According to A course in Miracles, A miracle is just a shift in perspective. Sometimes we get stuck in seeing things one way. Our perceptions may be taught or from our experiences in our life to form opinions. When we are troubled or can’t figure a way around our obstacles, we have an opportunity to see it from another perspective. This is how we can have peace amongst our circumstances. In life we can experience shifts, storms, and waves that pass. But how do we maintain our joy during these times.
One of the most powerful tools I have found helpful in my times of contrast is meditation. I like to refer to it as quiet time, centering, or maybe just a time out. So many people get confused on the purpose and “how to” meditate. When it’s misunderstood and intimidating, many times individuals do not give it much a chance. Again, I like to simplify matters to make it feel possible or helpful.
The first step is take some quiet time for yourself. We often look outside ourselves for answers and perspectives when the guidance we need is already on the inside. And to hear that requires tuning in and listening. It may take a few days or even weeks before we hear or “realize” what we are searching for. Especially if we’ve been listening to more of the noise of our outside world of people, television, internet, etc…rather than our own soul.
When we take this time whether it be a few minutes or an hour, it can be a little overwhelming at first. Because we are so use to being distracted by our stream of thoughts. We practice them for a long time and it can take a little patience with ourselves to be aware of those distractions. There is a difference between the ego/mind and the observer (our soul). The voices in our head often come from our upbringing, family, education, culture, religion, and opinions. For that reason it is ok not to be so hard on ourselves for the thoughts that walk through our mind. It is things we have picked up along our way. That is not our soul and intuition speaking to us.
The quiet time provides you an opportunity to observe the head and ego and let the thoughts pass through. It’s like driving down the road and you pass trees, cars, many things along the way. You can let them pass through rather than trying to force no thought. This is where I think many people get confused on meditation and give up. They think they can not do it because of the stream of thinking. With practice you can slow it down, but you do not have to get bent out of shape because our ego’s like to talk. There are many different ways people use in their meditation practice to slow this “Jabbering” down. That is why there are so many methods and suggestions you can read up on. Some people just count their breaths. Some chant. Some just focus on a prayer, word, or color. You may have to play a little to see what comes easy to you. There is no right or wrong way. The purpose is to focus on one of these things to help clear your mind or slow it down. I’ve heard many call it their “monkey mind”. When you concentrate on a word, or counting breaths, this makes it difficult to listen to thoughts at the same time. So you can slow it down to tune into your inner voice by using any of these methods rather than being frustrated on trying to sit in total silence.
We always have access to our inner self, but we may need to learn ways to tune in it to or listen to it. For some it may be a feeling or a realization. It will be different for everyone. Once we create some time and space for ourself, we can strengthen our awareness and guidance from our authentic self. This is where we get the shift in perspective or the guidance we are seeking. Sometimes we have to sit in our quiet time until we can see things differently. This is how we change our life. We can find peace and joy by changing the way we see things and our perception of what is going on without trying to control conditions. Because most conditions are out of our control. It is the way we see them that can upset or frustrate us. Since we can’t always change what is going on, we have the power of changing our perception and receiving relief now even if the condition never changes. And our purpose that most of us search for is being happy. And how can you be happy when things aren’t always going the way you may want them to? It is through our perception. Be easy on yourself. Start with giving yourself some quiet time. Even if it’s only a few minutes. Start there. See if it brings you some calmness. The more you practice and give that to yourself, the more clarity, peace, and joy you can feel for yourself. Once you feel that for yourself, You can extend it out to others. Your family, friends, loved ones, job, and whomever you come across in your daily life. Meditation or “quiet time” is just one of many tools/processes we can use to shift into joy and calmness in our every day life.
All posts by Joy
I think it was an Albert Einstein quote that said “Everything is energy and that is all there is to it. Match the frequency of the reality you want and you can not help but get that reality. It can be no other way. This is not philosophy, This is physics.”
You’ll notice I will refer frequently to terms of energy and vibration. I prefer my blogs simplistic in reaching a broader audience, but I do not intend to lose you either. If you would like a more in depth explanation of these terms, your welcome to message me or utilize today’s technology and research the science and thought.
Back to the point of today’s blog, I encourage you to be aware of your thoughts and self talk. The conversation in your head directs where your thoughts are taking you. When you are aware of the patterns of your habitual thought and where your energy goes, you can better understand what is showing up in your life. I don’t say this to make you feel defensive and helpless to your thoughts. I just want to point out better ways to help you focus and improve the reality coming back to you. The point of my blog is the joy adjustment. Helping you simply to experiencing more joy every day.
When you spend much of your time worrying or seeing the negative in things, you are giving that energy more power to attract unwanted things. And it can be a spiraling cycle. So you can practice a new habit of being aware of your thoughts to turn that around. I believe this is why so many teachers and philosophers seem to beat the drum of positive thinking. It is not just as simple as helping you feel better, but it is because they understand energy and working with the laws of the universe. When you spend more time creating the habit of focusing on positive aspects, it increases your vibration and the Universe/God/Life force energy responds to that frequency. You can “tune” yourself into more happy and joyful experience. Think of it as a radio frequency. If your tuned to an am station (negative), you can not hear what is being broadcasted on the fm (positive) frequency. Im only using this as an example to explain the tuning.
Im not saying am or fm is positive or negative. Just an easy understandable reference. The more time you spend tuning to that am or negative frequency such as problems and anxiousness, You keep yourself from experiencing the joy, love, happiness, and abundance that is of the opposite frequency.
Im not saying that we live in a problem free society. It can serve us well because the problems give birth to ideas, innovations, and solutions. It is just that if we stay focused and keep circling and banging the problems we can not gravitate toward solutions or the wanted things. This is where you can use energy/physics to your advantage.
Now that we have hit on being aware of your thoughts and how they affect your reality, the next point is how you can use this in your everyday life for joy, happiness, love, abundance, or whatever you would like to experience more of.
I like to share things I do to inspire you. I encourage you to take the time to do or explore things you enjoy. That is the point… To experience more joy. There are somethings I do with my time weekly and some I do every day. I like to start with the small every day stuff. I read quotes and listen to my favorite authors/speakers on Youtube. It helps to keep me on track of my focus and frequency that I am broadcasting in my now. In this way I am utilizing the energies I am wanting to match. I take a little time with intent on how my day will unfold. I may not know how it will turn out, but by expanding my energy on positive things I experience the good in others, and so many times I get better results than I could have even imagined myself. That is when you know you are having fun. You are tapping into the infinity and beyond frequency of joy. I can see the results of matching the vibrations and frequencies I intended. I warn you, these are early signs of the joy adjustment.
The next blog I will talk more in detail of shifting your perspective. And how it can work for you. Until then, I encourage you to not only do little daily focus, but spend some time on hobbies. Anything that can bring a smile to your face. Go outside and stare at a bird or tree, take a walk, play with your kids and animals. If you feel more inspired or creative, do some art. Play or listen to some music. Take a class on something you’ve always wanted to do. It’s never too late and your never too old to learn. It is for your enjoyment of creating more happiness. Not something you have to achieve. See how creating this time and space for you matches more of the realities you want to see. I invite you to experience the magic of yourself!
What are you feeling/thinking RIGHT NOW? Did you know “NOW” is where your power is? You can empower yourself now to better, happier, and joyful life experience. It is important you are present and aware of your thoughts and feelings now.
Your thoughts and feelings are creating your future. Are you thinking about yesterday’s troubles or tomorrow’s worries? So many of us get in the habit of focusing everywhere but now. We learn it though our culture, society, famiily, and every day medias. When you spend a lot of time worrying and thinking about what happened in the past, you can be feeling overwhelmed, frustrated, and powerless. Sometimes frightened and fearful of “what if’s” and struggle letting go of past hurts.
Good news… This is not an uncommon struggle in our society. It is fast paced and we have many distractions more than ever before with our technology and variety of choices everyday. With all that at hand, You have the power to be at ease and feel good now regardless of what circumstances you have in your life. It is a shift in focus to change your stress to happiness. This is where your power lies in the now. It is a process that can change your life. When asked most people what they want in life, a large answer is to be happy. To do that, you can learn to focus your energy and awareness on the positive things going on now. It doesn’t matter how small or big you start. I find small and simple steps easier, but there are no rules for what works well for you. You have to trust your instinct as you play with your thinking.
This process is a one of many ways that I will blog about to help you empower yourself to a happier more joyful life experience. We are attempting a habit to start each morning that will help you shift to focusing on the positive aspects that you’d like more of. This can take some time when you’ve not practiced this way of thinking, but it can be an easy simple shift. And you can feel better now. You just have to hold the thoughts and focus on things until you feel better NOW.
Start simple…… I like examples, So When you wake up in the morning before your mind wanders on your to do lists and yesterdays issues. You can do this process before you fully open your eyes or feet hit the floor. Think about what you have to be grateful for. What is positive right now. When you woke up, Did you have the pleasure of sleeping in a bed? Did you wake up breathing on your own? Do you have a roof over your head? Electricity? Do you have a job to go to? Family? Pets? Food? I think we make our situations so big we forget how much we have. When you slow it down to simple things your list becomes long before you get out of bed. For me I am thankful every morning for my coffee pot fixing me coffee. The fact my husband brings it to me. I appreciate my lovely cup. It can take me an hour to drink it b/c I savor every sip. This quiet time in the morning with my coffee gives me time to be present. To focus on what Im grateful for and set my intentions for the day. This little “every day” moment that may seem mundane for many is one of the greatest powers I have for the life I want to live. It creates that space for me. What can you do that will shift your focus?
Try a few things, play a little with this. You can journel, sing it, meditate on it, or anything that brings you peace and joy when you do them. As you practice this every day you will get better and notice a shift in ease, perspective and happiness. Some research suggests it takes 30 days to creat a new habit with results. I don’t want you to get hung up on logistics because the important thing is to do what you can to work for your life. I only offer suggestions and examples for more clarity. My blogs are geared to offer tools and processes to help you adjust to a more happy and joyful life. What is it that you are looking for? I believe and an intuitive knowing that we can be happy and live/experience our dreams. That is what so many philosophers and teachers before us spoke of.
My wish for you is your joy adjustment.
