Your Attitude Is EVERYTHING! – Vol. 499, May 23, 2019

Over these many years that I have been in the profession of health care, I have noticed a huge difference in the manner in which people live.

There are those who complain about everything, making those around them wrong for the most insignificant of details, unable to note the unhappiness that would allow that sort of attitude in the first place. Because you see, people who are happy and fulfilled never have to point out shortcomings in others. Instead, they will make it a habit to point out the great attributes of those with whom they choose to spend their time.

Unhappy people become ill, and then endlessly complain about being ill to anyone who will listen. Happy people may have physical or emotional challenges, yet, they never allow those issues to become their lives. No, these folks are too busy living their lives to spend any more time than necessary to deal with their issues, because, of course, one needs to deal with the issues to overcome them, instead of succumbing to them.

People who feel successful in life have a different definition of success than those who are always speaking about scarcity. Yes, they do enjoy their income, yet, their income producing activities come from those things that fulfill them, never those things that drain them.

People who are able to live happy and fulfilling lives are the sort of people that shine a bright light and share their magnetic energy bringing other like-minded people to them. They are full of life because of the many interesting things that they are involved with, always working to get their curiosity fulfilled with knowledge. There is no age limit in learning for these folks.

People who are happy and abundant are those who realize that the world is full of abundance in all things. They are moved to volunteer and mentor others bringing fulfillment to themselves in the process.

Your attitude in life will determine your health and your level of happiness. The ball is in your court to create the life of your own dreams by being the person that you would love to find in a really great friend.

Claiming Your Excellent Life! -Volume 498, May 16, 2019

Today we are going to deal with a subject that is close to my own heart and soul, and that is how one claims their own excellent life!

You see, we human beings have this thing called a mind, and with that mind we can and do make choices every single day about how we experience this other thing we call ‘life.’ However, most of us have been hypnotized into believing that there are only a couple of ways to live that life based on societal norms. Well, I have to tell you, that being in health care for over 25 years, I have seen what the stress of living according to societal norms have done not only to my clients but those with whom I am closest – my own friends and family.

On the other side, I have witnessed what a well-lived life is all about, having worked in elder care for years, the first and most important philosophies learned by women in their 90’s. One a survivor of the Armenian Holocaust (having lost all but one of her brothers and her father – summarily shot to death when she was 7 years old) and the other who moved out of her family’s home when she was 16, because her parents could not afford to have her there any longer, financially. The Armenian woman told me that all relationships are 150% on both side, as ‘One hand washes the other.” The other women taught me to live without any resentments or regrets. And, it was with those words that I went forward and invested in my education in hypnotism, NLP and now a Masters in Medical Sociology. This principle of living without any regrets also was what allowed me to take any interesting opportunity that came my way, bringing me to distant lands, most only dream of seeing.

Over the past year or so, I have been involved in this group of people known as ‘couchsurfers.’ It is a way to travel the world staying with others who also open their homes to others while they are traveling. These people are intrigued with learning about others, and show them their life, their communities, and share their homes and their food. It is a group of people who see the beauty in others as I have seen in some of those with whom I have couch surfed myself. A couple who have chosen very different lifestyles than the societal norms that enslave us forever to the materialism and false notion of retirement being the best time and perhaps only time for travel.

The first couch surfer I ever stayed with was staying on a farm of his friend’s helping to clear the land and plant hemp. This 30-year-old male had traveled the world for 5 years couch surfing and camping with his hammock when there were no couch surfing opportunities. He learned from shaman and holistic healers all over the world how to naturally heal himself from most anything. He came back to the farm to live off the grid. This young man had the bluest and most soulful of eyes that one could ever hope to encounter, so at peace and so at ease in his very simple life. He had a huge tent with his homemade full-size bed in there, his van that was a converted camper of sorts with a burner to cook food. His kitchen was a raised slab of wood with a tarp covering it. I was there to reclaim my own self after having helped a friend for several months who ended up in the hospital due to his own pains – both physical and emotional, still held on to after 71 years of life. I spent my time reading and journaling that week out there in nature to reground myself, and I was in very good hands for sure.

The second person that I met was a 72-year-old woman with the heart and soul of a 30-year-old. It wasn’t because she hadn’t had her own challenges – a back that requires chiropractic help and massage during the week, yet she never once complained of any pain the entire time that I spent with her. Instead, she told me of her fun time in Columbia after divorcing her first husband and then her wonderful 25 years of cruising on their 40 foot 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom sailboat in the Caribbean – just enjoying life. Her husband became ill with Parkinson’s and so they had to come back on land. She was his primary caregiver for several years till his death five years ago. His death was indeed a challenge for her to deal with, and yet, to see how she is out in the world doing all sorts of fun things, taking trips that are inviting to her while surrounded by friends and neighbors was truly a wonder to be invited to witness.

My message to you here is that we only have one life for sure that we know that we are to live, and we have some choices in how we choose to live it. To believe that one has to be enslaved to a lifestyle that may not fit one’s personality is to fail at living one’s excellent life. There are so many things to see in the greater world, a world that I have had the opportunity to begin to explore – cultures so different then our own here in the United States, and even subcultures in the US that I touched as I transversed my way across it twice and up the West coast from South of L.A. to Seattle and taking the road trip from Bridgeport, CT to Sarasota Florida. This last trip was to gather the information necessary to put together a hell of a retreat for healthcare practitioners down there. I am currently in North Carolina as I am writing this post on my way back up to New Jersey to attend a hypnosis convention where I will be meeting people that I have known for the better part of 20 years and others that I have learned of years ago, and have yet to meet.

That is what life is about my friends – exploring those things that are interest to you, exploring those places that call you to them, as my trips have done for me, and to know that there is so much to learn. There are so many beautiful people to meet on your journey in real life, where you can feel their magnetic appeal, see into their soulful eyes and experience their loving presence. But, this can only be done if, as my newest soul sister in Sarasota tells her complaining friends, “You get up off your ass and go do it.”, instead of endlessly complaining of their ill health. My what a thought: to be able to live a fulfilling life even if your body is letting you know it needs some extra attention. This is the same philosophy as my very young hearted soul driven cousin of 88 years – give your body what it needs, and by all means, get out in the world and do what you are here to do. In his case, it is to continue doing the work he has been doing all over the world on his father’s genealogy, a project he has been working on for over 30 years, putting on reunions along the way so we can each meet our extended families and learn about where we all came from. Totally fascinating and it is an amazing family that my dad’s mom came from, that is for sure.

Because, this is the thing: We can either live our lives as we are living it, or we can regret those dreams we never brought into our lives. The choice is ours. One we make with every decision we make each and every day.