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They’re such massive words and carry such meaning but we use them as if they’re salt and pepper.

Well, maybe that’s the way it should be. Perhaps people have built up passion and purpose to such high levels that no one can attain them. They’ve been put on a pedestal where no one can reach.

It’s just a viewpoint I’d like to share. Check out this article below for a more in depth discussion on this. And please leave a comment with your thoughts.

If you think you haven’t found your passion…

By Derek Sivers

A few times, I’ve been asked a question like, “But what if I haven’t found my true passion?”

It’s dangerous to think in terms of “passion” and “purpose” because they sound like such huge overwhelming things.

If you think love needs to look like “Romeo and Juliet”, you’ll overlook a great relationship that grows slowly.

If you think you haven’t found your passion yet, you’re probably expecting it to be overwhelming.

Instead, just notice what excites you and what scares you on a small moment-to-moment level.

If you find yourself diving into a book about Photoshop and playing around with the program for hours, go for it! Dive in deeper. Maybe that’s your new calling.

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• Lion = bravery, courage, king of the jungle
• The crucifix = Christianity, sacrifice, Jesus
• Dove = peace, hope.
• Shamrock = Ireland, luck, Saint Patrick’s day

If you had to pick one symbol, glyph, drawing, or logo that would represent YOU, what would it be?

Drop a comment below and let us know what your personal symbol is and why. If Bruce Wayne had a bat, what would you have?

While juggling a career, a family, parenting, a social life, etc., “time off” becomes harder and harder to find. It’s unfortunate because some of the most ingenious creative sparks have come from taking a lil’ time off.

Check out this video of renowned graphic artist (he’s designed album covers for the Rolling Stones and Lou Reed) as he describes the best thing he ever did for his career. And yes, it was taking time off.

You might find that you’re missing out on some of the best things in life by spending all your free time at in front of the tube.

Plus you’ll be saving on electricity and cable bills

43 Things To Do When You Stop Watching Television

by Nneka from BalancedLifeCenter.com

Over a year ago, I stopped watching television. In fact, I don’t even own a television. It’s saved me money, freed up my time, and given me back my opinions. When I tell people I don’t have a television, they always respond with shock and awe, followed by either admiration or scowl.

I usually get the following questions:

* What do you do with all that time?
* How do you know what’s going on?
* Don’t you get bored?

Here are some answers:

1. Save $2000 a year from cable and electricity.
2. Engage in your life instead of watching people pretend to live theirs.
3. The average American spends 28 hours week watching television. Reclaim your time.
4. Make love passionately for hours.
5. Visit another city, state, or country on your savings.
6. Go to the spa every month.
7. Go salsa dancing.
8. Take bellydancing, yoga, pottery, name-of-the-class-you’ve-always-wanted-to-take-but-didn’t-have-the-money-to classes.
9. Learn to invest.
10. Pay off your debt.
11. Read a book a week.
12. Enroll in courses for a degree.
13. Get a part time job.
14. Cook.

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I can’t express how important this message by the Dalai Lama is. While he speaks directly to artists and musicians, his message transcends all levels as every human being is creative by nature. We all yearn to create and see our own creations.

His message is simple. That we have a responsibility to serve humanity. That human nature is ultimately kind so there is potential for all of us to achieve global peace.

And as artists and creators, we have an even greater responsibility to push the world towards this direction.

It’s one of the reasons why FinerMinds was started. We wanted to be a driving force to spread enlightened ideas and connect people from all over.

So for anyone with a creative spark, it’s time to get off our butts and get things moving.

Now imagine if you could meet the Dalai Lama. What would be the first thing you would say to him?

Cheers,

Vishen

PS: The idea of meeting the Dalai Lama really isn’t that abstract. Stay in touch and you’ll know what i mean

Scientists, metaphysicists, and new age followers all have been interested in the power of colors. From marketing to personal development, colors play a very important role in our lives.

If you’re interested, here’s a pretty interesting article that might be more accurate than you think. The colors you surround yourself with and are drawn to may be reflective of your being. It’s also a great guide for anyone decorating their home.

Too bad it doesn’t say anything about people with a lack of color in their lives (i.e. Me). Where do you fit in?  What’s your color?

7 Colours That Can Reflect Your Mood

From LifeMagick.net

I have a friend, who shall be nameless for obvious reasons as I love her dearly. This friends favourite colour is red. Her car is red, flowers in her garden are red, she wears red, her lipstick is red. Need I say more – everything is red. She is a go-getter and the speed with which she embraces life is past the speed limit. So recently I was very interested to read on how wearing certain colours can reflect our mood.

We do react to colour, and scientists have ascertained that each colour transmits a unique message to the brain which impacts our moods in different ways. Consider the list of colours below and consider how your own clothes and decor can enhance particular moods.

Red

Red is a stimulating and energizing colour. It also enhances self-assurance; what woman in a fiery red dress doesn’t exude confidence. Red will produce an illusion of fantasy. It can promote opposition in others ( you have been warned) If you want to be attention-getting, feel powerful and dominate – wear red. The colour also symbolizes love. It is a hot and passionate color. Red is said to increase the appetite, so you may want to keep it out of the dining room unless you’re having a dinner party. In the bedroom, red light helps sexual activity, and could lead to active nights.

Yellow

To wear yellow will rejuvenate and balance the mind. It wipes out the feeling of heaviness and oppression. Yellow is a sunny and reflective and is a pensive colour. It will lift ones mood to be positive and optimistic.

Orange

This is also the colour of love. It is perhaps a little less serious and a little more fun. Wear it to lift your love life. Orange is a very high energy colour imparting boldness and distinction. Is about being different. Like red and yellow, orange is stimulating. It is an antidepressant and also stimulates the mind. Anyone with a desire to sharpen and add focus and purpose to their life can do with a little orange. ( It is potent, do not add too much)

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If this is your first time, don’t be afraid. You might notice some really strange things coming up. It’s a little bit like reading your journal and going, “What, I wrote that? Wow I’m weird.”

Believe me, this happens to everyone. But it’s also a fantastic way to tap into your subconscious for ideas, answers to difficult decisions, or even self-discovery.

Here are 4 image streaming techniques you can use for whatever purpose you choose. They can help you answer tough questions in your life, break through the barrier between conscious and subconscious, see your future and past self, and give you a council of superheroes at your beck and call.

Image Streaming: The ultimate creative thinking technique

From CreativeThinkingWith.com

Image Streaming, invented by Win Wenger, is one of the great modern techniques for accessing your highest powers of creative thinking…

Image streaming unleashes the powers of your unconscious mindpower for unrivalled creative thinking excellence. Win Wenger invented image streaming and its effectiveness as a process for accessing higher mind insights and creative bolts from the blue has been established by the thousands of people he has trained in this creativity technique. To get a thorough understanding of Image Streaming, I recommend that you get the audio course The Einstein Factor. However, here is a bare-bones description of how YOU can use image streaming to not only boost your IQ, increase your awareness and muster your mindpower but also pop the cork on all the creative juice that is simmering inside waiting to be tapped!

How to practice Image Streaming

If you are going to practice image streaming alone, you will need some way of recording your voice. So either use a small hand-held voice recorder, or sit in front of your PC and use your PC mike (if you have one) to record onto your PC. If you are practicing with a partner, they can listen and record your observations and talk to you about them afterwards. Personally I find using a recording device more satisfying and freeing.

Okay, so you need some quiet time for 5 to 15 minutes. Turn your mobile phone off, put a do not disturb notice on your door, and get comfortable. You can darken the room, you can lie down if you want (but if you are likely to fall asleep, better to remain seated). So close your eyes. And begin to calm your breathing, making your breathing soft and velvety smooth. Do this for a minute or so until you start to feel yourself becoming calmer and more settled within yourself. This process is akin to the shift from beta to alpha brain waves spoken of in courses like the Silva Mind Method.

Begin to focus on the inner screen of your mind and become aware of the stream of consciousness that is occurring there. And immediately begin describing out loud what you are seeing (remember to record this) and try to use and engage all your sensory modalities to capture and describe fully what you are experiencing in your mind.

For instance, if I close my eyes now, the immediate image that is present in my mind is… a bakery scene, with an oven immediately in front of me with several metal sheet shelves pulled out to various degrees and on these shelves there are freshly baked pitta bread (Middle-Eastern flat breads). I can smell the delicious fresh bread, and feel the warmth on my cheeks and heat waves rising from the bread curling upwards and carrying that mouth-watering taste and deeply comforting smell into the air and into my nostrils. The metal trays make a tinny clanging as they are moved, and they are marked and slightly corroded in parts with use, scrubbing and baked on burn marks. And I can imagine them in my hands, and I am washing them in hot soapy water and I shudder and get a feeling go up my spine as I feel my fingertips and fingernails scrape against this metalic uneven surface of the tray…

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Well, it can be. Especially when you’re trying to figure out where to direct that energy and creativity. So just how do you choose which project to complete? When your options seem endless, your choice becomes more difficult.

But you can get help from the same spirit guides giving you this intense stream of information and imagination in the first place. But to do that you must understand how they work. And it comes down to the 4th dimension: time.

Time, being a construct of our world, does not apply to the world of the spirit guides. That’s why you sometimes receive an overwhelming flow of ideas and creativity. The article below breaks down how our spirit guides interact with us and how we can best use them to direct us.

Check out these 5 tips and let us know what you think. Do you agree or do you use other methods to manage your spirit guides?

Managing Your Spirit Guides

By Andrea Hess of Empowered Soul

There are times when we are so open to intuitive guidance and inspiration, so connected to our Spirit Guides, that we are subjected to a practically limitless, constant flow of information. Ideas abound. No sooner do we finish one project than we are inspired with three new possibilities to take its place! It seems like ten different avenues to be traveled present themselves at once — and we want to travel all of them. We feel overwhelmed and exhausted. How can we ever accomplish all that? Don’t our Spirit Guides know that there is simply not enough time in the day to do all that?

Actually, they don’t.

Once we are open to the flow of information from our Spirit Guides, we have to understand the perspective from which their guidance is given. On the spiritual plane, time does not exist. Time is a third-dimensional organizational construct that allows us the illusion of linear progression from choice to consequence. Linear time is an essential part of our learning experience here in this physical incarnation. But it is not a construct to which our Spirit Guides adhere. Similarly, energy moves at the speed of intent on the spiritual plane — maybe even “faster,” given that time does not exist and so neither does the concept of speed. By comparison, moving energy by taking action here on the physical plane is a ponderous process. Moving physical matter takes a great deal of work when you compare it to the ease of shifting pure energy. Not only that, but information is immediately available on the spiritual plane, also. In the physical, on the other hand, we have to learn new skills, do research, and educate ourselves before we can take informed and effective action. Oh, and on the spiritual plane, money does not exist! As you can see, our Spirit Guides come from a very different frame of reference when they offer us information.

When we are in intuitive information overload, we have to remember that our job is to manage the guidance we receive in order to express it coherently at the physical level. Our Spirit Guides are a tremendous source of information. But we are in charge of putting that information into workable, practical application. From time to time, this means setting appropriate boundaries and guidelines.

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Imagine this: You wake up in the morning with your blood singing at the thought of being who you are and doing what you do. As you go through the day you come radiantly alive with a deep sense of purpose. There are many times when you feel like sinking to your knees in involuntary gratitude at the tremendous good fortune that has been bestowed on you. You know that you are doing exactly what you were set on earth to do and each day is joyous beyond measure.

Does this describe your situation? If it does not, can you clearly see that you are getting closer to it each week, each month, each year?

If your answer is “No”, I humbly suggest that you are wasting your life. And life is far too short to be wasted.

Are you happy?

We tend to use the word “happy” cavalierly and it has become debased. We are prone to say that trivial things make us “happy” – our favourite ice-cream or chocolate, a promotion, going on a vacation, getting a day off from work, winning at bridge, your mother-in-law deciding not to drop by after all.

I am not talking about a momentary rush of good feeling that we experience on such occasions. I am talking about a profound sense of well being that is with us all the time. A deep knowledge that our life is on track and cannot deviate.

This does not mean that we do not face challenges, some of them quite serious. It does mean that even as we do what we must we are still conscious that, fundamentally, we are fine and always will be. We cannot but be so.

So, defined this way, are you happy? If not, why not?

Unsettlement is the norm

I teach a deeply introspective course called Creativity and Personal Mastery at top business schools around the world and programs based on it to executives at well known companies. I have also been a contributing editor for major business magazines and have talked to thousands of persons, including many CEOs, about their inner lives. So I can make the statements I do with some confidence.

The vast majority of persons are not happy. Even those who seem to have it all – great career success, financial prosperity, picture perfect spouse and accomplished children, sterling reputation – are not happy. They are not brimming with joy. Anxiety is a frequent and unwelcome guest in their lives. There is always an undercurrent of stress and it overwhelms them all too often.

Many of the persons – perhaps most of them! – who attend my programs live in a world dominated by a giant to-do list and it fills up relentlessly no matter how many items they scratch out. There is a constant undercurrent of low-level anxiety, of a feeling that there is always too much to do and not enough time to do it.

Does this, perchance describe your situation too? It does not have to! You CAN escape into the realm described earlier and live there much of the time if not always.

What do you have to get to be happy?

That is a good question. What do you need to get to be happy? Say, like Aladdin, you were granted three wishes. What would you ask for and would it make you happy? Most persons have a wish list and vast wealth, trophy spouse, good health, close friends, stimulating job, lots of leisure, bright children etc figure in it along with stuff like fame, power and a body like Adonis (or Aphrodite.)

If you have such a list, throw it out. What I have to say may startle you.

There is NOTHING that you have to get, do or be in order to be happy.

I repeat, NOTHING. In fact, happiness is your innate nature. It is hard-wired into your being. It is part of your DNA. It is ALWAYS with you.

And the question that has probably popped up in your mind is, “If happiness is my innate nature, how come I am not experiencing it? How come I am experiencing ‘My life sucks’?”

And my answer will startle you even more. You do not experience the happiness that is your innate nature because YOU HAVE SPENT YOUR ENTIRE LIFE LEARNING TO BE UNHAPPY.

Alas, ‘tis true, ‘tis all too true!

It is absolutely true that we have spent our entire lives learning to be unhappy. And we have done it unconsciously and unknowingly. The way in which we do this is by accepting that we have to “get” something so we can “do” something so we can “be” something. Thus we feel that we have to get a lot of money so we can travel to exotic places so we can be happy. Or we have to get into a relationship with a beautiful partner so we can have great sex so we can be happy.

These are all modifications of the “if-then” model and this model tells us that “if” this happens, “then” I will be happy. And I have heard thousands of variations if this. I will be happy if…I get a high-paying job…I become CEO…I get married to a beautiful and loving spouse… my son gets into Harvard… my husband would show some interest in me and the house…my wife would not start nagging me the instant I turn on the game…I had children…my children would grow up and go to college…my in-laws moved to Australia…I lost twenty pounds…I didn’t have this nagging headache all the time…I got ten million dollars…and more and more and more.

Look at all the persons around you and in your life. The only way in which you are different is the particular “if” you are craving. Look backwards at your own life. You may have changed physically but the principal difference between you now and what you were ten years ago is the particular items that appear in your “if-then” list.

This is really important, so don’t rush on. Think of your life as it is right now, as you would describe it in your journal or to a close friend. It is an excellent idea to actually write it down and read it after a few days. You will notice that – explicitly or implicitly – you have a wish list in the document. “If” only this would happen, you will be happy. Or happier.

Think of the person you were ten years ago and what life was like then. Visualize it as clearly as you can. You had a wish list back in those days as well. Chances are good that many of the items in that long-ago list are now a regular part of your life. In programs I conduct, on average, about 80% of the participants acknowledge that they have received many of the items that they wanted a decade earlier. Despite this, their sense of well-being has not increased.

Quite a few are shocked to realize this. They wonder why.

The model itself is flawed

What we don’t realize is that the “if” I get this, “then” I will be happy model is fundamentally flawed. The model itself is fallacious. But, instead of recognizing this, we simply change the items we load on the “if” side of the equation.

I met a start-up entrepreneur who dreamed of cracking a million dollars in annual revenue. Five years later he was convinced that $100 million is the mark that separates the men from the boys and something magical would happen when he crossed that line. He is now chasing $1 billion and not far from it.

Don’t laugh. Variations of this are all around you and especially in your own life. Teenagers are ecstatic at the thought of getting their own set of wheels and a beat-up, 15 year old Dodge Dart is welcome. Two decades later it takes a new Lexus to get that same feeling and this one does not last either. What’s next? A Ferrari? Or a Ferrari AND a Rolls Royce? That won’t do it either. Nor will a hundred foot yacht or your own island off the coast of Greece.

Remember what I pointed out earlier. There is NOTHING that you have to get, do or be in order to be happy. The really pernicious effect of the “If…then” model is that it is supremely effective in preventing us from experiencing the happiness that is an inextricable part of us. The more we believe in that model and try to manipulate it to become happy, the more happiness eludes us.

That is how we learn to be unhappy and most of us never catch on that this is what we are unconsciously doing.

You have experienced freedom!

Have you ever come across a scene of such spectacular beauty that it took you outside of yourself into a place of profound serenity? A place of peace and healing calm?

Perhaps a brilliant rainbow after a sharp shower? Perhaps a snow-capped peak thrusting out of wispy clouds? Perhaps the rolling ocean with big waves crashing in a hypnotic metronome against pink, sandstone cliffs? Perhaps a jagged lightning flash in the midst of a storm of awesome, majestic power? Perhaps the aurora twisting in the sky changing colour and shape continuously in a never-ending dance?

You can recall such an occasion. Virtually everyone can. Have you ever wondered why you experienced what you did? It was not the place or the scene. The travel industry grows rich off persons who return to places of magical moments hoping to recapture them.

No! What happened was this: Somehow, inexplicably, at that instant, you accepted the world exactly as it was and you were OK with it. You did not think. “That is a great rainbow but it’s off to one side. If I could move it two hundred yards to the right it would be more symmetric and ever so much better.” Or, “That’s a beautiful valley but the tree in the foreground has too many crooked branches. If I had a chainsaw and twenty minutes I could make it more impressive.”

Such thoughts never crossed your mind! The off centre rainbow was perfect in its skewed position. The crooked branches of the tree had their own charm and were, likewise, perfect in their gnarled presence.

When you accepted the scene exactly as it was, when you did not crave for it to be something else or different in some way, your habitual ‘wanting’ self dropped away.

And, instantly, the happiness that is your inherent nature surfaced and you experienced its fullness. You did not have to do anything. It rose of its own accord and you felt it. And you know you felt it because you still remember this after all the years that have passed.

Your life is perfect!

Your life right now, with all of the trials and tribulations that you face, with all of the problems that weigh you down and cause you sleepless nights, is perfect. It is every bit as perfect as the scene you can recollect. And the only reason you do not experience that same well-being is that you do not accept this. You are busy rejecting one or more aspects of your life and striving with might and main to change it using the “if…then” model. And that model itself is flawed.

No wonder you don’t experience the joy, the sheer happiness that is your essential nature!

Does this mean that you stop striving? That you don’t try to achieve goals? That you don’t try with might and main to improve your lot or build your business or accomplish great things?

Of course not! You do all those things and with every fibre of your being. But you do it from the knowledge that whether or not you succeed has no iota of bearing on your essential wellbeing. If my entrepreneur friend achieves a billion dollars in sales, Great, Life is wonderful. If he does not, Great, Life is still wonderful.

The moment you sever that link in the “If…then” statement, the model drops dead. If it happens, fine. If it does not, still fine. And you discover that life is a blast and every day is full of wondrous surprises and all of life is a joyous journey of discovery.

And here is something strange, a wondrous paradox that many have discovered. When you drop your insistence that something happen in exactly the way you want it to, the chances of your getting what you desire increase greatly

A learnable skill

Is it possible sever the link in the “if…then” model? To accept life exactly as it presents itself even while striving to achieve a vision? To live a life of great joy and fulfilment where each day brings many moments of radiant aliveness?

Absolutely it is. It is a skill. No different from learning to ride a bicycle.

If this article struck a chord in you, please do leave a comment and ask a question. If others chime in and ask the same question or a variation of it, I will answer it directly.

Enjoy,

Dr. Srikumar Rao

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