May 2012 Be Your Year
Reading posts on Twitter and in blogs clearly shows the holiday season is depressing for millions of people. It is evident, and very sad, that many people look outward for their validation and compare themselves to their friends and families. They believe others are happier and live better lives than they do based solely on what they see others doing and saying. They believe others are better off than themselves. They believe they are better, worthier, wealthier, happier…. When people compare themselves with others they will always feel they are less than the other person, and less than who they truly are. They do not realize there is this joyful, truly awesome person inside…waiting to be noticed.
There is this great story about appreciating what we have, and I apologize for not knowing where this originated from. Its truth resonated for me, as I hope it will for you: “If everyone was to throw their stuff into a great big pile, and we looked at what everyone else had to deal with, we’d quickly see ours wasn’t so bad and would gladly pull our own stuff back out of the pile”. We know there is always someone else worse off than ourselves. The opposite is also true: there are others better off than ourselves. That’s the way it is. The magic comes from being grateful for what we have and for who we are. Every single one of us is unique, and has a gift to share with the world. As we learn to look within to examine our inner self, our heart, we see and feel the joy that already exists within us. Happiness is not something that comes if, or when, this happens or that happens. It is already present within ourselves. Ask yourself, “In this very moment, what is truly right with my world?” Breathe it in, listen for your joy. I believe it is already there for you, just as it is for me, and just as it is for all those unhappy people who compare themselves with others.
We have no idea what is going on inside the mind and spirit of another human being. Appearances are often far from reality. In other words, what people show and say to the world (their outer reality) is actually in conflict with what’s going on inside (their inner reality). I can personally attest to this, as I once told myself the biggest lies…about myself, to my self. Our work on ourselves is never done. When we start to realize that we do create our own reality by looking inside, we begin to make the shift to living in joy. There was much inner work that I needed to do to realize this.
One shift for me came when I re-read my notes after hearing Dr. John Demartini speak for the first time. ‘Our outer world is a reflection of our inner world’. We already “know” this, although hearing someone else say it seems profound. Sometimes it needs to be explained. Our inner world is what’s going on inside of us: what we think, how we feel, our beliefs, our mindsets, etc. Our thoughts trigger our feelings which make us respond and become our actions. This leads to our results. Simply put: thoughts + feelings + actions = results. The results of our thoughts and feelings (our inner self) appear as actions reflected in our outer world. Another critical point here is that we have the ability to choose our thoughts. We need to train ourselves to pay attention to the thoughts we have running through our head. We may give ourselves permission to change those thoughts that don’t serve us (and actually work against us). A shift in our inner thoughts, mindsets, and recognizing our true feelings will guide us to our inner desires. And, what we truly desire we can manifest in our physical, outer world.
May 2012 be your year…where your inner desires match your outer reality.