Daily Positive Thoughts: January 21, 2017: Character

Daily Positive Thoughts: January 21, 2017: Character

Character

Humility dismisses nothing; rather, it takes even small things into consideration. It recognizes that whatever life presents, needs to be respected. Small things are easily found in something big, but inside little things there is often greatness.

Radiating The Right Energy (Part 2)

Whenever we perform an action, we carry an intention, which is behind the action. This intention as well as the action itself decides what the result of the action will be. E.g. You are on a train journey and you meet five different people on the journey and with everyone you have a different experience. It’s like we pass positive or negative energy to them and they take the energy with them even after the journey is over. In the same way, we come across different people in all our lives in different births. Some people we spend more time with and some people we just meet for a few minutes and after that we don’t even see them. All of them receive a certain quality of energy from us which gets stored in their consciousness. Even if they change physical bodies they do not forget what they have received from you on a sub-conscious level and at some point of time they will return what you have given them. This is the law of karma which applies to all our births.

No one can run away from this law and it does not require God’s intervention also. God is a silent spectator to this law. But what He does do is teach us how to live life and perform good actions and it is upto us as to how much we follow what He teaches. A basic and fundamental principle of what God teaches is that we are all souls and our original qualities are of peace, love, happiness, purity and power. All actions performed in the consciousness of the soul and by being full of these original qualities are positive actions. On the other hand, negative actions are actions performed in the consciousness of the body and under the influence of the many vices and weaknesses that arise out of body consciousness like anger, ego, lust, greed and attachment.

(To be continued tomorrow …)

Your inner wisdom is your best guide.

It comes from three places; experience, learning & intuition. 

Experience comes from engaging with life, 

Learning comes from observing, & 

Intuition comes from listening to ourselves.

Take the opportunity at the end of the day to gather all three. Ask yourself: What was my life experience, today? What did I learn from others? What did my intuition say?

Tune into your inner wisdom & listen to gain valuable feedback, (note it down if you want) & recalibrate for the next day.

Message for the day

Methods of self-progress bring harmony with people.

Thought to Ponder: It is normally believed that people who spend time with meditation or prayer or any means of self-progress tend to cut off from others. In reality, it is just the opposite. Someone who really works for self-progress would want to contribute from what he has, to others too. Also, it would bring the ability to deal with others in the right way, bringing harmony.

Point to Practice: Today I will spend a few minutes with one thought "I am peace", spreading peace to the place and the people around me. I will remind myself of this from time to time. I will then observe my interaction with others. A small little change that I observe is enough to encourage me to continue with my efforts. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: January 20, 2017: Self-respect

Daily Positive Thoughts: January 20, 2017: Self-respect

Self-respect

Self-respect is not a matter of what you are doing in your life, but rather of how you are doing it. It requires that you bring quality and virtue into each action, whatever that action may be.

Radiating The Right Energy (Part 1)

A very important feature of our life is building a strong relationship with God, in such a way so as to be able to live our life complete with trust and understanding and without any doubts in the help that God is ready to give us. God is awake every moment of our complete 24 hour day ready to provide us protection and care. All we need to do is remain connected with Him on a subtle level and never leave His protection of love and power. The moment we lack trust in God, God also distances himself from us and becomes unavailable to us. So it is up to us to reach out to God in a natural way throughout the day by talking to Him and keeping Him in a powerful bond with us and not letting Him go away at any moment. Although God can help us even if we do not keep Him with us in every action of the day, but this is not how God works and this is not His personality. He is the one Father and we are all His children and if He wants He can be with each one of us at one time. But the law of the world and its Father (God) is that if I remember Him, He offers help in return. 

That does not mean God is not unconditional but we have to understand that God is our parent and for a parent, all children are equal but He also observes their actions and how much are they like His actions and then offers His help. This is the reason why so many souls in the world are in pain today and yet God is not always helping them or removing the sorrow from their life. A beggar on the street is also God’s child, but he is in sorrow. So can’t God send someone for his help and bring lots of money to the beggar, so that he could live life in happiness. Why does the beggar continue to be in sorrow? Because he has performed some negative actions in this or a previous life and as a result of the actions, today he is in sorrow. But if in the present, he remembered God a lot and continued to perform good actions, slowly over a period of time, God would help him and he would overcome the sorrow in his life. Also, by remembering God and performing positive actions, the influence of his past actions on his present would be reduced, so as to bring a positive change of events on his life which would make him happier. This is true for all of us.

(To be continued tomorrow …)

Stop feeling terrified, start feeling terrific!

Often when we feel unsure about ourselves & are unwilling to do something different, we slip into feeling terrified.

Each day decide to feel terrific & have a terrific time.

Feel comfortable in your own skin & give yourself the permission to feel confident & feel great. Then you'll be ready to seize the moment & be terrific.

Message for the day

True introspection is realization of our inner qualities. 

Thought to Ponder: Realizing one's own mistakes and making amendments is usually associated with negative feelings. But true introspection lies in realizing one's own positive qualities. It is to see ourselves with "real eyes" and see the hidden potential and strengths. When we truly realize, there is change and that mistake would never be repeated. 

Point to Practice: Today I will see a strength of mine. This is some quality that I really like about me. In whatever I do today, I will keep awareness of this specialty as a background. This will help me bring quality to whatever I do. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: January 19, 2017: Don't lose Today

Daily Positive Thoughts: January 19, 2017: Don't lose Today

 

Don't lose Today

If yesterday was lost in grief, don't lose today and tomorrow by keeping it in your memory.

Self Conversations And Their Significance

A very important subtle activity that we all indulge in for a lot of time in the day is having conversations with the self, sometimes consciously and a large number of times without even being conscious of it. We need to be extremely careful about what the quality of our conversations are because self-conversations very strongly influence our perception i.e. the way we see ourselves, others, situations as well as our personalities and also mould them. If channeled properly, they can be constructive i.e. ones that empower the self; if not, they can be destructive i.e. ones that bring the self down or weaken it in some way or the other. They possess immense potential, both positive and negative, if we want we can use them to liberate us or they can even limit us.  We can judge, criticize and threaten ourselves or praise and encourage the self in a positive way. It's important to create thoughts of acceptance, respect and approval for ourselves, even if situations don't go the way we desire or expect. Such positive conversations help rise above the dependence on what how people see us and what they think and talk about us, making the self extremely powerful.

Positive self-conversations are not fantasies or disconnecting from reality and a few minutes given to the activity do a lot of benefit and no harm at all. They can be done by detaching oneself from actions when we have an emerged conversation and our complete focus is on the conversation and we do nothing else at that time or whilst being involved in actions. Some actions like going on a drive, cooking, having a meal or simply taking a walk or going on a jog allow self-conversations to take place alongside. At these times we give less mental energy or attention to the conversations i.e. we can have a merged conversation so that the respective action is not affected adversely in any way. We can choose how much mental energy to give to the activity, depending on the karma alongside.

Simplify simple

Simple means: making things easy; having priorities organized; keeping things short and sweet; maintaining a clear focus.

Living a simple life is a nice idea, but not so simple in a world that's complicated & complex.

So let's simplify simple. Take one small area of your life today, for example, your email inbox, kitchen shelf, your handbag... Simplify one small thing and expand from there. What will you simplify tomorrow?

Message for the day

A personality of royalty lies in being constantly cheerful. 
Thought to Ponder: When we see someone with positive qualities, even during negative situations, we really admire their positivity. It could be patience, wisdom or any other positive quality that comes across. But much more than that, it is the happiness or contentment that is visible in the form of a cheerful face. This is the true personality of royalty that we too need to make an attempt to imbibe. 


Point to Practice: Today I will smile at whatever happens. Even if something goes wrong, I will find something to learn from it or something positive and be happy for it. Even if I can't find it right away, I'll at least take the thought that this has happened for a reason, because I know whatever happens, happens for the best. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: January 18, 2017: Balance in Life

Daily Positive Thoughts: January 18, 2017: Balance in Life

Balance in Life

The indication of balance in life is a sense of well-being, optimism and a clear conscience. The foundation for achieving this is to look after myself spiritually - making my mind peaceful, loving and thoughtful at all times. Then I will instinctively know how much to spend on my own well-being and how much on fulfilling other responsibilities. I can only give my best to others when I am myself at my best.

Changing My Thought Patterns

Why is it that we can't change the pattern of our thoughts so easily? Imagine a bird being so comfortable in its nest that, though perhaps sometimes it stands on the branch of the tree to inflate its chest and adjust its feathers, it never wants to fly and does not even realize it could fly. It never knows the blissful freedom of flight, never feels the wind through its wings.  It thinks the other birds that are flying around are unwise or foolish.  In much the same way, we never really leave our nests of old thought patterns. Our habitual thoughts become our comfort zone and each repetitive thought pattern is like a twig in the nest, which makes the nest stronger and our stay in the nest seemingly comfortable and permanent.  We never experience our true spiritual freedom or flight or feel the breeze of our inner beautiful nature.  Even the thought, I am a soul has to be realized eventually, so that we can actually experience its deepest truth.

In the world of spirituality, thoughts are like the map, but they are not the territory nor the reality of the experience.  Thinking I am a peaceful soul or I am a loveful soul or I am a powerful soul is not being soul-conscious, it is only theory or knowledge, but it is definitely an essential start.  Maps are important and necessary, until we know the way home to experience. Reaching this final destination of experience makes it easier for us and empowers us to transform or change our old thought patterns.

To have focus on the self is to become praise-worthy. 

I normally try to do things for others - to seek their recognition or appreciation. So I am busy trying to prove myself to others as being special and different. I then am not able to appreciate my own inner qualities. Instead of trying to prove things to others and trying to get their appreciation (which I don't always get anyway), I need to focus on myself. I need to make my actions such that I am proud of myself. This will automatically bring speciality in my actions and I become praise-worthy.

Message for the day

The power of determination makes possible, even what is impossible. 

Thought to ponder: Determination is to keep on trying till what I want to achieve, happens. If I am caught up in a maze, I need to try every way there is to come out. If I try one or two ways and give up, there is a likely chance that I will never find my way out. Determination brings the power to make things happen, even those things which seem impossible.

Point to practice: Today I will make a firm promise to myself to take up something that I had always wanted to do. I will tell myself repeatedly that I can do it and will achieve. I will continue to sustain this with the waters of my determination till I see the fruit of it - even if it is one small result. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: January 17, 2017: Decorate Your Life

Daily Positive Thoughts: January 17, 2017: Decorate Your Life

Kwan Yin: Goddess of the Compassion and Mercy

Decorate Your Life

You will stop being ordinary when you decorate your life with divinity and 

spirituality.

Aligning Your Action With Your Purpose (Part 2)

What our self or being wants and seeks at bottom is connected to living some values in an authentic way in all areas of life. What happens is that we have disconnected from our true, original and authentic spirituality, and we live the day-to-day routine from our defenses and our fears. So we do things only from a sense of duty and compulsive perfectionism, which weakens the imagination, sensitivity, spontaneity, and the pleasure of enjoying the path of human action.

We have to decide that we want to have time. The decision to have time for human tasks like playing, reading, thinking, reflecting, learning, meditating, innovating, having friends, loving, spending time with the family or simply being is essential in order to give meaning to life and to provide pure happiness, above the mundane (ordinary). It has to be facilitated on a practical level from the different degrees of power and management that each person has in life. Don't wait for someone to magically appear to make you happy. You have to know that nobody will come as if by magic to rescue you from your essential emptiness. It has to be you yourself who decides to live with a purpose and fill yourself in order to overcome your deficiencies and enjoy your life.

  

The one who is free from bondage is the one who can be a support for others. 

Sometimes I find myself not being able to be of help or unable to provide support to others as much as I would like to. This is because of the weaknesses working within me which make me look for support from others, thereby making me unavailable for others. I need to work at checking and removing my own weaknesses. When I recognize and work at removing my weaknesses, I'll become a source of strength and support for others. I'll not look for support from others but will be able to allow people to rely on me. 

Message for the day

To have a big heart is to find solutions easily.

Thought to ponder: To have a big heart, during upsetting times, is to be above the feeling of what is mine and what I have to lose. It is but natural to see what I have to gain, but added to this I also need to see what others are going to gain from this. When I am caught up with my needs and apprehensions, there will be blocks which will not help me create solutions.

Point to practice: Today I will work to find solutions in such a way, that there is benefit for all. I will not only look at benefit for myself (I will not worry about what I have to lose), but I will also see in what way it can benefit others. This practice will help me find an easy solution and also win the support and good wishes of all around me. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris

Daily Positive Thoughts: January 16, 2017: Ending Waste Thoughts

Daily Positive Thoughts: January 16, 2017: Ending Waste Thoughts

Ending Waste Thoughts

'Why did this happen?' 'What happened?' When such questions enter our intellect again and again we start a queue of waste thoughts. This queue is very long and complicated. So whenever something happens instead of thinking 'why' or 'what' think 'there is something good in whatever happens'.

Aligning Your Action With Your Purpose (Part 1)

In the day-to-day routine you can have different desires and want different things: what you want for today; what you want to do at the weekend; what you want to achieve with your professional career; the results that you want to get this year; what relationships you want to focus on. But, at the bottom of all this, what is your purpose? What are you doing here? What do you want? Where do you want to go and how far do you want to get?

When you open yourself within to answer these questions, you will see that the inner voice that answers you is the voice of your own consciousness and is connected to some value: what you want is to discover how to live in the truth and not appearances, what you want is to live from an inner space of love, what you want is to be free, you want peace. If you listen to and follow this voice, you will come close to your wholeness and your contentment, because you will then align your energies: your vision, your intention, your motivation, your consciousness, with your action and your life. Each morning, on looking at yourself in the mirror, ask yourself: If today was the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do? And if for various days in a row the answer has been no, then it is a sign that you have to change something, given that your action is not aligned with your purpose.

(To be continued tomorrow …)

What are your Everests?

A difficult project, the laundry, a 20 minute run....

You don't have to climb Mt. Everest, or ride a hot air balloon in Myanmar to live fully. 

Simply challenge yourself not to avoid anything or anyone that comes your way; & your Everests will come to you!

Recognize & face your challenges, even if they're only in your own mind. 

Then work out what you need to do to climb that mountain.

And when you conquer your Everests, you'll know that you've lived fully, because there's nothing more exhilarating than reaching the summit! 

Message for the day

Honesty inspires trust.

Expression: The one who is honest is clean and clear within. He is aware of his resources and uses them sincerely for his own benefit and that of others. Honesty also means to speak what is thought and to do what is spoken. So there are no discrepancies in thoughts, words and actions. So others are able to trust the one who is honest. Each action of an honest person becomes an inspiration for those around. 

Experience: When I am honest I break internal barriers. I am not caught up with the seeming negativity of the situation, nor do I feel helpless by the limitations set out by the situation. I am able to enjoy the gift of each moment and use it to the fullest extent. I find myself becoming an example for many, as others are inspired by whatever I do. 

In Spiritual Service,
Brahma Kumaris