True and Useful™

Means and Ends by Arnold Patent

There is only one way to achieve any goal that you set for yourself.

• To achieve inner peace, you think inner peace and act peacefully moment by moment.
• To achieve unconditional love, you think unconditional love and act unconditionally loving moment by moment.
• To achieve a life that works perfectly, you think perfection and see the perfection in yourself and everyone else, moment by moment.
• To experience total abundance in your life, you think and feel the abundance all around you, moment by moment.

The principle is simple.  Means and ends are always identical.

Lift Ourselves

My brothers and sisters around the world, it’s time for us to take charge of the global downturn and lift ourselves out of this mire and depression. 

Are you as weary as I am of the constant doom and gloom presented in the media?  Are you as wary and skeptical as I am of the politicians and business leaders who seem to have gotten us into this mess in the first place?

I believe that we can begin to turn the situation around by using the power of our minds and consciousness to lift our spirits individually and collectively.  We may have been robbed of our jobs and savings and homes, but do we have to let the voices of darkness and despair rob us of our spirit, our attitude, and our ability to think our own thoughts and feel our own feelings?

I call on all who care to listen to use the power of your minds for good.  Muster up all the techniques at your disposal – meditation, prayer, visualization, affirmations, inspirational writing, uplifting music – and raise your vibration to a higher level.  When you feel afraid, work with your thoughts and your breathing to calm your fears and shift your focus to positive action.  Allow your anger and frustration to propel you forward rather than drag you down into depression.  When life seems overwhelming, look around at what you can appreciate – family, friends, a helpful stranger, a job opportunity, the beauty of nature - and feel and express gratitude for what’s working rather than dwelling only on what’s broken.

I know it’s not always easy to “change your mind.”  I’ve had a lifelong tendency towards fear, limiting thoughts, worry and depression, but I’m finally beginning to feel and experience the power of changing my perception, breaking up old patterns of unproductive and unhelpful thoughts, and lifting my feelings and spirit despite the challenges I’m facing.  If I can do it, you can, too.

So let’s see if we can turn this recession/depression around for ourselves.  I don’t think we can afford to wait for the current world leadership to rescue us.  If we begin to take responsibility for our own thoughts, perhaps we can lift ourselves up by harnessing the power of our consciousness and channeling it for good.

~ A.G.R

Meditation Focus: Expanding

Do you sometimes feel as if the world is closing in on you? Whether you’re experiencing the general stress of daily life or dealing with a particular challenge, do you sometimes feel “weighed down by circumstances” or as if your back is “up against the wall?”

Try the following techniques to see if they help alleviate the closed in feelings:

Short Mental Focus:

• Close your eyes and become aware of the space around you.
• Breathe in, and as you breathe out visualize the space around you expanding outward.
• Take a slightly bigger breathe in, then as you breathe out visualize the space expanding farther outward.
• As you continue this breathing and expanding focus, imagine your out-breath expanding with the space around you, literally giving yourself “more room to breathe.”
• Continue breathing and expanding for 1-3 minutes.
• Check in to see if you’re feeling less contracted and more expanded.

Meditation:

If you have time for a longer meditation:

• Become aware of the space in front and behind you.
• Imagine the space in front and behind you expanding outward.
• Spend an extra minute to focus on expanding the space behind you to reduce the feeling of your back being up against a wall.
• Become aware of the space to your left and right.
• Visualize the space to your left and right expanding outward.
• Become aware of the space above and below you.
• Imagine the space above and below you expanding outward.
• Allow yourself to breathe more fully and deeply within the space that you have expanded all around you.
• Continue your meditation focus by visualizing yourself moving, stretching and relaxing within your expanded space.
• Picture yourself moving forward and bringing your expanded space with you. 
• How does it feel to move with more space around you?
• Imagine yourself moving in whatever way feels right, such as running, dancing or skipping.
• Now picture yourself in a stressful situation, whether a particular challenge or a more generalized environment such as work or family.
• As you feel the stress of the situation arise, center yourself within your expanded space and breathe slowly and deeply.
• Imagine yourself interacting with others in the situation while maintaining your expanded space and your slow deep breathing.
• Allow this picture of you in your expanded space to continue until you are ready to end your meditation.

If you find this focus on expanding helpful, repeat the process until you can quickly access the mental imagery wherever you are. Then you can discover if and how you deal more effectively with stressful situations within your expanded space.

~ A.G.R

Change Your Mind

If you pay closer attention to your steady stream of thoughts, you may be surprised at how many of them are negative. Fear and its many manifestations, including worry, anger and judgment, can cause an unending flow of pessimistic and downbeat self-talk.

The first step in overcoming fearful and unhelpful patterns of thought and emotions is to begin to pay closer attention to them. Buddhists call this process mindfulness, or simply paying attention in each moment. Once you begin to increase your awareness of your emotional state of mind, you will have more opportunities to consciously change your habitual thoughts.

Each time you notice a negative thought, try changing it to its positive counterpart. For example, replace a thought like “I don’t know how to do this” with “I have an opportunity to learn something new,” or “people aren’t communicating with me” with “how can I initiate an opening for more conversation?”

Changing ingrained patterns of unproductive thinking takes time, patience and effort, but as you notice the rewards of replacing negative thoughts with a more positive point of view, you will be encouraged to continue with this mindful approach to increased hope and optimism.

~ A.G.R