Tag Archives: health

The Will to Work is The Will to Live

September 14, 2014 The Extropist Leave a comment

Life is movement. It has momentum. It has a rhythm and when it stops – life stops. We have to keep playing the game of life otherwise we will fail to exist and this is core to every living thing in the Universe. Atoms have to keep vibrating. Photons have to keep pulsating. Trees have to keep breathing. Animals have to keep beating and humans have to keep creating.

This rhythm is true to everything in the Universe because its counter-point is entropy, which describes the inevitable decline of every system into chaos and disorder. This decline exists because no system is perfectly balanced and so there is always an energy leak. The leak is catered for by this rhythm of life that we all create. It is the desire to keep moving, to push forward. To do the work we have to, to give the system more energy, and even more energy than from where we started. We have to be inspired enough to take another step even when we have nothing left.

Power of Purpose

So often we hear of people who retire and live without passion, without purpose and then they very soon leave this world. Too often we hear about a person, who has fought the good fight and continued to live on only until they decide to rest. Studies have shown that people in there 80’s who had a daily practice of stagnant resting had close to a 50% mortality rate of surviving over a 6 month period, compared to people who actively engaged through a mindfulness practice that had nearly a 100% survival rate over the same period. What this tells us is that we have to continue to be present to our system, continue to work for our life and our lives.

Will is your Life Force

We turn work into energy that can then translate into many different areas of our lives. When we put work into our relationship, and think to bring gifts, provide help and show our appreciation for the loved ones in our lives – those relationships grow stronger. When we do nothing they wither and die. When we put work into our bodies through exercise, eating healthy, and maintaining a consciousness practice – we live longer. When we become lazy and indulgent with our bodies – we put needless stress and pressure on the system causing it to fail sooner. When we work for our job, go the extra mile, and help out our coworkers, letting them know that we are appreciative of them and respect their efforts – we excel at our jobs. Yet if we lounge around and create discord, we no longer progress and often lose our place.

Energetic Credits of Money

Interestingly much of this energy we put back into these systems of our lives – relationships, work, health – is facilitated by money. And what is money, but merely the easiest and most transferable form of energy. We turn work into energy, which we then can transfer through money. It allows us to buy and grow our lives through credits we have done for work. All this work that we do in our lives results in money and this money we can transfer into each system to help maintain the overall human system. So as you can see every system in your life requires work and energy to fight the natural tendency of life to break down. And while its hard it’s up to you to maintain these systems, to keep the plates spinning so they don’t fall, to keep the balls in the air so they don’t drop and break.

But know this: Your will to work starts with you. This work is for you, not for others. Work on yourself and others will reap the rewards. The will to live is generated from the work within and the will to work from you will only then extend beyond the current form. The exciting thing about this work is that it never stops. When we have mastered the current rhythm, we invite ever greater intricacies to the systemic patterns of our life in order that we can continue to expand our repertoire, increase the complexity or our life’s rhythms and grow the breadth of our consciousness to make us ever more creative and effective human systems for the world. So the next time you feel overwhelmed by the work you have to overcome know that you are growing the systems of your life to ever higher places with each and every step forward.

ELEVATE

The Dynamic Systems of Extropy (The Extropist Series – Part II)

October 1, 2013 The Extropist Leave a comment

When we want to make a change in our lives, we know as extropists that we must create a system of structured energy in order to move into an experience that better serves us. This energy injection has many different names. In science it is called “work”. It is this work that we give to a situation that helps raise the integrity of the situation by overcoming conflict and creating resolve.

This work however requires a balance of energy within the system dynamics otherwise there can be a system failure because the system is being under or overwhelmed by the amount of energy inserted into it. Every part of our lives, whether it be relationships, career, health, or anything else, is impacted by system dynamics. However, it requires an awareness of the kinds of systems that you are working with rather than assuming that all systems operate under the same specifications. Do not assume, but get in tune.

It is important to go through how the systems in our lives can become imbalanced and what that can lead to. This allows us to be aware of each dynamic in order that you can then understand where you may need to tweak the energy in order to bring it back into balance.

Sometimes you can overwork the system by putting too much work into it. This may apply to relationships when one person is giving too much to the system and therefore expecting something more than the other person can give back in return. Consider these two people are two elements giving energy to create the “relationship” system. With an imbalance of energy, this could cause person A (the input) to blow a fuse from taking more energy that it can handle or cause person B (the contributor) to burn out from working too hard and not getting enough energy/ output back to continue with or validate their work.

To further explain this, imagine that person (B) likes person (A) a lot and this person (A) is hesitant to get too involved. They are limiting the flow of energy, whether it’s because they have restricted the flow of energy they allow into their experience from person (B) or because they have been hurt previously and they have a damaged emotional structure to process the attention and energy being given to them. This person (A) receiving the energy will be hesitant to take the energy, thus limit the flow and will only give back the energy they are willing to receive.

Otherwise, if person A, takes on more energy that they can handle it can also damage the system as they are taking in more energy than they are able to handle. This will cause person (A)’s fuse to blow and they may either derail in the relationship or elsewhere in their system (career, health) depending on how the composition of the overall structural integrity of their psyche is and where their weak points may be.

Additionally, the force of energy from person B could be so great that it begins to back up and cause A to not be able to take in any of the energy offered to them at all. This could frustrate and be very hurtful to person B, because B is trying to create a greater system by forcing energy into the new structure. Without reciprocation from person A, person B is doing a lot of work and not getting a reciprocal output. As B’s energy begins to deplete, due to the failure of the work to get the desired result, this may create feelings that invalidate person B as they are not able to maintain the system and again results in a system collapse.

These types of energy dynamics exist in any system whether it’s your work or your physical body. You can be overworked and become burnt out or you can try to give too much and destroy the connections that you have built by giving too much to the system. It is important to constantly evaluate the system be aware and give and take in order to work with what the system can handle. Often people create an ideal of what they think the system is and try to force the system into that place rather than allow the system to grow into that place. Be aware of what and who you are working with. Remain conscious and try not to force your beliefs and ideals on people through the energy and work that you give because this will cause your energy to be depleted and no work to get done. Change comes from the inside, and therefore we must allow people and ourselves the room to move and grow. Otherwise the system will collapse under the rigidity of the perceived ideal structure rather than allowing the actuality of the more fluid organic structures to work with what we hope to create. To create an ever better and evolved system.

ELEVATE

Head to the Heart – the fastest journey to fulfillment

February 22, 2013 The Extropist Leave a comment

We as humans seek for the highest experiences of life. We strive in many different ways through many different activities, all in the name of reaching our highest peaks.

But what are these peaks made of? And how do we get there? Peaks are made up of highs and lows, the valleys as well as the mountains. If they weren’t, then everything would be flat. So too are our personal peaks made up of polar opposites. These poles exist in our body and given the names the Heart and the Mind. The mind is the active pole and is the engine that drives us toward an end. The heart is the passive pole that stores the passion of our dreams and fuels our drive. These are the polar opposites that have been spoken about for thousands of years across hundreds of cultures. The Yin and the Yang, Shakti and Shiva, etc. These two poles have different requirements to satisfy in order to reach our peak experiences.

Mind: Emptiness is Freedom
Let us first look at the active force. In a battery this is considered the positive pole and its role is to send the electric current to the negative pole. This is also considered the masculine energy and its pinnacle is freedom and is experienced through emptiness. As a person strives for a goal in their activity and works hard in order to complete the task, once they have finished the task they have started they are deserving of a break, of a moment of peace and freedom. A space where they don’t have to think but they simply can revel in the joy of what they have created or completed. This active force opens us up to an empty space in which we can truly experience freedom. A good example of this is in sex for men in which they are often the active force of the task and once they have reached their climax of the experience they move into an empty space, one of freedom, where the built up tension has been released and they can go to sleep.

Freedom is the Mind
Emptiness and freedom is an action of the mind. It is a place where we realize there are no limitations and we embrace abundance and true potential. Our conscious minds role is to constrict, to limit and to process. It weighs up options and says what can and can’t work. Upon reaching a freedom state, people often don’t remember the experience, they feel like they have transcended time and space. This is often called Flow or in the zone and it is here that we move out of our mind and the freest we can ever be.

Filled freedom leads to anxiety
When we are not in a freedom state we feel anxious, we feel overwhelmed and constricted. People often express they are feeling physically squeezed. This is because their minds have the tightest hold on them and they are as far away from freedom as possible. They are wearing the weight of the world on their shoulders. They are obliged and responsible. Of course this is all in the mind.

Freedom Practice
We can begin our journey to freedom through the practice of meditation. It is here that you can observe your thoughts and understand the limitations that you place on yourself. When you are quiet you will literally hear the stream of chatter in which you are telling yourself about how limited you are. About how much responsibility you have. About how you are surely going to fail.

Start with 10 mins, 5 mins, or whatever you feel comfortable with and begin to add a minute a day. Sit or lie down, close your eyes and focus on your breathing. Slow it down and take long deep breaths. Count each breath up to 10 and then start your counting again. You will notice your mind wander to limiting thoughts. Catch your mind and understand these are not real but only thoughts and then bring your mind back to counting your breath. We can look at any experience and feel free in what we are doing. When are free we don’t have those limitations anymore. Anything is possible and we can be anyone, anywhere at anytime.

Heart: Surrender is Love
The second domain is a little different. This is the negative pole in the battery and its role is to receive the energy from the positive pole. It’s akin to the feminine energy and its pinnacle is love, which we experience through surrender. Surrender is the complete experience of receiving without any resistance. When we can truly receive we can fill ourselves up. We are deserving of what we are given and we take it completely and wholly with thanks. This feeling of love is a feeling of whole-ment of fulfillment, where we are full and whole from life and what we were doing.

Love in the Heart
Love and surrender is an action of the heart. It is the opposite of the mind. As the mind is a limited channel that strives for emptiness and freedom, the heart is a truly abundant channel that requires you to open it up as much as you can – To have the courage to be vulnerable. To be free, to love as big as you can, because the bigger you love the fuller you’ll be.

Limiting love leads to Depression
We often see this love and fulfillment stop when a person is in depression. Here a person has closed themselves off from their hearts and they feel empty and worthless. Their life is now without purpose or fulfillment. They block out the light in their life. They block themselves from receiving anything and anyone that they would let into their heart. This is a dark experience and one that hides a person away from experiencing their life to the fullest.

Love Practice
So it is so important to be brave. To have the courage to take a step forward towards being vulnerable and opening yourself to experiences. To life. To love. To learn. By trying new things and being open to the unknown we will most certainly make mistakes. This of course is not saying go from depression to universal love because that is a dangerous and somewhat difficult task. Instead, work out the step that is the right size for you. What can you do today that opens you up one step closer to Love. Write a love letter to someone – you don’t even have to give it to them. Say thank you to a stranger. Smile at the teller at the market. By giving you are opening yourself up to receive. And remember… You deserve it. You are worthy of it all.

Head to Hearts
You may have noticed that there is a natural movement from the head to the heart. This is the same as the energy flow from the positive pole to the negative pole of the battery is the masculine pole of the mind to the negative pole of the heart. The energy naturally wants to flow towards a space that can harness and handle copious amounts of good flowing to it we just need to stop restricting the channel. A wise Native American proverb states the longest journey we will ever travel is from our head to our hearts. I find it amazing because our minds and hearts are truly the yin and yang. We are moving to fill up our hearts and we moving to empty our minds but everything and nothing are the same thing and both have an unlimited capacity for abundance. So move towards freedom by becoming aware of your mind and give to yourself and your world and you will fill up your heart. And with each step you take you will be one step closer to your dreams filled with freedom and love.

ELEVATE

Know the world outside to understand your inside

January 17, 2013 The Extropist Leave a comment

In this world we are often thrown around on the stormy seas of life. Life can be such an exciting and enjoyable unknown. With many so many peaks and troughs, we forge through our rolling emotional waves that take us to the tops of the world or leave us feeling incapacitated and ill with despair.
There is a great power to be found in the unknown, because it keeps life spontaneous and fun. We are given the opportunity to play it like a game. If we knew what was going to happen all the time then life would become predictable and boring. It would leave us for the most part, without novelty and we would be left in the doldrums of our own monotony. So hopefully we can see that the scariest and unknown parts of the ride are often the most fun.

Often though we are left with a feeling of being overwhelmed by what is being presented to us. We can feel sick and incapacitated by the anguish and the sheer size of the obstacles before us. Well, first off, we are often not even aware of what we are feeling and this is one of the most rampant dilemmas that we, as modern humans, face. We are severely disconnected from our emotional experience. As time and industry has progressed we have been propelled continuously into a cognitive world. Such cognitive weighting has led to great innovation and progress but at what expense? We are richer than we have ever been but we are less satisfied. We are in great and ongoing conflict with ourselves and others around us and we are left with an ever-increasing epidemic of mental illness.

The Cost of Emotional Distraction

One consideration then is the importance to connect with what we are feeling. People may often find themselves feeling the need to drink or take drugs or have sex or watch TV. But why? One reason to consider is that we are experiencing something emotionally but we don’t know what it is. We don’t know how to experience it. We don’t have the courage to look at what we are feeling and name it and understand why we are left feeling hurt or confused or frustrated or stressed or whatever the feeling is. So we distract ourselves with behaviour that will fill the emotional trough that we are experiencing in some way that will move us back up to the peak. Unfortunately this is merely a bandage solution and will more often than not exacerbate the problems that we are experiencing. Such distracting and destructive behaviours will then compound and build up so that the next time we feel overwhelmed by the emotional rollercoaster it will become ever faster and even scarier to the point where the sheer force of the stress will start degrading our body and ultimately strain our minds leaving us with any number of mental illness. Substance abuse, addiction, anxiety or depressive disorders, schizophrenia and so on…

Name What You Are Feeling

A great method that we can use to diffuse the emotional tension that we are experiencing is by naming the emotion that you are feeling. If you notice that you feel emotionally off, check your feelings, check your thoughts and name it. Out aloud is best, but if not write it down. What is it that you are feeling right now? By naming it you are allowing yourself to see what you are dealing with. It is like in the films, the monster is always scariest when we can’t see it. Our imaginations create the worst, but once we know what it looks like, once it has a name and a face, it is no longer as scary and usually is on its way to being defeated. So don’t run but stand and face the fall and you will see that’s its not so big. At first, you may find it difficult to properly name what you are feeling. You might start saying you feel “BAD” or “STRESSED” but over time you will gain a greater vocabulary and you will be able to see what you are feeling, catch it and help diffuse move away from an emotional slump and instead you will be able to change tracks and begin to lift again.

Empathy: Builds a Vocabulary of Life

To better help gain an understanding of yourself and your internal world it can also help to connect to the world around you. This is a great cost of being a cognitive society is that we don’t even know that we are upset, nor what we are upset about. We don’t even have a proper vocabulary for it with ourselves. We are amazing processors of information and constantly taking in huge amounts of information beyond what we could ever consciously comprehend. By becoming greater processors of our external world we can better understand its impact on us. The way to do this is through empathy. Empathy is the ability to put ourselves in other people’s shoes. Experiencing what others are experiencing. When you see a child cry, try to understand from their experience why they are sad because their ice cream dropped on the ground. Is it because they are instant gratifiers and are sad they will have to wait for another? Are they living from a limited mindset where they don’t believe they will get another? Is it because they are sympathizers and feel bad for wrecking the carpet?

By understanding the world from a greater perspective than just ourselves, we not only see how the world impacts on us but we can also gain a greater insight into how we can control that impact. There is no right or wrong way to practice empathy, but the very act of putting ourselves in another’s shoes teaches compassion, and brings a greater connection and control over our emotions. Maybe, most importantly, empathy provides a deeper insight and emotional intelligence into the way in which people are experiencing the world and therefore will guide our own behaviour to get the best out of another person. This might not seem so important, but when we remember that “no (person) is an island”, we understand the constant barrage and importance of our daily interactions with the populated world and how people can harm or help us. So get to know yourself by knowing your world and you will carve through the stormiest seas with the wind in your sails and a smile in your heart.

ELEVATE

New Health comes from Knowing the ‘What’ and the ‘Why’

August 22, 2012 The Extropist Leave a comment

One of our most important creations, if not our most important, is health. There is a beautiful truth in the saying, “if we don’t have our health we don’t have anything”. There is a great wisdom in this as we always must remember that our bodies are our temples and our engines. They need sanctity as well as maintenance. And we can do both those thing through respecting ourselves by giving to ourselves time, space and love through gratitude. There are times however when our bodies break down and require maintenance from inappropriate or over use. We then get sick or have afflictions that need to be remedied. There are always lessons to be learnt with affliction and we can look at these with great gratitude and openness for without them we may have completely run off the rails and no longer exist.

When we have a problem with our bodies, we look for ways to heal ourselves. Through the advances of medical science we as a civilization have created many physical healing aids that have led to a great boon in medical practice and ultimately the well-being of its patients. Outside of the medical practice there has been many examples of more energetic phenomenon, which have not yet been explainable by traditional medical science and instead labeled miracles. And then there have been advances in the mind and psychology that have taught people how to best progress with such afflictions and how to create a change in their mindset to rectify what the suffering they may be causing themselves.

I bring all this to your attention because your subconscious mind connects with life and the Universe around us in many different ways and the path of healing is not a single road. In particular, neither is the way life likes to travel in the Universe’s matrix. Therefore, you can create whatever dream you have by using the steps of Asking for what changes you want in your life to occur, Believe and act that it is possible, and open yourself up to Receive as we have to believe that we are worthy of a change for it to happen. Thus to Receive you must believe you Deserving. So instead of getting bogged down by the intellectual elements of the how things are going to happen, which only limit the avenues of life to work in the Universe, focus on the ‘what’ and the ‘why’ things are going to happen.

The ‘what’ is the power of your thought. It creates the image, or the blueprint, of the reality that you want to create in your life. However your thoughts are only that, blueprints they are as thin as paper. What you need is some real power and that comes from the ‘why’. Why do you want to be healed? What is working in your life with this ailment? What will work better in your life when you are healed? What will you do in your life when you are healed?

When you know not only the ‘what’ but also the ‘why’ of the things you want to create in your life, and you leave the infinite possibility of ‘how’ up to the Universe, then you will be well on your way to creating great change in your life and bring beautiful and radiant health. So write a list of what you want to happen and then write why. Write all the things you are grateful for doing and experiencing when you feel great. Try and feel how it feels when you feel great and when you feel grateful for those things that make you feel great. Your positivity and joy is a great healer and will begin you on your journey to health along with the purpose you find from your why’s defined by what you want in your life.

ELEVATE

Realizing how small you are in the Universe leaves you feeling BIG

July 30, 2012 The Extropist 3 Comments

In looking at the way of the world and how it works, we can consider a time gone by when the world was heavily influenced by God. God helped explain our actions and drove our choices. We needed God to help explain the mystery of life AND death. We needed God to explain why the world worked the way that it did, and we needed God to help us work out where we were headed as a world.

You see, we used religion and God to help explain the framework of how life operated, so that we could have a sense of control and a feeling of safety in this chaotic world. This, however, lead to some interesting and questionable choices by religion in order to protect the stability of its framework. Religion declared war on those around them that spoke of a different framework of life and thus, provided alternative arguments that may endanger the stability found in the current framework of life. Time and time again we read of people doing unthinkable and amoral actions in order to protect the mental framework that affords them so much security about the way life works.

As the world gained in its wealth of cumulative knowledge through the Gospel of Science, people found more concrete and reliable answers about the framework of life that appeared to supersede even God. Slowly but surely, as information became the ever-greater currency, God was no longer needed to help keep our reality concrete. With each passing generation humanity moved further and further away from looking to God and the dogma of religion for answers about how to be in this world.

Whilst people have found a great freedom in Science that allows them to let go of some of the antiquated rituals of the past, unfortunately many of those rituals included guides not only about the way things worked but about how people worked. Without many of these ideas from religion, we were never taught about life being so much bigger than who we are, about not taking things so personally, or about the fact that dreams are possible simply by will. Without the values of religion we were never taught about sanctities of friendship, about mutual respect, about living with appreciation and wonder. Without religion we were thrown into a world of chaos and isolation that left us no sense of continuity of life and death and life with other life.

When we left the education of our values to sensationalized and pop media, no wonder we are left to see children with guns and drugs, people with the full gamut of unseen and unknown mental illness as well as the shameless exploitation of the world we live in. When we did away with religion, we through the baby out with bath water and left no moral grounding for our highest values to grow from. In the modern world we may have gained a stronger framework for reality but lost the framework for being human.

Whilst the role of religion degraded and money pervaded, there had been a simultaneous new framework that grew out of the decline of the old religious dogma. The hippy movement, while too extreme for the times, began to trial ideas of high values taken from many of the great religions from around the globe. They synthesized these ideas into a place that required no regiment to control with, no positions of power to be abused and no codes to punish with. A sense of personal responsibility was incited and personal freedom was highlighted.

Unfortunately when you give a child matches when they have not properly learnt how to handle the responsibility of the power in their hands they will inevitably get burnt. However, slowly over time, the populous matures with more and more people learning about their own personal responsibility, their symbiotic connection to the world around them and the gift and majesty that life is. This new framework is one without dogma, a more free-flowing construct that embraces the highest ideals of who we are and who we can be for each other and the world. This new framework, we can call “Spirituality”. We can be religious and not spiritual, we can be both and we can be spiritual without religion.
I offer you these following elements as a place to begin opening yourself to your spirituality:

Everyday for the next two weeks, start your day by giving thanks for ten things in your life and end your day by giving thanks for the best thing that happened to you that day. This begins to open you up to the wonder of your life that you are so lucky to experience.

Meditate for ten minutes, by sitting comfortably, closing your eyes and focus on your in and out breath. When you lose your mind to turmoil, catch your thoughts and bring your mind back to your breath. By meditating, we create a space separate from the world, where we can see that there is a peace within us. We create a buffer from the chaos and randomness of life, and with patience learn to let it blow over us like a storm. We teach ourselves to slow down and simplify our lives, that all we need to feel good is to breathe.

Finally, walk in a park, go on a hike or walk in nature. Really pay attention to all that you are a part of. Notice that this is one moment, in one place, on a world that is filled with unimaginable amounts of such beauty and moments in a Universe that is infinitely larger than what we could even try to understand. Truly think about how big that actually is, and you can see within all of this exists that you are one moment in the mix of many. Whilst that may be overwhelming at first I offer that you can simply be glad to know that you have been given the opportunity to collaborate and contribute to the workings of the Universe, and know that you have the ability to leave this place better than when you found it simply by smiling at your neighbor, helping out a stranger, and hugging someone who you love.

ELEVATE

Your Expectations Color and Create Your Reality

July 16, 2012 The Extropist Leave a comment

If our experiences have asked us to look at the world as a sad and dangerous place, full of hate and malice, would we not perpetuate that and thus invite more of this chaos into our lives? It makes sense that it would. We so often learn by example. And then this would become the natural and automatic flow of your life. Action – Reaction. Thus chaos begets chaos and we head down the ever slippery slope towards an entropic resolve in which our lives cease to function in harmony.

This seems like the way that life actually operates, and more often than not it is. But thankfully there is also another process of life that exists that allows us to nullify the first. If you add more energy into the system, the system being the natural order of your life, you can actually change the downward direction of it and have it begin to swing in your favor. Instead of the natural and innate downward cycle that exists in life and the Universe, we can redeem ourselves and begin to build up again along the spiral staircase of self by giving more energy to that which serves and inspires us and makes us feel good about our lives.

This new perspective asks that the introduction of energy needed, that results in positive growth, requires you to focus on the good in the system of your life. By giving positive energy and believing in the best in people and those things surrounding you, you may actually create a different perspective and invite a different experience into your life. Actively give thanks for your surroundings and visualize the beautiful world that you want to experience and you will prep your day and life to notice those opportunities and subtleties that will make your dreams come true. In a single scene in your life you will see many things but you will miss many more. Just in that one scene more things than you will register in your entire life is occurring right in front of you but you will only focus on the things that you are expecting to see. Our minds do this so that we can actually give a good amount of cognitive energy to those things important to us otherwise we would be completely debilitated by the infinite stream of information that bombards our brains. Therefore, it is so important to prime your mind because what you expect to see your mind will already be looking for in your life’s scenes.

This has been shown time and time again that our mood and our expectations have us see our preconceived notions and typically miss out on many obvious things that are right there in front of our face. The truth of the matter still holds that we create our own reality, which is a blessing and a curse, because if you have always believed life to be bad, and therefore your next experience to be bad, then your brain is naturally looking to see those things that prove that it is bad. Instead, if you focus on the things that are beautiful and joyful that you are grateful for, your mind will naturally look to see those things and that is your blessing. Your expectations create your reality, however you have the option to change and recreate your reality simply by changing your feelings and thoughts about your life. Hence your experience of life will follow the expectations you set your mind to see. Please watch this video as a demonstration.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGQmdoK_ZfY&w=560&h=315]

The trick to this is not that you should ‘believe it when you see it’, but instead focus on the fact that you will ‘see it when you believe it’. The change in perspective comes from an active role taken to change, and not from the sitting around waiting for it to be shown to you. You have to go out and make the change. You have to be the change. You are a Human Being, not a Human Waiting. We must be active in our change otherwise we will fall down the natural slippery slope to chaos and despair.

So go out and smile with the world and the people around you. Think about all the wonderful things that surround you in life and you will set your expectations to see them. You will be happier and more joyful, when you see that you are surrounded by the things that make you grateful for your life. Even in the darkest moments if you focus on things that make you happy, your mind will more likely be able to see the brighter side of these typically unforgiving situations. Be vulnerable and know that you may get a bump or two, because if you are willing to learn, you will realize that these bumps are teaching you how to walk without hurting yourself. Then much more often than not the world will smile back at you and you will realize that there is a whole bounty of things and people waiting to show you that your life is a beautiful place indeed.

ELEVATE

Gratitude Lets you Lift a Light amongst your Shadows

June 25, 2012 The Extropist 2 Comments

So often we find ourselves lost in the stormy seas of our emotions. These ominous feelings tower over us, leaving us blinded by a fog of uncertainty. We try to clamour our way through the shadows but we aren’t able to get a grasp on anything. Who is there? Who are we fighting? We are fighting ourselves – our made up monsters of the past that we are too afraid to look at. We lash out or turn away, we numb and distract ourselves in order to be free from vulnerability. But there is a way to move through these dark moments powerfully. Pick yourself up and shine a light. A light of gratitude.

To stay positive when you are surrounded by negativity, try finding what you can be grateful for about the situation and what you are grateful for in your life. If you can lift yourself higher than the situation then the negativity naturally falls away. If you have ended a relationship, have poor health or lost a job, when we give thanks with every moment to the life and love surrounding us, we will have love and support of life reflected back to us. We see how wonderful the world is by the inspiration we see in the world and in people. It is in others actions that we realize who we are. So I say this to you. You have not lost anything, you have only changed your mirror that reflected how beautiful the love inside you is.

When you are aware of this, the Universe will naturally present an opportunity that you are able to see because you are in the space that will be able to be aware of a more joyous and opportune reality. If you connect into the negativity or even if you resist it rather than reframe it you will not be able to lift above the clouds. It requires you to take a step towards change, a step in which you must exert a moment of effort beyond wallowing in the natural despair of any negative situation. A step of gratitude will infuse the situation with new, fresh energy that will reverse the cycle of chaos toward one of new growth and creation.

It is your Gratitude that will transform the dire situations in your life to shine like gold and open you up to experiences that the average person would close themselves off to because of the fear of letting go from what they have grown to know. These experiences of fear are what typically move us to our more primitive and lower states of consciousness rather than toward our higher selves which is what we need to move to, in order to reach an evolution in our own psyche and person.

These experiences of chaos can be invited as messengers of growth. Were you really happy in that relationship, with that job. Were you really treating your body with love and respect? It is when we act from our highest states of consciousness that we transform dire situations. When people stand tall, true and vulnerable in the face of despair, it is during these darkest hours that people make the greatest leaps in their lives and become the greatest versions of themselves. Our highest versions of ourselves are bred from love and trust. Hold to your gratitude and you are well on your way to success.

Success is not how much you have, but how far you traveled. You might have a million dollars but if you started with 10 million you might not feel that successful. But if you started on the streets and created a life of love, gratitude and respect for the world around, with a roof over your head, food on the table and you end the day with a smile. Then you are one of the most successful people in the world and you are the true 1%.

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ELEVATE

Compassion is a Tool to Rule your Heart

June 18, 2012 The Extropist Leave a comment

There is a great power in compassion, one that shines a light on the darkest moments and most abrasive relationships. I often found myself in situations where I was overwhelmed by my interactions with people that left me feeling emotionally drained. It took all I had to endure these people and their moods and attitudes. I soon realized that what was draining me was not the person themselves but my reaction to them. I was resisting who they were and who they were choosing to be.

We are typically egocentric beings that look at the world from one perspective. This is because it is typically easier to observe the world from your own perspective than every single person you meet. That means when you are communicating with someone you typically assume that they are looking at the world from your perspective, that is unless their experience is beyond the limits of what your mind can accept, such as if they are too happy for you or too sad, then their emotional experience is separated from your own and typically rejected. Nonetheless, our experience of putting ourselves in another person’s shoes is what has enabled our civilization and global community to grow. For example have you ever noticed yourself crying in a film when something bad happens or get excited when another triumph’s, this is because of our natural empathy.

We are naturally empathetic creatures and because of that we personally experience other people’s hardships. We take on their pain and their joys. This is one of our greatest characteristics as humans but it can also work to our disadvantage, if we let it run our lives unchecked, as it can leave us disempowered and disabled. Therefore as we take on others emotions in our everyday lives we can find ourselves resisting and resenting them for the emotional hole that we have joined them in. For instance have you noticed when your partner comes home from work in a bad mood while you are in a good mood, and soon enough you find yourself in an equally bad mood with them without having even spoken to them? This is because we have resisted them because we have empathized with them – a natural part of being human.

You don’t need to resent yourself for resisting them, it just means that you are being an empathetic being. However you have identified with their story as your own, from your perspective rather than acknowledging that they have been on their own journey that have led you both to the current place you are both in. Therefore there are ways to be empathetic that don’t leave you emotionally drained and that is through the power of compassion. Compassion is a powerful way to still keep love for someone without taking on their pain. When we acknowledge the journey someone else has been on we allow ourselves to disidentify from their pain and instead gain a more objective look at their story. We allow ourselves to move out of the narrow view of the present moment and instead broaden our perspectives of their journey and our own to gain an unaffected understanding.

“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” – Aesop (Ancient Greek. 620 BC-560 BC)

When we realize that we don’t have to take on another’s story we are free to acknowledge another truth – People in bad moods are probably having bad days. These bad days may be ongoing for months or years. Think about it, have you ever met a person that sits in the corner with their happiness and doesn’t care to share it with anybody? No. Happiness has to be shared and we all hold a natural inclination to pass it on to every person we meet, otherwise it loses all its value. So when you see a person that you know who leaves you emotionally lower, think about THEIR journey. Ask yourself the question, “what has happened that have left them unhappy?” When we can take a step back from our own perspective and acknowledge someone else’s we are given the amazing power of compassion. We can share with them our heart in a way that doesn’t leave us emotionally debilitated and instead we are able to take a step forward to give to them and help out. When we realize that their story is not our journey our own happiness is highlighted, and by sharing that joy in our actions to help them we are able to further inspire both them and ourselves.

Remember this: It is as important to be as compassionate for others as it is for ourselves. We exist beyond this moment, so remember your story and the journey you have travelled and give yourself a break. Smile at yourself from your heart and really feel the feeling in your heart of compassion, of giving yourself a break and not taking yourself so seriously.

So when you next are in a situation in which the person you are with leaves you emotionally drained because their attitude is poor, think about the journey they have been on, realize it is not your own story and smile at them from your heart. It is important to truly wish them the best possible outcome in their troubles and that they find themselves smiling soon. This mediation may inspire you to step forward and help them or it may ask you to step away, but either way it will help you be the best possible version of yourself for them and yourself. Compassion helps remove stress from your heart, opening yourself to the radiant possibilities of your health and your life. Your compassion enables you to cultivate greater connections with others as well as yourself. It highlights to yourself the good fortune that your own life holds and inspires you to be the best version of yourself and for all.

ELEVATE

The Love Spell: Attracting Love with Love

June 13, 2012 The Extropist Leave a comment

Since the time of the 12th century troubadour poets, the concept of romantic love has thrived in the western world. From these early times, Love existed synchronistically with a spiritual connection to something greater than the two individuals. Love was something that connected us all and lead to fantastic adventures and impossible outcomes. Although we now live in a more cynical world that has led us to believe we live in a world without mystery and magic, some things are still left unexplained. One thing in particular is the magic of love, its unbelievable coincidence, its power of connection and attraction over impossible distances, its strength and knowing that is share between partners.

This magic still exists in the world. We have heard story after story about it. We have experienced it first hand having seen the most powerful feats and transformations. The magic of Love is the highest potential of the human spirit with limitless creative possibilities open to it. Therefore, we can learn how to use the power of Love to create our lives in the ways that best guide us to our dream lives. What better way to start than to learn how to use love to attract love.

Before I go on, I must mention a disclaimer. I call Love and all its feats ‘magical’ only out of ignorance of the true science and psychology that underlies this great capacity we have evolved over the millennia to become the greatest creators on Earth.

“Miracles are not contrary to nature, but only contrary to what we know about nature.” – Saint Augustine (354-430) Ancient Latin Father of the Church.

This teaching helps you to attract your perfect partner by writing the oldest known spell. The love poem. There is a reason why these great troubadorian masters of love were also great creators of it, because they knew exactly what was in their hearts. We must be certain of our creations and feel it deep within our own hearts. Intention is using your imagination to dream up the experience that you want to move into. When you don’t intend its like driving without a steering wheel, you will end up crashing and not making it to your dream destination.

THE LOVE SPELL

This practice involves you writing a love poem about your potential dream partner as if they are already in your life and in your room. Write all the things that you are grateful for in them as if they have already done them. Really feel what you are writing. You will not only get clear but you will help reprogram your mind to become aware of that amazing partner when they present themselves to you in the world. And you will be ready to welcome them into your life and your heart. If you want to take it a step further write a love poem about yourself. We are only able to accept the amount of love into our lives that is equal to the love that we have for ourselves. Write about how wonderful they make you feel and that you feel confident in, and deserving of, their love. By acknowledging yourself as a person worthy of love, you are widening that connection and allowing a greater experience of love into your life.

The reason why this process is so powerful is because the flow of writing a poem has the ability to be more conversational which works more in line with the way that we relate to the world and people. Dealing with your subconscious in a more natural style helps to better integrate your intentions into your psyche so that you can align your actions with your intentions of the poem more easily. To better integrate your intentions re-read your letter every day with conviction and with a knowing of it’s truth. When you begin to become involved with someone, you can refer back to the list and see not only how well they fit your ideal, but also how your ideal may have slightly shifted (or how you may be willing to bend on certain things after being presented with a live person).

I’ve found this to be a very useful exercise in helping to determine not only what you are seeking in a long-term relationship, but also in helping oneself become more self-aware. The amazing thing about the love poem is that you don’t have to use it on people that aren’t in your life but for relationships that are already there and watch the transformation that you will see. You can even use it for material dreams or for jobs and goals in your life. We are all travelling the great journeys of life and as long as we live it with love and passion we can create great moments of triumph that we would have never dreamed possible by ordinary people.

Happy writing 🙂

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