Author: Jim Gohrick (Page 132 of 159)

There was a study done some time ago that asked Americans what their favorite day of the week was. The majority of people responded that Friday was their choice even though most people work that day. The conclusion of the study was that American’s (in comparison to Japanese people who chose Sunday) look forward to events in the future rather than remaining in the moment and choosing a day where you don’t have to get up and go to the office.

It tells you much about how our minds work and what we focus on. I can most certainly get myself into a lather just thinking about what the afternoon, next day or even next week may bring. Why do I go there? Why must we always place our focus on an event that hasn’t even happened?

I’m more interested in remaining here. Now. Physically and Mentally. It’s not always easy to do in today’s hectic world, but it’s worth putting in the effort for me.

Where are you right now? Look around. Breathe. Slow down. Listen. Take inventory of how you feel. Resist the urge to ask yourself, “What’s next?” This moment isn’t so bad, is it?

For whatever reason, I use a lot of metaphors in order to help articulate my points. And here we go again: There isn’t a way (I have seen) to keep your garden clean of weeds by sitting in the house and wishing them away. You must get outside pull the weeds and cultivate the soil yourself. Just as there is no shortcut to spiritual, mental, physical and emotion health.

In order to bear the fruits of our bounty we must tend to ourselves on a daily basis. Sweeping it under the rug for another day is a recipe for a whole lot of dysfunction and therapy.

Forming habits to deal with your “intruders” immediately serve you in the short and long term.

Forming good habits takes time and focus. It can be less than exciting and certainly isn’t the rush of social media and drama, but it’s a tool to take you to where you intend to go if you have your health and wits about you.

When we take on a daily task – which I consider a small picture item – let’s make sure it ties into what our intentions are for the big picture.

Often times we can get caught up in putting out fires in the moment and lose focus of our grand plans. I’ve found planning ahead seems to alleviate much of this wasted time. Don’t get me wrong, we must attend to problems that come up and need our immediate attention, but don’t let them get you off track of where you’re heading after the flames are out.

Sometimes it can be a challenge to keep your attention fixed on your intentions. Especially over a long period of time. But keep at it. Write them down as this may help solidify your goal.

You can always go back and re-visit them, adjust them and be reminded of why it’s important to you as well as assessing your progress.

There are many different ways we can engage people when speaking with them. Our body language tells us quite a bit about how we feel about that person.

When we care about that person deeply and what they have to say, we tend to square our shoulders up with our toes pointing towards them and maybe even get a little closer. We lean our bodies in as we don’t want to miss one word they’re saying and we relish the intimate space we share. I do.

Maybe this is the perfect metaphor for how we should approach other topics, problems and fears in our lives. No matter how much fear we have in facing them or even how difficult it is to engage.

When we square up to the issue we are risking something. Failure. We’re committing. We make a decision (which means to cut off all other options). This leap of faith is what makes all the difference. It has for me. Things tend to work themselves out in the best way possible.

I’ve always felt, “The universe rewards you for taking risks on its’ behalf.”

Insight into a situation which is important to you can make a big difference when having to make decisions. How do we go about gaining this insight? One of two ways: You either already have the information regarding the subject matter or you discover it yourself through research and work.

Either way you obtain this information, you are now better equipped to make an educated decision.

Most of the time the way you have this insight in the first place is from a previous experience of making a poor decision because you lacked the proper information and got results you weren’t happy with.

Don’t be fooled by those who claim having insight by overhearing facts from a nearby conversation or friend.

Insight comes from having gone through an experience and pulling data from it to inform you of future decisions.

There are no short cuts when it comes to insight. Don’t fall into the trap of believing there are.