Losing Your Religion?

 

Religion. Spirituality. God. The Universe. Source Energy. Life. Death.

What does it all mean? Nobody knows. Let me repeat that. NOBODY KNOWS.

Not a single person on this planet knows what any of those things really mean. Oh, we certainly have an abundance of theories, ideas, and beliefs, but ultimately, none of us really knows the meaning behind it all.

But we spend a lifetime trying to figure it out.

Isn't that what our lives are all about: Questioning? Answering? Creating? Believing? And why is everyone so upset about our differences? Don't we all look, speak, and act differently? Isn't that the whole point of humanity? And shouldn't we believe different things? It seems that would only makes sense.

Religious and spiritual beliefs have been a topic of conflict since the beginning of time. The differences over this one topic have caused more turmoil, pain, arguments, and wars in our world than any other. In its simplest form, what we are seeing in our world is the opposite of what it is truly about: Love. What we are experiencing so often is Fear—the opposite of Love.

However, if we stop and think about it from a scientific perspective, not understanding something [because it's different from what we believe] causes a natural resistance. It is new information, and we are naturally wired to question something that is new.

Fear is a natural reaction in it's most primal form—a response by the human brain to what it cannot understand. And while feelings of Fear are automatic and natural, the response to Fear is not. Responding to Fear with anger, violence, abuse, resentment, or hatred is a chosen response—a choice—and that is what sets apart the natural from the unnatural. 

Reacting is natural; responding is thoughtful. We are human; therefore, we are response-able.

We always have choices. We choose how to respond to every situation, thought, and feeling in every moment. We can choose to respond to Fear negatively, or we can choose contemplation, compassion, and curiosity. Our choices create our reality. If you think your attitudes, actions, and words don't matter, think again. It ALL matters. We ALL matter. Everything we think, feel, say, and do matters—whether we realize it or not.

What are you choosing today, and how is that causing a ripple effect in the world around you? Which words are you using? How are you supporting what you love instead of pushing against what you don't? When we start remembering that we are all creating the world we currently live in by each word and deed, we might start taking ourselves—and our actions—more seriously.

Choose for yourself and allow others to do the same. And above all else, "Live and Let Live", for that is what we came here to do.

Namaste

Michael Thomas Sunnarborg

Michael Thomas Sunnarborg is an educator, best-selling author, and certified life coach. His passion is to help people reclaim their power of choice and find better balance in their work, relationships, and life. You can follow Michael on Facebook and Twitter, or find out more at michaelsunnarborg.com

Need some inspiration? Pick up a copy of 21 Days, Steps & Keys, or one of the other books in the balance series, and start off 2015 by finding better balance in your career, relationships, and life.

Liked this post? Then please comment or share it with others!

The Nudge

 We are not human beings on a spiritual journey.
We are spiritual beings on a human journey.
Stephen R. Covey

Ever get a "nudge" to do or say something? 

Something I learned early-on in my writing and coaching work was to give my thoughts, feelings, and intuition a voice—a way to better understand the language of my mind, body, and spirit. We all perceive information through our senses and this information is being filtered and translated into our thoughts, feelings, and intuition. We can use our words to describe how we're thinking or feeling, but how do those internal voices work?
 
Usually the loudest voice—our Mind—is busy analyzing information and making conclusions. Simultaneously, our Body is translating all the visual, audio, and tactile stimuli of our busy world and giving us feedback through the voice our feelings. Logic and emotion—the constant balance between head and heart. But while our minds and bodies are "doing", our Spirits are just "being". In fact, our Spiritual energy is working with the power of our intentions—consciously and subconsciously—and the voice of Spirit is always coming from a place that knows what we really want, versus what our minds and bodies think we want. I equate intuition as a "gut feeling", or sensation in the pit of my stomach.

Since Spirit is the eternal part of our tri-part being, the quiet voice of our Spirit gives us little nudges and hints throughout the day. This nudge may come to us as, “I should hold this door open for that person,” or “I can spare some change for the woman ahead of me in line.” Sometimes it's even just a smile to a passing stranger. Spirit never asks from us more than we can give at a given moment. Spirit knows us and our boundaries. In fact, our Spirit lets us exercise our healthy boundaries and create new ones, while our Mind may have us thinking in old patterns or behavior and repeating the same mistakes. Been there, done that!

By paying attention to those little nudges throughout the day, you can get closer to hearing your natural intuition. In fact, if you get quiet and really listen, you will start to hear the calm rhythm within. And once you start accessing the energy of your Spirit, you can bring your thoughts and feelings into better alignment with intuition, and activate that knowledge to create better balance in your life—awareness, alignment, activation: the balance formula is complete.

How can you be quiet and listen to the intuitive voice within you this week?

To Your Better Balance!

Michael Thomas Sunnarborg

Need some inspiration? Pick up a copy of 21 Days, Steps & Keys, or one of the other books in the balance series, and start off 2015 by finding better balance in your career, relationships, and life. You can also tune into Michael's recent radio interview with Sharvette Mitchell at: bit.ly/15H2MRK (Michael starts after 31:00).

Michael Thomas Sunnarborg is an educator, best-selling author, and certified life coach. His passion is to help people reclaim their power of choice and find better balance in their work, relationships, and life. You can follow Michael on Facebook and Twitter, or find out more at michaelsunnarborg.com 

Liked this post? Then please comment or share it with others!

Our Chronic Thoughts

Thoughts are extremely powerful. In fact, our thoughts create our reality as we experience it. Much like a captain navigating the sea, our thoughts command the wheel of our ship and point us toward a destination.

I asked one of my coaching clients last week about a potential employment opportunity to which he replied, “I can't do that. I've never done that before." As we continued, I could see a pattern unfolding. His perspectives about everything in his life—his career, relationships, choices and experiences—were coming from a place of lack. He felt that his life was filled with so many things he didn't want. It was just never enough.

My next question was, “So what do you want?” To which he had a difficult time responding. Since he’d been so focused on what he didn’t want for so long, he couldn’t clarify what he wanted. He’d lost his focus. Everything he was experiencing in his life was a direct result of his chronic thought patterns.

Each of us have an emotional default setting that was formed at an early age—usually during our impressionable childhood years—by the environment and the people around us. In turn, this default became the foundation for a set of matching beliefs and the chronic patterns of thought associated with those beliefs. This is helpful if our patterns of thought are positive; but can be very challenging if they're negative. Negative belief systems create what are called limiting beliefs.

Limiting beliefs can be recognized by statements such as:

• "I have no choice."
• "Life is a struggle."
• "I made my decision and now I need to stick with it."
• "Things never go my way."
• "I always seem to mess things up—that’s just my nature."
• "Other people always seem so much happier than me."
• "This is just the cruel hand life’s dealt to me."

They may also take the form of questions:

• "How come I never get what I really want?"
• "Why is life so difficult?"
• "What is wrong with me?"
• "Why do bad things always happen to me?"
• "How come everyone else is succeeding while I’m failing?"
• "How can I possibly be a good friend/mother/brother/coworker when I can’t even be good to myself?"

Each of those statements and questions come from limiting beliefs. What they don't consider is often they've been created by simple observations (i.e., one experience or one observation), or have been passed down to us by others and we've chosen to believe them with limited firsthand experience.

There is another perspective that brings hope, clarity, and relief: it’s called reframing.

Reframing is the practice of recognizing that how we respond to something is just as important (and sometimes more important) than the actual event. We can choose our attitude just as easily as we choose our clothing!

Reframing includes developing a higher tolerance for ambiguity and being willing to take a new perspective without have the proof to back it up. Reframing requires trust and facilitates hope. Reframing always gives us options, especially regarding limiting beliefs:

• "I have no choice," becomes,
• "I always have choices, even if it's only my attitude."
• "Life is a struggle," becomes, 
• "Life can be challenging, but it's helping me grow."
• "I made my decision and now I have to stick with it," becomes,
• "I realize that things change, and I can always choose again." 

Can you see how this works?

This week, make the conscious choice to become aware of your limiting beliefs (catch yourself when you think or say them!) and practice reframing your perspective. You may quickly notice your energy shifting and your mood improving. Eventually, your limiting beliefs can become unlimited beliefs and you'll start navigating your ship towards new destinations. Think: The Bahamas instead of the cold Atlantic!

To Your Better Balance

Michael Thomas Sunnarborg

Need some inspiration? Pick up a copy of 21 Days, Steps & Keys, or one of the other books in the balance series, and start off 2015 by finding better balance in your career, relationships, and life. You can also tune into Michael's recent radio interview with Sharvette Mitchell at: bit.ly/15H2MRK (Michael starts after 31:00).

Michael Thomas Sunnarborg is an educator, best-selling author, and certified life coach. His passion is to help people reclaim their power of choice and find better balance in their work, relationships, and life. You can follow Michael on Facebook and Twitter, or find out more at michaelsunnarborg.com

Image courtesy of discovery-zone.com

Liked this post? Then please comment or share it with others!