No Guarantees

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No Guarantees

To Risk is to Live

I used to believe that knowing the outcomes of my actions or inactions was a real positive. Being able to predict what will happen next eliminates risk and gives us an advantage when it comes to making decisions. Knowing, in advance, the results of our decisions is a good thing; or so I thought. Now I’m discovering that just the opposite is a good thing too. How I came to this change of heart was by observing patterns in life. The time we wake, the initial built in habits of starting a day and the way we brush our teeth and a million other things we do are pretty much the same every day; and we wonder where life’s excitement has gone.

 

The reason we get so comfortable and predictable is we don’t like change and our routine serves us well. We’ve trained our brains to instinctively go through the motions of living and pull us along for the ride. As I get older and hopefully wiser, I understand that this man-made insulation keeps us safe. However, being safe means being unafraid and to be unafraid means we’ve eliminated fear from our daily diet. No fear in this context does not mean fearless; it means fearful. The difference between the two feelings is about as pronounced as living life vs. showing up for it.

 

To risk is to live. When we put ourselves on the line, not knowing what will happen, we invite emotions that bring us alive. This is the state of happiness we were created to enjoy. I’m not suggesting we all go out and start bungee jumping and taking chances. I’m suggesting we mix up the day. Start with the premise that something great will happen to us and then spend the rest of the day looking for it. There are no guarantees on what we might discover, but rest assured we will be alive and ready for the moment when it does. These new “magic” moments come to us through the courtesy of our own humaneness. We are designed to create and have the DNA to thrive, not just survive. It’s up to us. When we ask ourselves the question of just how much life do we want to feel, the right answer is all of it.

 

The Final Thought: “If you knew you would not fail, what would you do?” How much love we need and how much we’d be willing to share is an equation that’s always in flux and depends solely on our own heart’s yearning. Take the step that your heart is begging you to take and let the fun begin.

 

 

Self-Talk

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Self-Talk

A Sixty-Word Short Story: *

Wendy had read all of the books on positive thinking and was excited to test out what she learned. She shared her new internal mantra with friends and wrote positive thoughts of affirmation which she posted around the house reminding her that good fortune was within reach. Wendy was excited for what would happen next and waited. But nothing happened.

And more…

If we were told by someone that we trusted – and knew that they were serious- and that they were going to send us on an all expenses paid vacation of our dreams, we’d be very excited, wouldn’t we? We would get happy in anticipation and physiologically respond ahead of the actual experience. We might even get giddy as we plan on what to wear and how many pounds to lose before the trip. This happens because our internal self begins to reflect what we truly believe and accept as true and we react accordingly to those truth-centered feelings ahead of the actual event because we know it really is going to happen.

Writing about the quantum field, Dr. Joe Dispenza says in his book Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself that this is how positive synaptic connections are made in each of us when we believe something to be true. Like a placebo works, he posits that we can train ourselves to act, think and feel even if there is no physical evidence. There are many documented examples of the placebo effect, meaning that we begin to act as if the pill we take is bringing about the desired outcome because we’ve convinced ourselves that the placebo is working. We act and feel as if it is, because it’s real to us. He calls it tapping into our quantum mind, and it has enormous power to bring us whatever we desire. There is only one thing that can stop us: us.

Self-talk is magical when it’s positive and we believe. It’s also disruptive and dream killing when we have doubts, or are anxious, worry too much or overanalyze. Our inner voice influences and is influenced by our actions. Nothing happened for Wendy in our story because she failed to act as if what she believed would/could really happen. Action, directed by our inner vision, sets the quantum field in motion which draws our goals to us like a magnet. Acting as if our dream has already happened creates an internal sense of gratitude which becomes the instigator of serendipity and the catalyst for opening the door to good fortune. Personally, every day I wake up and believe something good is about to happen and spend the rest of the day looking for it. I’m rarely disappointed.

The Final Thought: Practicing awareness as opposed to analysis sets us in the now moment of space and time. Being in the moment is how we can access the quantum field and share our dreams. It’s how the universe conspires to change our world for us and bring true magic to our lives.

* The Premise (Opening short story): Always 60 words. No more. No Less. For more stories like this and information about my books, please visit www.szenzone.com

Letting Go

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by: Gary Szenderski

Letting Go

A Sixty-Word Short Story: *

Carl wanted to start the year on a positive note. He dutifully listed his resolutions for the upcoming year. He took one last admiring look at what he was about to accomplish, then he stuck the new list on his bulletin board completely covering last year’s plan. New list, new life, he thought. But how could he make it happen?

And more…
In a poem by Robert Burns he writes: “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” This oft quoted phrase is a reminder that like Carl we all face obstacles to our well-conceived ideas. And the reason we sometimes fail is because we think that the only way for reaching our goals is to do it all by ourselves. Resolutions however, no matter how profound and thoughtful, often have a lot of moving parts and finding the energy, time and motivation to achieve them can be daunting. And so, even though we charge ahead with a positive mindset and determination, we often run out of gas before we reach the desired destination.

We often assume that making stuff happen in our lives is our responsibility which it is. And it begins with visualizing what we want to happen. And next we typically make an action plan to get there and then something happens or doesn’t happen like we need it to and we get frustrated and quit. That’s because when we focus on HOW it’s going to happen more than what it is we WANT to happen we get sucked up into the details and suddenly there are more obstacles blocking our path than we can manage. In other words when we become attached to having our dreams come true in a very specific way we inadvertently negate a gazillion other ways to accomplish what we want.

Attachment is limiting and based on what we think we can handle on our own. Detachment to the result however opens the door of opportunity because letting go creates uncertainty and that is how the universe works its magic. Uncertainty lets us step into the field of infinite possibilities. We don’t give up on our dreams; we stay focused on those, but by giving up on how they might be delivered we allow for serendipity and good fortune to intercede. It’s not my law; it’s the way we’re wired. Our true self and not the symbols of ourself has more power than we think and when we apply that power to the goal and not the process we create miracles.

The Final Thought: It stands to reason that if we are made in the image and likeness of our creator, we have the same power to create for ourselves. To manifest dreams, we only have to focus on the dream and let serendipity and the universe surprise us on how it happens.

* The Premise (Opening short story): Always 60 words. No more. No Less. For more stories like this and information about my books, please visit www.szenzone.com