Inner Peace Archives « Sow Peace International

At the risk of sounding cliché, I’m going to ask –

Why do we wait for a designated holiday to start celebrating?

I know the daily grind sometimes doesn’t seem like a lot to celebrate about, but when you really consider it, isn’t the fact that you’re breathing in and out worth celebrating?! I think so.

Yes, it can take some serious effort to celebrate some days. Some days you just plain won’t feel like it, and well, that’s ok too. It’s more the mindset and ATTITUDE of daily celebration that is the key to living well, in my opinion.

Ok, daily celebration maybe sounds a little hokey, a little evangelical, a little new age, a little unrealistic – whatever that dark cloud above you is saying – so here’s another way to think about it:

Did you wake up this morning? That’s a good start for celebrating.
Were you able to see the sky? Cloudy or not, being able to see the sky is a wonderful thing. It’s a great reminder of the freedom of your soul.
Were you lucky enough to have food available for you?
Did you get to put on clean clothes – or any clothes for that matter?
Were you free to walk outside and go somewhere?
Did you communicate openly with your neighbour or anyone else on the planet?

There are six reasons to celebrate right now. Consider that millions of people in the world don’t have some of those simple things to count on every day . . .

Looking at life from a positive perspective is different than through rose coloured glasses.

Some of the people I’ve met in my life have dismissed my attitude with that “yeah, right, you’re living in a dreamworld” roll of their eyes and flip of their hand. I’ll bet you $1million that no matter how much money or things they may acquire in their lifetime, I’ll still always be happier… because I choose to celebrate every day. I choose NOT to spend my time being angry about what I don’t have, being annoyed at things not going my way, getting disheartened because my expectations are not being met by someone else.

Now, let me clarify, when I say “celebrate” it’s not like I having a big party and blowing my lucky horn all over the place. I’m simply internally grateful and happy.

Sure, maintaining a positive attitude has its trials. It’s not always easy.

It’s not always easy because it’s not about denial. Many people who DON’T live positively like to accuse those of us who do that we’re in denial – that we don’t want to accept the nasty, horrible, depressing truths that surround us and so we just ignore them and hope they’ll go away. DENIAL IS NOT CELEBRATING.

I can deny that there are bad things in the world, and yes, eventually I’ll get smacked in the head with one and I’ll be devastated. OR, I can live positively, acknowledge the horror, and through that do even the smallest bit to change some of those bad things in the world. Simply smiling at someone new every day makes a difference.

Share your knowledge with no strings attached.
Give someone the benefit of the doubt, or do something helpful without expectation of reward.
Make a donation.
Look after your neighbour’s kids for the night so they can have a moment to themselves.
Go to your local high school’s holiday celebration.
Tell your boss you appreciate having a job.
If you subscribe to a religion, say a prayer for someone you don’t know.
If you buy groceries, pick up a couple extra cans for your local food bank.
If you drive a car, walk somewhere today or give a stranded stranger a lift.

Just do SOMETHING to celebrate being alive.

And don’t wait for Christmas.

Competitive driving? Competing while commuting? That seems to be the name of the game each day as I travel to my office. You likely experience it wherever you are. I’m sure it is not limited to cars and trucks and SUV’s. Likely the same things is truly of tuk-tuks, motorcyles and camels, too.

People like to get ahead of each other. Why is that?

Here is sunny San Diego, California, we have to depend on our freeways. There are very few other roads that can get us where we want to go through canyons, over lakes and around mountains.

Today–an unfortunately typical day on the road–I was stopped at a freeway onramp, waiting for the light to turn green. Just as it did and I proceeded onto the highway, a big white pickup truck ignored the requirements of the HOV lane, ignored the light there, and shot past both me and the car in front of me. I instinctively hit the horn. He waved in his rear view mirror and continued on at great speed.

You’ve likely experienced this phenomena: you see a green light and accelerate to cross the road. Seemingly, the driver waiting in the lane next to you takes your leaving the stop as a personal affront to his or her slower reflexes or preoccupation with the cell phone. The response: to accelerate past you and pull in front of you just in time to be caught by the next red light.

Or, you’ve been involved in the great Lane Change Wars. It seems that the extra ten or twenty seconds someone gains on you by passing you is a matter of life or death to them. Unfortunately, such behavior has often been life or death. Too frequently, death.

Why do we play out our insecurities on the highways? Why are reflex speed and acceleration seen as indications of moral superiority and/or the opportunity or need to compete? What are we really doing out there?

Driving is an opportunities to practice sowing peace. My California license plate is SOWPEAC. If I were to engage in this mindless competitive driving free-for-all–and, believe me, I’m often tempted, I would be in direct contradiction of my license plate. I invite you to mentally share my license plate so that we can all remind ourselves that the highways and byways we’re driving on are a great metaphor for the highways and byways we live.

Competing while commuting? We cannot simultaneously sow peace and focus on getting ahead of someone else, on the road or in our daily relationships. Let’s use our driving as a practice field to teach ourselves to sow peace everywhere!

When I come across an excellent video that is right in alignment with the values, vision, beliefs and purpose I have in writing the Sow Peace® Blog, I am delighted. This one came to my attention and I am sharing it with you right away.

I hope you’ll take the 25-minutes to watch it and leave a little quiet time after watching to consider the implications for your life. It is well worth taking the time for.

Then, write a comment below to share your own insights, feelings and commitments after watching. Invite others to the blog to share the video as well so that they can have the opportunity to be a part of the Sow Peace community, too. Enjoy!

Continue to Sow Peace…in every moment & in every relationship.

Rhoberta

Here’s the video:

When my partner sent this video to me, I had no knowledge of this woman, her work, or its significance. I’m grateful that I received this video and I hope you are, as well.

We all have the ability and the opportunity to make a difference by how we demonstrate alignment with our vision, values, beliefs and principles. Whether or not you do that by why some would think are extreme measures, or you do that by taking the time to know who you are and living that alignment in your current life, you are expressing the change you want to see in the world by BEING it.

“Peace on Earth – It’s Only a Breath Away” the headline says. So, really? Just a breath away? Hmmmm…. If it were that easy, would it not already have been achieved? What’s this all about? Is it possible? An excellent headline because it caught my attention enough to read the article that my fabulous webmaster and designer, Kera McHugh, brought to my attention. I’ve posted it below my writing today, so that you can read it as well. If you want to see the video it mentions, visit http://www.pixelsforpeace.com/Peace_on_Earth.html

What Jill Bolte Taylor experienced by going through her stroke with the “consciousness” she describes, helps us understand the power of the right hemisphere, processing information globally and creatively. When we suspend our left hemisphere’s linearity and “must’s, should’s and supposed to’s,” we allow ourselves the joy of connecting…and making connections…in the silence, with ourselves, with humanity, with all that is.

Of course, that requires that we love ourselves enough to matter! We demonstrate that we matter to ourselves by taking time to reflect and listen in that silence. We talk about that extensively in our book, Soul Solitude: Taking Time for Our Souls to Catch Up. We live in a world that calls us to run far ahead of our feet, staying far too busy to think, or as Robert Frost says, “…to stop and stare.” In fact, others often measure us by how busy we are. That’s crazymaking: both the running and the measuring stick, but that’s a topic for another time. Today’s point is that we want to be pro-active and consciously take the time for quiet reflection and connection, not wait for a massive stroke to give us a wake-up call, right?

We like science, don’t we? If something has a scientific basis, there are many people who are much happier to engage with the ideas. So, when Jill, a neuro-scientist, describes her learning, we tend to give it more credibility than simply someone’s profound experience. That is often harder to give credence to, for some. Why? They like proof, facts and credentials. So, it is a blessing for many that Jill had this experience, and recovered to share the amazing depths of insight that she offers.

Taking time out for yourself to sit quietly, to reflect and connect, only takes mattering enough to yourself to do it, and some patience with yourself. The brain will do it, but, will you?

I advise trying it without having the stroke! The recovery time is much less.

And, thank you to www.pixelsforpeace.com for the article, and to Jill for her perseverance, understanding and willingness to share her journey. We can all benefit from her story.

HERE’S THE ORIGINAL STORY:

Peace on Earth – It’s Only a Breath Away

Jill Bolte Taylor, a 37-year-old Harvard-trained Neuroscientist, had a research opportunity few would wish for when a blood vessel exploded in her brain causing a massive stroke. In the video below she talks about how she watched as her brain functions — motion, speech, self-awareness — shut down one by one, and about the spiritual and medical metamorphosis she experienced after.

Taylor explains how the brain is split into two hemispheres, and how each processes information differently and thinks and cares about different things, essentially having it’s own personality.

The right hemisphere thinks visually and learns kinesthetically. It is all about the present: “right here, right now,” which is the basic teaching of Zen philosophy; Zen meaning to wake up to present moment. It is empathetic and sees that “we are energy beings connected through the consciousness of our right hemispheres as one human family.”

The left hemisphere thinks linearly and methodically and is all about the past and the future. It thinks in language and creates on-going brain-chatter, being the source of the little voice that says, “I am,” giving the sense of ego and separateness.

On the morning of her stroke, Taylor’s left-brain was knocked out of action by a blood clot the size of a golf ball. She lost the ability to speak and read as her left-brain began to shut down. At the same time she stepped into the right-brain world of connectedness and empathy which she affectionately calls “la la land”.

When she woke in hospital later that afternoon she was shocked to still be alive.

“I’m still alive, and I have found Nirvana, and if I have found Nirvana and I am still alive, then everyone can find Nirvana! I pictured a world filled with beautiful, peaceful, compassionate, loving people who knew that they could come to this space at any time and that they could purposely choose to step to the right of their left hemispheres and find this peace, and then I realized what a tremendous gift this could be, what a stroke of insight this could be, and it motivated me to recover.”

Fortunately, her left hemisphere was not permanently destroyed, and over the course of eight years, with an angel of a mother by her side, she made an awe-inspiring complete recovery.

Today, she says she is a new person, one who can step into the consciousness of her right hemisphere on command and be “one with all that is.”

I was deeply moved by her astonishing story which brought me to tears when watching the video for the first time. Taylor’s drive and enthusiasm is infectious, and the combination of her science expertise and personal stroke of insight was profound and penetrative. It allowed my left-brained way of thinking to be utterly convinced of the reality of something else, something natural, something that was “part of the potential experience of every person.”

Through the process of meditation – a right brain activity – we can each cultivate a greater sense of peace, teaching our right-brains to dominate our left, and thus really harness the power of the left-brain, with the ego being tamed; perhaps converted from a perceived enemy into a friend.

Jill Bolte Taylor believes that “the more time we spend choosing to run the deep inner peace circuitry of our right hemispheres, the more peace we will project into the world, and the more peaceful our planet will be.”

What an amazing insight she’s brought to us by means of her own personal, somewhat traumatic experience! I’m tremendously grateful for the blessing and see it as an incredibly important message that really needs to shared with our world.

I hope one day everyone on our planet will embrace these profound insights and begin to develop their own sense of inner peace, for which meditation is an invaluable key…

Peace on Earth – it’s only a breath away.

This post was written for the fabulous Shire at www.renewfixyou.com :) check it out!

My one word theme for 2010 was “receptivity.” And, what an amazing year it has been! I have been receptive to many things: ideas, guidance, love, money, possibilities and opportunities. So much has changed including the opportunity to buy a new house and create a home that I love and will love for a long time to come. I had spent nine years in rental homes since moving to San Diego and now, it really feels like San Diego is my home in every way. The love in my life expanded and my relationship with the love of my life has grown to new depths.

As the new year approaches, I’ve been thinking of a word for 2011. I’m not quite decided yet–after all, I do have thirty-six hours before it begins–but, one thing I do know: I will accumulate the words over the years, adding each new one while maintaining the previous ones. Having spent this past year focused on receptivity, I never want to lose or diminish that. I simply want to add to it.

What will be your word for 2011?

I put my word up on my bathroom mirror to keep it in mind, as well as on my computer monitor. I also wrote it in the front of my notebook. This year, tho, I’m adding a little punch to it by making it a screensaver that I will see frequently. You might want to do that, too.

A good way to keep your commitment to sow peace within, at work and at home in mind is to sign the Commitment to Sow Peace, print it out and place it near your word. You’ll find it at SowPeace.com/commitment

You are invited to the Sow Peace page on Facebook: http://facebook.com/SowPeace where you can join in a discussion on our words for 2011.

As the holidays draw nearer, the idea of Peace becomes more and more visible in everyday North American life.

Sadly, it only seems to last the season, then far too many people forget about it.

Take a moment and make a conscious decision – and declaration – to REMEMBER to sow peace, this holiday season and beyond.

Sign the Declaration to Sow Peace today… then invite you friends & family to do the same.

Wow! There truly is an opportunity every minute: an opportunity to sow peace within, at home and at work. Today, I’m really thinking about the “within” part because someone mentioned alienating others in a recent blog comment. That is really a “within” matter first, even though it seems to be a very “without” matter in the world.

I know I have to consciously be aware of some funny ideas that were passed down to me from my parents, teachers, pastors and others in my most formative years. Somehow, I got the message that everyone was supposed to like me and that, if I could only get it right, they would. So, I internalized the idea that, if they didn’t like me, it was my fault. I’ve learned that is not so. And, on a good day, I am clear about it…lol.

Yes, I am responsible for my words and actions. So, yes, I do check me first. But, not to see if I DID something to cause them pain, concern or feelings of alienation. I check to see if my words and actions were in alignment with the values, vision, beliefs and purpose that I choose to live by. For me, that alignment includes my mission–to help people develop the skills to be totally kind and totally honest at the same time–enacted in my own life. So, self-examination from that point of view comes first, for sure.

If I find that I have used my skills and lived my values, I can rest assured that I am the expression of life that I want to be. If others find that not to their liking, so be it. I are not responsible for what other people think of me, because I am not living their lives with their values.

In our book, Soul Solitude: Taking Time for Our Souls to Catch Up, we talk about the prevailing pain of living our lives to live up to other peoples’ expectations and why releasing ourselves from that is so important. I know that I cannot express my unique self fully and lovingly when I am focused on trying to keep every person in my life–even the cashier at the grocery store–approving of me. That’s not my job.

My job is to consciously express who I am and sow peace within, at home and at work by doing so. And, you know, if you’ve read “Why Sow Peace?” that that means having strong boundaries, well-developed skills and a conscious intention to collaborate honestly and lovingly.

So, here comes another opportunity!

What do you expect? That is a powerful beginning! If you can grasp the power of your expectations, you are on your way to changing your life. You are that powerful.

How do you approach the people and situations in your life? Do you expect each person you meet to be trustworthy? Do you expect a positive outcome from each situation? Do you accord yourself love, respect and approval for who you are right this minute? Deciding to live from a place of acceptance and expectation of good seems to me to be “throwing your heart out in front of you”. If you expect to get hurt, it is likely it will be so. If you expect to fail, that, too, is likely. Why? Because you give everything the meaning that it has for you. You project your expectations and create the behavior to play them out. You are that powerful.

There is no escaping the fact that you choose your attitudes and perceptions, your responses and behaviors. Your world would change miraculously if you took full responsibility for your own life. Imagine a world without blame, a world of empowered people, genuinely interested in one another, responsible and accountable!

Do you know how to use the power that creates change? You can use it for positive or negative. It’s your choice because that power is thought! You are that powerful, so, what are you using that power for? Or, are you using it consciously at all? The good news is that the more you consciously use it the more it grows.

What you pay attention to expands. Expect bad things, focus energy on bad things, bad things happen. Expect good, prosperous, compassionate, generous things and they happen, too. Imagine the possibilities! And yes, it is that simple (which is quite different from being easy.)

So, just stop. Sit down and have a think! Take the time to consider what you really expect from your life. Ask yourself, “If I had a life to live, what would I use it for?”…and pay attention to the answer.

From today on, be one of those people who knows. Live your expectations. Take responsibility for your actions, perceptions, feelings and projections. Say so. Affirm it. “I take responsibility for everything I think, say, feel and do.” You are that powerful. Then, throw your heart out in front of you and run ahead to catch it!

Technology has glitches. What a surprise! It is inevitable due to the complexity of code, bandwidth and other mystical contributing factors. That’s a given.

OK, so, that said, a few days ago some of the seemingly million pieces of technology we use to keep our seventy-plus websites with all their newsletters, bells and whistles going decided to behave like my iPhone. (It makes personal calls without my taking it out of my purse! It has a secret life of its own.) That is, some program decided to send out an article of mine–all on its own. And, then, it proceeded to do it twenty-nine times! And, just to add irony to the situation, the article it sent is called Good Boundaries Make Good Neighbors as it stomps on email boundaries in its secret life.

When I opened my email, I was as surprised as all the subscribers were. I know they were surprised because they all wanted to help by immediately writing to tell me what happened. I appreciate that because 1) I then know they got what I sent and, more importantly, 2) they want me to know so I could fix the problem.

BUT, someone wrote to ask me that question:

“Weren’t you embarrassed?”

And, that made me think to write this blog post because the answer was:

“Of course not!”

When things happen that are completely beyond our control, what do we have to be embarrassed about? Many people take on WAY too much, way too much that is not for them to take on. People apologize for things for which they have no need to apologize. They get their knickers in a twist much too easily. In fact, they even let others twist their knickers…quite freely! It’s curious.

When we were writing Soul Solitude: Taking Time for Our Souls to Catch Up, we wrote about one of the big issues in life that block us from living authentically: living up to other people’s expectations. It’s really worth thinking about. If we spend our energy endeavoring to live up to the expectations of others, we have no energy remaining for living the full, rich world of possibilities that are available to us to choose among for ourselves.

My parents had HUGE expectations of me. That produced a hidden perfectionism that was difficult to find and release. I still have to remind myself that good enough is good enough in many things. How about you?

In any case, the “Weren’t you embarrassed?” question, was finally easy to answer…but, only because I have walked through and mostly away from the perfectionistic script that was kindly shared with me by my parents. It would have had me apologizing for someone else having a bad day, or taking responsibility for the weather!!!

Maybe you have some thoughts to share with us on these things? I hope so.

Sow Peace International

Category Archives: Inner Peace

Get Celebrating!

At the risk of sounding cliché, I’m going to ask –

Why do we wait for a designated holiday to start celebrating?

Sure, maintaining a positive attitude has its trials. It’s not always easy.

Just do SOMETHING to celebrate being alive.

Can you sow peace and focus on getting ahead of others?

Competitive driving? Competing while commuting? That seems to be the name of the game each day as I travel to my office. You likely experience it wherever you are. I’m sure it is not limited to cars and trucks and SUV’s. Likely the same things is truly of tuk-tuks, motorcyles and camels, too.

People like to get ahead of each other. Why is that?

Competing while commuting? We cannot simultaneously sow peace and focus on getting ahead of someone else, on the road or in our daily relationships. Let’s use our driving as a practice field to teach ourselves to sow peace everywhere!

Don’t miss the Inspiration, Information & Insights in this Video

Making the decision to make a difference

Peace on Earth Just a Breath Away????

HERE’S THE ORIGINAL STORY:

Transforming your new year…

Sow Peace this holiday season… and beyond.

There’s an opportunity every minute…

You are that powerful.

Was that an embarrassing moment?