Love is the Bright Side of Life

In my "Love Makes You a Believer" post, I look at some of the negativity prevalent in our world today, but as individuals, we must look at the bright side of everyone and everything.

For most people, the world has never had it so good. Look on the bright side of your struggles. Stay positive through everything. Change your perspective to change your life, because sometimes the most beautiful gifts in life come in the most unexpected packages.

Imagine your life as a newborn baby, which views the world as something precious, and you as its provider. Take your life by the hand as you would your child, and guide it through every step of its journey.

And just like having a child, taking on the responsibility of our lives is a lifelong duty that we mustn't shirk. Bringing life to the world is an awesome power women have (and real men appreciate), but giving life to YOUR life is a power that we can all tap into.

Part of that power is having a positive perspective, especially when life gets challenging. We all remember being a teenager, hitting the number 13 and suddenly thinking that our parents were the most embarrassing, annoying things on the planet. Anger and angst seems to be a teenage truth, but teenagers don't have a monopoly on anger.

Angst in our formative years can be a cause of the hormonal changes our bodies go through; it's a time of big changes, and discoveries on the path of getting to who we really are - but anger in adulthood can be debilitating.

In overcoming anger, I always come from the perspective that it is humbling to negotiate, compromise and especially admit fault and make reparations. To make this happen requires elegance, maturity and a willingness to see the other person's point of view. We must remember that we judge others by their actions, but we judge ourselves by our intentions, and vice versa. And our actions - and words - affect other people. So we need to be kind, for everyone we meet is fighting their own hard battle.

A kind word costs nothing - and sometimes a string of words can capture so much meaning, that when it happens a timeless quote is born. We use some of the best ones to help inspire us in our lives. Words put together right can be shining examples that motivate us to shine brighter in our daily lives.

We all want to add our own beam of light into the world. To get the necessary motivation to do that, just consider this piece if advice from Lao Tzu: Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.

And destiny is a journey that we must all face.

We all have a path, we just have to figure out where that path is going to take us. A big guide is to follow your passion. That's the big buzz, identifying our passions and finding out who we are. Some say dreams are like stars, you may never touch them, but if you follow them they will lead you to your destiny. While others believe that although every human being has dreams, it takes real wisdom to know which ones to chase and which ones to let go - and you can do that with the help of your mistakes. It's an evolving process, because we are evolving people.

See what it is inside you that you feel needs to be expressed to the world at large. Take what it is you love, and discover your message that's driving you on in life.

Read how to discover your passion.

And remember you must take action - which is often inspired by something inside which will help you take the first step, however small. Just take that step, feel more confident then take another one, one step at a time. Doing nothing is not an option. When I procrastinate, I always remind myself of Edmund Burke's quote: "All that's necessary for the forces of evil to win in the world is for enough good men to do nothing."

And then I ask myself, why don't you want to act, why don't you want to change? Is it because I sense I've reached the limits of my comfort zone? Well, sitting in your comfy spot won't help you get up and get to where you got to go. You have to go through life, no matter what.

Click here for 5 ways to change your life!

Don't wait around for your life to happen to you. Find something that makes you happy and do it. Everything else is just background noise, as George Mason said. And I have found that inspiration comes from taking action with inner confidence.

Self confidence is the most powerful aphrodisiac there is - not just in attracting other people, but in attracting success in all areas of your life. Differentiate this from arrogance, however, which is just a pointless exercise in narcissism. Arrogant people use their knowledge to bully people into submission. That's a misuse of power.

Self confidence is about belief in yourself. It's about having the courage not to go with the majority if you disagree, but to understand that what makes an individual uniquely human is the personal touch.

This will mean that not everyone will like you, but even Mother Theresa had her fair share of critics. I say teach yourself to love all people, but not that all people will love you. If you don't let it bother you, then the negativity of other people has no power over you. It's all a matter of perspective. Power is given, control is taken. Don't give negative people power over your life, take control of your life. That's self confidence.

And power is a funny thing. Sometimes it feels good to give up power, as we do in love relationships. In love we often win by surrendering. Sometimes you can let someone else have control, because letting yourself be vulnerable opens you up to a whole new world of experience - but that is your choice, you are in control of your power, and how much you give or take back.

In a trusting love relationship, there is always the risk of breaking your heart as well as another's - but, as the poets will tell you, how else can a heart become unsealed? To discover a pearl, you first have to break the oyster's shell.

And if we were all the same, how boring life would be? Becoming average makes us less interesting, less human somehow. All your bumps and quirks is what makes you delightfully you. Rejoice in them, shine your light on them.

People who are afraid to shine their own light, will inevitably live their life vicariously through other people. This is not giving up your power for love, this is giving up who you are. And that is not your destiny. Being average is not your destiny. Being less than you are is not your destiny. This goes against the very physics of your being.

Paul Brandt's lyric, Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon, from his song "There's a World Out There" is always a favourite. I have that one framed up on my wall. And another inspirational quote about believing in yourself, this time by Albert Einstein is:

“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”

Inspire and motivate yourself with this thought: Every day we live is a once in this lifetime event. It is in your hands to make something special happen each day you are here on this planet. Manifesting love, money, or anything your heart happens to desire isn't a mystical secret afforded to the upper echelons of humanity. We can all learn to multiply our manifesting power.

Envisage yourself taking a taxi to a certain destination. You give the driver clear and specific directions so he/she can take you exactly where you want to go. In the same way, your subconscious is your cab driver. It needs specific directions.

When you give it specific directions you get what you want and life becomes easy. But if you don't give it specific directions, you don't tell it to bring you exactly what you want, you'll continue to struggle. And you keep getting more of what you don't want.

If you're not enjoying the life you want then you're not giving your subconscious clear directions. Instead, you're giving it the wrong instructions. You have to give your subconscious mind and your inner powers the right instructions, so that you get what you want and more.

For instance, if I told the taxi driver to simply take me home or didn't give him/her clear directions, we'd probably just sit there and waste a lot of time. Or what if I told the driver to take me to the zoo, but I really wanted to go to the park? I'd end up going where I didn't want to be.

And that's what happens when you give your subconscious mind the wrong instructions. You get what you don't want. You end up where you don't want to be.

Everyday you're instructing your subconscious mind and your inner powers. Those instructions are your thoughts, beliefs, attitudes and actions. Your subconscious picks up on your thoughts and beliefs. It then creates your life based on these thoughts and beliefs.

If you're not making as much money as you want, if you're not in the relationship you want, if you're not happy, if you're not as successful as you want to be, if you're struggling to just get through the day, if you're not as healthy as you want to be, if you're stressed and feel overwhelmed, if you worry and have anxiety - then you're giving the wrong instructions to your subconscious mind and inner powers.

Click here to rewire your mindset for success!

You need to change the message you're sending them. You have to give them new directions. You have to tell them to bring you exactly what you want. Give them clear instructions and you'll enjoy life, you'll succeed, and you'll get what you want.

Your life is a mirror of what's on your subconscious. If you're not living the life you want, if you're struggling or not getting what you want then you need to clean out what's on your subconscious mind.

You need to fill your subconscious with positive messages. Give it the clear directions it needs. Tell it to bring you what you want. You do that by believing that you can have what you want. Yes - you can have what you want, and when you believe in yourself, your subconscious mind and inner powers will start working for you.

Get rid of the negative thoughts. Get rid of the negative beliefs. Fill your mind with positive thoughts and positive beliefs. You'll then start seeing dramatic changes.

You are a powerful person. You have tremendous power. That power is in your subconscious mind. It will create anything you want. So get rid of the blocks that prevent your success. Get rid of the negative thoughts. Get rid of the negative beliefs.

Stop thinking about what you don't want. Instead, think of what you do want. Think of how you can succeed. Fill your mind with positive thoughts and positive beliefs. Direct your subconscious mind and your inner powers to bring you exactly what you want.

You can get what you want. You can achieve your goals. You can live the life you want to live. You can do anything, when you direct your subconscious mind and your inner powers.

It's all totally achievable with a very simple shift in your thinking and actions - believe me, I've personally experienced how powerful manifestation is and it's truly the key to creating your most perfect destiny.

The destiny of free will - you have to make your move

Now for many of us the word destiny will be a stumbling block. How can we be the navigator of our own lives, if destiny is preordained? Does predestination mean we are locked into a GPS route that we have no way out of?

If the whole course of our lives has already been charted out at the time of our birth, then free will surely is a myth? If what is going to happen to us is set in stone, then why do we bother with choices?

This is one of the many philosophical questions humankind has struggled with when asking questions about its place in the universe.

I can be scientific about it and start off with Newton's classical universe. Every particle in Newton's universe is 100% predictable, and since we are made up of those exact same particles, it follows that every single thing we do have been predestined from the very moment of creation.

On the other hand, quantum mechanics has since its very inception raised a great many philosophical and metaphysical debates about the nature of nature itself. Continuing with the discovery of the quantum properties of microscopic particles - which effectively gives "free will" to those particles - it seems we are in control once again.

Why does the question of control in our lives matter? Because if everything is predestined, then nothing matters. Every single thought in your head, every one of your actions, is not you but predestination. You have absolutely no control.

Nobody can prove free will or predestination conclusively. It is a great mental exercise to consider the possibilities, but at the end of the day, all such inquiry will end with a question mark.

But what you believe could mean the difference between living your life and merely existing, because, even with all the free will in the world, if you choose to merely exist, then it would be a supreme waste of free will.

If you have free will, then you and only you are responsible for the mess or distinction you make out of your life.

It makes you want to get up and get going, doesn't it? Maybe the question of whether or not free will exists should be rewritten as, "If there is free will, what should you be doing with your life?"

Philosophical questions such as these are esoteric subjects difficult to grasp. I know I find it difficult. Some experts have tried to make it easier to understand, by likening humans within the equation of life and destiny as chess pieces on a chessboard.

The information from the great thinkers suggest that the chessboard we are on is preordained, the game we play is preordained with certain universal rules, the way the chess set pieces look, the shapes, our parts play are preordained (like we are by our genes and so forth) but the way we perceive the game, the choices and moves we make are our own.

They say that we're not pieces being played by an unseen hand, we're the ones playing the pieces that life (as destiny) provides. More importantly, the game won't play itself, you have to utilise action, and play the game, one move at a time.

But we mustn't misconstrue the analogy of a game being compared to life as though we're playing against something to win. Experts reassure us that there are no winners or losers; it's how you play the game that counts. And at the end of it, there are some that believe there will be somebody holding you accountable.

Here the philosophical question gets even more complicated when religion enters the equation along with the differing views that will inevitably clash - because religious dogma by its nature means if it must be right, then the opposing view must be wrong.

In religious philosophy, the question of free will versus predestination i.e., I make a choice versus I was meant to make a specific choice is based largely on Jews, Christians and Muslims (and many other adherents of religious beliefs) all feeling that a God of some divine source has a plan for all of us. Some argue that would mean that some have been programmed for Hell, while others programmed for Heaven, so doesn't that make God cruel, or at the very least, unjust?

And if we're playing God's game by God's rules, is God playing us? Or is God playing umpire? Or has God given us free will rather than be our umpire, because in life (like in chess) the only umpire should be our own mind? Are we playing the game ourselves, with God standing completely outside of our perspective of the game? God would have to, if God is omnipotent - because you need to be in a position to "see all" to know all.

And again if God knows the outcome of every game that will ever be played, if every game is preordained its players and its results, then what is the purpose of living? There's no purpose of playing at existing, if it's just pretence.

Think of us on that chessboard. Are we really in control of our own destiny, or are we meant to feel we are in control of our own destiny, but when, in fact, it's destiny leading us where we should be going?

This is a great debate and everyone will have their opinions, and the answer varies depending on the interpretation. However, some philosophers believe that many of those variances are due to a basic misunderstanding of the question itself. They believe it is better understood as a question of the difference between our perspective on reality and God's (or fate's) perspective on reality.

The simple explanation they say is this: "I" am a linear being. I experience reality as a sequence of events. I come to a choice, make it according to my own judgement, and proceed onward along that new path. Hence the concept of free will.

"God", fate, or destiny is a non-linear being, concept, or whatever, existing outside of the flow of events, experiencing all points of time simultaneously. Hence in a position to know all choices that will be made, are made, and were made. Hence, predestination. So as such, these concepts are not mutually exclusive but instead indicate varying perspectives.

Thus God's (or the universe's) perspective of the chessboard and our own are completely different. For those that adhere to this belief, God is not just in a different league, God is not playing or even part of the game.

Searching for your destiny

Others believe the answer lies in the belief that destiny for all of us is to reach the divine source created us. This plan is housed within what they term as the super conscious mind, and is always seeking a way to draw it to our conscious attention through subconscious mind.

The feeling we get when things are "meant to be" is said to usually come from decisions we made before we entered our physical body, and no matter how hard you try, you will not make it go away. Most do not remember this covenant with the soul in their physical lifetime.

Beyond this there are those that believe there is no destiny but the one we create for ourselves, we create in our thoughts the reality we will experience which is then re-created through subconscious mind. It seems that someone else is pulling the strings but actually, we are. The best way is to make our goals in life count toward our real progression.

And if you believe that we all have a preordained path we need to find, then being here to be the best person you can be is a good goal to have - and yet many people find as they get a little older that there is a gnawing feeling that there is something they MUST do before their life on this Earth is ended.

People are constantly searching, constantly choosing, constantly selecting visuals to put together the movie of their life. But these visuals are from outward influences, from what we read, see and hear in the world around us, rather than the internal influence of what is inside. Have we merely swapped the divine guidance of destiny for a more superficial one?

If every choice is based on hundreds if not thousands of influences that can range from past situations and upbringing to an imbalance in the strings of the universe, then this suggests that no human action can be independent. But many would argue that the inherent vagueness of the universe on the quantum level suggests that maybe this is not a completely mechanical universe, which would make free will possible.

Some believe both are true in a working functioning paradox, but the extreme of both is not true. They say that not every moment of every soul's life is predetermined prior to it happening, but that this does not mean that there can not be an omniscient deity. They distinguish between omniscience as knowing what will happen based on knowing the choices that individuals will make, and predestination as knowing what will happen because all of it is set in stone.

For instance, you might know a close friend's relationship is going to end, because you know the guy will get bored and cheat after six months, but seven months later when the relationship did in fact end, it wasn't because you knew it was going to, but because the man made a choice that ruined it.

You knew what was going to happen, but it wasn't set in stone. So, if that can be possible on the human level, could it not be possible on a larger scale involving God or the fate or the universe?

In the same breath, believing in both means to reject the extreme of free will, too. Thus sometimes there might be destiny, in the sense that destiny is a moment or event which was meant to happen, but choices must still be made. For example, this is true if you believe in the "one true love" twin flame pairing of lovers.

Suppose in some near future, a person is waiting for a taxi cab feeling very lonely, when a stranger shows up and begins to cheer him or her up, with talk about the things read in this article today.

Maybe that's why you're reading this, you're meant to be that person. Maybe that moment is destiny, so to get there things are "bent". Something you read here today could be the point of conversation that will break the ice. Maybe there are two hundred small influences that get you to that moment, where based on your beliefs and the other person's, it's love and happy ever after.

Or you take a walk, choke up, and don't say anything and he/she walks on by. That moment might have been intended (predestined, even), but choices still have to be made.

And does luck or chance or serendipity have anything to do with it? Again some individuals believe people don't make their own luck, but are born with a certain amount you use up until it runs out. Some believe there is no such thing as luck at all, you create your own reality where luck isn't even an option. And some believe chance is not the way of the universe, and they often quote Einstein who said: God does not play dice.

However, many people are okay with the idea that in life there might be times, places, certain conversations you're supposed to have that change what would otherwise be, while the rest of the time you're allowed to make choices of your own free will. You don't even have to be convinced that the "predestined" moments are set in stone, there could be an element of luck over things working out. That's a paradox - at the best a contradiction in terms - but then life is full of contradictions.

There will be those that believe in a balance of both views, because they find too many "coincidences" to ever fully believe in completely uninfluenced and total free will, but by the same token want to believe that we are not pawns simply played in some unjust deity's game, and that some type of free will has to exist.

Therefore this free will/predestination argument which is neither for one or against the other, is one where life is a working paradox in which both exist to some extent, where day to day there is overwhelmingly free will in our actions, however heavily influenced.

And if you're atheist, then I would assume based on the metaphysics of the universe that free will is the more obviously defensible choices of a universe that is not 100% clear and mechanical.

But whether we create our own destiny, or are simply trying to figure out the destiny the universe has created for us, some leave the philosophy and look at the practical aspect of life. This means results. What do we want our life to be? How can we make our lives happier, more successful, more abundant with our heart's desires?

Some experts say to start manifesting the life of your dreams you have to believe in it, but if you don't, give it a try anyway, and when you see it working, you will become a believer. Others say that clarity is very important; it must make complete and utter sense to you, but either way we shouldn't be afraid of keeping an open mind - because the answer to living the life of your dreams is to be found outside the boundaries of your comfort zone.

Visualise your destiny

Living the life of your dreams, literally visualising the destiny you desire for yourself, means learning and implementing techniques that make you a stronger, happier person and promote your well being.

There's a lot of material out there and it's not often you can find a technique you can learn in just a few minutes, which doesn't cost you money and is powerful enough to bring about the change you desire to see in your life.

But this is what my 90 day mind healing programme will do. It retrains your brain to see the bright side of life. It's a technique that works for absolutely anything - from ridding yourself of stress to overcoming limiting beliefs to dealing with body aches and pains - and you can do it in the privacy of your own home.

Its golden formula for success is a mixture of meditation and mindful breathing, visualisation and gaining the right perspective. You engage the mind, you engage the body, you engage your spirit with music, affirmations and visualising with the powerful faculty of your imagination, which will result in powerful, sudden, positive changes occur in your life. These develop from small changes to profound internal shifts that will alter the way you approach your life and any challenges that come your way. That's the secret of its success.

And as you cleanse yourself and rid yourself of your limiting blocks, you'll be gaining a greater clarity of vision and perspective, which will help you find your own unique destiny, and visualise it.

And in manifesting your desires into life in alignment with your purpose, visualisation is the first step to retraining your subconscious with specific directions to do this. You have to visualise what you want, and be very specific about it.

How do we apply this to our lives? We have creative faculties, the ability to create a vision or image. Imagination is the creative faculty from which images arise - and it is from these higher faculties that all inventions, or discoveries arise.

Think about it, everything made by us began as an image in someone's mind. The computer screen you are reading this from, the internet, the browser, the blogging platform, all were once images in someone's mind. Your concious mind is built with your imagination.

But the real key to effective visualisation lies in the understanding that visualisation is more than just making a mental picture in you head. Because obviously there will be people that can't do that - they might not be very visual thinkers, or like people blind from birth, they may not think in concept of images.

Visualisation in this context, therefore, means anything your imagination can conjure up - be it an emotion, a feeling, a sound, a picture, an image, but what you're really going for is a feeling. Attracting your heart's desires is all about your emotions, and visualisation (even if not a visual activity) must be connected to your emotions. So when we visualise our perfect partner, we must conjure up our emotions, too. How will it make you feel? Channel the emotional state you want to achieve.

In this way, it's believed, the universe reacts to these vibrations you give off in your emotional state to help you attract your desires to manifest in your life.

Read about how thoughts become things.

The great thing about being human is the whole range of emotions we have, which are subjective to the individual. Emotions are not universally good or bad, there is no one solid truth to what we feel - our emotions are what we interpret or consider to be great feelings. It depends on what makes YOU feel good or bad.

Once you can get into the feeling of what you want more of in your life, then you'll be in vibrational resonance from an energetic point of view with your desires, and that's what the universe brings to you.

Experts say this perpetual transmutation of energy is a universal law, the movement of energy where something manifests into a different form though the medium of the molecule.

Thus the right way to think of visualisation is to conjure up the emotional state you wish in your mind rather than just an image - whether you do that with pictures, smells, or whatever is suitable for your own unique self - so that when you repeatedly visualise your desires everyday with emotion, this will change your vibrational state to send out the necessary signals to the universe to provide the resources required to attract your desires into the reality of your life.

This is why emotion is very important to the visualisation you build. You are connecting your physical vision to your imagination and emotions, rather than just the physical five senses - it's connecting up your vision to the emotional mind we call the subconscious, and in this way opening your mind up to the entire universe.

Come on over to the bright side of life

When your body and spirit are in harmony with the constant movement of your mind, which has opened up to positive visualisations with emotion, it streams right to your subconscious to change the vibratory tone of your body and to change your life. Then your universal intelligence or spiritual essence takes over, which operates by the laws of the universe to turn your visualisations into reality.

Visualisation, therefore, is taking you to an area of yourself that maybe you've never gone, it's not just for psychiatry purposes to retrain a broken mind. It's for everyone that wants to achieve awareness and be emotionally involved in their story, and not find themselves standing on the sidelines as an extra in the movie of their life.

And thus the answer to life may not be whether the path has been ordained or is taken by free will, but whether we have been true to ourselves on the journey we walk.

Finally, to stay emotionally involved, another key to visualisation is repetition. Repetition is the first law of learning and you place your precious visualisations into the treasury of your mind through constant repetition. As we're programmed first genetically and then environmentally, it's through repetition that you will alter your programme to bring you in alignment with your true destiny - to become one with your passion.

Read about the power of thoughts.

Think of it like rebooting your brain with new software that’s quickly installed, programming you with specific instructions that puts YOU in control of your life.

You can rewire your brain to regain control of your life, while combining it with emotive visualisations that unleash the power of your vibratory resonance OUT into the universe to attract everything your heart desires.

This is EXACTLY the RIGHT combination that will help you release the happy and healthy person that's hidden inside you, once and for all - the person it's in your destiny to be, to walk hand in hand with love, on the bright side of life.

Yours in love,