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It's a funny old world, but not always funny ha-ha. These days the newspapers are filled with protests to austerity measures, a struggling economy, and future financial uncertainties. It can be enough to even get the most positive people down.That's why you must be careful what you let in your mind, because what you let in becomes a weapon in one of the most important battles of your life.
This battle is being fought by all of us, in the workplace and in our daily lives, which affects our relationships with others and the way we view ourselves. It's the battle for your mind.
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I've already written how filling our hearts and minds with negativity will not help us achieve our heart's desires, but I've also written how I like to start my day by finding out what's going on (or currently going wrong) in our world. Because filling our lives with positive influences (by reading upbeat fiction for example) is different than reading news reports - we can't bury our heads in the sand when it comes to the current state of our world.
MSN UK recently published a report on the appeal of a solitary existence for men. But living in isolation is not the way of the universe; man might want to live on an island, but the reality is he is not an island unto himself. We are all interconnected, and the news we read today has a stronger chance to directly impact our lives more than ever.
It's an idealised view to think we can banish all negativity so as to make it alien to our eyes, and it reminds me of a story I read once were a grandmother shielded her grandson from every evil in the world, and when he grew up fell foul to the first evil thing he came across, because he didn't have the knowledge to recognise it.
And as I explained why I read the news daily in response to a reader's mail in my "Align Yourself with Love" post - we need to recognise the negative so that we can consciously change them into positive thoughts. The first thing I do every morning after my daily routine is to read or listen to something positive. Your mind, like your body, is like a garden - whatever you plant grows. So, I pull out the weeds and plant good stuff.
And I do this with my 90 mind healing programme and I do it with love, because love is a great immune booster.
Turning bad into beautiful
One of my fatal flaws used to be that I obsessed over negative situations. When something bad happened I had a hard time thinking about anything else. A recent problem put this old habit of mine to the test; due to some family problems I had passed an important deadline on an article. I received an email from the publisher, which not only voiced their displeasure but also ominously requested a phone conversation early the next week.
Thanks to an inability to compartmentalise negative thoughts, my old self would have spent the entire weekend with the impending uncomfortable conversation dominating my thoughts.
You know how it is. It's much like when a catchy tune gets stuck in your head, except this is the stressful, "have-nightmares-about-it" version. You keep running through the impending problem (in my case the phone call) over and over again in your mind, trying to figure out how it will go.
But this time I didn't do that; thanks to my 90 mind healing programme I no longer had my previous mindset. And there were two things I did that helped me turn something bad into beautiful.
First, instead of worrying all Saturday and Sunday, I did some baking and enjoyed a wonderful weekend stargazing with my twin flame.
Taking a step back can sometimes work wonders to help you gain a proper perspective, and looking up at the night sky can help you discover the wisdom and the magic of our place in the universe - and when I came back to the problem, I was energised and focused enough to work my way out of it and turn bad into good.
Because when you mess up, you are actually being given a chance to learn a lot about yourself. Life's challenges are not supposed to paralyse you, they're supposed to help you discover who you are. They're meant to show us what we value the most when we venture out from our everyday lives. They mark our experiences, and can be markers for our growth.
Second, I have an incredible network of people who can keep me level headed in these situations. My family offer me unconditional support, and after I explained the situation to my twin flame, he said something that was both wise and helpful - and short and to the point.
"It's a phone call. What's the worst that can happen?"
And he was right. When something in life occurs that is troubling, we are not supposed to dwell on the thing itself. Instead, the focus should be on our obligation to turn this bad thing into something beautiful. It's not easy. But, if you focus your creative energy away from self torture and onto "how you can turn this into something beautiful" mode, then pretty remarkable things start to happen.
Thanks to being in this mindset, I avoided mentally torturing myself over the weekend, and I discovered something beautiful. I realised that in order to get through the weekend and to avoid the stress, I was re-doubling my efforts at doing good things I enjoyed. I was baking, I spent some quality time with my twin flame, and made some unforgettable memories. But I also put more thought and effort into my remaining articles for the next two weeks. I worked harder than I had previously and devoted all my magic time to completing all my work tasks.
This "focus on good" automatically elevated me from any bad mood, relieved the pressure, and turned the world positive again.
To make matters even better, my call with the publisher turned out to be positive. My apology was accepted, and instead of conflict, I had three more articles to send that was two weeks ahead of their deadlines.
And I decided to share my experience, because there's a lesson here for all of us. Failure isn't bad. Failure isn't final. If there is one thing I know after having observed this crazy, beautiful world, it's that you can SURVIVE almost anything and come back better and stronger than ever before. Don't let the fear of failure stop you from achieving the success you deserve.
When things go bad, double up your efforts on doing good things. It makes you feel better, and may help even the karmic scale. You can turn bad news into something beautiful by taking positive action towards your mission and vision. Hopefully you can take a beautiful message from your bad mistakes.
Live positive to be positive
High self-esteem can only come from moral productivity and achievement - but turning something bad into something beautiful is not a fix limited to business. It can be applied to other areas of our life. So when things turn bad in business or love for you, turn them beautiful by taking action, being productive, and improving the lives of the people involved, whether they are your loved ones or customers and clients.
For example, let's say you are going through a divorce or loss of love of any kind. Everyone's been there. We've all had bad break-ups.
But understand it's probably not your fault. Whatever led to that loss of love is their problem, not yours. And so it's not a time for you to wallow in self-pity, for that will do you no good.
Instead, this is the time to be at your most beautiful. If you're funny, you shouldn't hide inside watching reruns of "When Harry Met Sally". You should get out and get together with your friends who love you for being funny. If you're a natural born-organiser, you shouldn't be at home torturing yourself and analysing what went wrong. Instead you should be organizing a party with all of the people who matter to you and still love you.
I know it's easier said then done - BUT it can be done. If you're in this situation now, you can do it. I believe in you.
However, if you ever want to achieve great things in your life, you must first start with belief in yourself. This small spark can turn into a raging fire that can burn down the bridges to your past and help you eliminate the obstacles that you face every day. Once you have this belief, you will become unstoppable if you also take action. Focus on small progress every day and live every moment - and don’t fear failure. You don't have to be perfect, just persistent. Realise that every second that you are not taking action is another day living the life you so desperately want to change.
So, here's what you need to do to start turning the balance of bad into beautiful. You need to simply take action, get moving, and build some momentum. Taking a walk, a simple stroll in some fresh air, is the easiest way to get started on your road to recovery. Stare up at the night sky - see the bigger picture of where we are in the great picture of things.
During my stargazing weekend, the time with my twin flame allowed me to clear my head and use my creativity to identify solutions to the current issue. In fact, alongside being therapeutic, just allowing myself some baking time brought me six ideas for new projects.
Don't dwell on the negative. Instead, focus on what you can do to turn the bad into beautiful. Flip your creative energy from self-torture to making the mistake into a positive opportunity. When you identify good things that you can do or the benefits of this new life change, remarkable things will happen.
You'll find solutions for your problem. I promise. Change your perspective and opportunity arises out of the ashes.
An example of perspective: the full moon of May
I've already written about the relatively uncommon celestial event known as the "supermoon" that my twin flame and I had set our clocks to on the early hours of last Sunday - and there is no better example to use than this for the importance of perspective.
The Moon was expected to appear at its best at around 4.30am on Sunday, just after the satellite hit perigee, the point in its orbit when it is closest to Earth.
The Moon's distance from Earth varies because it follows an elliptical orbit rather than a circular one. At this stage, it would be around 356,400 km away - compared to an average distance of around 384,000 km. This meant that, weather permitting, the Moon could appear up to 14% bigger and 30% brighter than a full moon at its farthest distance, just one minute after the moon made its closest approach to Earth.
Supermoon in 2014 to accompany Perseid shower.
However, to the naked eye the Moon hitting its peak doesn't amount to much brightness, as my twin flame had warned me: "The eye is so good at compensating for changes in brightness that you simply don't notice the brightness," he said. "What you may notice is that the Moon will be a little bit bigger."
Again interestingly, although the Moon is only slightly closer to Earth in its orbit than on average, the effect on its size (the reason it's called "super") is most noticeable because it occurs at the same time as a full moon.
So, from where you stand, perspective matters. And a "supermoon" - although was a romantic event for me - is seen as a bad omen by others. The tragic earthquake and tsunami in Japan in March 2011 set the internet abuzz with the idea that a supermoon in the same month had played a role in the devastating natural disaster.
Read more about moons and superstition.
It was astrologer Richard Nolle who linked the full moon of the 19th of March in 2011 to natural disasters. He claimed that this "supermoon" (a term it's said he coined over 30 years ago) would trigger massive earthquakes, volcanoes and powerful storms when it arrived, since it was making its closest approach to Earth in 18 years.
Astrologer Nolle posted his thoughts on supermoons being associated with increased risks of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions on his website.
Lining up just a minute or so in time from the exact lunar perigee, and just over 12 hours from the Moon’s south declination peak, with a Mars (Max)-Neptune opposition in effect at the time, this particular SuperMoon augurs something extra, something in addition to the typical elevated SuperMoon risk of strong storms, extreme tides and news-making seismic activity (M 5+ earthquakes and volcanic eruptions). There’s something here about disruption to energy supplies, chemical accidents or attacks, and/or acts of violence that have geopolitical consequences. How much of this is weather related or seismically-induced – and some of it probably will be - and how much is owing to mishap or malice (particularly covert action), remains to be seen. But whatever disruption may occur will likely be even more problematic due to weather issues.
But scientists have dismissed notions that the phenomenon could cause bizarre behaviour or natural disasters. Its most significant impact is likely to be on the tide.
The Moon's effects on Earth have been the subject of extensive studies. When the Moon is closest to the Earth and full or new, you get an increase in the tidal pull in the ocean because the gravity of the moon and the sun line up - which is why it's likely to cause higher tides as it reaches its closest point to Earth. But while the moon helps drive Earth's tides, it is not capable of triggering devastating earthquakes.
Which side do you agree with will depend on your perspective - and your positive and negative outlook on life. For some, the event portends the brightest full moon of the year, promising a sight for skywatchers - for others it can spell disaster. For some, it could be a bit of both. As another astrologer noted for last weekend:
Sunday’s full moon is considered a ‘Supermoon’ and it is at 16 degrees of Scorpio. Scorpio is the most intense of signs, so nothing about this moon will be superficial. Scorpio is associated with sex and money, and Mercury aligns with Venus giving this full moon potential for connecting with someone special or a positive time for your social life! Unfortunately, on the same day Mercury opposes Saturn. Oppositions mean the problem generally comes from another individual, so it is through interaction with others or communication with others you may feel limited. The transit is tiring, and will have a greater affect is it is hitting a personal planet in your chart at 23-24 degrees of Libra/Aries. The transit moves quickly, only a few hours in duration.
But what we invariably find in life is that it will always be a bit of both, and the battle for your mind will be to always remain positive - and you'll discover that this positive outlook grounded with perspective becomes a love-barrier that protects you.
In this context, the battle for your mind is a battle for perspective, to have the ability to see the larger picture when you're stuck in a narrow place. This is especially true for those that get stressed out in the workplace.
The battle you must win
The battle for our minds usually isn't a struggle against brainwashing (although most of us are mildly brainwashed). The battle for our minds isn't usually about politics, consumer culture, and mass media. The battle for our minds is fought out in the workplace due largely to what some experts call the paradox of intelligence.
More intelligent people tend to have jobs that require very high levels of mental engagement (not to mention, longer work weeks). If you're a doctor, lawyer, accountant, consultant, teacher, etc., then chances are your thoughts are consumed by work-related activities (and that you have less-than-average amounts of free time).
Highly intelligent people are more likely to exchange their brainpower for money, and less likely to retain much of said brainpower for themselves. They're more likely to enrol in mentally demanding graduate programs and accept mentally demanding jobs.
In the western world we're taught that if we have the capacity to be a doctor then it's somehow a "waste" to work retail, make coffees for a living, or become a farmer - even though a retailer worker, barista, or farmer get to own more of their thoughts.
Hence, the paradox of intelligence which says that in general, the more intelligent you are, the less brainpower you're likely to keep for yourself. The smarter you are, the less you keep your mind for yourself. The more intelligent you are, the greater the probability that an employer owns too much of your brainpower.
As a result of this paradox, intelligent people are losing the battle for their minds. They simply have less mental energy at the end of the day to ask the bigger questions. They have less mental energy and time needed to gain perspective.
The battle for our minds is really the battle create our own thought destinies. The battle for our minds is the battle for our own thoughts. The battle for our minds is the battle to think on our own terms and on our own timetable. It's the battle for freedom to let our minds wander, because the best thoughts emerge from the most unlikely places, and when we're lavishing ourselves with time.
Last weekend was proof for me that the best thoughts happen when we're staring out windows and daydreaming; they happen when we're looking at scenes like a clear night sky (because we're really there). They happen when we have perspective.
The best thoughts occur when you don't have to have them, they occur after plenty of rest, they occur when you're grasping the gestalt of life. The best thoughts occur when we're mindful of the full immensity of this beautiful thing called existence.
The battle for the mind is important because we desperately lack perspective. Raoul Vaneigem once wrote that "Everything has [already] been said [and] all our knowledge is essentially banal." And he's right. If you read the profound thoughts of any great teacher or leader, you'll likely find no new knowledge. What you will find, however, is heaps of timeless perspective. You'll find knowledge deeply rooted in perspective and amplified by perspective.
Whenever I get writer's block (which as any writer knows is like a leech that can suck the lifeblood out of any writer mentally, emotionally and spiritually) I read this saying I have on my wall by Robert Fleege.
Found in Egyptian writings dating 5000 BC: "It is so hard to be a writer these days when everything has been written" - Adds perspective to your writer's block doesn't it?
It sure does!
Great thinkers and teachers are great because their perspective forces you to take a second glance at the knowledge you already have. And their perspective is so compelling because it couldn't have come from anywhere except direct experience.
It's the kind of perspective that requires variety, and discursive thinking, and moments where we stop to look up at the sky. The kind of perspective that requires new experiences, reflection, and carefree conversations with friends and loved ones.
There are no perspective short-cuts. To get perspective you have to live a little, and wallow in the mud of life. You have to get your hands dirty with this beautiful business of living. You have to question, meditate, and fail often. You simply have to make space for perspective and hope that it will come eventually. You have to spend time in a manner that would seem self-indulgent to most, but is actually the most productive in terms of self-growth.
When 44-year-old Hawaiian surfer Garrett McNamara entered the Guinness Book of Records for riding the biggest wave ever thought to have been ridden, he used his feat to urge people to follow their passions. On the day he broke the record, he at first had not wanted to take a ride but his friends urged him to catch a few waves. Commenting on the record, he said: "The world would be a much better place if everyone was doing what they wanted to do".
Now, I'm not saying you have to give up your job and go surfing, or work a little less harder to gain perspective, I'm saying that we have to balance our ego's desire to gain an "important" job; get balance against the very materialism that encourages us to exchange too many of our thoughts for money; and against the collective flattery (of society) that sweet talks us into crazy-busy careers.
When the scales are tipped in favour of all work and no play, then all this can create a downhill rush towards negativity. And the battle for our minds really isn't about reclaiming brainpower to do our own taxes or solve more Sudoku puzzles. When workaholics give up their minds each workday in devotion to balancing spreadsheets, selling widgets, arguing cases, etc., it's not knowledge they're missing out on. It's perspective.
It's often said of the stereotype that highly intelligent people lack common sense; but I believe it's a lack of perspective - and that anyone runs the risk of lacking perspective as a result of handing an unhealthy amount of their brainpower to their workplace. We desperately lack perspective because we are a society of workaholics, and workaholism is like kryptonite to perspective.
And when you ask yourself, "Who's winning the battle for your mind?" - all you have to do is take a look at the newspaper headlines as a warning to see how much perspective we've lost in our lives.
Yours in love,
