mind and emotions before they reach a tipping point, or the proverbial point of no return.

By staying attuned to the nuances of your inner world, you can foster a greater sense of self-awareness and follow through with conscious choices that align with your aspirations.

Life is predominantly composed of ordinary moments, far outnumbering the extraordinary ones. Whether you are patiently queuing at the supermarket, enduring the daily commute to work, or tending to routine tasks such as feeding pets or doing the washing, the ordinary hours make up the fabric of your existence.

The essence of true happiness lies in the ability to discover moments of joy and fulfilment within the seemingly mundane routines of daily life. Real happiness is about finding beauty in the simplicity of everyday life, appreciating the small pleasures that weave through the tapestry of ordinary hours.

It can be as simple as witnessing the magic of how sunlight bounces off the corner of a sugar crystal left on the side of your coffee cup in the morning. Then through being open to the experience you have noticed how the sunlight reflected through that sugar crystal is scattered in a rainbow of colours onto an otherwise plain wall. Then recognise that happiness, joy, wonder or contentment can flourish in the most unassuming moments.

Witnessing your thoughts can be advantageous in numerous ways. To start with, it can assist you to understand your own thinking patterns, propensities and even your reactions. Likewise, it aids you to become more self-aware, to enhance your emotional intelligence and ability to relate to others. Furthermore, by listening within to your thoughts, you can come to be more mindful of your internal dialogue and how it might be affecting your behaviours, mood, and emotions. If that were not sufficient, then listening to your thoughts can be an effective tool for self-reflection and acquiring insight into your own values, beliefs, and motivations.

One of the most effective methods to listen to your thoughts is as if you were observing them as an onlooker. Acting as that onlooker to your thoughts, you can more effectively be witness to your thoughts as they surface within your mind, aiding you to establish improved self-awareness and control over your thinking patterns. When you observe your thoughts in this way, you have the opportunity to notice patterns of negative or unhelpful thinking, such as worry, concern, overthinking or even self-criticism. By becoming aware of these patterns of thinking, you can start to challenge them when they appear, as opposed to reacting at a later stage to the fully developed thought-form.

Witnessing your thoughts as an onlooker has tremendous potential, because you can develop a sense of detachment from them. You can progressively learn to recognise that you can more easily change your thoughts when you are an observer of your mind. This can help you to let go of unhelpful thoughts and emotions, and cultivate a sense of clarity and inner tranquillity. Ultimately listening to your thoughts in this way can help you to live a more mindfully and purposefully existence, and to develop a more positive and fulfilling life for yourself.

Life can often teach us all valuable lessons through our experiences, and often more significantly through what we would term mistakes. When you make mistakes, it is imperative not to berate yourself. Instead look at this as an opportunity to reflect on what proverbially went wrong, then learn from your experiences. Even better yet, apply this learning to make changes to your thinking, behaviour or decisions going forward.

Making mistakes or odd slip-ups is a natural part of the learning process and can help us to develop resilience, perseverance, and a greater sense of self-awareness. When you have made a mistake, you should take the opportunity to honestly look at what happened, rather than trying to blame someone else or the situation. In doing so, you force yourself to examine your weaknesses and limitations which leads to the problem. That is the source of learning which can then be applied forward in your life.

It’s important to bear in mind that learning from your mistakes, blunders, missteps or even faux pas calls for readiness, to be honest with yourselves, take responsibility for your actions, and make a real effort to learn from your experiences. It is additionally important to exercise self-compassion and forgiveness. You do not want to proverbially beat yourself up about a past blunder or error which after all is now in the past and cannot be changed. Try to limit the time you spend examining the past, because if you dwell too long on these past incidents you may find yourself being dragged back down to the level of the problem and situation, which could be damaging to your overall mental well-being.

Take the opportunity to examine and learn from your mistakes. You do not need to live them over and over again in your mind. Then accept and embrace the learnings which have been gained from the past, to provide an effective means to grow and develop as an individual.

Mindfulness is a helpful practice that can contribute to overall happiness, but it may not always be the answer you need or are looking for. Mindfulness, the hugely popular zeitgeist theory seems to have morphed into the concept that to be happy we must live fully in the present moment. Taken to the extreme this can lead to total focus on whatever you are doing or experiencing “Right This Second”. Some see Mindfulness as a revolution. It is sweeping through many aspects of people’s lives, from mindful parenting, mindful business dealings, mindful eating, and even mindful chores to mindful walking, promising all types of revolutionary changes in people’s lives.

Happiness is a complex and multifaceted concept that is influenced by many factors. While mindfulness can be a helpful tool for cultivating happiness, it is not a standalone solution to all of life’s challenges and is actually beneficial for many other reasons. Other factors in life should be an important source of joy and happiness. So, while mindfulness can be a useful practice for cultivating happiness, it is not a panacea or a one-size-fits-all solution for everyone.

Mindfulness simply involves focusing your attention on your thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations as they arise in the present moment. Mindfulness does not magically create happiness or a better life, it is just a tool which can be used for intentionally paying attention to the present moment and not just with focus, but also with curiosity, openness, and non-judgment. It is often the later aspects which are overlooked in the rush to embrace mindfulness, or follow the latest mindfulness guru or influencer. Mindfulness should be taken as one aspect of many meditative practices which can be used for focus and the reality is that some people do really have problems with the proverbial “Raisin of Mindfulness”. It is important to explore a range of different practices and techniques to find one that works for you to cultivate lasting happiness and improve your mental well-being.

Remember that while Mindfulness is a great tool, it is like a hammer, you cannot do every job with a hammer, and sometimes you need to use a different tool.

Your astrological key code is encoded within you at the time of your birth due to the ambient solar system energies. This astrological key code is similar to the programming within an app on your smartphone or computer program. It helps to define your standard pre-programmed ways of thinking and reactions to life.

At the time of your birth, the energies of the constellation behind the Sun (your Sun sign) will be amplified to create astrological programming within you. This precast programming contains a blueprint of the emotional reactions you will have, the type of thought patterns you resonate with, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of your body. The personality traits and aspects of your birth constellation will form an underlying basis for how you think and the flow of emotions in your life. It is because of this astrological key code, that you will react more strongly to different people and situations in your life.

When the ambient energies of the Solar System or constellations resonate more strongly with your astrological key code, then it is likely you will react or respond with greater intensity. So now, you may begin to appreciate how different people can absorb, process and respond to the same situations in life in completely different ways, as their astrological key code colours their life and reactions.

Once you realise how you react and express thoughts and emotions is pre-programmed, you can more easily adapt to situations in life.

Many of us are not aware of how active our minds are throughout the day generating a huge number of thoughts. If you stop for a moment, as you try to quieten your mind, you may soon discover the myriad of thoughts which abound within your mind. It is not uncommon that the harder you try to find a proverbial quiet corner, the more thoughts you are likely to discover. This clearly proves that your mind is forever busy often generating thoughts which do not fully register in your consciousness. The challenge is that with so many thoughts rampaging through your mental mind and subconscious mind, is that you could be reacting to thoughts without even realising they were present in the first place.

We can all do ourselves a proverbial favour by spending some time learning to listen to or observe the thoughts which flow through our minds, whether they be conscious or subconscious thoughts. As you become more skilful at listening or observing your thoughts, you can begin to identify any critical, malicious or negative thoughts or ideas before they take hold within you. Catching such thoughts early on means that you can more easily change them to something of a more positive nature.

There are many different methods you can utilise to observe your thoughts, from the use of simple mindfulness, through various forms of meditation, to advanced studies in Cognition. The key to all of these methods to be successful is that you should observe your thinking as if you were looking from the outside. The best analogy is that as the observer of your mind, consider that you are witnessing a film or a play unfolding. As you witness these thoughts, do your best to remain the observer. Do not allow your emotions to drag you into the narrative, otherwise, you will start living out the thoughts rather than being the observer.

Negativity in the form of thoughts, emotions and opinions is something which exists in life. This is the actuality of the world in which we live. The skill is working out how to handle such negativity when you encounter it, as you will inevitably do.

While there can be lots of notional techniques for taking care of negativity, the easiest and most effective way is to resonate above it. If all of your mind is functioning at a higher frequency level, then the discord which can be created by negativity is much less likely to affect you. It is only when you are thinking similar thoughts, that like draws in like and your own thoughts become pulled to the negative thoughts, situations or activities happening in life. So continually strive to maintain your thoughts and emotions at a higher state of being, to ensure that you are resonating above negativity.

Be mindful of the destination addiction where you become fixated with the notion that happiness is elsewhere. Until you surrender that concept of happiness is in another place, it is going to never be where you are. So on examination what does this all mean? If you were to answer the question, do you live your life only to get to the end of it? Then most people would say unequivocally no. However in the world today, many people suffer from the belief that success or happiness is the destination. They are always on the run, on the move, and their goal seems to be to get through the day rather than live each day. Such people become addicted to the idea that the future is where success will be found, happiness resides, and that each intervening moment is just a means to get there.

Rather than living in the now, more and more people seem to be living in anything but the now, being psychologically absent and disregarding everything currently in their life. If you find that you are thinking this way, then you are falling into the trap of destination addiction. You continually chase the illusive notion of happiness and literally suffer from your pursuits. In this case, you may find that your goal has not been to enjoy the day, but instead, you have focused on getting through the day. You have always been focused on getting somewhere, foregoing the opportunities to savour the moments of life along the way. When you arrive at the destination, the feeling of success or happiness seems to elude you, as if it has somehow escaped to the next day, week or year. Then the feeling of satisfaction is continually deferred, and you end up living your life in hot pursuit of some extraordinary bliss which you have no idea how to find.

Social media and an era of excess make a major contribution to the pandemic of destination addiction. In the never-ending pursuit of happiness, you may find that you spend increasing amounts of time or money on trying to acquire happiness. But if you are being honest, how often have you found that the happiness so acquired was only temporary? This is made worse by people and companies peddling items and experiences to “totally change your life” or “make you happier than you ever dreamed possible”. Cars with the newest widgets, fancier clothing, more exquisite jewellery or even the latest gadget, can all be symptomatic of this underlying trend to feed destination addiction.

As increasing numbers of us become engrossed in destination addiction, as we tend to rush through as many experiences as quickly as possible. You may find that you start living by the adage of “been there, done that”. Life should not be about destinations or endings; if it were then life would be very different. If life were about the destination then you would only read the last page of any book, have deserts for meals, or only attended graduation day at school or college. Destination addiction is frequently an attempt to get on with life faster, hoping that you will enjoy your life better. Yet constant rushing through life frequently means that you will miss or bypass golden opportunities along the way. In this way, destination addiction is working against you, as you become too busy or too focused on the objective to be aware of life happing around you. It can become increasingly easy to feel empty as if your life is lacking any meaning.

If you are prone to overthinking, then destination addiction is the perfect setup for failure. It can become very common for people to trade short-term gratification in the hope of reaching the ultimate goal. It could be manifest that happiness is the next deal, the next high, the next acquisition, the next drink, or even something seemingly as silly as the next hot-fudge sundae. In all these instances realise that your mind is overthinking and making you believe the proverbial adage that the grass is greener over the next hill. Destination addiction can cause you to become impatient as you attempt to reach your goal. You then end up with little time for yourself and grow evermore impatient as the destination always seems just out of reach.

It is important to be aware that none of us is immune to destination addiction, and we all have times when we have to convince ourselves that better times are ahead. The trouble with destination addiction is that it focuses purely on the end and not on purpose. Fortunately, there is an excellent remedy for destination addiction, but it is often hard to find.

The key to defeating destination addiction is to find happiness in the life you have and to achieve the goals that are important to you, not what you believe will impress everyone else. When you declare that you are content with what you have, where you are and who you are, it is possible to break out of this addiction. You may then find that you begin to live more in the now and savour the full experiences that life avails to you every day. You can then live intelligently with purpose, make the means the end, and also the end the means. Then you may come to the realisation that true happiness never comes from a destination. Happiness comes from within us as you experience and live in the here and now.

To comprehend who is “Brand You”, you need to first and foremost understand the construct of the personality which adheres to every part of your being, like a really sticky material. Your personality is pervasive to who you think and believe you are. It has the three primary facets of how you perceive yourself to be, how you believe others see you and the actual layers of the thought of others about you.

Your personality is both influenced and affected by numerous other aspects. These include, yet are not confined to conditional thinking, thoughts, emotions and feelings of others; causality or karma (especially of friends and family); astronomical astrological programming; and much deeper elements of your Life Force. Your personality is bi-directional, indicating that it has two distinct sides. This is similar to a stained glass window, which might appear rather drab from one side, whereas when viewed from the opposite side, it can take on an entirely different light.

The concept of “Brand You” is your perception of how the world discerns you, and is in effect the external expression of your personality. Increasingly this facet of your personality is not composed from direct human interactions, but is established and reinforced via your interactions in social media, and the illusionary worlds of computer games and virtual worlds such as the Metaverse. Consider for a moment how you would feel after you make a post on social media or appeared in the news. Think about how your personality can be affected by all of your friends or followers whether they like or comment on your posting; or you receive either no reactions or conversely your post, article or video goes viral. All these reactions on social media generate the energies of thought and emotions which are directed towards you and your personality.

The aforementioned aspects of personality and “Brand You” can become amplified to where the brand becomes much larger than the individual, particularly for celebrities and influencers. This “Brand You” can entirely engulf the personality and dominate that person’s existence in this world. So carefully consider how you project “Brand You” into the world, as all facets of the personality so expressed can bring about numerous lifetimes of accumulated karma

When you are joyous, happy or in a positive state of mind, your heart and mind, are open to brand-new things. Savour every positive experience and emotion such as joy, to bring a newfound sense of wonderment to life. Even something which might have seemed ordinary can begin to hold a greater significance as you take pleasure in every moment that life offers.

Taking the opportunity to savour joy can be as simple as paying attention to the things that you take pleasure in or that make you happy. If your mind strays try your best to maintain focus on the joyous moments. Spending time to linger on these positive feelings that arise is an incredibly straightforward form of mindfulness. This can lead to a happier outlook, increased self-worth and better resilience when faced with stress and anxiety. If you savour the joy and happiness, it can bring appreciation and positivity to all aspects of your life, and you can gain greater access to your intuition and creativity. This can be partly because you are not burdened or blinded by negative thoughts and feelings which so many of us have on a daily basis.

The process to savour positive elements of life is relatively simple. If you have previously practised some type of mindfulness, you are partway there. Savouring joy is about being aware and centring your attention on some positive experience or sensation in your life. Savouring the people, experiences and things in your life enables you to grow in mindfulness, though it does not require formal meditation.

To initiate this technique, invest some time to recollect a recent experience that you found enjoyable or satisfying. That could be anything, yet if it entails some sounds or physical activity such as a walk on the beach, having a bite to eat with a new mate, or having fun with a pet, it will certainly be easier to keep your focus. Make the effort to recall that positive moment and immerse yourself in the memories. While it may not last forever, really savouring the moment can make it seem like time has virtually stopped. After that choose an additional recent event or experience which gave you satisfaction or enjoyment, and once again recapture the feelings of joy. You are most likely to find that it is much easier to stay in the moment, as the feelings of joy and happiness from your last sensation operate like a magnet, drawing in the positive sentiments. With the increased sentiments, you will be able to sustain a stronger focus on the happy moments.

Our daily lives are full of opportunities to appreciate, and express gratitude for the things that bring us joy and a sense of satisfaction and happiness. Savouring these positive moments can provide you with an oasis amidst the challenges of life. Gradually, you can develop a growing awareness of the origins of joy, satisfaction and happiness which can boost the positive influences in your life.

There are very clear benefits of recollecting these moments of joy and happiness, including improved physical and psychological health. While savouring can be beneficial, it does not deny the reality of what is difficult in our life such as challenging emotions. When you find yourself in an unpleasant mood, consider that you cannot be open to new ideas, regardless of just how fantastic or amazing they are. Without some joy in your heart, life can seem to be slow and frequently dull or uninteresting. However, this practice of savouring can enable you to bring positivity to your life by paying attention to what feels good.

Usually each of us does not have issues with thinking or expressing what would be identified as positive thoughts or emotions. Unfortunately, it is a normal human response to avoid or wish to bury difficult emotions, and even in some cases those which might seem to be neutral but have become taboo as a result of societal norms. Sequestering your emotions and thoughts can be an appropriate way of managing them from a mental mind standpoint. These subdued emotions will normally not create problems when you undertake mindfulness or basic meditation, as the power of your mind can maintain them metaphorically under control. Even if these concealed thoughts or emotions are not leading to problems, be aware that you have pushed them aside. Suppressing an emotion does not admonish an emotion. The emotion still exists within you, secreted in the background of your mind and subconscious. So for your own wellbeing, you should take the opportunity to understand them whenever the time is right.

The state of affairs changes considerably when you start on the pathway to the awakening of your inner light. It is very important to know that suppressing or subduing thoughts and emotions, especially the unfavourable ones, can be perilous as you advance on your journey of attunement or advanced meditation. As you progress with your meditation techniques, increasing levels of the power of your Life Force enlivens your form. These energies flow into all parts of your being from the energy centres and along the meridians. As these energies circulate throughout the human mechanism, their increased energy can activate thoughts or emotions which have been hidden, and may have laid dormant for years or even numerous lifetimes in the body’s think centres and chakras. When these energies trigger one of these suppressed thoughts or emotions, the intensity of that thought or emotion will be increased as a result of the greater energy levels from your awakening. Hopefully, you can now comprehend why it is so necessary to know yourself, to be aware of and understand all of your thoughts and emotions, even those which you might not wish to deal with.

Often in life, we become side-tracked by matters that annoy, upset or perturb us, which can lead to overthinking. When you start to overthink something, your mind can become overloaded and overwhelmed as associated thoughts and conditioned reactions are replayed over and over in your mind. The original thoughts have triggered conditioned thoughts, emotions, feelings and reactions. These aspects of overthinking can pull you down the path to additional worry, concern and sometimes stress.

At such time, if you were to stop or pause to carefully examine your life, you may discover that some of these matters are totally out of your control. You may realise there are some situations in life which you could not change in a proverbial million years. While we may recognise this in hindsight, many of us still attempt to change these apparently immutable aspects, which can lead to more anguish and upset emotions.

Rather than dwelling on what is beyond your control, you can choose to take a different path. Instead redirect your thinking to focus your intent on the things which you can change. As you begin to shift your focus, you will feel more in control of your life. Those aspects which you cannot control will usually lose some of their significance, or may completely fade away.