True Self, False Self

I’ve been missing for a bit, major changes happening in my life and a kick-ass post brewing in my mind that will soon be here once I’m able to fully capture it, but for now I found this and completely loved it!

Loving What You Have

How can you want more if you don’t appreciate what you have? I feel enlightened lately-blissful, electric with life and love, genuinely happy, energetic; like I now see with new eyes where everything is vibrant and beautiful. I almost feel overwhelmed with how grateful I am of my life and the people in it. I want to tell everyone (and I’ve actually written several letters to friends and family expressing this). How often do we get caught up in things and feel we need to complain about how ‘bad’ we have it. I got a flat, I hate my job or I lost my job, I broke up with my boyfriend, I’ve gained weight, my life is so routine. Dr Dyer got on stage a few weeks ago, diagnosed with leukemia, coming from a less than glamorous background and foster care, and all he talked about was how great life is. A flat is an opportunity to meet a kind stranger, job problems are an opportunity to go after that passion you have (work towards the business of your dreams) or go back to school, a break up is a chance to rediscover yourself or find someone more compatible, weight gain is a opportuinity for a new journey to reharmonize your body, and feelings of boredom could be a symptom that you need a break (a little bit of an adventure, I’m always a big fan of taking off and exploring) or switch things up (change your route home or start a new hobby or learn a new skill). My brother-in-law and some of my friends have been going through some tough times, but like Dr. Dyer says, they’ve got to look at the positive and find the good that can come out of these situations (its often the darkest hours where we can find our brightest stars, you just have to be aware that it’s there and SEE it). Like I’ve told them, look at all the good

Losing Control to Gain Perspective

Motivation Monday with Brittany! I know this title may seem like an oxymoron, but I promise that it will make sense by the end. I feel that living inspired goes hand-in-hand with my eating and health. For the last 6 weeks I have felt slightly less inspired than I was previously, and thus, out of complete harmony with my eating (not bad just not as focused as I was previously). So what to do? Take off on an adventure of rediscovery of course. To be able to just be and not think. Friday morning I got in my car and took off with no definite plan of where I was going, but not caring and not hurrying. Previously I would have been afraid. How often do we have to have plans. We have our five-year and ten-year plans. We know what we’re doing tomorrow, we know what we’re doing in a week. We go on vacation and it’s pre-planned and an itinerary is in place (we have to see this and do that). This is typical of humans, we don’t necessarily like the unexpected. Moving into my shed, initially I was terrified. How long am I going to live here, what about the winter, on and on. But then I realized that that is what is wonderful about the whole thing and this is what I took from the weekend. Not knowing where I’m going to be tomorrow or in an hour is so freeing, it’s an adventure and let’s you treasure the moment that is here right now. It’s like Thoreau (someone I consider a true kindred spirit) said, “What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lives within us.”

I AM

I know my post is supposed to be on Mondays, but yesterday my father and I journeyed to Chicagoto listen to Dr. Dyer speak, so we’ll consider today Wisdom Wednesday instead of Motivational Monday. For those of you whom may not know Dr. Dyer’s books have changed my life (hence my favorite book Change Your Thoughts Change Your Life, as well as Excuses Begone, The Shift and The Power of Intention). The year 2011 has been the year of enlightenment and inspiration. We often discuss priorities or goals in  life, my main priority is simple: to be good (call it to be god-like or spiritual or inspired, whatever is least offensive to you). Often I find we say this, but when we really break down what takes up most of our time, it’s full of thoughts of work or problems. I dedicate a majority of my thoughts towards being good, living inspired, and evaluating how to change behavior (here I’m judging I need to work on that, for example). We think of ourselves and often end up complaining about life. Dr. Dyer came on stage, a man who was raised in foster homes, had a tough up bringing, who has been diagnosed with leukemia, whose wife left him; yet there he stood before 1,500 people speaking on how great life is and how to live inspired. Sure there are set backs in life, but you have the

Discovering Intention

Motivation Monday: I’ve been working on intention lately. I randomly go through stages of what I want to practice with my inspirational skills (I’ve done nonjudgement, living in the now, seeing good in the seemingly, etc), but now I am solely focused on intention and the energy that I portray. I have slowly been working my way through Dr. Dyer’s book The Power of Intention, and has just sparked a fire in me to be even better. Always a smart ass (although never malicious, merely light-hearted witty comments), I’ve come to realize that I need to harness this and facilitate it towards loving and kind thoughts. Part of the keys to intention are to:

• Be kind
• Love

Change

Body CHANGE. Change is something we all talk about and is the only thing consistent in life. We often fantasize about change in our life. All the things we’re going to do to make ourselves Better people, better bodies, better finances, better lovers, better lovers, better friends, and so on .Somehow these changes will make up happy. But do we ever actually change, or for that matter Want to change? How many people complete their New Years Resolutions. For change to be made it has to be a constant thought, a sparked desire that you are conscious of. I’ve been on a mission to change my body (as you can see above, but first I had to change my thoughts. Previously (and I’ve mentioned this before) I’ve struggled with bingeing. I was always in a battle with my body. TRYING to be perfect and punishing myself with food, like more was going to make things better somehow. What I’ve come to learn in my journey is that I’m already perfect: born of the right time and place, setting me where I am NOW. So the key was accepting my perfection rather than

Memes, Misperceptions, and one Great Man

Oh my father! Where to even begin. I guess I’ll start with the misperception. Some may perceive my father as abrasive or arrogant (some of the things I’ve heard), but these are clearly people who do not know or understand him. He has always been one of the major driving forces in my life for better or worse. We have always had our ups and downs and in my journey I’ve realized that he’s one of my biggest memes. I was always trying to please him and cared what he thought about me so much. It’s much easier to disregard what others think, but his approval always seemed essential. Maybe because the task seemed so daunting. In my journey I’ve realized that I have to let go of the memes I have with my father. I’m not 100% on this, but I am aware of it and our only problems come when I lose sight of being good (like take something personal or let my ego get in the way, but this is something that both of us agree we do that we try to concentrate on-it’s a skill and needs practice). Sometimes I treat it like a contest (who is the most Tao-like) or judging him (‘well that’s not

Journeys Away from the False Self

I know that I promised to discuss Thoreau on the blog, but it’s also about my spiritual journey which weighs heavily on the Tao and my Dr. Dyer readings. This particular adventure was inspired by my finishing of The Shift, I hope you enjoy it!Today I thought let’s go to the Park. So here now I sit on the most beautiful of days. The sun is shining, the temperature is perfect and there’s a breeze. I decide to swing, to explore the loss of self. So often as we age we consider things like swinging and playing the sort of things that children do. Adults are serious and have responsibility. So why the hell would a 23-year-old drag herself to the park on a work day? Well for starters I have done many posts on the benefits and my boy Mark Sisson’s is a big abdicate of play. but most importantly it takes you back closer to your beginning and true self. Have you ever watched a child play? They’re careless. They’re not yet conditioned to the thoughts of society and trying to portray a false image to the World that the ego says will make them accepted. They’re not thinking about how the other children perceive them. They’re motions are not contrived, they don’t worry about anything, thus they just ARE. It’s sad how this fades though. I’ve watched this with my nephews. Trenton would pick up any worm fishing a month ago and Saturday after watching Gavin refuse, he too would no longer pick up any worms. So today I find myself on the swing exploring my own inner child (or true self), not caring what time it is or what I have to get done today or what the lady pushing her daughter besides me thinks, just moving hypnotically with the wing. I explore my different senses. Watching the water flow gently (yet powerfully) down the river and the green trees surrounding. I close my eyes and hear the wind rustle through the tress as the birds chirp along while my swing creaks persistently in the background. Here too I feel. I grasp the swings of the swing and feel my body sway methodically back and forth. Feel the sun light up my back and shoulders as the breeze pushes my hair back. It’s amazing how something as simple as a swing at the park (that is free) can bring so much enlightenment and be so freeing to the spirit. Dance, play, sing, and find the hidden true self, rather than the false one shown to the world!