Smart questions to keep handy...

“Quality questions create a quality life. Successful people ask better questions, and as a result, they get better answers.” -- Anthony Robbins Last time, we talked about questions to avoid. Today, let’s consider some that are truly empowering: - Is there a message for me in this experience? - What’s the gift in this situation? - What can I learn from this? - What’s the most loving thing I could do now? - What’s the most important thing for me to focus on now? - What would I do if I knew I could not fail? - What would I do if there were nothing to fear? “A prudent question is one-half of wisdom.” -- Francis Bacon Access your own inner wisdom by tapping into your subconscious and intuition. Release stress, blocks and negative emotions, and spark imagination and greater vision. Go deeper… Reach higher...

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Questions that aren't helpful

“We accept many notions because they seem to be the logical answers to our questions. But have we asked the right questions?” -- Harold L. Klawans Sometimes we ask questions for which we really don’t want the answer! Nonetheless, when we ask a question, our subconscious minds will get to work to answer us. Here are some examples of questions we want to avoid: - What’s wrong with me? - How long could this take? - What could go wrong? - How much trouble could it be? - How hard could it be? Asking questions can be empowering – as long as they’re smart questions! "The uncreative mind can spot wrong answers, but it takes a very creative mind to spot wrong questions." -- Anthony Jay

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Change...

"I find it fascinating that most people plan their vacations with better care than they plan their lives. Perhaps that is because escape is easier than change." -- Jim Rohn "Slowness to change usually means fear of the new." -- Philip Crosby “Just as the tumultuous chaos of a thunderstorm brings a nurturing rain that allows life to flourish, so too in human affairs times of advancement are preceded by times of disorder. Success comes to those who can weather the storm.” -- I Ching No. 3 “If you want things to be different, perhaps the answer is to become different yourself.” -- Norman Vincent Peale

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Awareness through love and fear...

“There is nothing holier in this life of ours than the first consciousness of love -- the first fluttering of its silken wings -- the first rising sound and breath of that wind which is so soon to sweep through the soul, to purify or to destroy.” -- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Our inner journey takes us through the following stages relative to love and fear: 1. UNCONSCIOUS LOVE: When we are born, we exist as pure love but we are not conscious of our love. 2. UNCONSCIOUS FEAR: Our souls have set the stage for our evolution. As we grow, unconscious fears arise in our personalities that draw experiences to us that wound us. 3. CONSCIOUS FEAR: Our wounds bring pain and suffering that enable us to become conscious of our fears. 4. CONSCIOUS LOVE: When we've suffered enough pain, we are motivated to move through our fears to consciously experience the love that supports all. “Love is but the discovery of ourselves in others, and the delight in the recognition.” -- Alexander Smith We don’t change overnight. Personal growth requires persistence...

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Growing ourselves...

“The great thing in the world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving.” -- Oliver Wendell Holmes We are all on a life-long journey. It is a search for who we are and why we are here. It is a journey that expands our consciousness. There is an urge within each of us to move forward in life. It is an urge to become more whole, to find more meaning, and eventually to help others. It is human nature to strive for a sense of well-being. We all go through the same growth cycles, though our experiences may appear entirely different. By understanding the process of personal and spiritual growth, we can work more effectively with the process, instead of fighting and resisting it. “We can learn to be the catalysts for our own change.” -- Sarah Ban Breathnach

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What inspires you?

“It is never about how good your voice is; it is only about feeling the urge to sing, and then having the courage to do it with the voice you are given.”

-- Katie in ‘True to Form’ by Elizabeth Berg

How often have you allowed fear and your inner critic to stop you from doing something you were inspired to do?

Helen Keller said, "Life is either a grand adventure or nothing.” When we allow fear and criticism to stop us in our tracks, we give up that grand adventure. What a waste!

“Be an all-out, not a hold-out.”

-- Norman Vincent Peale

Why are you here? Open to more meaning and fulfillment by exploring your life purpose...

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Remove the filters...

“You got to look at things with the eye in your heart, not with the eye in your head.”

-- Lame Deer, Medicine Man of the Oglala people

Whenever we’re thinking, our experience is being filtered through our minds. For example, when I say to myself, “What a beautiful sunset!” I am not fully experiencing the sunset because I am involved with the words in my mind.

Explore letting go of the thoughts, the words, and connecting directly with your experiences. Tune in to the silence and the sensations in your body. Be aware of the spaciousness this brings because this is truly living in the present moment.

Being present doesn’t mean that we have to abandon thinking entirely. That’s not feasible, of course. But we can experiment with what it’s like to stop thinking once in a while!

“Only in quiet waters things mirror themselves undistorted. Only in a quiet mind is adequate perception of the world.”

-- Hans Margolius

Awareness is the key to all change. Begin to trust yourself more deeply as you uncover new dimensions of who you are...

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